by K Harris
Destiny's Sweet Cage
The First Lady of The Lincoln Black Knights MC
BOOK I
K. K. HARRIS
Copyright © 2019 K. K. Harris
This is a work of fiction. Any references or similarities to actual events, real people, living or dead, or real locales are intended to give the novel a sense of reality. Any similarity in other names, characters, places, and incidents is entirely coincidental.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the prior written consent of the Publisher, excepting brief quotes used in reviews.
Book cover design by KH Designz.
https://kh-designz.square.site/
Dedication
This is dedicated to my muse, my rock – A. Harris. You are the light of my life and I appreciate the undying love and support that you show me. This is to us, the continued love story that is you and I. Love you today, forever, and always.
Acknowledgments
Thank you to all the readers that have stuck by me throughout each phase of this literary journey. Whether you are new to the gang or you have been rocking and rolling since day one, I appreciate you. If it weren’t for you, none of this would be my wonderful reality.
Writing is my passion, creating great
stories is my motivation.
To my sisters, blood couldn’t make our bond any stronger than it is today. I love you to the moon and back. Thanks for being a listening ear while I rant and an eye when I need a reader’s perspective.
I pray you all will continue to join me in the trenches of my imagination.
Much Love,
K.
Prologue
Dez
“Excuse me,” a deep voice interrupted my train of thought. Thinking someone was just trying to get around me, I moved over some. Never did I look in the direction where the voice came from, my attention span was only about a minute long as of late. “Excuse me, I think we’ve met before.”
“I’m not from around here.”
“Neither am I,” he chuckled. Rolling my eyes, I finally looked the mystery man in the face fully prepared to tell him off. There I saw someone that looked vaguely familiar to me, but I couldn’t be sure of his name.
“You do look kinda familiar,” I admitted.
“We met at the Knight’s compound in Lincoln,” he said. “The name is Torrent. Your name is Destiny, right?”
“Yes, it’s Destiny, good memory. Please don’t remind me about that night, I wasn’t on my best behavior, that’s for sure.”
“You were going Evander Holyfield on a couple of club rats.”
“Well, they picked the right one that night to provoke. Some folks are all about that drama.” We shared a laugh at that thought. “But you said you aren’t from around here either, what brings you to these parts?”
“I was following a lead, you could say. Some family business,” he replied. “May I ask why you are so far away from home?”
“Silence.” I tried to search for the correct way to answer that question but realized there was no right way, only the truth. “There was nothing left for me in Lincoln, I guess you could say. You were the one who said that there was more than just Lincoln, right?”
“I did say that,” he chuckled.
“Well, it was nice seeing you again,” I concluded and began to walk away. Because I knew he was cool with Cage, I just didn’t feel right chopping it up with him.
“Destiny, would you maybe want to grab a cup of coffee or some dinner?” He asked.
“Uhm, no thanks. I wouldn’t be very good company right now. But thanks for the invite.” Before he could say anything else, I walked away to continue my shopping. It was the time I either pick another town to visit or find me a job. Charlotte was nice but it wasn’t speaking to my spirit. Truth be told, Lincoln was calling me to come home like E.T. but I refused to answer.
As I was walking to my car, I spotted a couple of nice motorcycles parked next to it. Instantly I knew they probably belonged to Torrent’s crew. Only one bike was missing a rider, two of the occupants were speaking amongst themselves. Out of my peripheral, I could see a man in leather walking my way. His bike put me in the mind of Cage, that man was never far enough away to forget. Just about everything reminded me of the fool who didn’t want me.
“Torrent, I’m beginning to think that you are following me.” I joked aloud.
“Truth moment, I traced your cell phone to this location.” He said and I laughed.
“You’re kidding, right?” When he didn’t join me, I realized that he was dead serious. The two other bikers were now looking at our exchange with interest.
“Actually, I’m glad that I ran into you because you weren’t answering my attempts to call you.”
“The number with the 854-area code?”
“Correct, I really need to speak with you about something.”
“You tracked me down because you need to talk to me, what kind of shit is that?”
“You have been gone from Lincoln for over three weeks, call me cautious when you weren’t answering.”
“I don’t fucking know you or recognize your number, there’s no wonder I didn’t answer. This is borderline psycho shit. How did you even get my number?”
“I have my ways.”
“What the fuck does that mean?” I backed away from him so happy that my keys were in my hand. If he weren’t careful, I was going to pull my gun next. Was I like a beacon for crazy people?
“Destiny, please calm down. I would die first before I did anything to hurt you, please believe me.”
“Calm down?!” I hissed. “You tell me that you traced my phone and tracked me down at a fucking Wal-Mart, how am I supposed to calm down?”
“If we could just go somewhere and sit privately, I could explain why I sought you out.”
“I’m not going anywhere with you, so you had better speak your peace from where you stand.”
“This is not…”
“What the fuck do you want, Torrent seriously?”
“I think…Scratch that, I know that you are my sister.” Well, that certainly wasn’t what I thought he would say.
Chapter 1
Dez
Three months ago…
“Destiny, so happy that you didn’t change your mind.” Torrent greeted with a wide grin. If only he knew how long I contemplated driving out of the restaurant parking lot, rubber-burning and all. When I saw the two bikes, I freaked out. Who else was here?
“I must admit, I thought about leaving several times before I finally got out of the car.” We laughed at that statement. Bouncing my eyes from Torrent to the vacant seat next to him, I was wondering where the other biker could be.
“I’m glad that you stayed. Please have a seat. We waited for you to join us before we ordered.”
“We?” I questioned after sitting across from him. Just as I finished that statement a man sauntered to the table with a striking resemblance to Torrent.
“Destiny, I would like you to meet David Torrent Sr.”
“I saw the resemblance between you two but father I didn’t expect, brothers maybe.”
“Thank you.” The elder Torrent spoke and smiled at me almost adoringly. In any other setting, I probably would have been creeped out considering my past but not this time. His demeanor was very comforting.
“You are most welcome, Mr. Torrent.”
“Please call me DT,” he stated, and I nodded.
“Hello, I am Janice and I will be your server. Can I start you all off with something to drink?”
“Water for me, no lemon,” I stated while looking over the menu to ease my nerves.
“Coke, Dr. Pepper,” was said from acros
s the table.
“Do you all know what you’re having, or do you need a minute?”
“Southwest chicken salad for me with extra cilantro dressing on the side, thank you.”
“Two cheeseburgers, medium well with steak fries for us.”
“I will get this order in for you.”
“Thank you.”
“Now that we are seated in the semi-private area, you want to explain your outburst from last night?” He opened his mouth to continue but he was cut off.
“Son, allow me,” DT interrupted anything that Torrent was going to say. “Destiny, I know how crazy all of this must sound, but I have reason to believe that you are my daughter.”
“What I don’t understand is how? How did you two pick me out of all the women in the world? What drew you to the conclusion that I was some lost daughter?”
“Destiny, I’m not trying to rob you of the reality that you have been raised on but I thought you deserved to know the truth.”
“You seem to be handling this admission a lot better than last night.” Torrent said.
“Oh inside, I am freaking out, trust me. I only just found out that…William wasn’t my biological father. Now, I am supposedly sitting before a family that I knew nothing about. This is some Lifetime shit,” I remarked and thought against using profanity. “Excuse my language, that was rude.”
“Destiny, you are a grown woman. If you feel like cussing, who am I to scold you?”
“Not to mention, this is one for the books on confessions.” Torrent chuckled.
“Who the hell are you telling? I feel so out of my element.”
“Now do you understand my reasoning for going to such great measures to meet with you. This was something that needed to be confronted. Life is too short to pussy-foot around.”
“You aren’t dying, are you? Is that the reason you all sought me out, do you need an organ or something?” I asked. They chuckled and shook their heads in sync.
“Nothing like that, Destiny. Damn, that does sound like a crazy-ass movie plot though.” DT smirked.
“Then why all of a sudden was it so important that I know the truth? Where were you when I was being ruled by an oppressor and tortured by his evil minions?”
“Oppressor and evil minions? Please tell me you are kidding right?”
“William confessed that he wasn’t my father during a bitter argument. He suddenly wanted to compare me to my mother and her bad decisions. His words, not mine.” I rolled my eyes at the absurdity as if I didn’t already live through it. “As far as my…who I was led to believe were my brothers, I am convinced that they were spawns from the devil. The way…William some time’s acted, that wouldn’t be too farfetched.”
“What would make him confess in such a cruel way?” Torrent asked.
“Fuck that, I want to hear more about these asshole brothers. Did they hurt you?”
“Apparently, falling for no-good bikers was inherited. Because I wouldn’t stop dealing with the Knights, he felt it was only right that he disowns me. After his blow up and exposing some truths that I had no clue about, he fired my ass.” The waitress arrived with our food, but my appetite had dissipated. “As for the boys, every single time they came over to our house, they would feel the need to belittle me and find ways to punish me. Most folks would think that they did the typical picking on the younger sibling but now looking back, it was more to it. Somehow they have always known that I wasn’t their sister.”
“Was he ever abusive to you or anything?” DT asked.
“My self-esteem by referring to me as a disappointment, yes.” I sarcastically stated. “Physically, no he never hit me. To be honest, I wasn’t a bad kid, I never got in any real trouble that required punishment.”
“There is nothing right or all right about making ‘his’ child suffer because he was holding onto some resentment towards the mother. As for me contacting you sooner, I tried on more than one occasion.” DT spoke and for some reason, I believed him. “Before your mother became sick, I came to town and visited the diner not knowing that she worked there. Instantly I remembered her and the night that we spent together but I knew nothing about a pregnancy.”
“While she did her absolute best to avoid spending more than a few seconds at my table, I realized that her husband was the culprit of her hesitance. Before I left, a little spitfire came bouncing into the diner. When I saw you, then and there I knew that you were mine. It took me quite a bit of time, but I was able to catch your mother alone in the grocery store. She confessed that you were indeed mine, but her husband would not approve.”
“For years, she would sneak and send pictures to me. Then all of a sudden, the correspondences stopped. That was when I learned that she had passed away.” He stated and a clear remorseful look crossed his face. “Apparently, William got his hands-on evidence that we had been in contact for some years and he went ballistic. He called threatening me with anything that he could throw. When you turned eighteen, I demanded to finally meet you and he claimed that you wanted nothing to do with me.”
“And you bought that? It was that easy to believe that one minute I knew nothing about you and the next, I wanted nothing to do with you.”
“I received a letter stating your disdain for forming any sort of relationship with me. It also said that you were moving away from Lincoln.”
“Letter? How could I write a letter when I just found out the truth recently?”
“There was no way of me knowing whether it was legit or a ruse to get me to back off.”
“This seems so farfetched but considering the extremes he has gone to in order for me to stick closer to him, it shouldn’t be too hard to believe.”
“Destiny, I want you to know that over the years after I found out about you, I have thought about you every day.”
“Silence.” I honestly didn’t know what to think or what to say to his admission.
There was a good chance that everything he has said was the truth. It didn’t hurt any less to know that my whole life has been a lie. No one thought to tell me the truth before now, maybe things would have been different if I had known sooner. Then again maybe I should look at this for what it was, I was meant to know at this time. Before who knows what kind of mess would have stemmed from the information. To think he was hateful to me at times before, no telling how bad he would have treated me if I’d known.
“Maybe I should have tried harder and for that I’m sorry. If that letter were truly from you, I didn’t want to selfishly disobey your wishes.”
“I understand your point of view, I really do. I don’t want you to think that I am angry with you or blaming you for anything, that isn’t the case at all. I am simply trying to absorb it all.”
“That is understandable, this is a lot for one sit down. If it would make you feel better, we could take a paternity test.”
“To make me feel better, shouldn’t you be the one requesting a test to rest your mind?”
“I trust that your mother wouldn’t lie to me. Your step-father had every reason to lie to you and me.”
“If that is something that you would be interested in, I know of a clinic near our home that can get it done swiftly and effectively.” The younger Torrent stated.
“Where is home again?” I asked out of general curiosity.
“A small town outside of Charleston South Carolina,” he answered.
“How far is that from here?”
“A little under four hours depending on the traffic and route,” DT answered.
“Since you are seeing the world and all, why don’t you come to visit. Maybe if you like it, we can convince you to stay, permanently.” Torrent started with a hopeful smile.
“Baby steps, brother,” I added the last part with plenty of emphasis on it. “You know that is the first time that I have said that word with anything other than hate.” My truth hurt even to my own ears to hear aloud.
“You did make reference to the devil’s minions, do tell us mor
e about these fake siblings?” DT asked with a stern look on his face.
“They hated me from the first moment they started to come around, I believe. From pinching, pushing, or whispering hateful things to me when no one else was around – they did it all and then some. If they could have done more, they probably would have.”
“William Jr. and Triston, right?” Torrent questioned with certainty.
“Yeah, how did you know?”
“I am very thorough if nothing else, Lil’ sis.” Hearing someone call me sis and mean it actually felt good. At that moment, I thought back to Wood but would it still be the same if I ever went back.
“You did find me, so I guess that proves that point. I’m assuming that is how you knew that I had an idea about my paternity being different.”
“Considering your bitter court battle between said siblings, it wasn’t hard to figure out. If they are vicious enough to contest the will that was left behind, then I’m sure they were using the excuse of you not being blood. Plus, they are telling anyone who will listen.”
“I’m not surprised. The lawyers have been trying to get in contact with me but I don’t want to be bothered. I’m tired of it all, to be honest.”
“That’s understandable if you would like, I can handle that situation for you. As your brother, I feel some responsibility to stand up for you and make your problems go away. Hell, we have been robbed of years of protecting you anyway.”
“I don’t understand his reasoning, if he were just going to mistreat you, why not allow me to be a part of your life? If he hadn’t already passed on, we would have some words that is for sure.”
“Thanks for that.”
“So, what are your plans?” DT asked.
“I really don’t know to be honest.” And that was the truth. Since leaving Lincoln, the only thing I really fretted over was healing. I wanted to be all right again before my heart was shattered into a million pieces. Seeing as though, I was missing some vital pieces of my life, what would the harm be in getting to know these two. Having been envious of others with loving and supportive parents, maybe this was my second chance to get just that.