by Wilder, L.
“You know I will.”
When I walked back into the house, I found Kenadee in the kitchen with Kevin. They were both talking quietly at the counter, and for the first time in days, I actually saw my son smiling. He was crazy about Kenadee, and she was just as crazy about him. Over the past few months of living together, I’d learned lots of things about the woman I loved. Not only was she beautiful, smart, and sexy as hell, she was also incredible with my son. She absolutely adored him, and there wasn’t anything she wouldn’t do for him—which only made me love her even more. She looked up at me with one of her bright smiles as she said, “Hey there, handsome. How’s it going out there?”
I went over and kissed her on the temple as I said, “We’re all set. What about you? Need any help in here?”
“I think we got it. All the food is in the oven, and Louise just called to say she was headed this way with the cake.”
“Awesome.” I grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge as I asked, “Is Robyn still coming?”
“Yeah.” Her face lit up at the sound of her best friend’s name. Kenadee was worried that she and Robyn would drift apart after she moved out, but she’d worried for nothing; they were just as close as ever. With an excited look, she continued, “She should be here any minute, and she’s bringing her new fella along with her.”
“New fella?”
“Yeah. She hasn’t been able to stop talking about him for the past few days, and I finally convinced her to bring him along.”
“Good. I look forward to meeting this new fella of hers.”
“Me, too.” She looked down at her clothes, and as she started towards the bedroom, she said, “I’m going to get changed.”
As soon as she left the room, Kevin leaned forward and whispered, “Did you get it?”
“Yeah. I got it.”
“You think she’s got any idea?”
Kevin wasn’t the only one getting a surprise today. I also had something special planned for Kenadee as well. Kevin and my folks had made it clear that they were crazy about her, so they couldn’t have been more excited when I shared my plans with them, especially Kevin. Seeing the concerned look on his face, I smiled and said, “No, buddy. I don’t think she has a clue.”
“Good.”
When I noticed several trucks and bikes pulling into the drive, I looked out the window to see if Riggs had made it. When I spotted his truck, I looked over to Kevin and said, “Riggs just got here.”
With an uninterested sigh, he replied, “So?”
“He’s got something in his truck you might wanna go check out.”
He perked up a little as he asked, “What’s he got?”
“Why don’t you go out there and see for yourself?”
When he got up and started for the door, I motioned for Kenadee to follow. When we stepped outside, the guys were all circling the grill like a bunch of vultures, but they all stopped to watch as Kevin walked over to Riggs. “Happy Birthday, buddy.”
As he stood up on his tiptoes and tried to peek in the windows, Kevin said, “Dad said you’ve got something in your truck.”
Riggs looked over to me and smiled. “Yeah, I do. You wanna see?”
“Yeah.”
As he opened the door, he said, “Go check it out.”
Kevin crawled inside the truck, and when he looked inside the box, he shouted, “Holy Toledo, Dad! You gotta come see this!”
I walked over and watched as my son lifted the small puppy into his arms. “Whatcha got there, buddy?”
His eyes lit up as he announced, “It’s a puppy!”
“I see that.”
“Isn’t it cool? It’s a Mastiff, Dad … just like I told you I wanted.”
“Yeah, it sure is. She’s a real beauty, Kevin.”
His eyes widened as he looked at me with surprise. “Wait … Is she for me?”
“Yep. She’s all yours.”
“You’re freaking kidding me!” With the puppy cradled in his arms, he jumped down out of the truck and gave me a big hug as he said, “Thank you, Dad!”
“You’re welcome. I’m glad you like her.”
“I more than like her, Dad. I love her!”
“Then you’ll have to come up with a good name for her.”
He turned to Kenadee, and showing that he valued her opinion, he asked, “What do you think we should name her?”
“Honey, that’s something you’ll have to decide. She’s going to be your dog.”
“Okay. I’ll think of something.”
With the puppy in tow, he rushed over to my folks to show them the new addition to the family. I couldn’t help but smile as I watched him hug and kiss on her, like she was a prized treasure. I’d done good. My boy was happier than I’d seen him in years.
“You’re a sneaky one, Sawyer Mathews. After all that stuff you said, I can’t believe you actually went and got him that puppy.”
“I know, but I just couldn’t help myself. I guess I’m just a glutton for punishment.”
“Pfft. The dog is going to be fine. You wait and see. You’ll end up loving that crazy dog just as much as he does.”
“Maybe, but I’ll always love you more,” I teased.
“Um-hmm. Either way, I think it was a wonderful gift. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a happier kid.”
I looked around the yard at my brothers and watched as they gathered around my son, sharing the special moment with him, and I realized just how lucky I really was. I was a man who had it all. Brothers who always had my back, a family who stood by me through thick and thin, a son who I adored, and a beautiful woman who I loved more than I ever dreamed possible. I had it all, and I wanted the world to know it. I reached in my pocket and pulled out an engagement ring. As I slipped it on her finger, I told her, “I think it’s time we made this thing official.”
Her mouth dropped open as she looked down at her hand and asked, “Did you just ask me to marry you?”
“I thought the ring was a dead giveaway, but yeah, I’m asking you to marry me.” I placed my hands on her hips and pulled her close and said, “I want you to be my wife. You okay with that?”
Tears filled her eyes as she wrapped her arms around me and kissed me. “Yes, Sawyer. I’m definitely good with that.”
“Good. ’Cause I wasn’t taking no for an answer.” After I turned and gave Kevin a thumbs up, letting him know she’d accepted my proposal, I leaned towards her and lowered my mouth to hers, giving her another kiss. “You’re the only one, Kenadee. Now and forever.”
The End
SHADOW
Satan’s Fury MC – Memphis
L Wilder
PROLOGUE
It was always the same.
Night after night.
As soon as I got in bed and closed my eyes, my mind would start drifting back to my childhood. It wasn’t something that I liked to think about, but I just couldn’t seem to help myself. With each moment that passed, I could feel myself being pulled into an old familiar nightmare—one that I’d had many times before. A cold sweat washed over me as all those old childhood feelings of fear and helplessness came rushing back, causing my pulse to race and my breath to quicken. I’d tried to fight it. I’d tried to force my mind in a new direction, but I couldn’t stop those dreadful memories from flooding back, haunting me as they forced me to remember a time I was desperate to forget. I’d tossed back and forth, trying to shake myself free from the nightmare’s hold, but it was no use. No matter what I did, I’d find myself back in that house, listening to those gut-wrenching cries of anguish and feeling completely helpless to make it stop.
“No. Please. I don’t want to.”
I knew she was petrified. I could hear it in her voice. It always made my blood run cold.
“You know what will happen if you try to refuse me,” he growled.
“But you promised. You said the other night was the last time.”
“I lied,” he answered with an evil tone.
I could h
ear her struggling with him, and her pleas pulled at me as she cried, “Please. Just stop.”
I wrapped my fingers around the doorknob, my heart pounding in my chest as I eased the door open and stepped into her room. I found him, our guardian—the man who was supposed to love and protect us, holding her down on the bed. His pants were unbuckled, and it was clear he was hurting her. After losing my parents and sister, she’d become the only real family I had, and seeing what he was doing to her enraged me. I charged forward as I shouted, “Get the hell off her!”
With a surprised look in his eyes, he turned to face me. His shock quickly turned to fury as he pulled himself off of the bed and started towards me. Before I had a chance to react, his hand was at my throat, his fingers cutting off my air supply as he tightened his grip and spat, “You got some nerve coming in here again, boy.”
Just as the real horror was about to begin, the nightmare ended.
Gasping, I sat up in bed, relieved to see that I was in my room … in my bed. I ran my hands over my face, trying to wipe away the remnants of the dream, but it still clung to me, unwilling to release its hold. For some sadistic reason, it wanted me to remember, forcing me to relive the hell I’d encountered during the years I’d spent in that foster home. It wasn’t fucking fair. I was just a kid. I was supposed to be loved and protected, but all I’d found was pain and suffering. I hated those fucking people. I hated them with every fiber of my being for the things they’d done to us, especially that last night—the night that permanently marked me. That night I lost a piece of my soul, leaving me utterly broken, and since then, I’d never been the same and knew I’d never be again.
I was destined to live in the shadows, but thankfully, I wasn’t destined to live there alone. After years of living in my own personal hell, I became a member of Satan’s Fury and found a place where I truly belonged—a place where I would be accepted for who I was. My brothers could see the good inside of me, where I could only see darkness. My inner demons were constantly pulling at me, frantically trying to take control, and every day I fought to keep them at bay. But the fight was over. I’d just been voted in as the club’s new enforcer, and those inner demons were about to take the reins.
CHAPTER 1
Shadow
It was after midnight, and Murphy and I were feeling pretty unsettled as we headed into Frazier—a part of Memphis that most people avoided, especially at this time of night. For us, it wasn’t its history of crime, the dilapidated houses, or the graffiti-lined streets of this area that had us feeling uneasy. Hell, we were used to that. Instead, we were concerned about the call, Gus, our club’s president, had gotten from two of our handlers. Apparently, they’d run into some trouble and needed our help, but before they could tell him what was going on, the line went dead. That didn’t sit well with Gus. He was a man who prided himself on knowing what was going on at all times, especially when it came to his club. To make matters worse, it wasn’t the first call he’d gotten over the past few weeks. In fact, there had been several. A couple of our boys had been jumped and robbed while others had come up missing altogether. That shit just didn’t happen. Even though our runners didn’t wear a patch, they were our guys, under our protection, and everyone knew it. Whoever was fucking with our boys knew what they were doing, and there would be hell to pay.
Murphy pulled up to the curb and killed his engine. After I did the same, he turned to me and said, “Let’s go check it out.”
Eager to see what the hell was going on, he got off his bike and started down the dark, abandoned alleyway. As the club’s sergeant-at-arms, it was Murphy’s job to ensure the safety and security of the club, and he took his role seriously. Knowing that two of the men under his watch might be in danger had him on edge. I followed him down the alley, and as we headed further into the thick of darkness, an eerie feeling had me reaching for my .45. Even though we were downtown, it was quiet—too quiet, and only the low hum of rap music could be heard as I pulled my gun out of its holster. Just as we reached the second dumpster, I saw them—Spencer and Mayfield. They were two of our best handlers, and they were both lying on the ground with bullets in their heads. “Fuck.”
Murphy quickly turned, and as soon as he saw our boys on the ground, he roared, “Goddamn it!”
He rushed over to each of them, checking for any signs of life, but it was clear they were both gone. “Murph … we need to call Gus.”
Knowing Gus was going to be on the warpath when he heard the news, Murphy sighed as he reached for his phone. I listened as he described what we’d found, and even though I was standing several feet away, I could hear Gus’s reaction as his voice blared through the other end of the phone. Once they were done talking, Murphy put his burner back in his pocket and said, “Gus is sending Gunner over with a couple of prospects to pick up our boys and clean up this mess.”
I nodded, then started walking further down the alley. I had no idea what I was looking for, but I hoped to find something that might help us figure out who’d killed Spencer and Mayfield. I’d just made it over to Third Street when I saw Boon Franklin sitting in his car. He was one of those guys who was always into something, and when he saw me walking towards him, his face grew pale. In a blink of an eye, he’d started his engine and sped off. Clearly there was something up, so I walked back to Murphy and informed him, “I just saw Boon Franklin parked around the corner, and he took off as soon as he saw me.”
“Boon Franklin? That’s a name I haven’t heard in a while. Who’s he running with these days?”
“Not sure. Might be worth finding out because something tells me, one way or another, he’s behind this.”
Turns out I was right.
It hadn’t taken Riggs long to track him down using his cell phone, and once they ran him down, he and Blaze brought him back to the holding room at the clubhouse. Gus left it up to me to find out everything I could about his involvement with Spencer and Mayfield’s deaths. I stood in the corner smoking a cigarette as I watched him whimper and whine like a wounded animal. I’d been working him over for around four hours and he’d yet to talk, but I wasn’t worried. I was just getting started. By the time I was done with him, he’d tell me exactly what I needed to know. Without moving from my spot, I growled, “I’m not a man who likes to repeat myself, Boon.”
“Then, stop asking me about your boys because I don’t know shit. I swear it.”
I knew he was lying.
“I think you do,” I told him as I tossed my cigarette to the floor and started towards him. Boon was a big guy, at least six foot four and three hundred pounds; he was playing the tough guy, but I knew he was about to break. It was written all over his face.
He grimaced when he noticed me getting closer. “I done told you, asshole. I didn’t knock off your boys.”
“Haven’t you been listening?” I reached my hand into the bucket, and his swollen eyes widened with panic as he watched me pull the rag out of the water. “I never asked you if you killed them. I already know you did. I asked you why.”
With that, I placed the towel across his face, and while he pleaded with me to stop, I reached down for the jumper cables. I tapped them together to check for an active spark before I placed each end on either side of his head. When I pressed them against the rag, a jolt of electricity surged through his temples, making his entire body grow rigid. After several seconds, I removed the cables, and his body fell completely limp. I lowered the rag from his face, and his eyes trained on mine as he watched me place it back in the bucket. My voice was low and firm as I asked, “Why’d you do it, Boon?”
I stood there staring at him for a brief second, but when he didn’t answer, I reached for the rag again. After I placed it over his face, he started to thrash from side to side as he tried to break free from his restraints, but it was no use. He wasn’t going anywhere. Ignoring his attempt to free himself, I reached for the cables again, but stopped when he cried, “I can’t take this shit anymore! Jasper ordered the hit. He’s be
en the one behind them all.”
And there it was.
Jasper was a local thug who’d been trying to make a name for himself for years. He’d tried everything from pimping out second-rate prostitutes to starting up his own little drug ring out on the East Side. We all knew he was a piece of shit, but since he’d managed to stay out of our way, we left him alone. That was all about to change. I cocked my eyebrow as I looked down at Boon and calmly asked, “And why would he go and do that?”
“I don’t know, man. I swear, I don’t. I just know he’s got something going down. He’s paying big money for every one of your guys we take out,” he rambled.
And the plot thickened.
I lowered the rag back into the bucket and watched as Boon’s shoulders sagged with relief. The man had taken one hell of a beating. Knowing his life was hanging in the balance, he’d done his best to keep his mouth shut about his new connection with Jasper, but in the end, he was just like all the others—he sang like a canary. I left him bound to his chair as I stepped out of the room and went down the hall to find Gus. It was time to tell him what I’d uncovered. As I walked towards my president’s office, I thought about how much my life had changed since the Culebras came knocking at our door.
We’d taken a real hit when they came after our territory. They’d chosen Memphis as their startup location for their new meth lab, hoping to distribute their product throughout the southern region by transporting it down the Mississippi River. When they’d first arrived, they’d made it their mission to wipe out any and all competition, and when they’d set their sights on Satan’s Fury, they’d not only destroyed our diner and garage, but they’d also killed two of our brothers, Runt and Lowball. Runt was a good man, and an even better enforcer. His position in the club wasn’t an easy one, but he’d faced adversity head-on, never letting anything get him down. We all knew he wouldn’t be easily replaced. Unfortunately, the club was under attack, and after we’d learned that Terry Dillion, one of our drug runners, had been aiding the Culebras in their pursuit, we brought him in for questioning. We all knew he had information on the Culebras—information the club needed to take them down, and even though it would mean letting the darkness rise to the surface, I knew I had it in me to make Terry talk. Thankfully, I was right. In a matter of hours, I’d gotten him to provide us with the intel the club needed to bring the Culebras down. By doing so, I’d proven myself worthy as the club’s new enforcer, and since then, I’d done everything in my power to live up to Runt’s legacy.