Satan’s Fury MC - Memphis

by Wilder, L.

  Samantha’s body fell limp under mine. I remained deeply seated inside her, not ready for the moment to end. I would miss nights like these if she decided to take that job in Nashville. I was surprised when she’d mentioned it earlier in the week, but knowing what it meant to her, I assured her that we’d make it work. That didn’t mean I was happy about the idea of her being away from me. I rested my head on her chest and listened to her rapid heartbeat begin to steady. Samantha’s breathing began to slow to a point that I thought she’d actually fallen asleep. I looked up at her and was surprised to see a sexy smile on her face. Settling myself alongside her, she slowly began to wiggle her way into the crook of my arm and rested her head down on my chest. I leaned over and kissed her on the temple. “You are really something, Samantha Travers.”

  “You are, too.”

  “There you go again … stealing my compliments,” I joked.

  “Well, they’re good compliments. I can’t seem to help myself.” She giggled, and my heart nearly leapt out of my chest. “But, I have one you haven’t used yet.”

  “Oh, really? What’s that?”

  She trailed the tips of her fingers across my chest as she whispered, “I love you more every minute of every day.”

  “You’re right. I haven’t used that one.” I hadn’t said those three little words to her yet. She knew I loved her. I showed her in every way I could, but clearly she needed to hear me say it. “But, that doesn’t mean I don’t love you, because I do. I think you know that.”

  “I do.” She smiled and said, “Seems strange.”

  “What?”

  “That we might not have met if that guy hadn’t tried to steal my purse.”

  “It might’ve taken me a little longer, but I would’ve found you, Samantha. You were meant to be mine. I have no doubt about that.”

  The room fell silent for a moment, and then she glanced up at me and said, “I think we missed our dinner reservations.”

  “Yeah. I’d say I’m sorry, but that’s on you.”

  “On me? How so?”

  “You knew what would happen when I saw you in that dress.”

  “Are you saying I had ulterior motives for wearing that dress tonight?” she asked, feigning innocence.

  “That’s exactly what I’m saying.” I looked down at her beautiful face. “You thinkin’ I’m wrong?”

  “Nope.” She giggled. “Not at all.”

  “That’s what I thought. You knew exactly what you were doing, so now, you have to decide what we’re gonna do for dinner.”

  “How about a night in? We can order a pizza and watch a movie.”

  “Sounds like a plan to me.”

  After the club’s encounter with the Ravens, we all struggled to come to terms with the loss of one of our brothers and a prospect—especially me. It was my job to keep my boys out of harm’s way, and it gutted me that I’d failed them. Samantha knew something wasn’t right, but she didn’t push. While she was still learning the ins and outs of the club life, she understood that there were things that I simply couldn’t, wouldn’t share with her. Things were just starting to get settled down with the club when Sam mentioned a possible job transfer to Nashville. I had barely had a chance to wrap my head around the news when her mother showed up for an unexpected visit. I knew the moment we met that she wasn’t happy about us being together. It wasn’t like she tried to hide the fact, and even though Samantha tried to deny it, I knew it got to her. I wasn’t blind. I could see the worry in her eyes, the wheels turning in her head whenever she was at the clubhouse, but I could also feel the love she felt for me whenever she was in my arms. Samantha and I were from two different worlds, traveling on two completely different paths, but something about us worked.

  Once our pizza arrived, we made a make-shift picnic on the edge of the bed and started a movie. As Samantha took a bite of her pizza, she asked, “Do you think you’ll ever get a place of your own like Moose and Louise?”

  “Eventually. Right now, I need to be here so I can keep an eye on things.”

  “So, in a couple of months or a couple of years?”

  “A year. Maybe a little less.” Before I took a drink of my beer, I told her, “It just depends on how things play out.”

  “And what about kids?”

  “What about ’em?”

  She rolled her eyes. “Do you want any?”

  “Yeah, sure. Just not right now.” As I reached for another slice of pizza, I went on to say, “I’ve got too much on my plate to even consider taking on more. Maybe in a few years.”

  “Oh. Okay.”

  When her eyes skirted over to the floor, I knew something was up. “You got something on your mind?”

  “I’m just trying to see where you stand, I guess.” Trying to play it off, she took another bite of her pizza, then said, “It’s important to be in the know.”

  “Samantha.” I waited until her eyes met mine and then said, “As long as you are with me, I’ll do everything in my power to make you happy. You want to take that job in Nashville, then take it. We’ll find a way to make it work until you can get something here. You want a house? I’ll buy you a house—the biggest, nicest house you’ve ever seen. You want some fancy apartment by the river? I’ll make it happen. You want kids? I’ll give you as many as you want and love and protect them until the day I take my last breath.”

  Tears filled her eyes as she muttered, “Gus.”

  “I mean it, Sam. I take care of the people who are important to me, and you’re on the top of that list. I’m just asking for a little time. Can you give me that?”

  “Yes.” She nodded as she leaned towards me and wrapped her arms around my neck, hugging me tightly. “I can give you that.”

  “Good. Now, finish your pizza, ’cause as soon as this movie is over, I’m gonna be wanting another go.” I kissed her on the cheek as I said, “I still can’t get that fucking dress out of my head.”

  She eased back on the bed and smiled. “I think I’m gonna have to get me a few more of those little, black dresses.”

  “If you do, you better be ready to suffer the consequences.”

  “I’m more than ready.”

  When we finished eating, Samantha curled up next to me, and we turned our attention back to the movie we’d been watching. As soon as it was over, we made love again, and by the time I was done with her, she was completely spent and had fallen asleep in my arms.

  After the club’s encounter with the Ravens, we all struggled to come to terms with the loss of one of our brothers and a prospect—especially me. It was my job to keep my boys out of harm’s way, and it gutted me that I’d failed them. Samantha knew something wasn’t right, but she didn’t push. While she was still learning the ins and outs of the club life, she understood that there were things I simply couldn’t, and wouldn’t, share with her.

  Things were just starting to get settled down with the club when Sam mentioned a possible job transfer to Nashville. I’d barely had a chance to wrap my head around the news when her mother had shown up for an unexpected visit. I knew from the moment we’d met that she wasn’t happy about us being together. It wasn’t like she tried to hide the fact, and even though Samantha tried to deny it, I knew it got to her. I wasn’t blind. I could see the worry in her eyes, the wheels turning in her head whenever she was at the clubhouse. Even though Samantha and I were from two different worlds, traveling on two completely different paths, I could also feel the love she felt for me whenever she was in my arms.

  But as I lay there watching her sleep, a thought crossed my mind, causing a knot to twist in my gut. I was a man who had it all. I had my club, my brothers—my family, and I had a woman who I loved like no other. This realization should’ve made me fucking ecstatic, but I knew how things worked. No man could have it all forever, and the same would hold true for me. I didn’t know how and I didn’t when, but the tides of change were coming.

  CHAPTER 6

  Gus

  Twenty-five Ye
ars Later

  I was right about the tides of change. They came with a vengeance, ripping my heart right out of my fucking chest. They carried it so far out to sea, I never thought I’d get it back. Didn’t figure I needed it anyway. Samantha—the only woman I ever truly cared about—walked out on me. Damn. I’d loved that woman like no other. Would’ve moved heaven and earth for her, and all I’d gotten in return was a note left next to my pillow. Even after she’d given me the shaft, I was foolish enough to think she might come back to me. Hell, I waited over a year for Samantha to find her way back to me, but that never happened. I didn’t get so much as a fucking phone call, so I bit the bullet and went to find her on my own. That’s when I discovered that she’d married another—a man who fit into her life in a way that I never could.

  It was a hard hit. I didn’t want to accept the fact that I’d lost her, but I didn’t have a choice. I did the only thing I could. I put Samantha behind me and committed my full focus to my brothers and the club. I continued to build our numbers with men who I could trust and knew would always remain loyal to the brotherhood. In doing so, I managed to build one of the most powerful MCs in the South. While there were those who’d tried to take us down, we still remained on top, and there wasn’t a soul around who didn’t know the Satan’s Fury name and what we represented. Memphis was our territory, and if I had anything to say about it, that would never change.

  Even though I took a great deal of pride in what I had accomplished, I’d always felt like there was something missing in my life. I knew that it was Samantha I was longing for. It hadn’t been easy letting her go. Hell, I’m not sure I ever really did. I’d spent twenty-five years wondering what had gone wrong, but never came up with any real answers. I didn’t want to accept the fact that I’d never see her again, but I wasn’t really given a fucking choice. Then, one day, a young woman came walking into the clubhouse, and I felt like my whole world had been turned upside down—again.

  She was a pretty, little thing. Young with long, dark hair and dark eyes like my own. I’d never met the girl, but there was something oddly familiar about her. Her voice trembled as she asked, “Are you Gus?”

  “I am.” I studied her for a moment, trying to figure out how I might know her, but I just couldn’t put my finger on it. “What can I do for you?”

  “I’m August … August James.” The name didn’t trigger any memory, making me even more curious as to why she’d come to the clubhouse looking for me. “My mother sent me here from Nashville. She said if anyone could help me, it would be you.”

  “And why would she say that?”

  “I have no idea. I was hoping you could answer that.”

  “All right, well … let’s start with her.” She wasn’t giving me much to go on, so I crossed my arms and asked, “Who’s your mother?”

  “Samantha Rayburn.”

  In my gut, I knew exactly who she was talking about, but I had to be sure. “Samantha Rayburn?”

  “I think you knew her by her maiden name. Samantha Travers. She married my father, Denis Rayburn.”

  And there it was. The answer I knew was coming. I couldn’t believe that after all these years, I’d actually hear that name again. I suddenly felt like I’d been hit by a Mack truck, and all those feelings—the anger, the heartache and bitterness—I’d forced myself to suppress, instantly came creeping back. August stood there waiting for some kind of response, but I was rendered speechless. All my words were caught in my throat, and there was nothing I could do but stand there and stare at her. After several moments, she finally asked, “Do you remember her?”

  “Yeah, I remember her,” I answered with an angry tone. I knew it wasn’t fair to her. She wasn’t the one who’d fucked me over, but I just couldn’t seem to get a grip on myself.

  “I’m sorry to come unannounced like this, but I had no other way of reaching you.” Clearly nervous, she shifted her stance as she clenched her fists at her sides. “Mom tried to find it, but she didn’t have your number.”

  “Yeah. I’m guessing she lost it a long time ago.” As I stood there looking at her, an unbelievable thought crossed my mind. I’m not even sure what made me consider it, but I found myself asking, “I’m just curious. How old are you?”

  “I’m twenty-four.”

  “Hmm.” I could feel my temperature rising as the pieces started to fit together. Even though I already knew the answer, I asked, “When were you born?”

  “April of ’95.” Her eyes narrowed as she asked, “Why?”

  A little basic math, and it all became crystal clear. Fuck me. It was hard to even look at her. I thought I’d felt betrayed when Samantha had left with no real explanation, but finding out that I had a daughter I never knew about was a betrayal like none other. “She wouldn’t … Damn it!”

  Surprised by my reaction, August asked, “Am I missing something here? Did I say something wrong?”

  If it wasn’t actually happening right there in front of me, I wouldn’t have believed it, but it was clear from her expression that she was clueless as to why I was so upset. “You don’t know?”

  “I have no idea what you’re talking about, so apparently not.”

  “Of course, she didn’t.” Not only had she kept the truth from me, she’d kept the truth from our daughter. “Damn it all to hell.”

  I needed a minute to collect myself before I did or said something I regretted, so I stormed out of the bar and into the parking lot. I inhaled a deep breath and tried to calm myself down, but I was too fucking angry. I felt like I was about to explode. I wanted to break something. I wanted to wrap my fingers around someone’s neck and choke them, make them suffer the pain I was feeling at that moment. It was all too much. My daughter was grown. I wasn’t there the day she was born. I didn’t get to see her take her first steps, lose her first tooth, or even go out on her first fucking date. I’d missed it—all of it. I wanted to know why. I wanted to know what I’d done to deserve this kind of betrayal. There was only one person who could answer those questions, and she wasn’t there to answer them.

  Having no other choice, I swallowed back my anger, my pride, and I went back into the bar. I walked straight over to August and said, “I need you to tell me. Why did Samantha send you here?”

  “I’m really sorry if I said something to upset you. I didn’t mean to say the wrong thing or …”

  “No. It’s not anything you did, August.” I hated that I’d upset her. None of this was her fault, but that didn’t change the fact that I wanted to know what was going on. “Now, I need you to answer the question.”

  “Because there is no one else who can help me.” Tears filled her eyes as she continued, “My daughter, Harper, is missing. She disappeared three days ago.”

  I’d never been a man who liked surprises. I surrounded myself with people who made sure I always knew what was coming. But this? Hell no. I didn’t have a clue about any of it. I had no idea that I had a daughter, much less a granddaughter, and discovering that Samantha sent August to me to help find her daughter, Harper—my granddaughter—was like adding salt to the wound. I couldn’t understand why she would’ve kept August away from me for all those years only to send her to me when trouble had come knocking at her door. I couldn’t understand why I never got the chance to be there for the good fucking times, too, but that was a question that would have to wait for another day. My granddaughter was in danger, and now that I actually knew that she even existed, I would be damned if I was going to let anything happen to her.

  August went on to tell me all the details about how Harper had been taken from her daycare three days ago. The police hadn’t been able to locate her, and she was becoming desperate. “Have you or your husband gotten any notes or phone calls about a ransom?”

  “Ex-husband, and no. At least, I haven’t. I have no idea about David.” A look of disgust crossed her face as she said, “My ex-husband has been putting on a good front, talking to the media and pretending to be distraught over his daugh
ter’s disappearance, but honestly, I think it’s just for show.”

  “What makes you say that?”

  “Because I know David. He’d just as soon tell a lie than the truth, and he’s pretty damn good at it too. That’s why he’s always made such a great politician.”

  “Wait. David James, as in David James the mayor of Nashville? That’s your ex-husband?”

  “That would be him.”

  “Damn.” Other than what I’d seen on TV, I didn’t know much about the guy. From what I could tell, he seemed to be in his mid-forties, so I asked, “He’s a good bit older than you, right?”

  “Yes. Seventeen years older to be exact.”

  There was something in her tone that made me think she was more than just a little suspicious of him, so I asked, “You think he’s the one who took her?”

  “No, but I think he might know who did.”

  We talked a little longer, and she told me everything I’d need to know to find Harper. Even though the timing wasn’t great with our big run coming up, I assured her that I would do what I could to find Harper. I asked Gunner to take her down to one of the rooms, but before he did, I had to ask, “Your mother? She live in Nashville too?”

  “Yeah. She’s still in the same house where I grew up. It’s about twenty minutes from me.”

  “Has she been doing okay?”

  “I guess. For the most part anyway … she’s worried sick about Harper, but she’s holding it together.”

  I was still pretty fucked up about finding out that she’d kept August from me, but I hadn’t heard anything from her in years. Since she never came back, I could only assume that she’d felt she’d made the right decision when she left. Curious to know if it had all been worth it, I asked, “Is she happy?”