Alex Read online

  Evernight Publishing ®

  www.evernightpublishing.com

  Copyright© 2015 Sam Crescent

  ISBN: 978-1-77233-283-4

  Cover Artist: Sour Cherry Designs

  Editor: Karyn White

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

  WARNING: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. No part of this book may be used or reproduced electronically or in print without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in reviews.

  This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, and places are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  DEDICATION

  I want to thank my readers for their continued support of The Skulls. I know Alex is not everyone's favorite and I have to say, he wasn't mine to start with but he's won his place in my heart along with all of my Skull men.

  I also want to thank my amazing editor Karyn. She has been truly wonderful and supportive through this whole series. Evernight Publishing has to be mentioned for giving The Skulls a home and being such an amazing publisher.

  Thank you all so much.

  ALEX

  The Skulls, 11

  Sam Crescent

  Copyright © 2015

  Prologue

  Ten years ago

  “You’re the one responsible for her death, Alex, no one else. He’s hunting the bastard down right now. You can’t stop him,” Ben said, pointing at the computer screen of the security footage.

  Alex rubbed his temples. He was getting a headache, and seeing the shit he was seeing wasn’t doing him any favors. For the last couple of months he’d been preoccupied with crap with Tiny. His sister was dead, and The Skulls were doing great with Ned Walker using them to distribute the drugs. There was a lot on his plate right now with the casino, and he just needed a break. The last thing he wanted to deal with was Preston Cooper’s sister and her murder, which was in his fucking casino hotel. He didn’t want to work with Preston in the first place. The bastard was a racist fucker with views on life and people that Alex didn’t share.

  “Please, tell me why the security didn’t stop this?” Alex asked, fuming at Ben. He hired staff to get shit done, not sit on their asses.

  Thinking about his sister, Patricia, Alex felt a wave of guilt slam into him. For a split second after discovering the news of her death, he’d been relieved. He didn’t have to worry about her anymore or listen to her long-winded conversations where she complained all the time about Tiny and the club. From the moment Patricia married Tiny, she’d done nothing but complain. There was only so much he could put up with, even for Tiny. Alex couldn’t even believe that he was thinking that. It was his sister. He should be mourning her death, yet all he felt was damned happy she was gone.

  No one knew the truth, of course. He stayed away from Fort Wills, living in Vegas doing what he loved the most, working. It had been months since he’d last seen Tate and the club. Over the years Alex had found it easier to stay away than deal with the club.

  “Get this shit handled and make sure that tape is fucking destroyed.” Alex stormed out of Ben’s office, going toward the room he kept for himself. When he entered he saw the lawyer he’d fucked last night was still naked in his bed. “What the fuck are you still doing here?”

  He liked to fuck available women who knew the score. There was no wife in his future. The only women he wanted in his bed were the kind that didn’t mind becoming a whore. The lawyer was a ball breaker in the court room, but the moment he got her on her knees with his dick in her mouth, she was as a big a whore as the rest of them.

  Alex went straight for his whiskey, pouring himself a large glass before staring out of the window.

  “I didn’t know if you’d want me waiting around for you?”

  What the fuck was her name? He couldn’t even remember it. It wasn’t his business to remember bitches’ names.

  “Get the fuck out of my place.” He took another large sip, thinking about Preston Cooper. The man was a tough nut and completely devoted to his sister. All he’d asked was for Alex to keep any eye on her, which he’d resented. His own sister was dead, and now he had to look after another one. Alex was killing women, left, right, and center right now. Preston’s sister was a slut to the core. He’d tried to reel her shit in, but what did the bitch go and do? Tease and torment a fucking client. When Preston first told him about Natalie, Alex had believed she was a sweet little angel. She wasn’t. The fucking whore had been trouble from the start. She’d scoured the casino looking for clients, begging them to fuck her, and then demanding payment. The woman had issues, huge fucking issues. She’d tried to blackmail Alex, but he’d soon put her in her place.

  “You can be a cold, hard bastard, Alex.”

  “I don’t see you moving your ass fast enough. I didn’t say I wanted you here, did I?” He yelled the last part so that she got the message.

  “You better find yourself another lawyer.”

  “Don’t worry, babe, I will. There are always plenty of women to suck dick and do as they’re told. Women like you are a fucking dime a dozen.” He reached out, grabbing her arm, marching her toward the door.

  “What are you doing? Get your hands off me.”

  “Take the trash out, boys,” Alex said to the two men on guard at his door.

  He slammed the door shut as the lawyer started hurling abuse.

  Taking a seat, he poured himself another whiskey. He needed to think. Preston was going to be calling him, and he needed to figure out what he was going to tell him.

  Minutes passed, he didn’t know how long, but a knock suddenly sounded on his door.

  “Who is it?” Alex asked.

  “Ned.”

  Groaning, Alex got to his feet. No one pissed off Ned Walker. Preston was an asshole and could hurt you, but Ned would peel the skin off you while you were alive to feel every second of pain.

  “You’re in a shitload of trouble,” Ned said, walking inside.

  “Hi, Alex, it’s a pleasure to see you. Thanks for distributing all that shit through The Skulls. I don’t know what I’d do without you,” Alex said, dripping each word with sarcasm.

  “Oh, you think I should thank you. I could make a deal with Tiny without you. Don’t fucking start with me, boy.” Ned put his hands on his hips. “So, one of my fighters killed Preston’s sister.”

  “It would appear that way.”

  “She offered something, and the bitch tried to steal from him.”

  “I don’t care. He’s got to hand himself in or Preston’s going to find him.”

  Ned shook his head. “He’s one of my boys, and he’s a damn good fighter.”

  “I know. I saw the footage.” Alex cocked his head to the side. “Wait, he couldn’t have been that good. The only damage he did was ruin one of my elevators with a girl’s blood.” He paid good money to a cleaning crew to bring the elevator back up to standard.

  “I’ve got news for you. My boy is not going down for this. You destroy that tape and anyone who knows anything about him being there.”

  “What’s the boy’s name again?” Alex asked. He knew. Sully was the fighter’s name, and he was a big fuck of a man that no one messed with.

  “Don’t fuck with me, Alex.”

  “You can’t kill me.” Alex started laughing. “You fucking need me.”

  Silence stretched out between them.

  Ned broke it with a laugh. “You’ve got some fucking nerve, boy. I don’t need you. I fucking own you and this damn casino.” He took a step closer. “You think you got all the power here, but you don’t. I’m the one with the power. I’ll kill you the moment you think you’re ahead of me.”

  Alex glared at him for a
long time. He didn’t want to start something he wasn’t yet prepared to finish. There were many reasons he didn’t want to finish it. He happened to like Ned a lot. The man had a moral code which he abided by. No one fucked with his family and especially his daughter, Eva.

  “You will handle this and make sure it stays handled,” Ned said. “I don’t want my boy paying for a spoilt little slut.”

  “He won’t.”

  Ned stared at him for several minutes. Alex, for the first time in his life, felt like a bug under a microscope. “You’re really a cold hearted bastard, aren’t you?”

  Alex shrugged. “Someone has got to get the job done.” The truth was Alex had never really cared about anything at all. He’d loved his sister before she married Tiny and become a nagging bitch, and he also cared about Tiny. The Skulls meant everything to Alex, but he tried not to think about that. He couldn’t allow himself to care even the slightest or show anyone that he cared. Did he really love anything anymore? It had been so long since Alex had thought about anything he loved. Tiny was the brother he never had, but again, was it really love? He’d never had anything he needed to really care about. There was nothing in this world worth fighting for. He’d seen other couples fight, make up, fight again, and been oddly unaffected by the shit going on.

  “Be careful, Alex. One day you’re going to have a lot of regrets. The shit you’ve done, it’s going to eat away at you like a disease.”

  “You ever done shit you regret?”

  “Lots, but the biggest thing was putting a bullet in Eva’s mother. The whore was a waste of time, but Eva deserved the chance to know her.” Ned stared down at the floor. “We’ve got to live with this shit. There’s no going back for men like us.”

  Alex didn’t say anything. He watched Ned leave, knowing he had a lot to do. There were already a lot of regrets in Alex’s life, but he couldn’t afford to think about everything he’d lost. His life was never going to be complicated with a woman he loved or kids. There were never going to be any kids in his life. He fucking hated the little shits, or that’s what he told himself to make life easier for him.

  No, his life was going to be fine. So long as he stayed in Vegas, nothing could touch him.

  Chapter One

  He should have stayed in Vegas.

  Alex groaned, opening his eyes to the bright sunshine coming in through the windows. Pulling his hand up to his face, he saw there was a long tube going into his hand.

  “Don’t touch it,” Sandy said.

  Standing by his bed was Sandy, the doctor and one-time club whore to The Skulls. She’d not been fucking any of the brothers in a long time. He didn’t know why not, and to be honest, he didn’t fucking care.

  “What the fuck happened?” he asked. The last thing he remembered was Preston Cooper. He’d thought that asshole was dead or at least unable to come back to haunt him.

  “You don’t remember?” Sandy leaned on the metal bar. She wore a white jacket and a pair of glasses, looking sexy as fuck.

  “I remember.”

  “Sandy, leave,” Tiny said, drawing both of their attention to the door and Alex’s sudden new visitor.

  She didn’t argue, simply walked out the door without a care in the world. That was the kind of thing people did in Tiny’s presence, they obeyed.

  Tiny closed the door. Alex’s best friend, his former brother-in-law, moved beside his bed.

  “What happened?”

  “Sunshine’s dad came to check on her when she wouldn’t answer her cell. You’ve been here since Christmas Eve. I came down as soon as I got the call. Some of the brothers are here to make sure you’re okay.”

  He doubted it. Alex closed his eyes. Pulling the blanket away, he lifted up the covers to see a large bandage that had been taped across his stomach.

  “You died for a few minutes on the table from the blood loss.” Tiny stared at Alex’s stomach. “What the fuck happened?”

  “It’s none of your business.”

  “Yeah, this shit is my business because I’ve just heard a lot of shit I shouldn’t be hearing. You bought Sunshine from her father.”

  Alex rubbed at his temples. This day couldn’t get any worse. “What day is it?”

  “I’m not telling you what the fucking day is until you start answering my bastard questions.” Tiny’s voice rose, echoing off the walls.

  “The stuff between Sunshine and her father is my business. It’s not The Skulls’.”

  “You dealt your business in my town, Alex.”

  “Your town? Who exactly got you in a position to call it your town?”

  “You may have gotten the money for us and helped, but this is not your fucking town. It never will be your town, Alex. Don’t even try to make out this doesn’t involve the club. It does. We don’t buy women here. Do you even remember the fucking shit Gonzalez put us through?”

  “I’m not that fucking old,” Alex said, yelling. “I remember everything, okay? I remember Butch betraying the club. I remember my son being at risk. I remember it all.” He should have stayed in Vegas. “Do you see me putting Sunshine up for sale? Do you see me giving her to other men? I bought her to help her family out. This has nothing to do with you. It’s all on me. Stop always thinking the worst about me.” He pressed a hand to his chest, angry that Tiny had found out the truth.

  Tiny shook his head. “The club doesn’t buy women.”

  “You bought Angel.”

  “We saved her from her father. She’s an old lady now, Alex. Watch it. Otherwise I will fucking kill you.” Tiny’s voice was low and threatening. “Don’t think our past has clouded my judgment. This,” he pointed at the bed, “has been the wakeup call I needed from you.”

  “What is that supposed to mean?” Alex asked.

  “You don’t think I see the shit going down in my club? I do. I know what pissed Devil off so much and what has the boys worried. Our alliance, and I don’t mean the club’s with you, I mean our alliance.”

  Alex let out a sigh. “What are you trying to say?”

  “The very fact that you bought Sunshine without consulting the club lets me know you don’t give a shit. We’re not the first thought for you, and that’s all you should be thinking about.”

  “What the fuck, Tiny?”

  “You’re not on your own. The moment you came to Fort Wills, wore the cut, you became one of us. There’s no getting away from that. The club is going to be taking things from here.” Tiny stared down at him.

  “You can’t do that.”

  “Yes, I can. I’m the fucking president of The Skulls. You may have forgotten that fact, but you’re mistaken if you think you control the club.” Tiny tapped his fingers on the bed, glaring at him. “Sunshine is now club property until this mess is over.”

  “You don’t have a clue what you’re up against,” Alex said, laughing. “There’s no way you can protect her.”

  Tiny tilted his head to the side, glaring at him. “Neither can you. She almost died, Alex. You were not there to protect her. There was no way for you to protect yourself. You’re not going to be coming out of this alive.”

  Alex shook his head. In his mind all he saw was Sunshine on the floor, dying. He’d been unable to protect her, failed at protecting his woman.

  “You’re not taking her away from me.” He wouldn’t let Tiny or the club do this.

  “It’s already a done deal. I’ve spoken with her father. The deal you had, it’s now the club’s. You’ll follow orders, Alex, or you’ll wind up like the rest of our enemies.”

  “You couldn’t kill me. I’m your brother-in-law.” Alex didn’t want to die. He didn’t have a death wish. Preston was going to die. Alex would make sure of it, but it would have to involve smarts. He wasn’t some guy who didn’t know how the world worked. Preston knew he had enemies. When Alex had been in Vegas, he knew he had enemies, but instead of remembering his past, he’d come to Fort Wills to forget about it and tried to carve out a piece of happiness for himself.
/>   “No, Alex, you’re not my brother-in-law. You were my friend. Patricia is long dead, and last time I checked, you were not Eva’s brother. She’s my woman. She’s my soul mate. Be careful how far you reach here, as otherwise you will end up dead.” Tiny gave him one last long look before turning away and making his way out of the room.

  Sandy walked back into the hospital room. She didn’t look at him as she checked over the machines.

  “I’m sorry,” Alex said.

  “What for? I’ve heard the guys talking at the club about everything you’ve done, what you’ve meddled in. The list is endless.” She stopped, biting her lip. “I’ve got nothing to say to you.” She grabbed his chart, looking through the papers. “You’re fine, all bandaged up. They’ll let you go in a couple of days.”

  She headed toward the door, but he knew the moment she left, he wouldn’t find out about Sunshine. Sandy could think whatever she wanted to about him. He didn’t care.

  “Wait, please.”

  Sandy paused at the door.

  “Go and check on Sunshine,” Alex said.

  “Why?”

  “She’s innocent of all of this. Please, for me.”

  “That’s not a reason to do as you ask.” Sandy glared at him over her shoulder.

  “I couldn’t save her. I tried. Please, I just need to know that she’s okay.” He sat up, ignoring the blistering pain that was working its way up his body. When it came to Sunshine he’d walk through hot coals to get to her. Nothing was going to keep him away from Sunshine. She had to be okay. He wouldn’t settle for anything less.

  “You’ve got to stop,” she said, standing by his bed. Sandy placed a hand on his shoulder. “I’ll go and check on her, but you’ve got to stay put. I know you and Tiny are arguing, but doctor’s orders say you stay, right?”