Alex Read online

  Chuckling, he climbed out of the car as Adam and Fighter rode into the parking lot.

  “Fuck me, it’s cold,” Adam said.

  Fighter didn’t say a word as he climbed off his bike.

  “Fighter, I need you at Rose’s place. Ink’s taking over from you,” Tiny said, calling from the doorway. Fighter didn’t even argue. He placed his helmet on, straddling his bike, and making his way out of the clubhouse parking lot. Turning around, Alex saw Tiny was waiting for him with his arms folded.

  “Is it me, or does he look pissed?” Adam asked.

  “Don’t worry. He’s pissed at me, not you.”

  “I wouldn’t want to be in your shoes right now.” Adam slapped him on the back, making his way toward the clubhouse. Rounding the car, Alex helped Sunshine out of the vehicle.

  “Are you okay?” she asked. The trust in her eyes never failed to take his breath away.

  “Yeah, I’m fine.” He took hold of her hand leading her toward the clubhouse. Tiny had his arms folded, glaring at him.

  “You should have left her back at your house,” Tiny said.

  “Where I go, she goes.”

  “You’ve got a madman chasing after you, and you think now is the time to start this little shit you’ve got going.”

  “Tiny, we can do this all day. I’m sorry I fucked up. It was never my intention to put the club at risk.”

  “I don’t give a fuck what you’ve got to say right now. I’ve got brothers who are pissed that Butch and Cheryl have left for Vegas. Gash took them to the airport in the middle of the night. I didn’t want them to risk getting hurt with this guy we know fuck all about.” His son was gone and safe, and that was all that mattered. “They want you out of the club.”

  “Then vote on it, Tiny. Vote on it and finally get my ass out of your club. I’m tired of this shit. One moment I’m in, the next I’m out. Tell me what it’s going to be for a change.” He didn’t raise his voice. Alex had learned long ago that staying in control meant you survived. He was growing tired of everything that was happening around him.

  “Eva’s pregnant.”

  There was the problem. Tiny was scared for his woman and family. It was understandable. Alex had been looking over Tiny for a long fucking time.

  “Congratulations,” he said.

  “No, not congratulations.”

  “What then, huh, Tiny? Sorry you couldn’t keep your dick out of her? When are you going to grow the fuck up?” He started to lose his temper, which wasn’t something he’d ever done.

  “Alex,” Sunshine said, pressing her palm against his chest.

  Staring into her concerned brown eyes, he finally got his shit under control. Tiny didn’t know how great he fucking had it. He had children, a club, a family, and he didn’t know what fucking sacrifices there were to be made in creating this kind of safe haven. No, Tiny didn’t know shit about everything.

  “I’m not in the mood to start this shit with you. Eva being pregnant, congratulations, buddy. You’re a wonderful father, and you know it. Another kid or two into the mix will be great for the club. Can we just deal with the business that keeps the club out of danger?”

  “Sure.”

  Entering the clubhouse, Alex kept hold of Sunshine’s hand. All of the guys were present and their women. The kids were running around the clubhouse with Angel and Eva trying to keep up with them. The men were encouraging the kids. Something painful hit Alex in the gut at the sight of the family. This was what he did. This was what he helped to create for Tiny and the club.

  “She can’t come through,” Tiny said.

  “Are you good to stay here?” he asked.

  Eva came over. She pulled him in for a hug. “Are you okay?”

  “Yeah, will you keep an eye on Sunshine for me?”

  “Sure.”

  Angel approached with Anthony on her hip. “Is everything okay?”

  “Yeah. Angel, meet Sunshine. Sunshine, meet Angel. She’s Lash’s old lady.” Sunshine shook her hand, smiling. Pulling her in close, Alex pressed a kiss to her temple. “I’ll be back soon.”

  He walked away from her, hoping the women in the club wouldn’t do anything to scare her off. Entering Tiny’s office he saw Whizz, Lash, and Ned were already inside.

  “This not going to be a club meeting?” he asked.

  “We’re not getting the club involved until we know for sure the kind of shit is going on.” Tiny leaned against his desk.

  Glancing over at Ned, he saw the older man shrug. Great, no one was going to tell him squat.

  “I take it with Whizz being in the room, we’re good to assume he found something,” Alex said.

  He needed to get Preston taken care of.

  “Yeah, we’re all doing okay, thank you for asking,” Whizz said, standing up. Over a year ago Whizz was taken, raped, and tortured by a madman from Zero’s past. The scars of that torture were on display, and until recently it had made Whizz a shell of his former self, until Lacey.

  “Look, if you want me to start talking shit asking how you’ve all been then I’ll do that. I’ll waste your fucking time. I figured you’d be wanting to take Lacey on a honeymoon at some point to celebrate the fact you are fucking married,” Alex said.

  “Everyone needs to calm the fuck down,” Lash said, speaking up. “We’re all a little tense right now. We’ve dealt with madmen, murderers, druggies, rapists, even vengeful fucking biker clubs. I know everything we’ve been through. We’ve had a shitload of chaos thrown our way. We’ve lost our friendship with Devil and the Chaos Bleeds crew. I get that we’re all dealing with shit right now. Things were going great, and now, Preston, he’s showed up and it could blow up in all of our faces.” Lash stopped, running a hand down his face. “This is no different than any other time we’ve faced a bad guy. The only difference is this guy, he’s not gunning for the club. He’s gunning for you. We don’t know what this means for all of us.”

  Alex saw why Tiny had picked Lash to take over from the gavel. When he spoke, everyone sat and listened, even Ned, who wasn’t part of the club.

  “We’ve all got our differences with you, Alex. I’m not going to lie. I’ve got some pretty big issues with you myself. You’ve come to the club, and shit has turned sour. I’ve lost a brother who I thought I could trust. Butch’s loss is going to be felt by everyone, and you kept that decision to use him between you and Tiny. It should have been a club decision, but it wasn’t. Butch is to blame, but the fact is, you’re not exactly popular. That being said, you’re still a club brother, and we’ve got to put all of our differences aside and take this bastard down.”

  All the men in the room agreed.

  “Now, Whizz, talk.”

  “Preston Cooper died over ten years ago. His death was confirmed with dental records et cetera. There’s a body in Alaska confirming that, which I imagine is everything you were told.” Alex nodded, not seeing the point in speaking. “I found the guy who ran the confirmation of death, and this is who came up, Ryan Acton.” Whizz placed the file on the desk. “I can’t get anything on Preston Cooper, but it was strange. Ryan Acton had lived in Alaska all of his life. He never went anywhere or did anything. He was a complete nobody, until ten years ago, when he started to travel.” Whizz pulled out two pieces of identity. “Preston stole the man’s identity, changed everything. He must have known someone who could hack records because this was great work. The guy we’re looking for is called Ryan Acton, not Preston Cooper.”

  “So, what’s the problem?”

  “There isn’t a problem other than the fact I can’t get anything from Ryan recently. It was like six months ago, he vanished,” Whizz said.

  “Huh?” Alex was confused.

  “Preston is no longer living by Ryan’s identity. He’s got someone else who we don’t know, or he’s not using credit cards and ways to be traced. I can’t find Preston Cooper unless I find what happened to make him fall off the map six months ago. There’s only so much I can do.”

&
nbsp; “So what you’re saying is, we’re fucked until Preston makes his move,” Alex said.

  “Unless you can give me shit that goes deeper than the whole white power crap, I can’t give you anything. This is where the computer genius stops. I’ve got the files. You can look over them, but unless you can give me a clue to what Preston’s been involved in, I can’t help you.” Whizz handed the file over.

  Alex took it, flicking it open. He had nothing. Preston wasn’t a man he knew.

  ****

  “So, you’re with Alex now?” Eva asked. Sunshine watched as she opened the fridge up taking out several items. She spotted meat, cheese, butter, and mustard.

  “I guess. At least, I think I am.” Sunshine sat down at the table, watching her. She didn’t know what to do, but she hated just doing nothing.

  “Is it me or are we always meeting up here?” A woman with purple hair entered the kitchen.

  “Hey, Lacey. This is Sunshine.”

  “The girl who was stabbed at Alex’s place?” Lacey grabbed a soda out of the fridge before turning to face her. Sunshine saw ink covered her arms that were visible in the short shirt she wore. “Wow, I didn’t even know Alex had a heart.”

  “He doesn’t for the most part,” Eva said, smiling.

  Sunshine hated listening to them talk about Alex like this. None of them understood him, and even she didn’t completely understand him. There was a lot more to him than being a man without a heart.

  “The kids are starving,” Angel said, entering. A heavily pregnant woman followed behind.

  “Screw the kids, I’m hungry. I could probably eat one of them.”

  “Kids come first, Tate,” Eva said.

  Tate sat beside Sunshine. “And who are you?”

  Where were all these women coming from?

  “She’s Alex’s woman.”

  “No shit. You’re going to be Alex’s old lady? Has he made it official?” Tate leaned in close, charging questions at her.

  “Erm, I don’t know.”

  “Sophia, pass over the plate.” Another woman entered, this time with a man close behind her.

  “Here you go,” Sophia said.

  “I need to feed my woman, Eva.”

  “I’ll get to her, Nash. I get it, everyone needs to have something to eat,” Eva said.

  “Pass me a plate. I’ll start buttering,” Angel said.

  Sunshine was looking left and right. The kitchen had gone from being quiet to complete chaos within seconds.

  “Rachel, baby, you hungry?” Sophia asked. Glancing down, Sunshine saw a little girl walking in carrying a teddy bear.

  “It takes a little getting used to,” Lacey said, taking a seat. “They’re everywhere. You don’t need to try to catch up.”

  Sunshine smiled, not knowing what to say.

  “You’re completely out of your depth?” Lacey asked.

  “I was an only child. I’m afraid crowds have never really been my strong suit.”

  “Well, it’s all in the memory of it.” Lacey leaned close. “First, I’m Lacey, and I’m married to the best looking man in the club, Whizz. I’ll show you him when he comes out of his little meeting.” She turned to where Eva was sitting. “Eva’s there, and she’s married to Tiny. He’s the president of the club. They’re like Mommy and Daddy to the club. She’s Tate’s stepmom but mother to Tabitha and Miles.” Lacey pointed through the door. “You can see them right there, look.”

  Glancing through the door Sunshine saw two kids that looked similar in appearance. They were adorable.

  “Now, that’s Angel, and you’ve seen Anthony, I’m sure. She’s married to Lash. Do not, and I mean this, do not ever say anything bad to Angel in front of Lash. He will hit the roof.”

  “He’s not that bad,” Angel said.

  “Excuse me, he’s bad and worse.” Lacey turned around pointing at Sophia. “That’s Sophia. She’s Nash’s girl, as you can see, and they’ve got a little girl, Rachel. She’s also expecting again.” Sophia held her hand up giving a little wave.

  “I think I should do some kind of dance,” Nash said.

  “Let’s see, oh, there’s Killer. Don’t worry about him, even though he’s a mean ass fucker to anyone he doesn’t like. Be nice to Kelsey, and you’re even. That’s their son there, Markus. He’s a real sweetheart.”

  “Do you have any kids?” Sunshine asked.

  Glancing over at Lacey she saw how pale the other woman became, and Sunshine felt the silence in the kitchen.

  “I can’t have kids.”

  “Oh, crap, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to bring up any bad crap. This is why I don’t get out much.” Sunshine was tripping over her words, unable to find the right thing to say.

  Lacey placed a hand on her arm. “Don’t worry about it, honey. We’re all dealing with our demons.”

  “I’m really sorry for talking.”

  “Don’t worry about it. You can’t expect to know everything that is going on in the world of The Skulls. Right, moving on, there is Zero and Prudence. They’re the strangest couple and yet the funniest couple of them all.”

  “My man, Murphy, is there by the door, talking with Baker,” Tate said.

  “I think that’s it for married couples.”

  “Wait, you forgot Blaine and Emily. They’ll be at the clubhouse soon. They’ve taken Darcy into town for the day,” Angel said speaking up.

  “You’re all a close knit group.” Sunshine was sticking out like a sore thumb. Was this why Alex felt the way he did?

  “Yep. We’re all a family,” Eva said.

  She got that. They were all a family, and no one was allowed to mess with them.

  “Are you with Alex?” Nash asked.

  “Erm, I don’t actually know what you’d call it. I wouldn’t put a label on anything right now.” She locked her fingers together, wishing there was something she could say to stop them looking at her.

  “Sunshine, it’s great to see you,” Sandy said, entering the kitchen. Looking toward the other woman, Sunshine spotted Stink following in behind her. The kitchen went silent again. “How’s the wound?”

  “Fine, everything is completely fine. Nothing is wrong,” Sunshine said.

  “She’s with Alex.” Eva spoke up.

  “I know. I saw the way he looked at her at the hospital. What? Am I the only one who saw the truth when I looked at those two?” Sandy asked. “I refuse to believe it. Where is Alex anyway?”

  “In a meeting.” Eva clapped her hands together. “So, I’ve got an announcement, and I may as well tell you now because it’s going to come out sooner rather than later. I’m pregnant again.”

  The kitchen erupted in congratulations. Sunshine moved away from everyone as they started hugging and congratulating Eva. She smiled, part of her wishing that she could be part of that. She’d never had anything like this in her life. Crossing her arms over her chest, she watched everyone, smiling as they pulled Eva into their arms.

  “Hey, are you okay?” Alex asked, moving up behind her.

  She turned, happy to see him. “Hey.”

  “They found out about the baby?”

  “Yes. She just announced it.”

  “Hey, Uncle Alex,” Tabitha said, pulling on his pant leg.

  Sunshine smiled down at the beautiful girl.

  “Tabitha, one of my favorite girls.” He lifted her up into his arms. “How are you doing?”

  “Fine.”

  Sunshine watched as he rested Tabitha on his hip as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

  “Oh, Alex, that reminds me. On Monday can you have Tabitha and Miles?” Eva asked. “Everyone is busy and you’ve got a couple of prospects with you, and I want the kids to be safe.”

  “Yeah, sure. You know I love to have them. Bring them by the house,” Alex said. He may be a target, but he was also the one with two prospects hanging around him.

  “Great.” Eva took Tabitha from him, and placed her at the table.

  “Are you
ready to get out of here?” Alex asked.

  “Yes.” Sunshine was more than ready to have some sanity on the situation.

  “Come on.” He took her hand, leading her out of the clubhouse. She didn’t mind leaving them all behind as none of them turned to say goodbye to Alex or even took the time to greet him. “I was thinking we could stop by and grab some lunch. Would you like that?”

  “Yeah, can we stop by my parents’ place? I want to pick up some changes of clothes.”

  “Sure thing.”

  She climbed into the car, waiting as he pulled out of the parking lot.

  Tapping her hands on her thighs, she smiled over at him. “So the club, fun, right,” she said.

  “It’ll grow on you.”

  “Grow on me? I was wondering about you.”

  “What about me?”

  “Not one of them gave you the time of day. Why is it a family when they turn their back on you?”

  She saw Alex swallow, and the sound filled the car. “A lot of shit has happened over the years. It changes everyone.”

  “I was hoping to meet Michael. You’ve told me about him.”

  “Michael is in Vegas with his mother and stepfather.” She saw him grip the steering wheel a little tighter.

  “You’re in pain,” she said.

  He looked toward her, forcing a laugh. She could tell it was forced. “No, you’ve got it all wrong. I’m very happy.”

  Staring at him, tears filled Sunshine’s eyes. How many times had he pretended to be happy? Did anyone in the club really look at Alex?

  “Okay.” She wasn’t going to push him right now. It would only hurt him more. “So, we’re taking care of the twins? Lacey gave me a quick rundown of all the people in the club. Don’t you think that’s dangerous?”

  “Tabitha and Miles are great kids. They can be a handful, and they like their food. I like to help out where I can. Eva’s only asked me because everyone else is busy. We’re going to have a couple of prospects around our house, so it’s going to be as secure as it can be. You’re going to love the twins.” He started laughing, showing the difference to his earlier laugh. This one was natural while the other had been fake. “I tell you, they crack me up. Tabitha’s going to be a real ball-breaker when she’s older. Miles, I really don’t know about him. Tiny’s going to have his hands full.”