Alex Read online

  “Right.”

  “I’ve had enough of men who think they rule the world. Pissing me the fuck off,” Sandy said, muttering all the way out of the room. Alex stayed on the bed, listening to the sound of the hospital. Doctors passing by his door, nurses rushing to and fro were all the sounds to be heard. Patients complained outside his room.

  Closing his eyes, he rubbed at his temples, wondering what the hell he was to do.

  “Go on in,” Cheryl said.

  Great, the bitch from hell has turned up. Opening his eyes, he saw Michael, his son, walking into the room. The sight of his son was enough to put a smile on his face. He loved his little boy.

  “Hey, Dad,” Michael said.

  Looking over at Cheryl he saw Butch was standing behind her. “I thought you were supposed to be in Vegas,” Alex said.

  Cheryl tensed. “We will be. I figured you’d want to see your son before we go.”

  Gritting his teeth, he nodded. His son meant the world to him. There was a time when he wouldn’t have ever thought of having a son. For men like him, sons and family were a weakness others could hurt to take charge of a situation. The moment he realized Michael was his, he’d wanted to take him, to protect him. From the first look at his little boy, Alex was hit with a wave of fear and shame. Throughout the whole of his life, Alex hadn’t cared about anyone. He did what he wanted, uncaring of the consequences of his actions.

  “Hey, son, how was Christmas?”

  “You weren’t there. I called you, and you didn’t answer. I know why. I missed you.”

  Licking his dry lips, Alex nodded. “Did you get the presents I got for you? I put them underneath the tree before I left. You know I’d never leave you without. You’re my best boy.” His only boy.

  “I got everything.” Michael stopped toward the bed, looking at Alex’s hand. Reaching out, Alex lifted his palm up.

  “Come here, son.” He held his arms open, waiting for Michael to rush into them. Alex was shocked when Michael ran into his arms, holding him tight.

  “I didn’t want you to die.”

  You’re the only one.

  Cheryl nodded at him, grabbing Butch on the way out of the room. If he didn’t see those two again, it still wouldn’t be a day too soon. He hated Cheryl and despised Butch, but loved his son.

  “I don’t want to die either.” He tapped the bed for Michael to climb up. “Come on then, how was Christmas? Did Santa bring you lots of presents?”

  Michael nodded. The sad look on his face upset Alex. “What’s the matter?

  “You could have died, and I wasn’t very nice to you.” Michael’s eyes became red, teary. “I wasn’t nice.”

  Alex’s stomach flipped. “Michael.”

  “I told you I hated you, and I don’t, Daddy. I don’t hate you, and I don’t want you to die.” Before Alex could react, Michael threw himself into his arms. The only thing he could do was hold onto his son. He wasn’t used to this feeling. For so long he’d been the pain in everyone’s side. Now, his son was making it impossible to want to die in peace.

  “I’m not going anywhere.” He couldn’t go anywhere. There was a lot more to live for now.

  Closing his eyes, he inhaled the fresh scent of his son. Five years ago he’d fucked Cheryl for a weekend, taking her virginity, and giving her their son. Michael was the only good thing to come out of that arrangement.

  “Now, you’re going to tell me exactly what Santa gave you for Christmas before your mother and Butch get back here.”

  “I don’t want to go to Vegas.”

  Alex paused once again. “What?”

  “I don’t want to go, Dad. I heard them talking about a move. How it’s important. I don’t want to go. I want to stay here, with you. I like it here. I love the club. I love being with my friends. Darcy, she’s my friend.”

  Darcy was Blaine and Emily’s little girl.

  “Butch, he needs to go to Vegas, and your mother is going with him. You know I own a casino in Vegas, right?” He waited for Michael to nod. “Well, I’m going to be coming to visit you, and I’m sure your mother will let you visit back in Fort Wills.” Alex had to lie for that one. Cheryl was turning out to be an unending thorn in his fucking side. He hated the bitch and couldn’t believe he’d dipped his dick in that cunt. She was evil.

  Sandy cleared her throat from the doorway, catching both of their attention. “She’s awake and doing fine. It was touch and go for a few hours. She pulled through and was asking for you.”

  Alex let out a breath. Sunshine was alive. She was alive and asking for him.

  “Will you look after Michael while I go and see her?”

  “He can come with me. You’re not allowed to walk, Alex. I’ll keep him outside of the room with me.”

  Nodding, Alex eased his way into a wheelchair while his son told him everything he got for Christmas. He hated the fact he missed it. He’d been looking forward to spending Christmas with his son. When Alex left on Christmas Eve it was to go and see Sunshine before she went home to her parents. He did have every intention of returning to The Skulls’ clubhouse. Instead, he’d ended up stabbed and lying on the floor.

  Sunshine’s father, Hank, was standing outside of the hospital room.

  “I can take it from here,” Alex said, ushering Sandy away.

  “Come on, sweetheart, let’s go and get a hot chocolate. Stink is waiting in the cafeteria.” Alex glanced up at Sandy. She didn’t sound very enthusiastic about the prospect of seeing Stink. What the hell had happened there?

  “You can’t go in there,” Hank said.

  “She has asked for me. You’re not in any position to tell me what to fucking do.” Alex gripped his wheels ready to pass the man.

  “No, we had a deal.”

  “Which was supposed to be between us, Hank. You told Tiny, you told The Skulls, and brought it to their attention.” Alex tutted, shaking his head from side to side. “Any deal we had ceased. Did you even read the clause I put in the bottom of our very secret contract?” He dropped his voice low. Alex didn’t want Sunshine or her mother to know what Hank had done. Regardless of what people thought of him, he wasn’t a bad man.

  “What?”

  “Sunshine is mine.”

  “She’s my daughter, a woman.”

  “And our agreement states if you in anyway renege on our deal, she’s the price you have to pay. Think about it, Hank. There are a lot of men out there who’d like to break your bones, little by little. I can call them up and make sure you don’t see the end of the fucking year. Do not think to tell me who I can and cannot see. You do not have that fucking right.” Alex glared up at the man who was slightly older than he was. Alex hadn’t gotten popular in Vegas for being just a casino owner. There was shit about him that even Tiny didn’t know. Alex intended to keep it that way. The less The Skulls knew, the better.

  Wheeling past Hank, Alex made his way into the room.

  “Mom, stop fussing, please. I’m fine. I’ll be fine,” Sunshine said. She’d not noticed him yet, and her voice wobbled as she spoke. It broke his heart to see her so sad, scared. This was his fault. He’d put that fear into her eyes.

  No, Preston had put that fear in her eyes.

  Clearing his throat, both women looked toward him.

  Her mother offered him a smile. “Hello, Mr. Allen.”

  “I heard Sunshine wanted to see me. Can I have a few moments alone with her, please?” he asked, sticking with politeness.

  “Sure. Erm, Tiny came by to tell us that she’ll be staying at the clubhouse for a little time until the culprit is caught,” her mother said.

  “Don’t you worry. I’ll be there as well to keep an eye on her.” He saw Sunshine flinch. During the weeks leading up to Christmas she had stopped flinching away from him or looking concerned. All of that hard work was lost, and it pissed him off. Preston was going to pay for what he’d done. Anger seethed into every pore of his being, waiting to be spilled out. Alex may have left Vegas, he may take o
rders from Tiny—in a roundabout fashion—but he was not a man to be messed with.

  “I’ll leave you two alone,” her mother said, stepping out of the room.

  “I’m sorry you’re in here because of me,” Alex said into the silence. Sunshine wouldn’t look anywhere but at him. Tears shone in her eyes.

  Rolling toward the bed, he reached out to grip her hand. She wouldn’t let him. Sunshine pulled her hand away from him.

  “Look, I’m really sorry this has happened to you. Your protection is paramount to me.” His heart beat a little harder, and something felt like it was stuck in his throat. “Sunshine, please talk to me.”

  The tears that were glistening in her eyes fell out of the corners. “He told me to tell you it wasn’t over.”

  “What?” He assumed Preston had seen Sunshine and tried to kill her on the spot. “He spoke to you?”

  Sunshine nodded. “Yes, he was shocked that you were fucking a black girl.” Her lip quivered, and he watched her lick her lips. He was going to kill Preston. The bastard didn’t have a clue what he’d awakened. The moment Alex stepped into Fort Wills, found Michael, and started to settle down, the beast within him had been put to bed. Each second he spent in Sunshine’s terrified company, the beast woke up a little more. The long sleep was over. Anyone who put Sunshine in danger, made her scared, was going to pay.

  “What else did he say?”

  Preston was a racist bastard and only believed in white power. Alex had done business with him in the past because of Preston’s connections that helped distribute the drugs. He’d learned to not ask questions.

  “That it isn’t over. He didn’t want us to die, only to be weakened. He called my father from my phone.”

  Alex gritted his teeth, hating Preston all over again. The bastard had a plan in his mind, and it didn’t involve something as simple as an easy death. What did he have in mind? “Tell me the rest of your message?”

  “You lied to him, cheated, and fucked him in ways that he doesn’t think is acceptable for a man to do to another man.” Her tears were falling thick and fast. “He told me to tell you this is an eye for an eye.”

  It wasn’t over, and Alex was more than fucking happy about that.

  Chapter Two

  “I thought he went to ground years ago,” Ned Walker said, pacing Alex’s hospital room. It was the following day from Sunshine’s revelation. He was shocked Preston allowed her to live and himself to live. Now, he knew this was only the start for Preston. The bastard had been gone ten years but clearly had something planned. Ned was the only man who knew the truth about Preston. He was the only man Alex could trust right now. When Tiny found out the truth, shit was seriously going to hit the fan.

  “He did. His sister died, Preston grieved, and left Vegas. I thought he was dead. I was told he was dead.” Alex ran a hand over his face, pushing the tray of food away with disgust.

  “Sully’s out of the fighting life. He trains my boys. This should be over by now. I promised him this shit with the girl would never come back to him. It was a mistake, and Sully wasn’t to be blamed for that fucking slut.” Ned stopped to look at him. “This isn’t good.”

  “Preston finds out the truth, Sully’s as good as dead. You need to warn him what’s going down before it’s too late. I don’t know everything that Preston knows yet.”

  “There’s nothing going down.” Ned blew out a breath. “I don’t get it. Preston has been gone over ten years.”

  “No, Preston has been biding his time elsewhere in the world, working on his chance to take me out or just dealing with his grief until he found out that I covered up her murder.”

  “He’s just a racist fucker. There’s no way he’ll cause trouble.”

  Alex stared at Ned. Both of them had a lot of secrets, a lot more secrets than anyone could ever find out.

  “Preston found out that I covered up his sister’s murder, and he stabbed Sunshine and me. An eye for an eye. I thought that was it, but Sunshine’s father was already on the way to us. We didn’t bleed out for long.”

  “You died on the table, Alex. Whatever happened, Preston fucked up. He was never right in the head. If he plans to play a game with us then he’s playing in a different universe. If you’d died, you wouldn’t be here in the first place. Preston’s a fucking idiot. And I just want to add, a fucking Bible quote is not a bastard threat. He’s insane,” Ned said.

  Alex laughed. “You know, I think a crazy Preston would be more ideal than a fucking sane one right now. He’s dangerous. This isn’t going to blow over. He’s on a rampage, and I’m warning you.”

  “What?”

  “A tooth for a tooth and then a life for a life. It may come from the Bible, but Preston is going to get his justice, Ned. He knows I covered it up. It’ll be a matter of time before Sully’s brought into this, then you. You’ve got Eva to worry about. We’ve all got a lot of problems with this.” Alex gritted his teeth. He had Sunshine and Michael to worry about.

  Ned collapsed into the chair in the corner beside the window. “We’ve got to tell Tiny.”

  Alex shook his head. “No, we can’t tell him everything. It’ll hurt him. He only needs to know some of it.”

  “He’s been running shit for us for a long time. Tiny has put his life on the line for both of us. I’m not about to keep the man that my little girl loves out of this. It’s going to hit him, and hard if we don’t.”

  “The past needs to stay in the past.”

  “It would have stayed in the past if Preston was taken care of. This is now our present situation, Alex. I don’t see another way.”

  “I put a guy on Preston. I was told Preston was taken care of. Clearly I was lied to,” Alex said.

  “Don’t even think to raise your voice at me, you little bastard. I go down, you go down.”

  “I’m not going down,” Alex said. “Get Tiny here. Tell him we need to talk. I don’t see another way out of this.”

  Ned nodded, standing up. “I’ll call Sully. My boys don’t need this right now. They respect him. It gets out that he murdered a young girl, it’ll go fucking crazy. The last thing I need is some dumb fuck thinking he can kill anyone he wants.”

  “This is not my problem,” Alex said. “We need to contain this shit with Preston before we worry about reputations.” Leaning back against his pillows, Alex cricked his neck. He needed to get back to full health before he went hunting. Being in a hospital bed was the last place he wanted to be. The hospital, the club, it all made him vulnerable. Nothing made him more vulnerable than Sunshine.

  Ned walked out of the hospital room leaving him alone. Once he was alone, Alex dropped his head in his hands. Everything was fucking fucked. Sunshine, Michael—he had a lot of people to lose now. He hadn’t gone back to Sunshine’s room. She wouldn’t let him touch her or have anything to do with her, which he hated.

  The door to his room opened. He glanced up to see Eva standing there, staring back at him. In her hand she held a vase of flowers.

  “You shouldn’t have,” he said.

  She walked into the room a little hesitantly.

  “What’s going on?”

  “Not a lot. Tiny’s pissed. He’s doing everything he can to find out who the new player is. The town is a little scared right now with two of its members found almost dead.” Eva placed the vase of flowers on the cabinet beside his bed. The only other get well memento he had was a handmade card from Michael. “You’ve not had a lot of visitors.”

  “The Skulls don’t seem to like me.”

  “That’s because you’ve not taken the time to really get to know them. You were a businessman who organized runs. Then all of a sudden you’re part of the club. You’re part of the decisions that the club has to adhere to. There you were, beside Tiny when you’ve got no relation to him at all.” Eva took a seat on the chair that Ned had sat in. She wore Tiny’s leather jacket, which swamped her, making her round frame look somewhat small.

  “I was his brother-in-law.”<
br />
  “Exactly, you were. You’re not anymore.” She rested her head in her hand. “We’re finally getting back on our feet, and this shit happens. It’s bad, isn’t it?”

  “What makes you think that?”

  “I’m not a dumb bitch, Alex. I’ve known you a lot longer than ten minutes. I’ve lived with my father most of my life. I know when the shit is about to hit the fan.”

  Alex had known Eva even before she left Vegas for Fort Wills. They had been acquaintances as they’d not really gotten close as friends. Over the last couple of years, their friendship had developed. “I think Tiny will tell you what he wants you to know.”

  “Is that your polite way of telling me to shut the fuck up?”

  He stared at her.

  She smiled. “I’m pregnant.”

  “Does Tiny know?”

  “Not yet. I need to know what shit this is going to bring. I’ve got Tabitha and Miles to think about right now, Alex. I can’t be handling shit that’s going to come our way if I’m pregnant. I’m not as strong as Angel. I will not come out of losing a baby whole.” Tears glistened in her eyes.

  Angel was Lash’s woman and had lost a baby several years ago before she gave birth to Anthony. The experience was so tragic for Angel that she had ended up in a mental ward for a short time.

  Glancing down at the bed, Alex shook his head. “I really don’t know. I wish I could tell you what’s going to happen, but I don’t know.”

  “My father. He’s involved as well, isn’t he?”

  “That’s not my pla—”

  “You’re in my town, messing with my club, my children, my friends, my fucking family, Alex. You will not keep this secret from me.” Eva glared at him. She spoke without raising her voice. He saw the president’s woman. Eva was a leader like Tiny. The club was as much hers as it was Tiny’s. She was a better woman than his sister. Patricia couldn’t handle the club. His sister had been jealous of everything The Skulls represented. Alex had had to listen to her moan enough times about the club. He was starting to realize that it took a certain type of woman to help lead a club like The Skulls.