Ruin and Rise Read online

  If Shakes told her he was happy, she was going to believe him. There was no point in trying to argue with a man who knew his own mind, and Shakes’ was already made up. There was nothing she could do to change that. Nothing.

  Zeke stood in the back alley of Dominion, a cigarette between his lips, the lights from the streetlamps providing a dirty, muted glow of color. The dark van that was coming toward them held Zeke’s newest purchases.

  In the van was a group of pretty sluts that liked cock and wanted to make a living out of sucking and fucking it.

  He inhaled from his cigarette again, snubbed the butt out, and tossed it aside.

  The van stopped a few feet from where he and a few of his men stood, and once the headlights were turned off and the engine was cut, a scuzzy as fuck looking guy climbed out of the front seat. Another guy, just as greasy, got out of the passenger seat, and the two of them, with their slicked back hair and pencil thin mustaches, came over to Zeke. They reeked of stale reefer and sweat, and gauging by the sight of their stained and hole-ridden shirts, it was clear they hadn’t stopped on their trip to see him.

  Zeke didn’t care what they looked like, as long as the merchandise he’d bought was in perfect condition. If they wanted protection for what they wanted to do with their life, Zeke could provide that. So, he bought them off of their low-life pimps, made them part of his club, and gave them a better life then they had.

  “You have the cash?” One of the sleazy guys said.

  Zeke didn’t answer right away, just stared at both of them. These fuckers were new, apparently; or they were the dumbest motherfuckers he’d ever come across. No one spoke to him like that, and no one questioned him about money. He might be a dirty and dark sonofabitch, but he made sure he took care of business in a professional way.

  “Let me see my merchandise.” Zeke stared at them harder, let them see he wasn’t to be fucked around with in just that one look. The guys looked at each other, started shifting on their feet, and it was clear that they finally realized who was in charge.

  One of them walked toward the back of the van. The vehicle was parked at an angle, so Zeke could clearly see the side of the van. He opened the double doors, started saying something in a low voice to presumably the women in the back of the vehicle, and then one by one, they started climbing out.

  “Line up over here,” one of Zeke’s men said and moved to the side, pointing to the spot where he wanted the girls. The light overhead would let him see each one perfectly and make sure they hadn’t been beaten. The women may be willing, like dick in all forms, but that didn’t mean a john hadn’t fucked with them if they were too high or drunk not to know that you didn’t lay a hand on an innocent or unwilling woman.

  Zeke looked at each woman, starting from the left and moving down. There were twelve total, all dressed scantily, all looking at him with their lips puckered, their tits pushed out, and their smiles wide. Yeah, they were Pros, working girls that probably had lives they were running from, lives they probably wanted to forget. Was it the most honorable thing to be a large scale pimp? Fuck no, but it made him a shit ton of money, and because of that, he’d keep doing the lowdown dirty work.

  The girls ranged in weight, height, and ethnicity. They had big tits, small ones, had lush assess, and barely there ones. But men liked women in all shapes and sizes, all skin colors. They didn’t give a fuck as long as her pussy could squeeze their dick off, and she knew what the hell she was doing.

  They looked good, clean, but he’d have his back alley doctor check them out real good, make sure they weren’t carrying anything that could get passed to his clientele and give him a bad reputation. He was known for having the cleanest fucking girls around.

  He stopped at the last girl in line. Her head was down, her hands behind her back, and he could tell there was something wrong. Not only did she tremble slightly, but when he reached out with a finger under her chin to lift her head, she flinched. He lifted her head anyway, saw her eyes widen, the tears streak down her face, and he saw red when he noticed the way her lip was all fucked up. It was bruised all the way up her cheek, busted, swollen, with dried blood along her mouth and chin.

  He turned her head to the left, and then to the right, taking in the bruising on the other side of her face as well. She whimpered when he gently touched her cheek. She had the bluest eyes he’d ever seen, and they were currently staring at him with tears filling them. He turned her body, saw she had her hands bound, and everything in him tightened. He could see the red, raw marks from where the rope dug into her skin. She’d struggled to get out of them, that was clear.

  Looking at her face again, he didn’t do anything but stare at her for several seconds. “What’s your name?”

  She looked around with just her eyes, didn’t answer right away, but when he saw her throat work as she swallowed, and he saw her lick her lips, he knew she’d answer.

  “Alessandra,” she said on a whisper and winced as she spoke. He knew that had to be painful for her.

  “Did they hurt you?” he said softly, so only she heard. She looked over his shoulder at the men, looked back at Zeke, and finally shook her head.

  “Not them. Others did.”

  He nodded once, let go of her chin, and turned to face the two motherfuckers. “Why is she beat up?” Zeke asked, keeping his voice neutral.

  The guys looked at each other, and finally, the one that had been driving answered. “We picked her up with the other girls. She was already beaten when we got her, but she started struggling. We had to show her there wasn’t any need for that.”

  “So you put your hands on her as well?” Zeke said, still keeping cool as he took a step toward them. “You took an unwilling woman that was already hurt and hurt her more?” Zeke was in control, but he was enraged.

  “We had to get the job down. She was making a scene.”

  Zeke reached in his suit jacket, grabbed his Glock, and without even blinking, put a bullet in each of those pricks skulls, right between their eyes. Blood splattered across the concrete, and he stared at their lifeless bodies on the dirty ground. Taking a deep breath, he tucked his gun back in his suit, turned to face the women, and saw they all had wide eyes, but otherwise didn’t move. They weren’t screaming, weren’t looking like they were afraid he was going to shoot them next.

  He stepped close to them again.

  “No one will lay their hands on any of you. When you say no, it means no, and if a motherfucker thinks to take from you that which you are not willing to give, know that working for me means you’ll be protected.”

  The girls visibly relaxed.

  “And I only want women that are here because they want to be here. I don’t deal in sex-trafficking, nor do I let my girls get raped, and I sure as fuck don’t allow them to get beaten.”

  The girls looked over at Alessandra, but he was already looking at her.

  “I’ll have my doctor check you all out. After that you can clean up, get something to eat, and rest for the remainder of the night. Then I’ll have things explained to you. I work things here my way, and I want them done a certain way.” Zeke gestured for one of the guys to show the girls inside. The other two guys started loading up the dead bodies in the back of the van, and then they were driving it away from Dominion.

  When Alessandra started making her way toward the club, he stopped her with a hand on her shoulder. She was tense, her head still downcast.

  “Look at me,” he said, his voice deep. There was something about her, something that had his body coiled tight. It wasn’t because she’d been hurt, but there was something, when he looked at her, that tugged at his protective side. He wanted to kill anyone who had touched her and put that fear in her eyes.

  “Who touched you? Tell me their names.”

  She didn’t answer right away, but he saw how her throat worked as she swallowed, could practically smell her fear, hear her heart racing.

  “You’re safe now.” He reached behind her, undid her hands
, and without thinking, he had her wrists in his hands, rubbing her skin. She winced and he gentled his touch.

  But the longer she stared at him, the more he felt that protective instinct in him to make sure she was never hurt again. He also realized she wouldn’t tell him anything. But Zeke would get it out of her. He’d find out who hurt her, who had made her feel like this.

  “Get checked out and cleaned up, Alessandra. And don’t worry, I’ll find out who the fuck did this to you.”

  One of his men came back out and helped her inside, but before she disappeared into Dominion, she looked over her shoulder at him. His chest tightened at the look of vulnerability in her eyes.

  He reached for his cell, turned his back on the now closed door, and called the people he knew that would find out what he wanted. He might have men under his thumb that would die to get the job done, but the truth was that he trusted the Soldiers.

  “Zeke,” Demon said in a bland voice.

  “I need the Soldiers to find out some information for me, and I need it to be a priority.”

  Shakes was making his woman a milkshake when his cell phone rang. Her pregnancy was starting to affect her appetite; she already had morning sickness and was craving certain things. That very morning, he’d been pulled out of sleep by the sound of vomiting. Rushing out of bed, he’d held her hair back as she threw everything up. He’d hated it and couldn’t handle the helplessness that came over him. There was nothing he could do to help her, or to take the pain away, and that he hated more than anything else.

  “Shakes here,” he said, pouring the shake into the tall glass.

  “The brothers need you,” Demon said.

  “Wow, that was quick.”

  “Well, Zeke’s got a job for us, and the only one qualified is you. I wouldn’t phone if we didn’t need you.”

  “What’s the job?”

  “A girl was taken against her will, he wants to know who took her, where she’s from, everything.”

  “You’ve not got any other information, a simple background check?” Shakes asked, staring across the kitchen. He was alone, and all he wanted to do was go back upstairs, and crawl into bed beside his pregnant woman.

  “We don’t want to alert any authorities in case we’re the ones that end up the bad guys.”

  “Dig without being noticed.”

  “It’s your best quality.”

  “Fine, I’ll get started tomorrow after I’ve settled Dani.”

  “Morning sickness?” Demon asked.

  “Yeah, it’s really bad. Did Deanna suffer with this?” Shakes asked. He’d not been around pregnant women often enough to know what to expect.

  “Yes. It was really bad. I worried she was going to end up in the hospital; it got that bad. Just be there, rub her back, and make sure her hair is out of her face. They hate it if you let them throw up on their hair. It really bugs them.”

  “Will do. I’ll report back as soon as I know something.”

  They ended the call, and Shakes made his way upstairs thinking about Zeke. It wasn’t like his father-in-law to request information on a woman. He wondered what the bastard would want that information for.

  Entering their bedroom, he saw Dani reading. She glanced over her e-reader and smiled at him. “You love me.”

  “Obviously. I don’t go and make milkshakes for just anyone.”

  “The only reason you made it is because you don’t want to go out and buy me one.”

  “Fuck, I’ve been busted.”

  She put her e-reader down before taking the glass from him, taking a sip. “It’s delicious.”

  “See, I can do something with my time.” He climbed into bed beside her, running his hand across her stomach. “Our little guy causing you some trouble?”

  “He wants milkshakes and anchovies, which is weird. I don’t even like anchovies, eww.”

  Shakes chuckled. “We’re going to be amazing parents.”

  “Do you really think so?”

  “I know so. We’re going to be amazing, and we’re going to love our kid no matter what.”

  Dani smiled, and from that smile alone, Shakes knew he was going to get a good fuck tonight.

  Three weeks later

  “I look fat,” Dani said, complaining her ass off for the hundredth time as Shakes pulled the car into the Soldiers of Wrath clubhouse parking lot.

  “No, you don’t. You’re not even showing.” The last couple of weeks he’d been busy locating all the shit that he needed to give to Demon. It hadn’t been hard to do but Zeke hadn’t just wanted to know where Alessandra was taken from, and the men involved. He’d wanted to know everything.

  Shakes wasn’t a miracle worker and he’d needed time to collect everything.

  “Look, Deanna is further along, and she’s not complaining.”

  “You’ve not even seen her yet. For all you know, she could be complaining.” He unbuckled his seatbelt, climbed out of the car, and rounded the vehicle to her side.

  “I don’t care about her, baby. I love you, and I’m telling you, you’re beautiful.” He took her hand, helping her out of the their car. Before they made their way toward the group of bikers, he grabbed the envelope with information. He could have gone straight to Zeke, but he didn’t see the point. Demon asked for the information, and it was up to him to pass it on to Zeke.

  Wrapping his arm around Dani’s back, he walked with her toward the men who were his brothers. His ink was blacked out, and he didn’t ride with them, but they were his brothers. What had started out as pure selfish need on his part to have Dani had, in fact, been the biggest and best turning point in his life. He loved Dani, he loved his life, and soon, he was going to love his child.

  Demon and the guys turned toward them. It was the first time Dani had been to the clubhouse since they’d gotten married.

  “Daniella, welcome to the family,” Demon said, giving her a hug. They were both embraced as friends and family to the club.

  He didn’t see how it could get any better than that.

  Enjoy a sneak peek of Zeke’s Rule, the first book in a Soldiers of Wrath dark romance spin-off series, coming fall 2015.

  Her breath left her, her heart raced, and her palms were sweating. She couldn’t take her eyes off Zeke. He disgusted her, scared her, but even all of that couldn’t stop the sick, demented part of her that found the power he emitted arousing. She looked away, unable to watch what he was doing to the woman.

  “You’ll fucking watch me, Alessandra,” he ground out, sounding out of breath. This wasn’t about him or Bella, she knew that, had heard Zeke tell her enough times. This was about Alessandra…this was for Alessandra.

  “I won’t fuck her, Alessandra. You’re mine now, and that means I own your body, that you are the only one I crave.” He was breathing harder. “This is for your pleasure, for your titillation.”

  He was giving Alessandra this visual ecstasy; she knew that with every part of herself.

  Alessandra shook, the chains rattling, her entire body feeling as though it had a mind of its own. She lifted her head, stared at Zeke, and saw the sadistic glow in his eyes, the pain, and pleasure that came from him and slammed into her.

  She’d wanted to be here, wanted to be chained, at his mercy. She just wasn’t allowing herself to fully understand that, to fully accept that. She would though.

  Zeke turned back around to face the woman he was whipping. She was chained up, her arms above her head, her body naked except for the tiny pair of panties she wore. Her thighs and back had whip marks on them, slashes of red, raised welts from his belt.

  “You see how much she likes it,” Zeke said. He brought the belt down on the chained woman’s back again, and she arched, moaned, and clenched her thighs, as if trying to stem off her arousal. Zeke turned and faced Alessandra again, and her breath left her, her pussy became wetter, more sensitive. He stared at her a second, a smirk of sadistic pleasure on his face.

  Zeke looked at Bella again, brought the belt on the
woman’s back again and again, so many times Bella leaned farther, as if seeking reprieve, but moaning out for more. The binding on her arms stopped Alessandra from moving anymore than a couple of inches, but for some reason, that restrained feeling, the knowledge that this man, this monster, wanted her in the same way, wanted his marks on her, turned Alessandra on.

  “You’ll be chained here soon, Alessandra. You’ll be covered in my marks, then you’ll be filled with my cum as I fuck you, make you mine.” Zeke was breathing so hard now, his focus on her as he beat the other woman. She lowered her gaze to his crotch and saw he was so hard. She would have thought beating the woman was turning him on, and although she knew he was a sadist, that he liked giving pain, because it gave him pleasure, she knew that right now, he was getting off because she was watching him.

  Licking her lips, she gasped as Zeke raised his belt in the air then brought it down on Bella’s back again. Alessandra crossed her legs as she watched, wishing for some reprieve. The man before her was a monster to the core, but that didn’t stop her from wanting him. He’d kept Alessandra after she was delivered to him like a piece of meat. But even if he’d kept her, he treated her well, protected her even. He even killed the men that had hurt her in the first place. But despite the gentleness he’d shown her, she knew Zeke lived in a depraved world, and committed heinous acts.

  Zeke was a bad man, yet he hadn’t allowed her to be hurt anymore. He’d brought her back to his home after she’d been dropped off at the club. Even if she wanted to leave, which a part of her didn’t, as sick as that sounded, Zeke kept her here, continuing to show her he had parts of himself that weren’t all evil.

  He dropped the belt to the floor but she knew he wasn’t anywhere near done with Bella. The woman loved pain, and that love was clear to see with just one glance. He wrapped her hair around his fist, tugging her hair back. Alessandra couldn’t look away; she was enthralled by his harsh, brutal touch. What would it be like to have his hand in her hair, tugging on the length? He was so large there was no way he’d be able to cause anything but pain.