Ryder's Last Run (Dueling Dragons MC Series) (3 page)

Ryder

I wake to being tossed into a small room
with a bucket in one corner and a nasty mattress pad in the other. The room smells like piss and the floor is nasty as fuck.

“Get comfy the
re, Ghost. You’ll be here for a little while.” The dark haired goon laughs to himself.

What did I do to get into this mess?

I walk over to the pad and rub my hand across the back of my neck. I really fucked up this time. I have not only fallen in love, but I also asked the chick to marry me.
What the fuck have I done?
I should have just left well enough alone and not gone after Faith, but she is just so hard to resist.

I put my back up against the wall and slowly slide down until I feel myself touch the floor
. I start to think about the first time I laid eyes on Faith, when she ran into me at the Choke & Puke.

****

“I can’t believe you fucked that chick, Ziggy! She wasn’t even that good looking,” I say.

A
s far as best friends go, Zig is the best. He’s been with me through a lot of shit and I’m glad to have him by my side.

We
walk into my sister’s truck stop and someone runs into me.

“Oh, I am so sorry. I didn’t mean to run into you. I was distracted.”

I look at the cute redhead in front of me; she’s short and petite with a slamming hot body and eyes to die for.

“Well, shit. If I
didn’t know better, I would think that you didn’t have any manners. Didn’t anyone tell you not to read and walk at the same time? You’re lucky you only just walked into me. I watched a girl walk out into the crosswalk the other day. She didn’t even stop, not until I blew my horn at her.”

She looks at me with amazement. “You scared the shit out of me! I thought I was a goner.” She says urgently and places her hand on her heart. God, that is so hot! She is just drop dead amazing! Focus Ryder, no attachments.

“Ryder, ya comin’?” Zig asks as he walks over to our usual spot in the diner.

“Yeah, gimme a minute.” I wink at him over my shoulder and I can see him shaking his head as I turn my attention back to this ray of light that has just appeared in my life.

“Well, I guess I will see you around,” she says as she tries to push past me, but I step closer and whisper into her ear.

“I think you should stick around for a little while.
I would love to get to know you. You can walk into me any day of the week.”

She steps back and looks me square in the eye.
“Ha! As if! I don’t want to catch something. I know what you guys do in the evening ‘round here. So, no thank you!” There is so much cockiness in her voice that it makes me semi hard. I love a girl with this kind of confidence in herself.

“You’ll give in, babe. I promise that you will be mine at some point and you’ll love it.” I laugh a little and run my fingers down her arm
, just enough so that she feels it and remembers me. They always come back. Always. This girl is different; she is almost a challenge of sorts. I have never been with anyone like her. This should be interesting.
 

****

The door creaks open and I’m pulled from thoughts of Faith. My Faith, she is going to be my only good thoughts through all of whatever this bullshit is. I shake my head a little bit and look up.

“So, what the fuck? Are you guys going to do with me? Huh?” The gray haired man from before
enters, looks down at me, and sucks air through his teeth.

“
You pile of shit. You’re going to work for me a little bit longer. ” He gets a grin on his face and runs his palm over his chin. “You are going to make a very good fighter. Yes, I think you will be my new feature fighter.”

He steps out the door for a second and I can hear him talking to someone in Russian.

“Here’s the deal, Ghost. You don’t mind if I call you that, do you?”
Yeah, you fuck, I do mind
, I think.

“You’re going to fight five times for me
. You
will
fight and you
will
win.”

“What the hell do you mean?”
I turn my attention to the guys standing behind him. I might be able to knock out one of them, maybe even two, but the third would be a challenge.

“
Your father told me once that you’re a hell of a fighter. You’re bigger now so I imagine you could be even better.” He walks over, less than a foot away from me, and squats down. “Now, Ghost. I didn’t kill your father all those years ago, because I knew you were special. I knew that you were destined for great things, great things that can help me.”

The smell of vodka and cigars hits my nose
. All I want to do is smash this guy to the floor and get the hell out of here.

“Dude, I don’t know what you’re thinking. I
’m a fucking biker stuck driving a big rig to transport your shit.” Spitting out my words I don’t even give him a chance to respond.

I kick his feet out from under him; he hits the floor with a thud. The two guys standing behind him are
surprised when their boss hits the floor hard.

“
Get him! Get him, you dumb shits!” They move toward me. The goon to my left hits me in the back of my head and, before everything goes black, I hear the gray-haired man say, “I knew you were going to be a fighter, Ghost. I can’t wait to get my payback.”

What the fuck is this freak talking about?

****

Faith

“So
, how do you feel after telling dickface goodbye?” Layla asks as she hands me a cup of warm coffee and sits down on the couch next to me. “I’m sure it feels like a ton of bricks lifted off your shoulders. I know that I’d feel better if I could yell at Memphis one more time, or even tell him that I love him just one last time.” She sighs and sits back on the couch, turning toward me. I can see the hurt in her eyes. I don’t know why I have never noticed it before; Layla is just as damaged as I thought I was.

“It felt damn good,
to finally be the one to say goodbye and mean it. I am so glad they’re out of my life.” Letting out a small breath, I grab my coffee and let it warm my fingers. “Layla, who’s Memphis?”

She instantly stiffens and starts to breathe a little heavier. “Well, he
’s…” She stutters. “I mean, he
was
my husband. My one and only true love.” She shakes her head. “God, I love that man with all my heart. But he would never leave the MC.”

“What do you mean?” I ask as I pull the throw blanket over my legs
. It’s started to cool down here in Kentucky. Or maybe it’s just the fact that I’m so emotionally drained that my body is starting to suffer as well.

“Memphis and I met a long time ago
. I became pregnant and, when I told him it was either the MC or us, he chose the MC. He went upstate for a good number of years. When he got out, it seemed like he’d changed.” She sighs. “It was just wishful thinking, though. I got my wedding after many years of waiting.” She glows as she talks about happier times in her life. “Things were great, until I found out that he’d started doing stuff for the MC again.” Seeing tears forming in her eyes breaks my heart; all I want to do is comfort her.

“You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to. I won’t be mad
, but I didn’t even know that you had kids, let alone that you’re a widow!”

“I have two children. The oldest is a few years younger than you.” She smiles and pats my thigh. “This conversation wasn’t about me
, though. How do
you
feel?”

“
Honestly? The same. I feel like I have closure and that it’s one hundred percent behind me now. It feels like I’ve grown up. You know what I mean?” I run my fingers through my hair. “I need to go home, though. My father isn’t going to live much longer and I know that it’s important to find Ryder. He’d be really pissed, however, if he found out that I was sitting here while my father is dying.”

Taking a sip of my coffee, I reach for my phone and try to call Ryder once again
. Of course, it goes to voicemail.

“Voice mail again?”
she asks. I nod. “Well, since you’re going to your father’s, we need to get you packed and I need to either get one of the prospects to take you back to Alabama or see if my son can take you.”

I still find it hard to believe that she is actually a mother and that I have never seen her kids.

“Do you mind me asking where your kids are? I don’t think I have ever seen them.” I scratch my head and start to walk towards my bedroom so that we can start packing a bag for me.

She
laughs.. “Honey, you work with Marko every day. You never noticed that he looks just like Ryder?” She snickers a little bit more.

“No, I have never noticed.” I start to think of everyone that I work with. I start to get mental pictures of what each one of them looks like and not one looks like Ryder to me. “Layla, are you sure? Because I don’t think anyone we work with look
s like Ryder.”

“
No, I guess you wouldn’t see it. He looks more like Ryder about 10 years ago, before all the stress and partying got to him. Marko’s the dishwasher.”

She walks over to my closet and starts to pull out shirts and pants
, folding them together and making outfits for me to wear while I’m gone. “How hot is it down in Alabama this time of year?”

Layla has a way of changing the subject without you realizing it. “It
’s cooler there, but not as cool as it is here… Hey, no subject changing! So Marko’s your son, and you say that he looks like how Ryder used to?” I get a mental picture of them both side by side. I can actually see it now.

“Yes, your man is very handsome. I
’m glad Marko got his looks from the Porter side of the family. His dad was handsome to me, but not many others thought he was very good looking.” She starts to tear up again; it seems like the more she talks about it, the broken parts start to show.

****

“Okay, thank you, sweetie! I really appreciate you doing this for me, Marko. You know if your uncle were here, he would say the same thing… No, honey, we haven’t found him... Okay, we’re at Faith’s house. Just come by when you have the car ready, okay? I love you, son.”

Layla hangs up the phone and turns to me. “He
’ll be here within the hour to pick you up, so let’s make sure that you have everything you’re going to need. How long are you staying?”

She never skips a beat with her mothering. It’s one of the things that make her so easy to love. “
Hopefully, only a month, or month and half at the most. I figure once something does happen to Daddy, I’ll help the boys get things figured out. I’ll be back shortly after things are settled.”

I start to feel a little empty on the inside; I don’t want to think
about my daddy not being here anymore. He’s the one man I know will be there, no matter what.

“If you need to rent out the place, I understand.” I
’d hate to have to move, because I really like living here and it’s the first place that Ryder and I shared together. However, I also understand that Layla needs to be able to pay her bills; the rent from this place helps with that.

Thinking about him gives me an empty feeling in my stomach, as if something is missing. Something important. I can feel the tears sting the back of my eyes. “You will keep me posted on what’s new with finding Ryder
, right?”

“Faith, you have nothing to worry about. Your job and apartment will be here
, just the way you left them. I would, and
could
, never replace you like that.” She looks so genuine and loving. “I was also told to leave finding Ryder to the MC. They seem to be onto something. I’ve learned to bow out when told.”

She
steps toward me and engulfs me in a great motherly hug. “Now, you go down and help your brothers cope with the loss of your daddy, and then come home to your hunk and this dysfunction that you’ve landed yourself in.” She hip bumps me and walks into the bathroom to grab the things I forgot to pack. “Marko should be here anytime, so let’s go sit in the living room and wait. How’s that sound?”

“Sounds like a plan
,” I say, as she pulls my bag off the bed and drags it across the floor into the living room.

****

Ryder

“You know I love you, Bambi. You’re my heart. I’d love to be able to get out of the MC and all the shit my dad’s pulled me into.”

I run my fingers through her soft hair as she rests her head on my chest.
I just finished fucking her three ways from Sunday. This is the best time to have this conversation, and to make sure she understands that I’d never choose the MC over her. 

“Ryder, all we have to do is jump on the back of your hog and roll the hell out of here. We could go to Kentucky
, where your sister is. I am sure she would give you and me both jobs. Please tell me that we’ll get out of Arizona soon.”

I can feel her tears on my chest and I know I
’m breaking her heart. We’ve been together nine months now, but I knew the first time I saw her that I wanted her.

Bambi is one of the most beautiful women I
’ve ever seen. Bleach blonde hair, blue eyes, and curves in all the right places. She is the perfect combination of psycho and normal. Fifty perfect devil and fifty percent angel. Most of the time, that fucking devil is out.

I reach down and pull her chin
up so I can look in her eyes. “I have told you time and time again. I’m not here because of my father. I’m here for the club. These guys are my family. Your brother is my family. You’re my family.”

I lean down, kiss her on the lips, and slowly push her on
to her back. I show her just how much I love her and how much I want us to work.