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CHAPTERONE
DRAKE
There are days I wished I picked the white picket fence and a large family over my current life. I’d love to have a wife to love, little versions of this fantasy wife running around with wild curls getting into mischief and another on the way. Maybe I’d even have a dog. Shit. Why not go after the whole damn nine yards, right?
Instead, I picked a life no woman would want. Or at least none that I would like to have at my side.
I scrubbed a hand down my face and let out a huff of irritation. Not at anyone in particular, just life. It hardly ever turns out how you expect it to.
I slammed a fist down on the enormous table. The large slab of gleaming wood was constructed out of solid oak and steel to withstand all the abuse the biker club could wreak on it. But it shuddered under my strength.
The room grew silent.
The Venom crew looked up, most wearing their bored, bland masks. They’d adopted them after years of being sweated by police, feds and hell, even their mothers. They couldn’t let their emotions shine through if they tried. Most even hide them from me, their president and leader of our biker club.
Some newer members wore looks of worry and one new recruit blanched in fear.
Pussy little fucker. Tattoos, our leather cut and biker boots don’t make a man Venom tough. What my crew do to protect others, give the weak safe haven and what they do for their families is what makes a man worthy of wearing the Venom cut.
The red-headed man-child at the end of the table with his hands in his lap had some lessons to learn if he wanted to go the distance and earn his Venom patch. Probably wasn’t cut out for the biker life, though. I’ve seen it time and time again. Boys like him come in thinking we’re badasses and fuck the law, right? Well, yeah. They aren’t wrong. But we are more than that.
With the possible war coming with the Wraiths, the boy would be tested and his fate sealed one way or another so I didn’t bother ripping into him.
I centered my focus on each man in turn, scrubbing my hand down my jaw. “What are we doing about this situation?” I kept my voice even through a clenched jaw. No reason to roar with the rage burning deep in my gut with the force of hell’s fury when the quiet restraint of my words landed like a punch to the gut all the same.
Silence answered and through the dim lighting I could see only a few of the seasoned members held their gazes to mine.
“We got it covered, Prez.” Midnight, my right-hand man, best friend and VP of the club, offered gruffly. The man had earned his nickname by being one of the deadliest of us all. He’s sent a lot of assholes to the grave for an endless sleep. Just like I’d earned mine by being just as lethal with my preferred weapon.
I sure the hell didn’t relent to anybody and sure as fuck not another biker gang putting claim to our territory. I guess it was a good thing I don’t have a wife and kids to worry about. I shelved that idea and focused on what my life really is versus what I wished it could be.
The rival gang had also captured eight of our club candies—girls who served the club in all ways from preparing food, sometimes cleaning after rager parties like tonight. And if they felt horny, there were plenty of men to help with that and vice versa.
“You’re taking care of it, Midnight?” I asked, cocking my brow, my fist still planted on the tabletop.
A shaggy head of brown hair nodded. “Yeah, we got it, Drake.” Midnight rarely used my given name. We go back to the days when we barely knew how to clean our noses, much less operate a club. I give him a stiff nod.
Another member spoke up. “I’ve got three men going with me to take back our territory. Tonight. Just give the word, Prez, and we’ll ride.”
“What about the club candy?” one of the new patches asked with a panicked look on his baby face.
I swung my gaze unimpressed with what I found staring back. “What about ’em? They don’t belong to anybody. They’re free to come and go as they please. Let the Wraiths have ’em.”
The patch’s face mottled an ugly shade of red, and he looked down at his hands. “Kara was a nice one, though.”
“Believe me, Dare. You don’t want to make a club candy important in your world. They ain’t old lady material. If there’s a bust, the candies have no loyalty and will throw you into the gunfire faster than you can draw your weapon. They’re here for taking care of the club, a safe place to live and sex, all mutual agreements. That’s it. Now unwind your dick and get your head on straight.”
Dare nodded but didn’t look up again.
I grunted with frustration. Damn new patches thought just because a woman wrapped her lips around his cock nicely that it was love and emotions and shit. Fuck that. Hell, any woman who walked through those doors was far from worthy of being called an old lady. The handful who were around were here because they’d stuck by their men for years. Few had that sort of relationship, though.
As much as I wanted the club to mirror my buddy’s crew up in New York as a high-scale club, I have to face the truth. The Venom compound is for the misfits no matter the bank account size. Ares, the president of the New York crew, is a quiet billionaire. I’ve done several deals with him that have made me wealthy enough to support this place and its members. But everyone else is your average citizen. What I really envied from his setup was the quality of the people he had at his back. From the club candy all the way to his right-hand man—everyone brought quality skills.
Maybe one day I could get this motley crew to that level. But I gave up on the females who saw our club as a rotating door of parties and living on the edge of the law. Especially the club candies. Given how easy it was to have one turn on you, it wasn’t worth the hassle. Add on the frustrations of managing the club and all our assets and dealings, well meeting the right woman to be my queen hasn’t happened yet. Doubt it ever will.
The last woman to get on her knees for me had disgusted me by coming up after swallowing my release saying she’d done the same for the prez of the Wraiths a month ago.
Right then and there I swore off all candy. Let the other members have that shit.
