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CHAPTER 1
SWITCH
A drum beat a steady rhythm at the back of my skull and my mouth felt like someone had shoved half a dozen cotton balls into it. When I blinked, a shaft of light pierced my eyes, and I sat up, the blanket pooling around my waist. The room tilted sideways on its axis, and I rubbed the heel of my hand into my eye, hoping that would help.
When the world finally righted itself, I almost wished it hadn’t.
From beside me, the blanket shifted, and I caught a faint whiff of strawberries, making me want to hurl. Not that I had anything against berries, exactly, but it wasn’t vanilla mixed with motor oil and paint. My favorite scent in the entire world. The one I missed more than anything.
But the smell, like the woman it belonged to, would remain a ghost from my past. A ghost that continued to haunt me even after all these long months apart.
My pack of cigarettes beckoned to me from the nightstand, but my cell phone vibrated from beside them. I looked down at the display. Speaking of past ghosts.
“It’s been a long time, Ryder,” I said, keeping my voice low.
The lump beside me moaned, the sound distinctly feminine, but it wasn’t the sexy rasp that always made blood rush to my cock.
I swung my legs over the side of the bed and stood, pleased that the contents of my stomach stayed put. Clothes littered the floor, and I tripped on my way to the bathroom, stubbing my toe on the end of the bed.
Silently I cursed so I wouldn’t wake up Mindy, or was it Mallory, fuck, I didn’t even know. It didn’t matter, anyway. She’d curse me for not being able to remember it and storm out in a huff. Women were always thinking they could fix you like you were some broken doll. But none of them could fix what ailed me.
Hobbling into the bathroom, I quietly shut the door behind me.
“Jesus, Switch, are you drunk? It’s barely ten o’clock in the morning, for fuck’s sake.”
Sobriety had become a dirty word for me, one that only surfaced long enough for me to attend club business. The rest of the time I didn’t want to remember. It was bad enough shehaunted my dreams. I didn’t need her fucking with my head while I was awake.
But Ryder would never understand that. How could he? His girl hadn’t told him to fuck off after he’d gone and messed it all up in a fit of ignorance.
“I’m still hungover, asshole, but thanks for asking.” Which was sorta true. I passed out, or was it blacked out, not sure which, sometime after four. So, technically, I wasn’t drunk. “Was there something you needed, or did you call just to bust my balls?”
He sighed. “Yeah, I need you to get your ass sobered up and be prepared to set all the bullshit aside.”
Ryder wanted to magically squash the beef he had with me? Yeah, I wasn’t buying it. Something was up. When I left, I did it knowing he’d probably never forgive me. The man held on to a grudge like a baby with a bottle.
“What the fuck are you talking about?”
“I hate like hell that the first time we’re speaking to each other in months is under such shitty circumstances. But I had to call. For Stella.”
His voice caught on her name, betraying his emotions, and my chest tightened painfully. The meager contents of my stomach threatened to make a comeback. Now I knew something was seriously wrong. Fuck. Not my girl. Anything but her.
“Switch, Stella’s been missing for over a week.”
His words drove me to my knees, the cold tile against my bare flesh forcing me not to black out, to stay in the moment. Even if what he was about to say tore me to shreds. Well, even more than what he’d already said. I needed to focus on his words.
“Hunter wants to wait until nightfall and slip in undetected. If we go in guns blazing, and he’s wrong, then werisk them either moving her or cutting their losses. Since I’m not willing to chance it, the club will hang back and watch the perimeter until Hunter gives us the go ahead.”
My grip on the chipped countertop tightened, the whites of my knuckles a stark contrast against the dark surface. Someone had taken my Stel, my reason for breathing, and they were gonna pay. We would get her back. We had to. Failure wasn’t an option if my world was to keep on spinning.
“Which of our enemies has her?”
I could still hear him breathing into the phone, so I knew he hadn’t hung up, but he wasn’t saying anything either. Shit. Stella wasn’t some sweet butt or club whore. She was the daughter of a founding member. Not that we’d ever condone someone fucking with any of the girls under our protection.
That told me whoever had her either had giant cojones or had no clue who in the hell we were. Either way, my best friend owed me some answers and my patience with his bullshit was at an end.
“Tell me!”
As my voice echoed back to me in the tiny space, I knew there was no way in hell I was letting Hunter go in alone. The blood of our enemies would drip from my fingertips by the time this day was out. All they had to do was point me in the right direction.
