PROLOGUE
MAVERICK
Three Years Ago…
November 15thwill always bea special day. Today, I’m marrying the love of my life, Emberlynne Kennedy, soon to be Bouvier. As the bridal march begins to play, my heart thunders in my chest and it has absolutely nothing to do with nerves. The sanctuary falls silent as everyone rises to honor the stunning vision walking down the aisle. Her father looks on with a mix of pride and apprehension, acknowledging that he is giving away his most cherished possession. In that moment, a wave of unexpected emotions overwhelms me, revealing a love for this woman that surpasses anything I had ever envisioned. I never thought I was capable of feeling such deep affection for another person.
Marrying Emberlynne goes against all the rules I've set for myself as the president of the Royal Bastards MC Atlanta Chapter. Witnessing the tragedies that have befallen my fellow members, I vowed to never take the risk of falling in love. However, today, I’m ready to take on the challenges that I know will inevitably arise.
Elijah, Emberlynne’s father and former VP of the rival MC, Rebel Riders, approached me with a request to protect his daughter. They’ve been a pain in our asses since the reign of my father as our president. While I am a legacy within the MC, I have earned this shit through hard work and bear the scars to prove it. Elijah's presence in my territory was unexpected, considering his club is based all the way in South Dakota. It was two years prior when a knock on the door of my office at Road Restorers, the Royal Bastards repair shop, signaled the start of this unexpected encounter.
“I thought I said not to fucking disturb me!” I yelled angrily, zipping up my jeans. Tiffany, our receptionist, stood up from her knees, grinning as she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. After the shit day I’ve had, I craved the release only Tiff could give.
“Maverick, I really need your help,” an unfamiliar voice shouted from the other side of the door.
“Sorry, sweetheart. We’ll have to continue this later,” I tell her, smacking her ass as she passed by. When I opened the door, I was shocked to see who was on the other side. Flanked by my VP, Steel, and my Sergeant At Arms, Nightmare, was Elijah “Butcher” Kennedy, wearing a look that signaled this was no trick orchestrated by our rivals. Known for his brutality with knives, I was taken aback to see him in such a vulnerable state. Motioning for my men to leave, I invited him inside and shut the door.
“Mav, I need your help,” he pleaded, desperation clear in his voice.
“Does your Prez know you’re in Atlanta?” I inquired, needing to get the formalities out of the way. We didn’t meddle in other MC’s business, especially not with rival clubs.
“Yes, he knows I’m here but he doesn’t know the whole truth. He believes I’m here to get my daughter, Emberlynne, settled into school but that’s only part of the story.
Surprised, I locked eyes with him, searching for any trace of deceit, but only finding despair. Whatever he needs my help with must be serious, so I hit the intercom to summon Steel and Nightmare back to my office. When my guys come in, I give them a look letting them know that something’s up and I need them to be in on it. Turning my attention back to Elijah, I ask,
“What can we help you with, Butcher?” I inquired as I walked behind my desk and took a seat. Releasing a heavy sigh, he says,
“A couple of years ago, my son, EJ, who was a Prospect in the Rebel Riders, became involved in a confrontation at a local bar with the Vice President of the Savage Knights. EJ is a hothead, always looking for trouble but this time, he found more than he bargained for.” Elijah paused, seemingly lost in the memory.
“Go on,” I prompted, my patience waning.
“Apparently, the guy made derogatory remarks about my daughter, so EJ took his knife and slit the guy’s throat. He didn’t care about the consequences or that this would start an all-out war between the clubs, he only wanted to defend his sister’s honor.” Elijah explained.
“Let me get this straight, your idiot son killed the VP of one of the most notorious MC’s in the northwest just for running his mouth and now you need my help in a war that has nothing to do with us?” I questioned, thinking to myself that Elijah has lost his fucking mind if he thinks the Royal Bastards would involve ourselves in his club’s business. I don’t care if every one of them meets their maker, this isn’t our mess to clean up.
“No, it’s not like that, Mav,” he reassured me. “I need you to watch over my daughter while we handle this situation.”
“Are the Knights still out for blood after all this time?”
“Regrettably, yes. I’ve shielded Emberlynne for as long as I can but now that she’s eighteen she wants to distance herself from the MC life. It’s taken a toll on her and it’s not right to make her stay hidden because her brother fucked up. She applied to attend school here in Atlanta, so I showed up here hoping you would honor a pact that I made with your father.”
“What fucking pact?!” I ask, confused by his words. My father never told me about a pact he made with anyone, especially a Rebel Rider.
“Long before you became the Prez, the Bastards and the Rebels weren’t always enemies. It wasn’t until we scheduled a meet up in Sturgis for a drug deal. Unbeknownst to me, my Prez had orchestrated a betrayal, aiming to end the Bastards in an ambush. His goal was to take out your top members and in turn takeover Atlanta.”
“Yeah, I know all about how the Riders betrayed us and caused our rivalry,” I acknowledged.
“Well, what you don’t know is that I was the one who alerted your father to the set up and he pulled out at the last minute. To this day, my Prez has no idea it was me who betrayed him,” he confessed.
Stunned by his admission, words fail me. A Rebel Rider betraying his own club to save a Bastard seems unfathomable, yet, what reason would Elijah come here, knowing he’s risking his life just to tell me some fairy tale? He must’ve sensed my doubt because he slowly reached into his pocket, revealing a patch that I had worn for the last nine years.
“Where did you get that?” I ask, my voice tight with frustration.
“Your father gave this to me and assured me that showing this patch would secure the Bastards’ assistance in times of need,” he explained.
“And what makes you think, I’ll honor that promise?”
ONE
