Bullet steel reapers mc.., p.24
Bullet (Steel Reapers MC Book 1),
p.24
"Thanks, dad."
"I was wrong. Back when... well, you know," he says, voice trailing off for a moment before he clears his throat. "I should have supported you better. Protected you. The way a father should support and protect his daughter. I let other things get in the way, and I'm sorry for that. I’m going to do better. I promise."
I smile at him and kiss him on the cheek.
"You know, I accepted your apology the first time. And the second time. The third time, too. I love you, dad."
"I love you, too, Maddy. I have more good news for today, though it pales in comparison to what you've done. Tomorrow I will sit down with an investor interested in developing one of our properties into a mixed condo-retail project. A large project. It could be the start of something new, something big."
He beams, and I let out a squeal of joy and hug him again, happy for his success; despite everything that's happened between us, I’m still proud to have him as my dad and want the best for him and for my family.
"That’s amazing! Congratulations, dad."
"But I have a favor to ask," he says. “A big one.”
"Which is?" Beside me, Jackson tenses; though we've both forgiven my parents—he almost entirely at my urging—Jackson is still very defensive when it comes to shielding me in my relationship with them; I give his back a gentle pinch to remind him to back off.
"They're going to send me a proposal. You know, numbers, figures, projections, all of that. When they do, I'd like you to look it over and tell me what you think. Would you do that for me?"
I take a shocked second to process his request; he's never really brought me in on the family business before. "Don't you have people for that, dad?"
"I do. They'll look at it, too, but your thoughts mean more to me than theirs. I want to know what you think about it, and if you think it's good, we'll do it. If you have revisions or suggestions, I’ll push for them. But if you think it’s a terrible idea, I’ll quash it. And maybe if you have other suggestions for the business, maybe you could share those, too."
A swell of excitement builds up in my chest as I glance up at my father. His face beams with pride, and his eyes sparkle with the knowledge of what this moment means for us both; I never expected to be brought into the family business so quickly, nor to have so much influence so soon, but I feel pride like I never have before. This is my chance to truly help the people I love in a way that has meaning to me.
"Yes, dad, I would love to do that."
It takes everything I have to prevent myself from becoming a whirling dervish of delighted dancing right then, though that Elena grabs me in a tight hug helps keep that from happening. She's always so good at reading me.
"You did it, Maddy," she says. "You fucking did it."
"I know. I really did, didn't I?" I have a feeling I'll be saying that out loud to myself for a very long time. "It almost doesn't feel real."
"It is real. You're amazing and a badass, you know that, right?"
"You think so?"
"After everything you went through, of which I probably only know, like, half, calling you amazing is an understatement. Seriously, you kick so much butt."
Even hearing that oblique mention of my terrible past sends a shiver through me,. My hug tightens on Elena just a moment and I whisper, "You still have it, right? The recording?"
"It's safe. You're safe."
Safe.
No more worrying about Alexander; no more striving and fighting just to get my degree—I am safe and I am free. At long last, I’m in control of my life, surrounded by people I love, people who love me.
"What now? Today's your day, Maddy. and, even if I'll never understand even a tenth of what that degree in your hand means, I am proud of you," Jackson says.
Adjusting my cap and gown, and then passing my diploma to my parents for safekeeping, I hop on my tiptoes to give my man a kiss. There's nothing more than I want right now in this moment than to enjoy this sense of newfound freedom with the man I love.
"You rode your motorcycle, right?"
Jackson smiles. “I did.”
“Let’s go for a ride.”
Epilogue: Bullet
The first thing I do with my share of the money is buy my dad's old shop for twice what the place is worth. He fights it every step of the way, but he's worked long and hard enough. It's time for him to take time for himself, to enjoy life, to stop working himself to the bone. This is my chance to repay him for all his many sacrifices.
The day the shop becomes mine and my dad hands me the keys before he leaves to the airport to catch a flight to Hawaii, everyone in my newfound family—Maddy, Thunder, Rook, and Eliza—meets me outside the bay doors of Reid's Repairs, my father's shop, now mine. The keys shake in my hands, only stilling when Maddy engulfs me in the tightest, most heart-calming hug ever.
"This is big, Jackson," Maddy says. "You own your own business. Let's open it up, look inside. I want to see what my man's shop looks like."
"Yeah," Thunder adds. "Owning your own business, that might almost make you respectable. Almost. Because, well, you're still you, Bullet."
I laugh and lovingly flip him the bird. “Fuck you, Thunder.”
Then I approach my father's shop, keys in one hand, Maddy's hand in my other. It's been years since I've looked inside my father's garage, and trepidation resurfaces to make my hands shaky as I open the bay doors. Knowing what happened to his house over those years I was gone, I’m prepared for the worst.
"This place is a mess," Rook says the second they slide open and reveal a garage full of oil stains, old equipment, and a musty, funky odor. "Decrepit springs to mind."
"Looks like we'll be having a cleaning party today," Eliza says cheerfully. "I can run out for coffee and cupcakes. Oh, and candy, too."
"Just today? Look at this place. It'll take all week to clean up this mess," Rook says. “It’s a fucking disaster.”
"However long it takes, we'll be here, because we help our friends. That's what friends do for each other, dear," Eliza replies. “Try to remember that.”
Rook grumbles something inaudible.
"What was that?" Eliza says, sharply.
"I said: 'Yes, my love," he replies.
"Bullet, are you sure you're ready to take this on?" Thunder says, clapping me on the back. "This is an enormous project."
"Maybe you want to help me with that? Once I get this place fixed up, I could use an extra set of hands around here," I say. Then I turn toward Rook. "Maybe two extra sets. How about it, Rook?"
He grumbles something, receives an elbow in the ribs from Eliza, then nods. "Part time. Maybe. I'll let you know."
Eliza elbows him again and gives him a look so pointed it nearly draws blood. “Rook, what do we do for our friends?”
“Fuck it. Fine, Bullet, I’ll help you out,” Rook says. “Whatever you need. Within reason.”
“Glad to have you aboard, Rook,” I say.
Maddy returns to her car for a moment, and she opens the trunk and removes buckets, mops, brooms, and several bottles of cleaner. "I came prepared," she says. "Because I may have been by this place not long before you came back into town, and I saw what state it was in."
"If you need it, I'll be a mechanic with you, Bullet, brother, no problem," Thunder says as he comes up beside me and pats me on the shoulder. His eyes are locked on the mess in front of us—I have to admit, it’s huge. "But if you want me to be a janitor, too, well, you better throw in something extra."
"How about all the pizza and beer you can handle?" I say, grinning. Seeing the state of my father's shop is a little disheartening, but with my family here to support me, I know I can handle whatever life throws at me.
“Free pizza and beer? Deal,” he replies.
"Grab a mop or a broom, everyone. It's time to get to work," Maddy says, walking through the group and passing a mop or a broom to everyone.
With my mop in hand, I head inside and get to work. But it's not long before Rook sidles up beside me and Thunder, a dark look on his face.
"Mopping got you moping, Rook?" Thunder says.
"It isn't my ideal way to start my day, no," he says. "But that's not the reason why I'm not happy right now."
"Are you ever happy?" Thunder says.
"With her. Always," Rook answers, his eyes going to Eliza and something that might be a smile appears on his face. "Bullet, you did something incredibly generous and profoundly stupid today."
"Excuse me? What the hell are you talking about?"
"This," he says, his arm sweeping around the shop. "Is the fucking dumbest use of your money you could have possibly chosen."
"I'm helping my dad out. What the fuck is wrong with that?"
"Because you're being public, Bullet. Throwing this in the face of the Covingtons. They’re going to hear about what you’re doing, especially since I saw the ads you took out in the Costa Oscura newspapers advertising that you’ll be opening this shop soon. Yes, Jonathan Covington—his royal fucking highness with the stick up his ass—swore they'd lay off, but do you fucking believe them? Do you believe a single fucking word from anyone in that family?"
Chills burn their way across my skin. "No."
"Yet, here you go. How long do you think it's going to be before they try to take one of us out?"
"Not long, if that bitch Alexander has his way," Thunder says, being both entirely correct and completely unhelpful. “That motherfucker is big mad.”
"That's right," Rook says. "He's erratic, powerful, and obsessed with hurting you and Madison. As well as anyone who's ever helped you—which includes me and the woman I love. So I ain’t fucking happy about that. Or this. Even if I want you to be successful, Bullet."
"What the fuck do you propose I do, Rook? Run scared from Alexander Covington for the rest of my life? No fucking way I’m hiding from that asshole. If he wants to come after me, I’ll kill him.”
"I’m saying we need to prepare."
"Prepare? How?" I say as I swipe my mop through a stubborn stain on the concrete. It's pointless to try to get everything clean, because no one trusts a sparkling clean mechanic’s shop, but right now I need something to grind away at, something to occupy my muscles and my mind in order to keep my focus away from the fact that I've just lovingly done something that puts the people I care about in mortal danger.
"We need to stick together. Expand. Find others that think like we do and maybe are tolerable enough that we can form an MC. I realize that's a tall fucking order because most other people are pure fucking shit, but that's the position we're in because of our own fucking actions. Beyond that, well, I hear a lot of rumors. The Covingtons aren't the only criminal family in this town. Some of those other families aren't so happy with having the Covingtons around, either, if you get what I mean."
"So you're saying 'the enemy of my enemy is my friend?'" Thunder says. “Makes sense.”
"You want to form an MC? Where? Out of my shop?" I say. Though my voice hardly sounds incredulous. It’s an idea of I’ve toyed with ever since this adventure with Rook and Thunder began.
“Exactly. Well, for starters.” Rook grunts, nods. "We form an MC, and if we want to survive, we need to be ready to spill some blood."
I look around at my shop, trying to picture it as a headquarters for an MC, a grander—more dangerous—vision than I’d intended for this garage. “What’ll we call ourselves?”
Marcus clears his throat. “I think ‘Thunder and the Other Ones’ makes for a good name. Let’s go with that.”
“Fuck you, Marcus,” I say. “That’s not it.” Before Marcus can come up with another terrible suggestion—and I can see that the gears in his head are already turning—I look at my newfound family, and at the danger we’re in. We are all here, united, because of the threat of death that hangs over us; we’ll survive because each of us, in our own way, has a spine of steel.
“Bullet, I can tell you’re thinking. You’re making that face that makes you look like you’re passing a kidney stone.”
Rook grunts and opens his mouth before I can reply to Thunder.
“We’re the Steel Reapers MC. If you’ve got a problem with that, I don’t give a fuck. That’s our name. It’s settled.”
I stare at him. “How the fuck did you know I was going to say that, Rook?”
“Eliza and Maddy talk. Maddy told her she’d seen you writing out a list of club names on a scrap of paper. I like that one, so that’s the one we’re going with. Do you have a problem with that?” He hefts his broom in a way that plainly declares he could probably kill Thunder and I with it without even breaking a sweat. “Now, what the fuck are you two lazy pieces of shit standing around for? No self-respecting MC would be caught dead with a garage this dirty—get the fuck back to work.”
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The Twisted Devils MC
Book one: Razor
Book two: Rusty
Book Three: Mack
Book Four: Blaze
Book Five: Crash
Book Six: Snake
Book Seven: Axel
Book Eight: Trips
Book Nine: Brewer
Book Ten: Rabid
Book Eleven: Goldie
Book Twelve: Mayhem
Book Thirteen: Tractor
Book Fourteen: Havoc
Book Fifteen: Chains
Book Sixteen: Hammer
Book Seventeen: Bones
Book Eighteen: Rook
The Rebel Riders MC:
Book one: Thrash
Book two: Riot
Book three: Duke
Book four: Rooster
Book five: Creole
Book six: Bull
The Wayward Kings MC Series:
Book one: Bear
Book Two: Ozzy
Book Three: Hazard
Book Four: Preacher
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Liar
Zahra Girard, Bullet (Steel Reapers MC Book 1)
