Empire of Savages (Savage Hunt MC #1)

2. Alex

Chapter 2

Alex

The rumble of motorcycles speeding down the street outside my apartment made me shiver—the visceral reaction something I thought I’d kicked after all these years. Curiosity got the better of me, though, and I peered out from my living room window, watching the headlights bounce across the dark asphalt. Was it the Devils or the Hunt? I supposed it didn’t really matter. That wasn’t my life anymore.

Stepping away from the glass, I let the thin drape slide through my fingers and retreated to the safety of my couch. Curling my legs beneath me, I tried to focus on the paperwork littered across the cushions and on the coffee table, while simultaneously ignoring the fact that the end of the quarter was nearing. I couldn’t see a way to get the money together in time for Maddox’s visit. Last quarter, I’d managed to pull a rabbit out of the hat, but I wouldn’t be so lucky this time.

My head jerked up when the downstairs buzzer sounded. Sliding from the couch, I went to the intercom, eyeing the baseball bat I had propped up near the kitchen counter. I liked to have multiple options to defend myself.

Pressing the speaker, I leaned in and said, “Yeah?”

“It’s me,” Bliss, my best friend, said. “Let me up.”

Fuck. “I’m not in the mood, Bliss,” I told her. I could even picture her rolling her eyes at me. “Rain check?”

“Fuck, no. You need some Bliss time.” After a pause, she added, “I have tequila.”

“You’re underage. How the hell did you get tequila?” I asked, giving her the side-eye through the intercom even though she couldn’t see it.

“I know you’re throwing me some side-eye right now,” she replied. “But come on, Alex. Just one drink.”

I glanced over at the mountain of paperwork that wouldn’t magically disappear, no matter how hard I wished for it. With a groan, I turned back to the intercom. “Just one drink,” I warned and buzzed her in.

All I could hear in reply was Bliss’s maniacal laugh as I unlocked the apartment door. Gathering all the bills from the couch and table, I wondered where I could stash the evidence of my financial ruin away from the prying eyes of my one and only employee. I hustled into my bedroom, then shoved the papers under my bed, re-emerging just as Bliss breezed through the door. Wearing her signature frayed, cut-off shorts and an over-sized shirt that hung off her shoulder, she flounced inside, brandishing the bottle of tequila like she’d just won first prize at the local fair.

She pushed it at my chest with a smile, then dropped onto my couch.

I eyed the bottle. “Do I even want to know?”

Bliss flashed a smile back at me, taking off her trucker cap and shaking out her bubblegum-pink hair. “I walked right into the liquor store and bought it.”

I snorted. “No, you didn’t because you don’t have a fake ID and with that hair, you look like a grade-schooler.”

She frowned at me, the expression looking all wrong on her face. Bliss was quicker to laugh than to get angry. She simply had one of those personalities. She reminded me a lot of my childhood best friend, Nissa, who—despite being deaf—still had more reason to smile than to frown.

“Fine. I asked some old dude going inside to buy me the bottle.”

Shaking my head, I turned to the kitchen and placed the liquor on the counter. Next, I grabbed the margarita mix from the cupboard I’d shoved it in the last time she’d come over. We’d both sworn to never touch it again, but best laid plans and all that. I threw everything along with some ice into the small blender and hit the button. After pouring our drinks into two glasses, I sat beside Bliss on the couch and handed one to her.

“You shouldn’t be drinking at your age.” My admonishment was without heat. After all, I wasn’t one to talk. I was drinking by the time I was thirteen. Taking drugs a year later. Mostly weed at first, but I’d turned to illicit substances to help me deal with all the shit my father had put me through. As far as I knew, Bliss’s home life had been fine until her father died when she was fifteen. Her mother hadn’t been able to cope raising five kids on her own, and since Bliss was the oldest, she’d been forced out on her own.

“If we didn’t take life’s pleasures, what would be the point of living?” she asked, knocking her glass against mine and taking a deep drink.

I sighed and took a sip too.

Bliss grabbed the remote from the arm of the chair and began scrolling through the channels. “So, what are we watching tonight?”

Before I could tell her not the Barbie movie again, my phone started to ring. Picking it up from the coffee table, I glanced at the number, and like some goddamned Pavlovian response, bile rose in my throat.

Clearing the taste from the back of my tongue, I told her, “Pick whatever you want,” then excused myself from the apartment. I stepped out into the small hall that gave me access to the mechanic shop down the stairs, and to the washer and dryer on this level. Rolling my bottom lip between my teeth, I looked at the number, knowing I had to pick it up. Knowing he wouldn’t stop calling, and if I didn’t answer this time, he’d make the trip down here.

“Maddox,” I said.

“Alex, baby,” he replied, his tone cocky. “You’ve been avoiding my calls.”

“I’ve been busy,” I lied. I wished I’d been busy. Business was slow, though, and if it dried up completely, there was no way I could pay back the loan.

“Do you have my money?”

My hand flexed on the phone, and I forced myself to take a breath. To relax. “I still have another two weeks.”

“You might, but I don’t. I need to collect early.”

“I don’t have all of it,” I whispered, hating that he would take his payment out on my body if I couldn’t deliver. I wasn’t a whore, but when my brother had died, and I’d taken on the garage and his debt, I had no idea what I was getting into with Maddox Lynham. The mere thought of having to submit to that man—of having him touch me again—made me want to puke.

He was deathly quiet for a long time, and our past encounters came flooding back to me. My body ached from phantom pain, flaring hotter and hotter the longer he drew out the silence. “You don’t want to know what happens if you can’t pay this quarter, Alex. Your past experiences will look like a fucking spa visit compared to what will happen to you if you don’t get me that money.”

He hung up, and I was left frozen on the spot, staring at the hallway wall, until Bliss pulled open the door.

“If you don’t hurry up, I’m going to drink your margarita and put on Magic Mike again. Can someone say Channing Tatum’s abs?” she sing-songed, chuckling at her threat.

When I kept my back to her, Bliss’s laughter died.

She touched my shoulder, and an unbidden sob escaped me. “Alex?” Bliss spun me around and I tried to hide the tears, but it was pointless. She had seen them. She knew I’d been crying. “Who the hell was on the phone?” Her tone was serious, but it was her eyes that threw me. She looked like she was ready to kill someone for me.

Wiping the tears from my cheeks, I tried for a smile. “Nobody.”

She wasn’t buying the everything’s-a-okay act. Narrowing her eyes, she demanded, “Tell me whose ass I have to go kick.”

Her fierceness made me love her even more. “It’s nothing. Really.” I wiped away the last of the tears—the evidence that the clock was ticking, drawing me closer to something completely out of my control. Taking in a deep breath and letting it out, I asked, “Can we just get drunk?”

Bliss’s concerned expression didn’t shift right away, and I braced for the onslaught of questions. Dragging Bliss into my problems wasn’t the solution here. I let out another breath as a grin slowly began to form on her glossy lips. I thanked whichever god was looking out for me that she decided to drop it.

“Only because watching Magic Mike is more fun with alcohol.”

The next morning, I woke with a pounding head and a mouth so dry it was like I’d been in the desert for years without water.

Damn Bliss and her encouragement.

After we’d finished the bottle of tequila she’d brought, we moved on to all the random half-drunk bottles of liquor I had around the apartment, mixing them with soda until we ran out of that too. Then we just shot them straight. With a groan, I rolled over to find Bliss fast asleep on the other side of the mattress.

“No more Sambuca,” she mumbled, her eyes firmly shut. “It’s the devil.”

“Agreed.” I couldn’t even remember why I had a bottle of the black liquor in my possession in the first place.

“I need coffee,” she added, drawing the quilt up over her head. “And turn off the sun. It’s too bright.”

Coffee sounded like an amazing idea. Scooting to the edge of the bed, I swung my legs off and sat upright. My whole world spun for a moment, and I waited for the tilt-a-whirl to stop before shuffling into the kitchen. After checking a few cupboards, I found that—like decent alcohol and appropriate mixers—I was out of coffee too.

“No coffee,” I called to Bliss.

She groaned loudly. “I’m dying, though.”

Opening the fridge, I peered inside to see if coffee would miraculously appear in there.

It did not.

I had no choice.

I had to go out and get some.

Pulling on some clean clothes, I told Bliss where I was going and stumbled downstairs. When I reached the bottom of the stairs, I weaved between the two cars parked in my garage workshop and opened the side door, stepping out into the too-bright summer sun. Shielding my eyes, I slid my sunglasses on, then started down the cracked sidewalk. As I walked past the vacant store fronts and empty supplier buildings on Oakwood, a familiar sensation of awareness made me twitch.

Peering over my shoulder, I glimpsed the sun catching on the fuel tank of a parked red-and-black Harley Davidson Fat Boy. Nope. I was not in the right frame of mind to see him. Picking up the pace, I hurried down the hot pavement. The Harley roared to life a moment later, the rumble of the engine making me sweat. The motorcycle pulled to a stop a dozen feet ahead of me, and I ducked my head as I hurried past.

“Alexis,” a familiar voice called.

But I refused to stop.

“Alexis, come on,” he said, shutting off his bike and extending the kick stand. “Stop.”

But I didn’t. I had no interest in talking to the enforcer of the Devil’s Chaos Motorcycle Club this morning. My fragile sense of safety had been cracked by Maddox last night, but I refused to cry in someone’s arms about it. If I let Hayes get close enough, I would collapse. I would give in to the familiarity of him and try to ease some of the crushing fear that lingered despite the alcohol I’d attempted to mask it with. So, instead, I said, “Go away.”

Snapping out his hand, Hayes gripped my bicep and pulled me to a stop. Fuck, I was too hung over for this shit. I yanked my arm away, glaring at him even though he couldn’t see my eyes past the dark tint of my sunglasses.

He folded his arms over his chest, the two chunky silver rings on his fingers catching the sun. “I just want to talk.”

“There’s nothing to fucking talk about.”

“Bullshit. I haven’t seen you in weeks.”

I rounded on him, my chest pinching with the memories of when I would find comfort in his arms rather than away from them. Hayes Lawson was a bittersweet reminder of my past—a reminder of the times I spent with him and my brother. When we were kids, it was us against the world, and I’d never wanted it to end. It was only after my mother’s death that I’d allowed him into my bed, craving comfort again.

Shaking my head, I held his steely gaze. “You mean you haven’t seen me while watching the garage over the last few weeks?”

At least he looked chagrinned. “Come on, Alex. I made a promise.”

A dagger through the heart.

That was the feeling in my chest.

Of course, Luca had made his best friend promise to look out for me. Even his death hadn’t broken the pact between them.

“Luca has been dead and gone for two years now.” My words were delivered with a cruelty I instantly regretted. “I’m pretty sure he’d let you off the hook on this one.”

Hayes’s eyes shuttered at the mention of my brother’s name, and I caught a glimpse of the man who had risen to the rank of enforcer faster than any other member of the Devil’s Chaos Motorcycle Club. If I’d had a fucked-up childhood, it was nothing compared to the early life lessons Hayes had been subjected to.

There had been a time when I thought I could fix him—make him whole again—but I’d been delusional. It was a lesson I’d learned the hard way, leaving whatever friendship we once had in a tattered mess on the ground.

Uncomfortable with the tense silence, I asked, “What do you want?”

“To see how you’re doing.”

“Fine.” I gestured to my body. “As you can see. So, why don’t you run back to the clubhouse and slide back in between the sheets with whatever club whore is currently warming your bed?”

“Come on, Alex,” he said, his jaw tight with irritation. “I made a mistake. Can’t we get past it?”

Yes, he’d made a mistake, but it was a mistake that had taught me a very important lesson: trusting someone who was part of a motorcycle club was a bad idea. They would always choose the club over me, and I was tired of being second best.

It did make me wonder, though. If he hadn’t fucked around with one of the club girls and betrayed my trust, would we still have been together? Would I never have met Maddox? Would I currently be free of him?

“Jesus, what happened, Alex?”

I was taken aback by his question, only then realizing I’d started crying. Mourning what I’d lost with him. Grieving having someone I could talk to about it all.

“Talk to me.”

Hayes reached for me, and for a split second, I wanted his comfort. I wanted to be surrounded by him, to cling to that feeling of protection. My emotions and memories were tangled together, and his proximity did nothing to dull them. Unable to resist the pull of the past, I let him hold me, and I inhaled the scent of leather from his cut, the faint smell of gasoline and gun oil. His strong arms banded around my back, holding me close to the solid warmth of his body. I remembered when I could reach for Hayes whenever I’d wanted, knowing he would be there for me.

But that wasn’t us anymore.

I stepped back suddenly, wrapping my arms around my middle. As quickly as the wall around my heart had fallen, I rebuilt it—bigger and stronger than before.

“You’ve done what you came to do.” My voice was edged with steel. “Goodbye, Hayes.”

Spinning around, I continued my search for caffeine. Hayes cursed loudly enough for me to hear, then his bike started. Squeezing my eyes shut, I let the last of my tears fall as he roared past me.

I arrived at Red Velvet five minutes later. Pushing inside, I was greeted with the scents of freshly brewed coffee, chocolate, and vanilla. After a quick perusal of the dessert cabinet, I placed my coffee order, then stepped to one side to wait. While I waited, I scrolled through my social media accounts and got lost in other people’s worlds for a few minutes.

“Alex?” the girl behind the counter called.

After retrieving my order and thanking the girl, I weaved through the waiting crowd. Stepping back out into the warm sun, I started the return trip to the garage. I sipped at my coffee on the walk back, enjoying the way it chased the alcohol from my blood and cleared my head. Less than twenty yards from the shop, I saw Bliss standing out on the sidewalk.

“Bliss?” I called, picking up the pace.

“Thank God, you’re back!”

“What’s happened? What’s wrong?”

She shuffled on her feet, and I heard a sharp popping sound. Looking down, I noticed glass on the pavement. Hustling to Bliss, my gaze swept the damage that had been inflicted on the glass door that led into the office for the shop. The whole pane had shattered, leaving more glass strewn over the tiles. Inside, in the middle of the floor, was a brick.

“Bliss, what the hell happened? Are you okay? Did you get hurt?”

“I’m fine. I heard glass shattering and came downstairs.”

I mentally calculated how much it would take for me to make the repairs to the door.

“You want me to call the cops?” Bliss asked.

The cops were the last people I wanted around here. “No. It’s fine.” Handing her the tray of drinks and pastries, I stepped carefully into the office space. Fragments of glass were everywhere, skittering away from my shoes as I moved farther into the room. Crouching beside the brick, I turned it over.

“Jesus, is that blood?” Bliss asked over my shoulder.

“Looks like it.”

Her turquoise eyes flickered from the brick to my face, then back again. “Who the hell would want to do this?”

I had a very good idea who it was but I kept it to myself. Standing, I stared at the mess I would have to clean up before I began ringing around for glazing companies that worked on the weekend. Maddox was behind this—I knew it deep in my gut. What I didn’t understand was why in the hell he was suddenly so desperate to get his cash.

Bliss pushed my cup into my hand. “Here, get caffeinated. I’ll grab a broom.”