Hunter (King’s Men MC #1)

2. Ryleigh

2

RYLEIGH

I looked at myself in the mirror.

This was the most makeup I had on in a very long time.

The last time was when my father was re-elected to be the state judge, and our family threw a lavish party to celebrate.

But unlike the last time, when I wore an appropriate dress that came down to my knees, this time I was in a little black dress, strapless, and came up to my mid-thighs.

If I sat down too quickly, the dress would undoubtedly ride up and show everyone the bright pink panties I had on.

This was a splurge purchase.

I didn’t even know why I bought it when I didn’t have anywhere to go, but I had seen it displayed in the window at one of the little boutiques in Sacramento and decided to buy it on a whim.

And now I did have a chance to wear it, but I wasn’t so sure.

I still didn’t know why they invited me out with them tonight when they had been out plenty of times and never extended the invitation to me .

But…

Despite knowing they didn’t really do it because they wanted to be my friends, I was still excited about the prospect of going out.

I grabbed my three-inch black, strappy high heels and walked out to the living room where all the girls were.

They quieted when they saw me, mouths slightly open and surprise clear in their eyes.

I pulled up short and looked at them.

None of them said anything for a moment, and then a look of annoyance crossed Angelica’s face.

“Are you seriously wearing that?” she asked.

I frowned. “What’s wrong with it?”

I wasn’t wearing anything different from her, except for the fact that her dress was red and much shorter than mine.

Her blonde hair was pinned up in a high ponytail, and she had on twice as much makeup as me, to the point where if I had seen her on the streets, I wouldn’t have recognized her.

“Nothing’s wrong with it,” Marren commented, shooting Angelica a look.

Angelica’s lips thinned, showcasing her dissatisfaction, but she kept quiet.

When they didn’t say anything else, I took in the other two girls standing on either side of Angelica.

Marren was a petite woman, shorter than me by about two inches, with long straight dark hair, fringe bangs that framed her heart shape face nicely, almond brown eyes, and brown skin.

I heard in passing that she had a mixed heritage of White British on her mom’s side and Chinese American on her dad’s side.

Like her two friends, she was beautiful in an unattainable sort of way and was by far the most athletic person I had ever met. I knew she was here on a volleyball scholarship, and if Angelica was considered hot-headed, then she was the more level-headed counterpart.

They were much closer to each other than their third friend, Kylie Collins, who was thin and tall in a modelesque way.

With red hair cut in a short bob, edgy side bangs, and green eyes encased in dark eyeshadow that stood out nicely on her pale skin, she was beautiful in a classic way.

In ways that made it easy for her to transform any way she wanted.

She was far quieter than the other two, and sometimes, I thought we could have been friends. If not friends, at the very least, be friendly with each other, had she not been friends with Angelica and Marren first.

She was also looking at me with a guilty look in her eyes.

It should have been my first sign to call off tonight, only I was dressed and ready to go.

Angelica plastered on a small smile that I didn’t trust and said, “Let’s go. Club X just opened, and I’m sure there is a long line already.”

Club X?

Why did that sound familiar?

I didn’t say anything as I leaned down and put on my shoes. When I turned back to them, Angelica didn’t take off the annoyed look in her eyes soon enough, and I pulled up short, taking her in.

It looked like she didn’t want me to go out with them tonight.

“We can take your car, can’t we?” Angelica asked. “You don’t mind driving, right?”

“Right,” I said quietly.

I got it, then.

They needed someone to get them there and bring them back .

And I was picked as the designated driver.

Lucky me.

We quietly walked out of the apartment, and I debated calling the whole thing off. But the thought of seeing them for the next three months afterward would be…

Awkward.

And I didn’t do well with awkwardness.

We got to my tiny black Camry that seated five people.

That wasn’t the problem.

The problem was that once I got inside the driver’s side, I found all three of them had chosen to sit in the back rather than have one person up on the passenger seat with me.

My cheeks heated with embarrassment, and I looked back in the rearview mirror and found a smirking Angelica, an expressionless Marren, and an apologetic Kylie.

Not apologetic enough, considering she let her friends persuade her to sit in the back with them.

And to think I had been excited about this whole night.

I was nothing more than a chauffeur to them.

I didn’t even want to go to the club anymore, and I decided to leave as soon as possible…

Without them.

The girls chattered on their way to the club, completely ignoring me.

The drive was thankfully short, and although we did run into a small traffic jam, it surprisingly cleared up quickly.

I let out a small sign of relief once we got to the club and found the long line to the front door.

The thought of waiting in that line with the three of them while they continued to ignore me sounded about as fun as having my skin marked with knives.

Yeah, no, thank you.

But still, I got out of the car and looked around.

We had driven all the way down to downtown Sacramento, known to have a wide variety of nightclubs, bars, and restaurants.

I didn’t want to wait in line with them, but I also didn’t want to return to an empty apartment, having already dressed up.

And though I had driven them here, I didn’t want to become a pushover or a good little lapdog for these terrible roommates of mine.

I looked them over.

Kylie avoided my gaze, and Marren was busy looking over at the long line.

Angelica met my eyes.

“Well, this was fun, but you need to find your own ride home.”

She frowned. “What are you talking about? You agreed to drive us here. You have to drive us back.”

I shook my head. “I don’t have to drive you back. And I don’t want to. Have fun tonight.”

Without waiting for a reply, I pivoted around and walked away.

I didn’t know where I was walking to and didn’t really care. I just wanted to be as far away from them as possible, and first thing Monday morning, I was going to find other living accommodations.

I didn’t want to put up with this anymore, and if it meant having to explain to my worrisome mother why I wanted to move out…

Well, I would deal with it when it comes time for it.

My limbs shook as I reached the front of a bar not too far from the club.

I was surprised I could stay standing for as long as I had, and I signaled to the waitress that I was going to the outside table .

The place was bustling with people, all here with someone else.

I shifted in my seat, feeling self-conscious about being out by myself.

The city was surprisingly busy for a Thursday night.

The waitress came up to my table, and I ordered a soda and some boneless chicken wings before going back to watching the club.

Three men came to the patio, loudly, drawing my attention, and I watched as they walked over to the table next to mine.

I peeked over at them, having them pegged to be in their mid to late twenties.

One of them, a cute brunette with kind green eyes, caught my gaze, and he smiled at me, showing dimples.

I shyly looked away and down at the table as the other two sat beside the handsome stranger.

They weren’t in college, that was for sure.

Probably working professionals, judging by their clothes, and somewhat well-off.

Besides the man that smiled at me, I didn’t get a good look at the other two and didn’t know what they looked like.

I knew how they sounded, though, as they weren’t quiet when they talked.

“That club is getting big. Pretty soon, it’s going to tarnish our city,” one of them said.

“You think so?” another asked.

The third mumbled something I didn’t hear before the first spoke up again. “Look at this club. I heard the President—what’s his name—bought a whole bunch of empty buildings around here, and will construct it into businesses.”

“He’s just opening businesses,” came the response.

I lost track of who was talking at this point, except when the first guy spoke .

His voice was distinguishably loud and deep. I was pretty sure most of the people on the balcony heard him.

“Oh, don’t be so na?ve,” he exclaimed. I almost jumped at the boom of his voice. “You really think they’re opening businesses just to open up businesses? No, I bet they’re using it to launder money and shit.”

“Laundering money and shit, you say?”

This voice didn’t come from the table.

I tensed and turned to the doorway to find another three men standing there.

My breath caught when I realized Kai was the third man to the left. And though his presence had always seemed bigger than life on campus, he didn’t feel like it now.

Not when he was standing next to two other men, who were obviously older than him and took up so much energy. I was finding it hard to breathe.

“You hear that, Micah. We’re apparently opening up businesses for some shady shit.”

Was this…

Was this the owner of Club X?

He looked like an older, more distinguished version of Kai.

I assumed this was Kai’s father—the notorious King’s Men MC president.

The guys from the table visibly blanched, but they didn’t reply to him. I tried to remember what the president’s name was. I was sure my father had spurted it out a few times at the house, mostly in disgust…

Dominic Madden.

He was like nothing I imagined him to be.

For one thing, he wasn’t terrible looking.

Or old.

Quite young and handsome. I suddenly found myself drawn to him .

Not in a sexual way, but in the way I was drawn to Kai.

There was just the magnetism about his presence that was hard to ignore.

Like Kai, he was built like a professional football player, with broad shoulders, a wide chest, and a tall frame.

Though there was something dangerous about him that couldn’t be said about anyone else.

He wasn’t the kind of man anyone would mess with.

And he had the most beautiful tan skin, free from blemishes, saved for a few visible scars from where I sat.

A warrior’s mark.

He shared the same dark blue eyes as his son, though his hair was a shade or two darker than Kai’s, and much shorter. It was mostly shaved off.

Tattoos covered his skin from where I could see.

And he looked too young to have a son who was nineteen or twenty.

I turned away from Dominic and looked over at Kai, who was looking at me with a strange look in his eyes.

I resisted the urge to squirm.

That was probably his superpower.

Making people uncomfortable with a single glance.

I turned my attention to the third man and froze.

This man was…

Cold.

Too cold for my liking.

If Kai and his father were like blue fire, burning hot and taking up too much oxygen from any room they walked into, this man was arctic ice.

With dark hair only a centimeter shorter than Kai’s and a full beard, this man looked more like a robot than a human.

His face had remained stoic throughout the whole exchange, and though he was leaner than Dominic, he had him beat in height by at least two inches. And Dominic was already tall. I had him estimated to be about 6’3”, so that guy would have to come up to 6’4” or 6’5” at least.

What did Dominic call him?

Micah?

I swallowed, trying hard not to move and draw attention to myself.

It was ridiculous.

They weren’t going to hurt me when we were in a crowded restaurant, and if anything, they might hurt the men who were bad-mouthing them first, but there was just something so dangerous about this Micah guy that made me want to run away.

I realized the restaurant had been quiet for a while, everyone focusing their attention on the three men, and it wasn’t until the server came in, pale-faced, and walked up to them with a to-go bag that everyone seemed to move—slightly.

“Your food, Mr. Madden.”

“Thank you, doll,” Dominic said with a drawl.

He came up to the table with the three men, turned to me, and winked with a small smile, putting me only marginally at ease before rapping his knuckles on their table once.

They jumped.

He laughed. “Until we meet again.”

And then, the three men walked out the door.

It wasn’t until they disappeared from view did the restaurant come back to life.

It seemed everyone had been holding their breath, and now we all collectively took in one deep one.

The three men from the table silently stood and walked out of the restaurant without another word.

Someone from the other table nearby tsked at their retreating backs. “Stupid fuckers,” he said. “Talking shit about the King’s Men in their territory. ”

I hadn’t realized Sacramento was theirs.

This city wasn’t too far from where my parents’ home was, and this city was also where my dad sat on the judge’s seat.

And this was their territory.

Fuck. No wonder my dad hated them.

My food was brought out after that, and everyone seemed to have gotten back to how things were.

I tried to find my appetite.

Yet, it felt like the whole energy in the room was thrown, and I went along with it.

I barely tasted the food and wondered what I was still doing here.

I should just go back to my apartment, but I was…

I was lonely.

I didn’t want to be, but I was.

I didn’t know how to connect to anyone beyond a few uttered nonsensical sentences in greetings.

I quickly wiped my mouth with my napkins and flagged the waitress down for the check.

Pulling out a hundred-dollar bill, I handed it to her when she came by and smiled.

She seemed surprised, but if there was one thing my family had, it was money.

It probably made me sound terrible, but I never grew up thinking about how much something might cost, considering the allowance my dad deposited in my bank each month was probably more than what most people made.

Perhaps that was why Angelica hated me.

I knew she came from a blue-collared family.

She was majoring in pre-law along with Marren, and though she was smart enough for the program and even law school, she once boasted loudly to her friends in the apartment that her one goal in life was to marry rich .

She probably didn’t know I could hear her from my room, or perhaps she didn’t care.

Didn’t matter, really.

That was her business.

I walked out of the restaurant and shivered as a cool chill overtook the night air.

It wasn’t usually too cold in California, and it seemed we had gotten into some heat wave recently, despite it getting into the fall, but tonight was much colder than I expected.

I rubbed my arms up and down, hoping to ward off the chills, and quickened my pace to my car.

It didn’t seem like the line for the club had moved up some, and it was getting too dark for me to see if the girls were still in line.

I stopped and frowned when I got to my car, wondering why it looked so weird.

Then it hit me.

All four of my wheels were flat.

Those bitches!

I knew I should have just driven home from the start. And now my wheels were flat, it was getting cold, and I had to call a tow truck.

Fuck.

I glared over at the line, but no one seemed to be paying me any attention.

I didn’t even know if they were still here, though I thought so.

I knew now why Angelica wanted to come here in the first place.

Kai’s dad owned the place.

She was hoping to run into Kai.

Fucking pathetic.

I looked back at my car, feeling my lips trembling a bit.

This was just great .

Pulling out my cell phone, I tried to put in the call for the tow company.

Nothing.

There was no service where I was standing.

This was just great.

I didn’t want to get too far from my car, but I couldn’t stand here all night. I walked over to the side of the building housing the club.

The music didn’t reach me here as much, and I could probably find service.

The bars appeared the closer I got to the mouth of the alley, and I finally found a good spot behind the dumpster.

I wrinkled my nose and kept at least three feet away, about to put in the call when the side door slammed open.

I placed my hand over my mouth to keep from saying anything and watched the shadows of two men come into view.

I didn’t know who they were, as they were hidden in the dark, but I could hear them.

“You must have a death wish coming here,” the bigger of the two men said to the other one.

He grabbed the shirt collar of the smaller man and pulled him up, bringing their face together.

Bile made its way up my throat, and it was taking everything in me not to throw up.

I pulled up the camera on my phone and pressed record.

My phone probably couldn’t pick up any visuals, but I hoped it would get in some audio. I didn’t dare move in closer.

I didn’t dare move away from the alley, fearing they might see me.

Something told me the big man was a dangerous man.

And he had just come out of the club owned by Dominic Madden .

I closed my eyes when the bigger man threw the smaller one on the ground.

“Please,” the smaller man said.

The other one laughed. The sound was mean and terrible. It sent goosebumps up my arms that had nothing to do with the cold.

“You should have thought about that before you came to our territory,” he said.

I closed my eyes.

The sound of flesh hitting flesh penetrated my mind, and I thanked my lucky stars I didn’t have a big lunch today—or better yet, that I hadn’t ordered so much food back at the restaurant—or surely it would have made its way onto my shoes by now.

This couldn’t possibly be happening to me, could it?

“Too late. I gave you a chance,” the mean voice said. “You should have run away when you had the chance, not crawling back and asking for forgiveness. You really think we make it a business to give out second chances to men like you?”

“Y-You can’t kill me,” the other man stuttered out.

“Oh?” I hated the sarcasm I could hear in his voice. “And why is that?”

“I’m a cop.”

Fuck.

The big man didn’t seem too bothered by that.

“A corrupt one. I’m doing this city a favor.”

I dropped to the ground, curling into myself, when I heard the sound of slashing, followed by a sick gurgling noise.

Tears stung my eyes as the door opened again, and the big man said something that sounded like clean up or something.

I wasn’t listening anymore .

All the blood rushed to my ears, and it was taking everything in me not to pass out right now.

I wasn’t sure how long I stayed crouching in that one small spot. But it was a while after when I saw a white van pull up, and the—the body was transferred into it, followed by complete silence.

I grabbed my phone, my hands shaking so badly that it took several attempts before pulling up his name.

He picked up on the third ring. “Ryleigh. What is it, sweetheart? I’m waiting on an important phone call.”

I took a deep breath and tried to talk. Nothing came out but a small sob.

His voice took on a note of concern. “Ryleigh. Are you okay? Answer me. Where are you at?”

I swallowed as tears ran down my cheeks. I barely felt it, not when all the numbness had hit my body.

I tried to find my voice. “D-Dad?”