CHAPTER 1

Taz

I knew how this was going to end, but I couldn’t stop it. No matter what I tried, this fucking nightmare always played out the same way. Just like it had in reality.

Looking down at my sneakers, I kicked a rock off the footpath. I didn’t want to go home, so I was taking my time, just like I always did. But not too much time. We lived in a shitty part of the western suburbs of Melbourne, Australia, and if I walked too slowly, I’d become a victim to worse things than what I was going home to.

Ever since Gordon, my stepfather, lost his last job over a month ago, I never knew what I’d find when I got home after school. I wish Mum would kick his ass out. I was thirteen now, and old enough to help her out. I’d do more for her and my little sister, Grace, than that piece of shit currently did.

If only Gordon would just fuck off. I clenched my fists and released them a few times. I prayed for the day I was strong enough to successfully fight back. I’d tried. I would always at least try to keep him from hurting Mum, but so far it had only ended in me getting a beating. Still, it had saved Mum from his fists so it had been worth it. However, while I was at school I couldn’t step in front of her. Little Gracie was only three years old, so she was stuck home with the monster all day too. So far, he hadn’t laid a hand on her. If he ever did, I’d take a knife to him in his sleep. Little Gracie was an angel. So sweet, and despite the house of horrors she was living in, always had a big smile for me when I got home each day.

The faint scent of smoke made my nose itch. It was early April, which meant it was still fire ban season, but that didn’t stop people burning off rubbish whenever they bloody well felt like it. I didn’t pay much attention to it until a block later, when the smell got stronger and I looked up from the footpath to search for the origin of all the smoke. My heart stopped beating and my lungs froze for a horrible moment when I saw the pillar of dark smoke coming from our house, just over a block ahead of me.

“Fuck. MUM! GRACE!”

I was sprinting before I was aware I was moving, flying down the footpath, faster than I ever had before. I skidded as I turned onto our front lawn. The heat from the fire licking up the front wall of the house had me backpedaling.

“Donny! Stay back, son.”

Mrs. Sticks from next door was rushing over to me, reaching for my arm but I couldn’t let her get me. I had to try to get Mum and Grace out first. Shaking my head at her, I dropped my bag off my shoulders and bolted to the back of the house. Easily jumping the little fence at the side, I scrambled up the steps and wrenched open the back door. Thick smoke escaped, instantly surrounding me and making me cough and wheeze, but I wasn’t going to let it stop me.

“Mum! Grace!”

I couldn’t hear anything over the roar of the fire that had engulfed the front of the house. Mum and Gordon’s bedroom was up there, but Grace and I had rooms here in the rear of the building. Lifting the neck of my shirt up over my nose to block at least some of the smoke, I went for Grace’s room first, hoping she was in there. She was often napping at this time of day. Feeling my way through the smoke, I found my way to her bed. I could make out her body on the mattress, hoping she was just sleeping, I gave her a shake, but she wouldn’t wake up. The smoke was getting thicker and I pressed my nose against my shoulder to try to block even more of the shit so I could take a breath. Knowing I didn’t have much time, I didn’t bother trying to wake her again, but gathered her limp body against my chest and ran for the back door. I tried not to think about Mum. She had to be in the front of the house. If she’d been in the back, she would have grabbed Grace and gotten out already.

Tears stung my eyes as I bolted out the back door and carried my sister around to the front yard, where I could hear sirens. I was coughing with every breath, my lungs burned and my body shook, but I refused to drop my sweet little Gracie. No way. It took a moment to open the side gate and then I was back in the front yard. Thankfully, the fire hadn’t reached this side of the house yet, so I could still pass through. I needed to get Grace to the ambulance. They’d fix whatever was wrong. It was their job, so they had to. I refused to accept any other outcome.

Mrs. Sticks was running over to me when I looked up.

“Oh, Donny, here, let me take her—”

“No. She’s mine.”

The pain that flashed in her expression didn’t affect me at all. My mind had focused solely on getting Grace to the ambulance. I couldn’t even think about anything else.

“Okay, that’s okay, lovie. You bring her over to the ambulance. You need to let them take you both to hospital, okay?”

She wrapped an arm around my shoulders and guided me over to the multiple vehicles with their flashing lights.

Panting, I sat up in bed, the blue and red flashing lights filling my vision for a few more seconds. Fuck. I hated that nightmare. Hated even more the fact it wasn’t really a dream, but a memory. I scrubbed my palms over my face as my heart continued to thunder in my chest. No way would I be getting any more sleep tonight. I looked at the clock beside my bed and groaned. Two in the fucking morning. I’d only been asleep for an hour. With a growl, I laid back down. I needed to at least try to get some more shut-eye. I had shit to do today that required more than one fucking hour of sleep.

Ten minutes later, I growled and reached for the stereo remote. AC/DC Thunderstruck came on, filling the silence, helping to banish the memories as I rolled out of bed and strode over to my en suite bathroom.

I had no idea why I’d let my two best friends, Mac and Eagle, talk me into buying this place and moving out of the clubhouse. There was always noise and some chaos at the Charon MC clubhouse, and that was how I liked it. Silence was deafening and I hated it. When the world was quiet around you, it left your mind free to think, to roll back into your history and fuck you up. At least that’s what mine did to me, which sucked. Because there was nothing you could do about the past. It was done and set in stone, leaving behind those that survived to try and deal with it. It was bad enough the shit invaded my sleep, I didn’t need it messing up my days, too.

Rolling my neck, I stood under the spray of the shower, letting the warm water wash away the last traces of sleep and the memories of the nightmare that had sent my life on a downhill slide. Soaping up my palms, I began the task of washing myself by running my hands over all the various tattoos that covered my arms. The flowers and monsters I’d had etched into my skin over the years. I didn’t look as I ran my palms over my chest. The webs and skulls, along with the names that I’d had inked across my pecs, were things I did my best never to look at. Some days I wondered why I’d ever been fucking stupid enough to get the names inked on me in the first place, but then I’d remember something good. A sweet moment between the three of us and I knew why. My mother and baby sister deserved to be remembered for who they were when they’d lived, not how their lives had been so brutally cut short.

With a growl that my mind had gone there again, I flipped off the taps and got out. Running a towel over myself as I walked, I headed back to my bedroom to get dressed. When Guns ‘n’ Roses Knocking on Heaven’s Door came on as I pulled a shirt over my head, I stiffened.

“Fuck me.”

The world was clearly against me this morning. I seriously did not need to start my day stuck inside my head like I was. I shut off the song, grabbed my cut and headed for my front door as I put the leather vest on. I’d head down to the gym and see if I could pound my demons back into their cage with a workout. If that didn’t work, I’d have to wait till later today to find someone to fight with in the back room. Fuck, I was glad when Mac had renovated the place last year and he’d left that back room alone. Years ago it had been a full on fight club type thing, with most of the club involved, but now there were only a handful of us that used the space. Still, even with the low numbers, I loved being able to jump in the ring and fight. All the men who went in that back room to fight were like me—we had all demons riding us that needed to be beaten into submission on a regular basis.

I swung my leg over my bike and the moment it came to life beneath me, some of the tension left my body. Maybe I’d start with a nice, long ride, then I’d head into the gym.

Flick

Once I’d parked next to the surprisingly modern looking gym, I blew out a breath as I hopped out of my car. After reading the file on Donovan ‘Taz’ Lee, I wasn’t sure what kind of man I was going to encounter. As a child and teen, he’d been through more trauma than anyone should have to suffer in their entire lifetime. I couldn’t imagine how a thirteen-year-old boy would handle the deaths of his mother and young sister, let alone being shipped from Australia to America to live with an unknown relative right afterward.

The file hadn’t given me many details of his life between coming to the USA and his enlistment in the USMC when he was eighteen. And the information for afterward was only about his military accomplishments. He was one of the best snipers the USMC ever had. I was sure they weren’t happy when he’d decided to retire nearly three years ago.

Unfortunately, the file didn’t include details of missions he’d been on. As unrealistic as it had been, I’d been hopeful it would have at least some basic information, because that could have potentially answered some of my questions about what had happened with my brother’s discharge from the USMC.

As I walked to the front door, I ran my gaze down the line of bikes. Naturally, they were all Harleys. There were half a dozen all parked at the exact same angle, each machine was clean and sparkling in the early morning sun. Since arriving in town three days ago, I’d quietly done a little recon. I knew Taz rode the green Harley sitting at the front of the line-up. But I’d already known he would most likely be here, even before seeing his bike. He seemed to like to start his day with an early morning workout.

I pushed open the door to Acheron Gym and took a step inside. I wasn’t sure what to expect from a biker gym, but this certainly wasn’t it. All fresh paint and cleanliness. The equipment spread out around the space looked new too, aside from a few machines that had a well-worn appearance. What didn’t surprise me was when, in under a minute, I felt the gazes of several of the men on me including the one I came for. Taz was in a loose tank and shorts, and I got to look my fill as he set the weights down he’d been lifting and swaggered toward me. And it was a swagger, no way could you label how he moved as simply walking. I clenched my jaw to make sure it didn’t drop open in awe. Tingles of awareness shot through my system as he got closer to me and it took all the self-control I had to not shiver under his hot gaze.

“Well, hello there, luv. You need help with something?”

For the first time in a very long time, I found myself struck mute as I stared into his baby blues. His words had been drawled with a sexy-as-fuck Australian accent I hadn’t been expecting. I mean, he’d been living in the US since he was a young teen, he had no right to still have such a devastating accent.

“Taz, go back to your workout already and quit tormenting the poor woman.”

A deep voice broke the connection between us and with a shake of my head, I turned to the newcomer. I recognized Jacob ‘Mac’ Miller from the photo I was given of him. He was taller than Taz, and looked a little older. His head was cleanly shaven, while his jaw was not. He was handsome in a rough sort of way, but thankfully he didn’t affect me like Taz had, which was a relief.

I cleared my throat. “Ah, hi. I wanted to inquire about joining?”

Mac gave me a smile before he responded. “Excellent. How about you take a seat for a second while I grab the paperwork?”

“Hey, Mac? I can start showing her around, while you’re doing that.”

Fuck me, but that accent was going to kill me. I swallowed past the lump in my throat as Mac raised a brow at me in question.

Shrugging a shoulder, I responded with a “Fine by me,” even though it wasn’t fine. Holy shit, how the fuck was I going to be able to work with this man when I couldn’t even think straight in his presence?

Mac strolled away toward a door in the back of the large main room and Taz cleared his throat to grab my attention back to him.

“So, what’s your name, luv?”

I cleared my throat. “Flick. You’re Taz, yeah?”

He smirked and nodded. “Yep, that’s me. Flick your real name?”

I shook my head. “Nickname, just like I’m guessing Taz isn’t your real name.”

No way was I making it easy on him to dig information out of me. I needed to play it at least a little cool. The best way to get this partnership to work was to do a little groundwork in front of his club first. A little flirting and fun, then when I told him the real reason I was here and what we needed to do, our cover would already be established and his club would think nothing of us spending time together on a regular basis.

At least that had been the plan. Now, I really wanted to know how his hands would feel running over my bare flesh. I couldn’t hold back the shiver that thought gave me.

“You cold there, Flick?”

I gave him a glare because he knew full well I wasn’t fucking cold. “I’m fine. So, you going to show me around this place or what?”

Chuckling he lifted a muscular shoulder in a half shrug. I barely held in my groan as his inked skin rippled with the movement. “Sure, luv. Follow me for the grand tour.”