Free ROUGHNECK: A DARK MOTORCYCLE CLUB ROMANCE by Nikki Wild

first…”
    “You think they’ll scare him out of testifying?”
    “They’ll try. And if they aren’t convinced they can do it, they’ll kill him. We know what they’re capable of now.”
    I tapped at the keyboard on my computer.
    “Makes you wonder why he didn’t want protection.”
    “Ignorant or stupid,” said Cejudo. “A lot of these lower level guys think they’re safe. They never see it coming.”
    “I got a feeling he’s gonna disappear on us,” I said.
    “What makes you think that? He came in on his own.”
    “I know. But you could just tell he didn’t know what he was doing. It was like he wanted us to talk him out of it.”
    “Maybe we should put a car on him.”
    “Yeah right. We’ll never get the green light on that. There’s barely enough money in the budget to refill that coffee pot. There’s no way they’re gonna give up the coin to make an undercover officer play tag-along with some nobody. Besides, we’ve got him on recording. That’ll be enough for the judge.”
    “Fair enough,” Cejudo said. “But we’ve got his number. Let’s try to stay in touch.”

11
Roughneck
    “ W ake up cowboy .”
    The bucket of cold water did little more than pull me out of my sleep.
    “C’mon, on your feet.”
    I tried to blink away the blur. My head ached as I tried to remember what happened.
    The room slowly came into focus. I was still at the clubhouse. It was one of the rooms the guys would use to get after whatever slut wanted to tag along for the night. I didn’t know what was worse… Getting hit over the head, or waking up in this dirty ass bed.
    They killed him. I thought to myself, my aching head finally starting to fire on both cylinders. Clancy had been the club president for longer than I’d been alive. And they shot him like a dog in the street. Never gave him a chance.
    “You back with us, tough guy?”
    Dirty’s voice grated on me like nails against a chalk board.
    “You better have that gun pointed at my chest, motherfucker,” I growled.
    Dirty chuckled as he leaned against the wall.
    “Don’t need it.”
    I straightened up and prepared to launch myself at him. Headache be damned.
    “Because,” he continued, “I just got a call from one of the boys, and it sounds like they’ve got that little bitch you’ve been runnin’ around with in their sights.”
    “I’d expect nothing else from you,” I said.
    “That’s the coward’s way. First you shoot an unarmed man… an unarmed man who’s done more for this club than you or your piece of shit old man ever did. And then, you want to hold up a woman who’s got nothin’ to do with this? You probably shot that civilian for fun, didn’t you?”
    “Got nothing to do with it?” he asked with feigned amusement. “I’d say she has plenty to do with it. For one, her worthless younger brother ran out on his people. That job would have never gone down the way it did if he knew how to handle himself.”
    He spat on the floor.
    “And number two, word is you’ve been doin’ a little runnin’ around with the little bitch. That peaks my interest, Roughneck. Makes me wonder if you know more than you’re letting on.”
    “So, what do you want? Because if you didn’t want something you would have done me just like you did the prez.”
    “Yeah, well, you’re right about that. Believe me, I would have shot your big ass if pops didn’t think we could use you.”
    I wanted to feel the bones in his neck crush under my fingers.
    “And the girl… I think she gives us just enough leverage to make you do what we want. They call that a fortuitous turn of events. You like that?”
    “Fuck you.”
    “I thought you’d say that. So, just so you know we’re not playing any games, we’ve got eyes on her place.”
    “Bullshit.”
    “Five-five-seven Maple Street. Apartment ‘D’. That sound about right?”
    My vision was starting to clear enough so that I could see again. There was a sore spot in the crook of my elbow. They