Free Reverence: MC Romance (The Davis Chapter Book 3) by Davida Lynn

his voice under control, “was to make sure we had a monopoly again. No offense, but you don’t know the first fucking thing about running a club. If I can eliminate the competition, there’s no need to change how things have always been.”

    I heard that speech before. It was in a slightly different form, but the content was the same. My father likes the way things were and hated change. He complained about too much electronics on cars, how music sounded like machines fucking, and how the Internet and smart phones were ruining my generation. He ran the Devil’s Branch the exact same way. He’d always be president, and things would always be done how he instructed.

    “So were you just playing nice until I turned eighteen and became legal? Was this all just one long game? You figured if you raised a pretty daughter who felt like she owed you something, someday it might come in handy.”

    He laughed. It sounded cocky and disturbing. “Honey, it’s just business. We have a deal?”

    “We’ve got a deal.” I checked my watch. “See you around dawn.” I hung up the phone.

    At that moment, my plan felt holier then Swiss cheese. There was so much being left up to chance. I knew my father well, but I didn’t know the president of the Devil’s Branch nearly as well. He sounded like a man willing to do anything to make a buck.

I knew neither of them would get it. Maybe they would think I was double or triple crossing—I had lost track of who thought I was on which side. Faith and Raven were standing in the kitchen when I came out. The second I came into view, they turned to me.

    Both women had a huge stake in my plan. Faith wanted her man home. The two of them had been to hell and back, and I got the idea that all she wanted was to spend quiet evenings next to him.

    Raven wanted the father of her child. She wanted to bring that baby up with his or her father teaching it right from wrong. As much as any outlaw biker can, anyway.

    There’s a lot riding on me, and I wasn’t going to take anything away from those women, any of the other Rising Sons, or any more of the Devil’s Branchers, either. I could end it all before it began if I gave myself up.

    “He agreed. I told him I’ll be back up there by morning. Raven, I know you’ve been through a lot, but you mind driving me back up? If you don’t want to, I’m sure I can rent a car somewhere. You’ve already done so much.”

    “Are you kidding?” Raven slapped her hand down on the counter. “Of course. If you can get Gunner back here to sleep beside me tomorrow night, I will do whatever it takes. Whatever. It. Takes.”

    I like Raven, but I was the one doing whatever it took. There was no need to sour the relationship, though.

    “Wait a goddamn minute.” Faith’s voice sounded harder than I’d ever I heard it. I didn’t even think she was capable of getting angry. “You’ve already ridden four hours today. I’m not having you riding another eight in pitch black through the godforsaken desert. If anything were to happen to that future Rising Son, I wouldn’t be able to live with myself.”

    Faith dug in her purse and pulled out keys. “I offered you my car, and I meant it. She,” Faith pointed at Raven, “isn’t going anywhere for a few days. You, on the other hand, better get your little butt up to Davis and get this thing resolved. Make sure all three of us get to see our men come home.”

    She tossed me the keys, and I snatched them from the air. “You have my word, Faith.”

    The BMW drove smoother than any car I’ve ever even ridden in. It was almost midnight by the time I started heading north, but there wasn’t a bit of sleepiness behind my eyes. I had far too much to think about to start dozing.

    At first, I had my home address plugged into the GPS. Not long after I started, though, I changed my final destination. It would take me four hours to get to Davis, giving me just a few hours before my meeting with my father.