Forever - Book 3 (Star Crossed MC Lovers) (2 page)

Calli Crawford has given up too much in life; too many rules and regulations forcing her to become someone she can barely recognize. Such is the life of a woman in the Witness Protection Program. With loneliness and fear as a constant companion, she's in search for solitude in hopes of making it to the trial date and getting back to her life.

Captain John "Edge" Barker has served his final mission for the Navy SEALs and the devastation of it has left its mark on the hard-bodied vet. His plan is to focus on his dogs and ignore the rest of the world, but when a raven-haired woman in need moves across the street, his world is turned upside down.

Needing someone to protect, he goes against his better judgment and steps into her world, and makes her fight his own. With the largest syndicate in New York searching high and low for them, the pair doesn't have the luxury of living in the present. They're forced to stay on the razor edge of tomorrow.

Addictive Collision
tells the story of twenty-five-year-old Morgan Tyler, who works as a receptionist at Belmont University and also takes classes on the side. She journeys through the pain of being trapped in a sexless marriage. Tired of having a roommate for a husband, she explores her options. Should she stay in the confines of her unhappy marriage or make the painful decision to leave? As she debates what direction her life should take, sparks begin to fly with a hot, hunky mailman named Foster. Is it time to move on with her life, or should Morgan fight for the man who is ignoring her?

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PROLOGUE

Selene

“Do you want another glass of water?” I asked my father.

He sat up in bed and gazed out the hospital window. “No, thank you, butterfly.”

I smiled. “I’m so glad you’re okay.”

“You were worried?”

“Of course I was worried. I started thinking about all those camping trips we took and how we went fishing. And all these memories came flooding back. I miss those good old days. You were my hero.”

Yeah, when I used to be naïve and clueless as to who you really were.

“I’m not your hero anymore?” he asked.

“I’m all grown up. I don’t need a hero anymore.”

“Cynical, just like your old man.”

I let out a long breath, then smiled. 

“I remember how you used to chase all the pretty butterflies,” he said. “It’s why I nicknamed you Butterfly.”

I grinned. “I remember the nets you bought us.”

“Somebody had to help you catch all those butterflies.”

“But you were a big softy. You would help me release every single one of them.”

“Catch and release. Just like the fish. You can’t keep what’s not yours.”

“I’m just glad you’re better.”

He looked over at me. “I don’t know what I would do without you. You’re my rock, my strength. And I’m so proud of you.”

“I’m a chip off the old block.”

“I couldn’t ask for a better daughter.”

I swallowed nervously. His words made me feel guilty. I’d been working with the Feds to take down my dad and his drug dealing operations.

“Is something wrong?” he asked.

“No,” I said. “You just scared the hell out of me, Dad. Don’t ever do that again.”

He laughed. “Never. Now, will you get that doctor of mine in here. I’ve been in here far too long. It’s time to get home.”

“You’ve got to slow down.”

“Never.”

My father had survived his heart attack. As soon as he recovered, he didn’t slow down and was back on the warpath. I thought he might change, but he didn’t. And life went on…

        It was all a matter of luck. Whether it’s good luck, bad luck or sheer dumb luck, everything depends on which side of the argument you’re on. And let’s face it, everyone around here takes a side. You could split this town in half based upon their allegiances. There was no grey area. You were either for the Stone Wolves or you were in the thick of it with the Black Hearts. There was no neutral ground. The town was polarized. 

If you didn’t shout out on high where your loyalty was, you were a sitting duck. You were open game, and you could be pretty sure one of the MCs had a bullet with your name on it. There is no such thing as staying out of it, or minding your own business. The business of the Stone Wolves and the Black Hearts was a matter of public security. Without the manpower of a club in Pleasant Valley, Pennsylvania, you were nothing more than an easy target. A future headline. Let’s just carve you a box, right now.

Who could have known that meeting with Lucas “Lucky” Morrison would be a defining moment in my life? Certainly not me, and I was the daughter of the President of the Black Hearts. Lucky had no clue either, and he was VP of the rival MC, the Stone Wolves. Our respective families most certainly didn’t dream that we would find love in the darkest of places.

After all, our two houses didn’t quite see eye to eye. Let’s not play coy. The men that Lucky called brothers and the men that surrounded me were bitter rivals. Their animosity stretched over five generations and most people in Pleasant Valley would be hard pressed to tell you how the war even began. But despite the boiling tension and the bloodshed between our families, our love emerged. One that tested time and was steeped in patience. After admiring each other for most of our formative years, right after graduation from high school, we’d forged our love and our bodies. It had been a rough road for the last three years, but so damn worth it.

Like a twisted tale of Romeo and Juliet set amidst two rival motorcycle clubs, Lucky and I found love in a dangerous place. Because of the rivalry that stood between us and the people we loved, we kept our lips sealed about our feelings for each other. A day was coming soon that would allow us to open up and share our secrets, but that day wasn’t here yet.

I was so afraid that something would tear us apart, but Lucky had no such concern. He knew that nothing could take him from my side. He was more afraid of me getting hurt in the process of everything unfolding. That fear wasn’t unfounded. The past had proven a lot to both of us. If things went wrong, either of us could easily become just another casualty of the biker war that called Pleasant Valley home. Lucky would never be able to live with himself if anything happened to me, but for the most part, he was without power. We would pay a heavy premium for our love, and only time would tell whether it could survive  the odds that seemed to be stacked against us.

Two things are for certain, though. Don’t expect Daddy’s little girl to go down without a fight, and don’t expect Lucky’s strike to go unnoticed.

Chapter 1

October 27, 2015

The towering timbers of Mifflin Forest swayed over Kaylee Pike’s head as she raced frantically after her brother.

“Jason!” Kaylee called out to her elder brother over the sound of a chainsaw. The blade roared as it ripped its jagged teeth through the trunk of an old elm tree.

“Jason!” Kaylee called again as she ran through the logging yard, her white sandals slapping against the hard gravel.

The fifteen-year old girl was out of breath from chasing after her brother for over two miles. She had tracked him from their trailer home over thirty minutes away. She bent over as she heaved, trying to catch her breath.

“Why are you runnin’, Jay?” Kaylee asked, sounding distressed.

Jason, who was still hiding behind a tree, yelled at his sister, “Shut up and c’mon! You never listen!”

“Stop yelling at me!” Kaylee snapped back with an irate look on her face.

“I told you not to follow me! It’s dangerous!” Jason, her seventeen-year old brother yelled in an agitated voice. He glared back at her with a pair of snake eyes. His hands shook at his sides as he watched his kid sister catch up to him.

“I don’t understand, Jay…What’s dangerous?!” Kaylee called back in a confused tone of voice. Fear was visible in Kaylee’s eyes as she posed the question. Her eyes lingered over Jason’s face as she tried to find some understanding there. Then, in the next instant his eyes granted her an unspoken answer. Standing in  the forest stood a shadow of a man. He had his hood up. Kaylee couldn’t see his face but she saw the patch on the man’s black leather vest. The white letters that formed a name on his jacket struck fear in her heart.

“Black Heart,” Kaylee whispered with fear in her voice.

Smoke permeated from beneath the man’s hood as he took a puff of his cigarette. The burning ember faintly illuminated the dark beauty of his face.. There was a strange allure in the sparkle of his eyes. There was incredible danger in the hilt of his smile. Kaylee’s breathing hitched as she took in the man’s appearance.

“Elec,” Kaylee said in nothing more than a whisper. She appeared to be frozen solid on the spot. Too scared to move, too shocked to save herself.

“Kaylee, run!” Jason screamed.

But it was too late. Elec Delgado emerged from the shadow of the woods as he chased young Kaylee Pike through the lumber yard. She hid behind a stack of neatly arranged planks, her breath ripping through her lungs like broken glass.

“Kaylee!” Jason howled desperately from the opposite side of the  yard. His words would be his last. Jason had a look of terror in his bright blue eyes. Tears flooded his eyes as he stared at his sister in horror. He’d told her not to follow him for a reason. It was for her own good. For her own safety. Now, Jason watched in dismay as his sister fell into the hands of the most dangerous man in town. Even more dangerous than Raphael “King Pin” Delgado.

And that was saying something.

Elec Delgado, with the look of Satan in his black eyes, raised his arm as a bullet ricocheted from his .45 with a look of pure desperation in his eyes, Jason Pike took his last breath as Elec’s bullet entered the flesh over his right eye. The bullet slipped through the skin and the muscle, cracked through the bone of his skull and found a warm home deeply nestled in his brain.