Prologue
“Where’s Bad off to?” Charlotte asked.
Colonel glanced over at Ape’s old lady, and then toward the sound of the roaring bike.
“No one knows,” Skull said.
Piper snuggled up close to Colonel, and he kissed the top of her head, loving it when she got close to him.
Meeting this woman was the best thing that had ever happened to him. She loved being on the road just as much as he did.
“He goes every year,” Colonel said. “He has … commitments.”
“Yeah, he goes and gets his head screwed on, and then he seems to be sane for a few months before shit hits the fan again,” Priest said.
Not many of the guys were hanging out tonight. Some had already found a woman and were using them for the night.
As for Colonel, he was content to have his old lady with him, constantly. She was the love of his life.
He glanced at the retreating red lights of Bad’s car.
Colonel hoped this year, Bad would find what he’d been searching for or at least bring along whatever gave him peace.
Chapter One
Charity Green tried not to keep looking toward the main gate of the graveyard. This was crazy. Every single year, she came here to see her brother and also to connect with a guy she only got to see once a year. She didn’t see her brother just once. No, she came every single week to stare at his gravestone.
Stevie, or Stew, as he’d liked to be called. She never understood why, but that was his name. She couldn’t believe it had already been ten years since he passed. She was twenty when it happened, and he’d been thirty years old. Her stupid, adorable, hard-ass big brother. He’d always said he was going to protect her, and she loved him so much. When their parents passed away, he’d been eighteen. He could have let her get taken into foster care, but instead, he’d stuck by her. Even though she knew he didn’t want to.
Her brother had been an adventurer and hated being stuck in one place, but for her, he’d done exactly that, and she’d never forgotten it. He’d taken care of her long after she turned eighteen.
Stevie had been there for her … always.
So had … Bad.
Her big brother’s best friend. For a short time, they had all lived together. She’d known Stevie had wanted to go, spread his wings, ride his bike, and do anything that wasn’t working a nine-to-five job. Not that he didn’t want to do anything, just his own thing.
He’d never gotten the chance.
A drive-by shooting had ended his chances. He’d been killed and now, for the last ten years, the only time she ever got to see Bad was when he came to visit his best friend.
They rarely spoke during those visits.
Bad had gone and done what Stevie had always wanted. He was part of the Satan’s Beasts MC: Nomad Chapter. His life was committed to his club and the road.
To Charity, it sounded like an utter dream. Living life on the road, a different place to sleep every single night.
She loved her brother for sticking around and not allowing her to go into care, but she hated this life she still lived. One where she got up hating her life.
Tears filled her eyes as she looked at Stevie’s headstone. She loved her big brother so much, and she wished she had someone to talk to. There was no one. The few relationships she’d been in had failed. The men wanted her to settle down, have kids, and get married. The moment they talked about the M-word, she panicked. Ended the relationship on the spot. As for kids, she wasn’t ready for them. Not even at thirty years old.
At the sound of an approaching bike, Charity felt her heart start to race.
Bad was nearly here.
“This year, Bad, I’m going to do it. I’m not going to … stick around anymore. I’ve already sold everything at the apartment.”
Her brother hadn’t been able to afford to keep their parents’ house, so they’d lived in a small apartment. It had been quite homey with the three of them. Since she lived there alone, all it had done was put a great deal of stress on her to work a couple of jobs for paying the rent as well as the bills.