Released: Devil's Blaze MC Book 3 Read online

  Copyright © 2016 by Jordan Marie

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this publication may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever, including but not limited to being stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the written permission of the author.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, groups, businesses, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  Cover Design by Vicki Jones Portraiture

  Cover Art by LJ Anderson of Mayhem Cover Creations

  Model: Jared Caldwell

  Interior Design & Editing by Daryl Banner

  DISCLAIMER: This book is intended for mature audiences. It contains adult language, explicit sexuality, and content that some readers may find disturbing, including violence and torture. Not intended for readers under the age of 18. Reader discretion advised.

  Other work by Amazon Bestselling Author

  Jordan Marie

  Savage Brothers MC

  Breaking Dragon

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  Saving Dancer

  http://amzn.to/23CWDNB

  Loving Nicole

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  Claiming Crusher

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  Trusting Bull

  http://amzn.to/23CWJ7N

  Devil’s Blaze MC

  Captured (Book 1)

  http://amzn.to/1WWpaxe

  Burned (Book 2)

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  Other work by Baylee Rose,

  a pen name of Jordan Marie

  Filthy Florida Alphas

  Unlawful Seizure (Book 1)

  http://amzn.to/23CWOZc

  Unjustified Demands (Book 2)

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  To my dirty gang… I love you. To my street team who support me even when I’m not able to tell them how much I love them, and to anyone who has ever dreamed and kept the faith.

  Thank you to Teena Torres for letting me play with your toes and making you evil. Thank you to Stephanie Sakal for your support. I hope you like your “part” in the book!

  Xoxo

  #BB4L and beyond.

  J

  The Beginning

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  Chapter 41

  Chapter 42

  Chapter 43

  Chapter 44

  Chapter 45

  Chapter 46

  Chapter 47

  Chapter 48

  Chapter 49

  Chapter 50

  Chapter 51

  Chapter 52

  Chapter 53

  Chapter 54

  Chapter 55

  Chapter 56

  Chapter 57

  Chapter 58

  Chapter 59

  Chapter 60

  Chapter 61

  Chapter 62

  Chapter 63

  Chapter 64

  Epilogue Part 1

  Epilogue Part 2

  Sneak Peek of “LEARNING TO BREATHE”

  Author’s Note

  Excerpt from “READ MY LIPS (A College Obsession Romance)” by Daryl Banner

  Excerpt from “GRAYSON (This is Our Life Series #1)” by FG Adams

  Glossary of Terms

  Dear Readers:

  This book was a rough one for me. Everyone has such strong reactions and feelings. In the end, I hope I managed to live up to some of what you wanted, while remaining true to who I felt the couple was.

  I would like to apologize for this last installment being late. My mother suffered a second heart attack and with all of the complications and other things, my writing time was cut to a third of what it normally is. This book is the last of my MC bad guys for a while. I want to take a slight break and try a different kind of book. Though my pen name Baylee Rose will have Marcum’s story out soon. I will do Beast’s book in the fall.

  Please check into www.jordanmarieauthor.com or sign up for my newsletter to keep up to date on my next release which is a contemporary romance I hope you’ll love as much as I do.

  xoxo

  Jordan

  It’s dusty. There’s so much dust that the air is literally brown and it dries out my throat with every breath. I hate days like today that remind me that the small area along the Mexican border is hell upon Earth.

  I should hate my mother for bringing me here. I want to, but I can’t. She did what she thought was best when my father left us. I miss Georgia, though. I miss the house we lived in. The smell of the magnolia trees after the rain. The taste of the air. It’s all so different from here. I look at the small adobe-and-block shelter we are staying in. It’s not a house. You can’t call it that. There are big holes in the sides where walls should be. Our bed consists of a mattress that my madre sewed and filled with dried cornhusks. One day, I vow I shall have my own home and it shall have the softest beds imaginable. They shall be the best money can buy and my madre will have the very softest of them all. I will have magnolia trees all around the house and you can see them from every window. Madre will be so proud. I will make sure of it.

  Most of all—I will never be alone as I am now. Mi mama is forced to leave me alone to go into town to work. I don’t mind it so much because, as young as I am, I can still take care of myself. It’s the silence that gets to me. At nine years old, there’s never anyone here to talk to. All the other kids have gone into town to work or to school. I wanted to, but mama said she felt safer with me here.

  So I sit here in the quiet and wait… Wait and dream.

  Someday, I will return to Georgia. I will find the girl of my dreams. She will have hair like spun gold and eyes that capture me and remind me of the bluest sky there is. Bluer than even the one I saw in Montana when my father took us there. Most of all, my girl will laugh all the time because I will always make her happy. We will fish and hold hands. I’ll have to put the worm on her hook because that kind of stuff grosses girls out. Then we will tell each other stories. Scary ones, because those are the best. She’ll probably get scared because girls are like that too. I’ll have to hold her and promise to make the bad dreams go away, just like mi madre does for me.

  Well, she used to. I’m much too old for bad dreams now. I’m the man of the household. I’m strong. I have to be so I can defend my family. I will only get stronger, too. A man doesn’t deserve a family if he can’t keep it safe. I will.

  I will be the man mi padre never could be. I will cherish all the things he threw away, and mi esposa will never c
ry at night like I hear my own mother do. I will always dry her tears and make her happy. Just like I do with mi madre.

  This is my promise. This is my vow. I will not become the dog mi padre is… Never.

  “Boss? You ready?”

  I shake the memory of my childhood away. I’m standing in my room looking out the window and watching the dust swirl around. Maybe it’s the wind that brings old ghosts and memories to the forefront. More likely it is the memory of Beth’s tears last night. I stood outside and listened to her cry. Her tears brought me dual sensations of hate and satisfaction. She deserves to cry. She deserves to feel pain. Yet perversely, I wanted to be the one to dry them. I wanted to pull her into my arms and…

  And what? Forgive? There are things that cannot be forgiven in this world. Actions that cannot be undone. There are courses set in life that cannot be altered, no matter how you might wish them.

  “Si. Did Dragon’s men get here?”

  “Yeah. They made it here about twenty minutes ago. He sent ten of his men. Dragon is with them. He seems to be planning on staying.”

  “I’ll talk to him in a minute,” I tell Sabre, unable to look at him. I’m mad at him. I shouldn’t be. It’s a sad fucker who can’t be glad his brother is happy.

  And I should be happy. Sabre has found his match in the innocent spitfire named Annie. Though admittedly, after Sabre and Latch have gotten to her, innocence probably has nothing to do with the games they play. Sabre never struck me as the kind of guy to share his woman full-time, yet that seems to be what the three have settled into. You would think that would leave the odd man out, but so far it hasn’t. Latch seems just as fucking happy. One woman is taming two men I never thought would be tamed.

  Women can make or break a man. Too bad I wasn’t as lucky in the draw as they were. “I will be out in a minute. I want to see my daughter and take her to Beth.”

  “Are you going to let her have access to Gabby?” Sabre asks, sounding shocked.

  “I never planned otherwise.”

  “That wasn’t what it sounded like yesterday.”

  “I was mad. I wanted Beth’s fear.” I shrug, knowing it goes deeper than that, but not planning on explaining myself. My reasons are mine and mine alone.

  “I’m glad. A child should have its mother,” Sabre says, turning away.

  I let him go without responding. He’s right. My daughter will have Beth in her life, I’m the one who won’t. I need to accept that and move on. The thought makes me want to scream and… kill.

  I won’t be letting go of her… at least not today.

  “Mo-om!”

  Gabby’s voice fills the room and instantly the emptiness in my heart is lifted. I look up to see Skull standing there, his face impassive. I can’t read one thing that flickers in his cold dark eyes. Gabby pulls away from him and reaches for me.

  I stand, wiping my damp palms on my jeans and reach for my baby. I’m surprised by the fact that Skull is here with Gabby, and maybe even more surprised when he passes her to me so easily. After his words last night, I expected him to keep Gabby away from me forever. Or at least try. I would have killed him or anyone who stood in my way before I would have let Gabby go. Well, that is, if I was able. If he gave me back to Colin and Matthew, I didn’t figure I would live long enough to worry about any of that.

  “Should I thank you for letting me see my daughter?” I ask, and it would probably be wise to keep the bitchy tone out of my voice, but I can’t seem to.

  Skull sighs, and I can see the circles under his eyes. I don’t want to feel pity for him; I just can’t seem to help it. I bite my lip before I blurt out something stupid. Skull doesn’t need me to care about him. By his own admission, he has someone to do that already. The knowledge of that is still burning inside of me like a poison. I expected it, but it doesn’t make it hurt any less.

  “I will be going out of town for a couple of days. I’ve asked Dragon to send some men over to help watch the compound, so you should be fine.”

  “Don’t you have your own men?” I ask, confused and not knowing who Dragon is or if I should worry. I don’t like letting outsiders close to my daughter.

  “I do. I want to make sure mi hija is protected.”

  “If you would let me go, I’d make sure she was far away from Colin and anyone that might wish her harm.”

  “That is not happening, but then you know that. I am dealing with Colin.”

  His short, straight-to-the-point cold sentences annoy me. The look he wears on his stony face annoys me too. I want to scream at him, demand he acknowledge that there are things left between us that need to be dealt with, but I don’t.

  Skull turns to leave, and the stupid woman in me can’t stop my mouth when I say, “Be careful.”

  Skull freezes and turns just enough so that I can see the side of his face. “Why would you care?”

  “I don’t know, but I do,” I tell him, swearing that that will be the last bit of honesty he gets from me.

  “Follow me out to the main area. I want to introduce you to Dragon.”

  I frown. The last thing I want to do is meet anyone. Still, it’s a chance to get out of this room, and honestly, I thought I would be a prisoner here until Skull turned me over to Colin. So I give in, if for no reason other than needing to see something besides the four walls of this room.

  I follow cautiously behind him. I have learned that around every corner, you can find a monster. Right now, I’m not completely convinced that Skull’s not one of them. He’s so different from what I remember. That’s probably a good thing. I must focus on who he is now and give up the memories of the man I once loved. That’s the only way I’m going to survive this.

  When we reach the room, I hang back against the door frame. Gabby plays with her plastic set of keys and tries her best to stuff them into her mouth. I watch as Skull walks over to a large African-American man wearing faded jeans, a green t-shirt, and a leather vest similar to the one Skull wears all the time. He’s tall—even taller than Skull, though not by much. He’s lean and muscular and wears an easy smile. In fact, he looks happy.

  He’s got a little boy held close to his side. The boy is playing with the man’s ear. It’s cute, and somehow it makes this big man look even sexier. His other hand is draped over a blonde. She looks strangely familiar. Skull and the man are talking, but my eyes are on the woman. Where do I know her from? I take a couple of steps closer, still hanging back and not wanting to bring attention to myself if possible. She looks a lot like me. Actually, with Katie changing her hair color, I’d say people would mistake this woman as my sister even more so than Katie, except she’s prettier. She has curves and hips that I could only dream of having. She’s rubbing her very pregnant stomach and talking to Skull. He’s smiling at her in a way that makes me ache. It’s reminiscent of how he used to look at me.

  “Querida, you are much too beautiful to be with this hombre. Run away with me and let me treat you like the princesa you are,” Skull says, and I try to ignore the way his flirting hurts me. It cuts me that he calls her his dear one, as he once did me. The man with her doesn’t look like it disturbs him that Skull is hitting on his woman. Scratch that, he does look pissed. Maybe he’ll beat the hell out of Skull. I could cheer him on.

  Do it. Do it! I urge him silently.

  “Keep it up, Skull, and I’ll kill your ass like I should have done years ago. You’ve been a thorn in my side for far too fucking long.”

  Skull just laughs it off. The blonde reaches up on her tip-toes and kisses the other man. “Behave, Dragon,” she whispers in a soft voice that radiates with warmth.

  He looks down at her and gives her a smile, the kind that makes you feel like an intruder.

  “I’ll show you just how good I am behaving when I get you home, Mama,” he whispers, and the woman blooms in a deep blush.

  Then he does something that surprises me and makes me ache. He leans down and places a small kiss on her forehead. It’s so strange and seems o
ut of character from this big man. It makes me instantly jealous of this woman, who clearly holds this man in the palm of her hand. I’m jealous of the love the two of them have and obviously cherish… the kind of relationship I wanted…

  “Is this your daughter?” the man asks Skull, and then I’m instantly aware of all eyes on Gabby and me. I swallow nervously, wishing I had chosen to stay in my room instead.

  I’m ignoring Beth. It’s not the most adult way to handle the conversation, but it’s survival. I shouldn’t have asked Beth to join me. It was a weak moment. I wanted to show off my child and her mother to Dragon. Seeing the way he and Nicole are with each other, though, brings home exactly what I’ve been robbed of—what Beth and her family took from me.

  Today starts my revenge. When Dragon, nosy bastard that he is, asks about Gabby, I’m forced to acknowledge the woman who is the reason my insides are rotting away.

  I turn around and take Gabby from her mom. The child cries and reaches for Beth.

  Wanting her mother over me. Because she doesn’t know me. Because I am a stranger.

  Hate burns in my stomach yet again. I give in only because I can’t stand to see my daughter cry. My daughter who doesn’t know me. My daughter who doesn’t want me to hold her. I’ve tried. It always ends up with her crying. Beth takes hold of Gabby and instantly, she stops. Anger wars with this feeling of failure.

  Dragon slaps me on the back, moving beside me. “Dom is the same way. He’d much rather be on his Mama’s hip than mine. Who can blame them? I’d choose them over our ugly faces any day of the week,” he teases.

  I know he’s trying to make me feel better. He’s a true friend and he alone knows how fucked in the head I am right now over all this shit.

  Before I can respond, he’s looking at Beth. “You must be Skull’s wife.” Hearing him call her that pisses me off even more. A wife is someone who stays by your side, who fights with you and holds their ground with you. A wife is someone like Nicole. Despite all of the shit her and Dragon went through, her love for him never wavered. She sure as fuck didn’t run away and keep Dragon’s boy from him.