Twisted Romance: An MC Romance (Savage Kings MC Book 9) Read online

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  Savage Redemption

  “My life was all about revenge until I met her.”

  I want them destroyed.

  The Anarchists killed my father, haunt me and my brother, and seek to destroy my club, the Savage Kings.

  For years, I have stopped at nothing to annihilate them.

  But for years, I also never forgot her.

  She was everything to me.

  She brought joy to my life.

  And I had to leave her without explanation.

  But a chance encounter has brought her back to me.

  And now, everything has changed.

  My life is now all about having her—and nothing can stop me.

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  Twisted Romance

  Carter Steele

  Contents

  1. Parker

  2. Liza

  3. Parker

  4. Liza

  5. Parker

  6. Liza

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  1

  Parker

  It was a crisp early evening. I had a stack of chips in front of me, a healthy run of skill and maybe just a smidge of luck allowing me to take money from Zane and others at the table. And with every goddamn thing blowing up with the Anarchists, I felt it was time to plan something that was actually fun.

  “I’m tellin’ ya,” I said. “We got the 20-year anniversary comin’ up soon, we gotta throw an enormous rager.”

  I had visions of a half-dozen kegs, a bunch of beautiful blondes, and then all of those kegs and all of those women joining me in my place at the end of the night. A hog? Sure. Possible? Also sure.

  “Parker, the last time we threw an anniversary party, we had to get you to the hospital for alcohol poisoning,” Zane said. “Only one of us can set the tone, and that’s me.”

  I chuckled. Zane liked to think that he was me, but no one was me. Everything in and from Texas was bigger, and that included my appetite for insanity.

  “You’re outta your goddamn mind, kid,” I said. “If ya think—”

  I went silent as Sheriff Jones pulled up to the lot. This was not necessarily an unusual sight, though it was a bit unexpected. I couldn’t imagine that he was the least bit happy to see us and not Brock, though.

  We all stood up. Landon took the lead, which was just a delight. The kid would much rather have gone guitaring or doing some other sissy activity.

  But then it got interesting.

  It wasn’t just Sheriff Jones. With him was a new police officer I hadn’t seen before, a blonde woman whose hair touched almost exactly down to her shoulders. A cop’s uniform, when worn for Halloween parties, was one of the sexiest things a man could ever see; when actually out in the world, it did an unfortunate job of hiding a woman’s best features. But I could make out just a smidge that this woman had a banging body.

  I peered at the badge. Burton. I’d like to burst in on Burton.

  OK, maybe don’t say that one, Parker. But still, she is a beauty

  “Gentlemen,” Sheriff Jones said. “First, this is Officer Liza Burton. She comes from LA, where she brings experience dealing with gang and MC violence like we’re dealing with in the Anarchists.”

  I whistled. Yeah, it was a little immature, but we had to have a little fun. And to Officer Burton’s credit, she didn’t even flinch. Of course, that only made me even more mad for her, but I suppose it showed some professional competency or some other silly bullshit.

  “Second… you remember those three guys that you, ahem, helped me arrest last week? Well, I’ve got news for you. They’ve talked. And you might want to hear what they have to say.”

  Oh, shit.

  “Well, don’t let the damn cat hold ya tongue, Jones, let’s hear it!”

  The sheriff gave me an exasperated look.

  “Yes, just as I was about to say. So they have currently split up their operations into three towns. El Sorino. Las Cruces. And Golden Valley. You did a number on their operations on El Sorino, but you didn’t completely eliminate them. In fact, one of the captives suggested that Vulture was likely to go back to El Sorino, believing that you guys wouldn’t strike back at there so quickly.”

  “We can prove him wrong,” Zane said with a smirk, but no one said a word to him.

  I nodded, keeping my eyes trained on Miss Officer Liza Burton. I was not subtle about it, which was how I usually got the girls that captured my interest. So many men, even in the Savage Kings, had some reservations about how they approached women. They wanted to play games, have a slow burn going, and then hope it worked out.

  To which I said, fuck that! I was unabashed and unashamed about who I went after, and I fully expected them to come around to me as well. If someone said no, then that was their loss, not mine. The women who screamed my name at the end of the night could attest to the smart decision they had made.

  About the only one that could approach me in shamelessness was Zane, but he was so young that he still made stupid mistakes. He admittedly was in a little better shape than me, but I took a delight whenever I got a girl we were both chasing and he was left wondering why I had won with something closer to beefy than skinny.

  And anyways, right now, he was trying to win over Miss Burton by sounding like he was unafraid to resolve the issue. Poor kid was just trying too hard.

  “Whatever you gentlemen want to do with this information is up to you,” Sheriff Jones said casually. “However, given the Anarchists’ recent run of attacks on our town, I’m a little more inclined to throw my weight. We cannot, as I hope you understand, work directly with you. However, we will be conducting our own investigations.”

  I found it strange that Sheriff Jones was speaking so circumspectly. Normally, he would have just said it outright—

  Burton. He had brought her on, but she didn’t understand the working relationship we had. She either was a stickler for the rules, or she needed time to come around. Well, that was easy to handle—five minutes with Parker would have her feeling a little less rigid.

  “Anyways, Officer Burton and I will be returning to the police station now,” Sheriff Jones said with a nod. “You boys stay out of trouble and avoid making too much noise at night.”

  Everyone nodded and left. I stood my ground, my arms folded, waiting for the rest of the Savage Kings to go back to the poker game. I had a few things I wanted to say in private.

  “Everything all good, Parker?” Sheriff Jones finally said.

  “I was just hopin’ to get a word with the lovely new lady here,” I said. “Mind if I have a word? A professional greetin’ of sorts?”

  Sheriff Jones looked at Officer Burton, who didn’t seem the slightest bit perturbed. She was a tough cookie, but I’d dealt with far tougher. I did have to admit, though, I’d never cracked a police officer before, although that was more from lack of opportunity than anything else. This would be a fun one.

  Sheriff Jones went back to the cruiser and sat in the front seat. Officer Burton, whom I now decided to just refer to as Liza, took one step forward, her hands on her hips, a bemused expression on her face. I’d seen that look many times before—it was a look that said the girl knew my reputation and believed she would not fall for whatever games I played.

  I may have referred to my flirting as a game, but there was nothing “game” about it. I just spoke the honest truth and happened to make it a little fun.

  “Officer Liza Burton,” I said, letting the words roll of my tongue lik
e thick honey. “What brings a beautiful woman like yourself from Los Angeles to our quaint small town?”

  She snorted, her expression unchanging.

  “You’re not very good at listening, are you, Parker?”

  “Woah, ho, ho, ho! You got jokes! Of course I know what you’re officially here for. You’re here to stop the Anarchists and provide support to Sheriff Jones. But what really brings you here? Hmm?”

  Liza folded her arms.

  “You really want to know?”

  “Yeah,” I said, getting excited.

  “You sure?”

  “Oh, yeah, baby,” I said.

  Liza smirked, leaned forward, and grabbed my shirt collar. This was too easy!

  Almost too easy…

  “I came here because of the reasons I just told you,” she said into my ear. “And let me make one thing clear to you right now, Parker. I am an officer of the law. That is my first and only role while I am here. I am not here to flirt. I am not here to make new friends. And I am certainly not here to become some Texan’s weekend side piece. And if you dare to say anything to question that, be aware that with my hand on your collar, I have control of you. And with my body as close as it is to yours, one swift knee will have you buckled over and unable to have any future side pieces. Do you understand?”

  Goddamn.

  God fucking damn!

  As far as firsts went, this was a first. I’d had drinks thrown in my face, slaps across the cheeks, curses about how I was a terrible human being, and a whole lot more, but this sort of dramatic speech that seemed hellbent on making a point to me was something new. It was kind of amusing.

  But it frankly pissed me off a bit. I hadn’t even said that much. I’d whistled, sure, but other than that?

  “Yeah, I understand,” I said, taking a step back, the annoyance obvious in my voice. “I understand you’re no fun.”

  Liza smirked.

  “Then we’re on the same page,” she said as she turned away. “It was a pleasure to meet you, Parker Knox.”

  The hell does she know my full name? Did the sheriff tell her that too?

  I tried to turn my eyes away from her and tell myself that she wasn’t worth it. I tried to just let things be and turn my attention to figuring out a plan with the new information. I tried to tell myself that I could find a million hotter women at our club parties, many of which would be glad to be with me all at the same time.

  But as I watched that sexy ass sway in the air as she headed back to the car, as I looked at her pretty face as she and the sheriff pulled away, as I thought about how sexy her hot voice had sounded just inches from my ear, I knew that that was far easier said than done.

  “Hey, lover boy!” Zane called. “You going to keep gawking at your new girlfriend, or are you going to come and play some goddamn poker?”

  “Zip it, kid!” I shot back as I headed over. “She’s not my girlfriend. And she’s not goin’ to be. She got a stick so far up her ass it’s protruding out the other side.”

  “Uh huh,” Zane said. “See, that’s the thing about you, Parker. You say this, but you crave a challenge. You’re not going to quit this girl.”

  I hated that I knew he was right.

  2

  Liza

  “So, you survived your first encounter with Parker.”

  I snorted as Craig Jones, Romara’s sheriff and a man that seemed nice enough, if a little too in bed with the Savage Kings, backed us out of the MC’s clubhouse and drove us back to the station. He sounded as if he had never seen a woman survive an encounter with the big Texan without falling for them first—which, in a town this small, I guess wasn’t completely implausible.

  “I’ve dealt with his kind in Los Angeles on an almost daily basis,” I said. “They think that because they’re big, bad boys, they can get any girl they want. Parker is probably used to charming his way into getting whatever he wants. That might have worked before, but it won’t work now.”

  “Nice,” the sheriff said. “Most of my encounters with them are pretty pleasant, honestly. Occasionally, I have to bring one of them in for something like disorderly conduct or public intoxication, but it’s pretty rare, especially for the officers.”

  “Interesting. Parker was certainly entertaining.”

  “What did you say to him when you were all up close to him, anyways?”

  I smiled at the memory.

  “I just told him to know his place,” I said. “I heard him whistle at me. I felt him staring at me the whole time you were talking. I needed to remind him that I am an officer first and a woman second while I am in Romara. And even if I were looking to date right now, I most certainly would not do so with anyone that could create a potential conflict of interest.”

  The sheriff nodded. I looked out the window, doing my best to memorize the layout of Romara. It essentially had one major street, Main Street, and then a series of numbered streets, which thankfully made it easy to remember locations. But the more important part was remembering landmarks—where was the biggest coffee shop? The locals’ favorite bar? The library?

  These were questions that, in the heat of moment, needed immediate answers. The sheriff may have brought me on as something of a consultant, with the idea being that I wouldn’t do anything more than just provide advice, but we were law enforcement, not law advisers. Sometimes, said enforcement of the law took a lot more than words and the invoking of status.

  It was something that was especially true with MCs. Sheriff Jones had told me that the Savage Kings were good men, but that was like saying Satan was a good demon because he didn’t afflict your life twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. The Savage Kings may not have actively destroyed the city, but any time you got a group of men together who were already predisposed to more masculine activities and aggressive traits, there were no guarantees of safety for Romara.

  And Parker was by far, from what I had seen, the most aggressive of everyone there. No one else had so much at gawked at me, let alone whistled and tried to flirt.

  “Well, rest assured, the Kings aren’t bad people, and—”

  “Do you trust them?”

  That was the question that usually cut through the bullshit. I didn’t think that Sheriff Jones was getting bribed by the Kings, but all the double-speak would quickly fall to the side if so.

  “Do I trust them like I trust you? No. But they are good kids. It’s more of a mutual understanding of what’s best for the city. I wouldn’t trust some of those boys to not go through my cabinet and drink all my alcohol or place an order for food under my name. But I do know that they aren’t going to hurt this city. And all of that is heightened with Parker.”

  No surprises there. Parker seems to embody the extreme of everything that the club is, for better and for worse.

  Sheriff Jones pulled into the police station, just one of three squad cars for the small town. Just before we got out, though, he asked one simple question.

  “Is there anything I should be aware of, Miss Burton?”

  I knew what he was asking. I knew he was curious to hear if I had some thoughts about Parker that went beyond just a basic profile.

  And the truth was that while I could see a certain degree of charm, as an officer, I would not allow myself to even contemplate that, let alone act upon it. Maybe as time went on, things might get slightly tougher, but for the time being, Parker was just a big dude who had either more guts or less brain cells than anyone else in the Savage Kings.

  “No,” I said.

  “Brock and Petey there, they just got themselves girls. Some—”

  “Good,” I said, stopping this conversation before it got any weirder. “I can handle myself around them. I’ve dealt with men who threatened to tie me up and rape me. I’ve had men who thought I’d somehow be turned on by such a warning. I don’t need warnings about how these men may behave around me, Craig. I can handle myself just fine.”

  “Very good,” he said, finally getting out of the car.
>
  Once he did, he shifted back into his official sheriff role. He actually thinks I had something for Parker. He actually believed that I was trying to speak around him.

  Oh, Lord. I knew the Savage Kings were going to be something of a challenge. I didn’t think that the man I’d be reporting to for the foreseeable future would also be a part of it.

  We got inside and he went into his office. I sat at my desk, ignoring the stares of the other officer on duty. I went through the intel we had on the Anarchists, noting that it was suggested that they were striking at places with high foot-traffic. We didn’t have the resources on our own to go after the Anarchists; we needed to pull in help from the surrounding towns.

  The problem, I was slowly starting to pick up, was that Sheriff Jones had a tendency to prefer letting the Savage Kings take care of the problem. In the short term, that may not have been the worst strategy. The Kings seemed effective at defeating their enemies, and given that the Anarchists seemed to have anywhere from ten to thirty members, the sheer manpower of the Kings versus the Anarchists made more sense than the police versus the Anarchists.

  But I did not like what that meant for the long term. The town’s faith in Sheriff Jones would get undermined, and the sheriff’s belief in his own department would also decline. Sheriff Jones would grow to depend on the club.

  Ironically, by letting the Kings defeat the Anarchists, it could lead to an actual anarchy in which the club controlled the town. It seemed like Sheriff Jones’ only protection against that was the belief that the club was full of good men—and unfortunately, it only took one bad apple to rot the whole lot of them.