Rage (Royal Bastards MC: Cheyenne, WY #1)

Chapter 1

Chapter One

Serenity

“Good morning!” Mr. Johnson yells from the back of the store.

“Morning.” I shove my purse under the counter. I made it just in time. The mist that accompanied me on the way in has turned into rain that patters softly against the windows.

Grabbing a lighter, I make my way around the shop to light the candles. My heart sighs happily as the dark corners begin to glow, chasing away the gloominess of the day.

Mr. Johnson lightly touches my back as he passes me. “Beautiful morning, isn’t it?” he asks.

I chuckle under my breath. “It sure is.”

Every day is a beautiful day in Mr. Johnson’s book.

I inhale deeply, catching the lingering scent of the old man’s cologne as he moves to the front of the shop.

It has a soft woodsy smell, and the familiar scent comforts me.

I’ve worked for him for the past ten years.

He’s an interesting fellow. He’s traveled the world, and he tells the best stories.

Mr. Johnson is safe, calm, and most importantly, consistent.

When I grab the keys to open the doors for the day, he stops me. His hand wraps around mine.

“Serenity, your mother called again. She says she’s been trying to reach you for a few weeks now.”

“It’s always something with her,” I say, pulling away from him and heading toward the doors.

“Your brother passed away.”

His words stop me in my tracks. I turn to look at him.

“I’m sorry, honey.”

“It’s okay.” I wave him off and continue with my task. “Thank you for telling me. I’m glad I heard it from you.”

When I get back to the counter, he drapes his arm around my shoulders. He studies me over the top of his wire-rimmed glasses. “Why don’t you take the day off? Go have a coffee. My treat.” He opens the cash register and hands me a ten-dollar bill.

I stare at it for a few seconds as the lump in my throat intensifies. “Okay, yeah. Thank you.”

He carefully plucks it from my hand and places it securely inside my purse. “Come on, you can borrow my umbrella.”

Tears sting at the corners of my eyes as he walks me to the door and opens it. “If you need to talk, I’ll be right here,” he assures me.

I nod. “Thank you … for everything.”

He smiles sadly. “I will call her back and tell her I’ve told you. I’ll ask her to please stop trying to reach you.”

“I’m sorry she called here. I hope you don’t have to change the number to the shop again. I know it’s bad for business.”

His thumb brushes across my cheek. “I’ll do whatever it takes to give you peace.” He pats me on the back and then hands me his umbrella, followed by a gentle shove out into the rain.

I head down the block, the world slowly turning to a blur. The last time I saw my brother, he was a mess. It took everything in me that day to enforce my boundaries and ask him to leave my apartment.

My family lives for chaos. Of course they’d never admit it. They think they’re victims of the world and everything in it. I know because I had the same mentality until I moved away. Eventually, I realized I was the one creating my own madness.

The day I changed the narrative inside my mind, my entire personality shifted. I let go of everything that didn’t feel right. Unfortunately, that included my family.

When I get to the coffee shop, my usual is waiting for me on the counter.

Deb offers me a sad smile. “Mr. Johnson called. I’m sorry to hear about your brother.”

I begin to unzip my purse, but she stops me. “Don’t get your money out, hun. The coffee is on me today.”

My shoulders fall. “Thank you. You’re too kind.”

She rounds the corner and gives me a big hug. “You just let me know if you need anything.”

“I will. Thank you.”

Deb tries to guide me to my usual spot, but I duck out from under her arm. “Um, I think I’m just going to walk today.”

Her gaze goes to the window.

“I don’t mind the rain,” I tell her, forcing a smile to my face. “It’s cleansing.”

She chuckles. “Always the optimist.”

“I try. Thank you again for the coffee.” I hold the cup up in front of my face before stepping back out into the rain.

I walk down the street, heading toward my apartment. At least my brother is at peace now, something he never experienced while here on earth.

The rain continues to patter softly against the umbrella, and that is what I focus on.

I’m not going to let my mom pull me into any of the drama surrounding his death, and I’m sure there is plenty of it.

Maybe I’ll go to the lake tomorrow. That is something my brother and I loved to do when we were kids.

It will be my own little way of saying goodbye.

Someone holds the door open to my apartment building. “Thank you,” I say without looking to see who it is. I give my umbrella a good shake before closing it, and then I step inside.

As soon as the door closes behind me, dread wraps itself around my heart. I can smell trouble from a mile away, and this man reeks of it. Without looking at him, I hurry up the stairs. His heavy boots follow, my fear increasing with each step we take.

My hand fumbles around inside my purse as I search for my keys. “I don’t know who you are, but if you’re here because of my family, I don’t have anything to do with them.”

He doesn’t say anything, which spurs me into action. I pull my keychain from my purse, keeping my fingers tightly wrapped around the pepper spray hanging from it.

When I spin on him at the top of the steps, he doesn’t react. He just keeps walking toward me until his body is pressed against mine. I beg myself to pull the trigger, but I don’t. I don’t do anything but let him push me against the door to my apartment.

He plucks my keys from my hand, taking the pepper spray with it. His gaze holds mine as he slides the key into the lock.

The door falls open and I tumble inside, falling on my ass. The man towers over me as I begin to crawl backward.

“I told you I don’t have anything to do with them. If they’ve wronged you in some way, I’m sorry.”

He squats down to my level, resting his forearms on his thighs. His eyes rake over me, and mine do the same to him. He’s wearing a leather cut. Fuck … he’s a Bloody Scorpion.

“Your brother owes my club a shit ton of money,” he says, no beating around the bush. He tears his eyes away from me to look at our surroundings. “And from the looks of it, you have none.”

“I haven’t seen my brother in years,” I tell him, watching his face carefully for any sign of empathy. When I don’t find it, I switch tactics. “I live paycheck to paycheck. I’m sorry, but I can’t help you.”

His gaze returns to mine. “Help me? I don’t need any help, sweetheart.”

“I don’t have any money.”

“I see that.”

“Okay then.” I slowly push to my feet. “I’m sorry I couldn’t …” I choke back the word help before it slips from my lips.

He rises with me, amusement lighting his eyes. “Oh, don’t be sorry quite yet. We accept other forms of payment.”

Again, he openly ogles me.

I wrap my arms around my waist which only makes him laugh. He heads to the door, turning his back to me. “Come on, we’ll figure it out.”

“I’m … I’m not going anywhere with you.”

He stops with his hand on the doorknob. “You sure you want it to play out this way?”

“What do you mean?”

“It will be less painful if you come with me now.” His cold blue eyes turn my way as he waits for me to decide.

“It’s not my debt,” I tell him, shaking my head. I don’t know what else to say. I’m not going to pay for my brother’s bad choices.

“Just remember, it didn’t have to be this way.”

When the door closes, I fall to the ground.

I’m going to have to move … again. I really thought this was going to be my forever home.

I made it ten years here. It’s the longest I’ve been able to stay anywhere.

I thought I’d finally gotten far enough ahead of my family’s drama it would never catch up to me, but I was wrong.

I spend the rest of the evening packing what I can. There’s no time to waste. I’ll say goodbye to Mr. Johnson tomorrow morning, and then I’ll have to find somewhere else to live.

It will be fine. Everything is fine.

This is just a new adventure.