The Riders’ Ruin (Verona Falls Riders #1)

Chapter 1 Camile

CAMILE

“Wow, Camile. You look fucking incredible.”

The compliment comes from the gorgeous man leaning over from the driver’s seat of the truck as he opens the passenger door for me.

“Thanks.”

I offer him a nervous smile and climb in, resisting the urge to tug my top down to cover my stomach.

Ledger Marx is one of the most eligible bachelors at the college.

He started only a few months ago, and all the girls, and some of the guys, have been swooning after him.

He’s got this dark, mysterious vibe going, since he keeps to himself, and no one knows much about his family, or his life in general.

I’m not sure why I caught his attention, but here I am. He’s taking me off the grounds of Verona Falls University for a date, and I’m kind of excited, and kind of nervous.

“Really, I mean it. You’re gorgeous.”

He leans across the console to plant a kiss on my cheek, and my face warms.

Come on, Camile. Get it together.

I’m not used to people giving me compliments, and I don’t normally date. This is a first for me, in many ways.

His truck has that new leather smell, but beneath that is something sweeter, mixed with the woody scent of tobacco. Is it pot? Is that what I smell? He doesn’t look stoned. Maybe someone else had been smoking in his truck.

It’s not a big deal. It’s only a bit of pot, and we’re both adults.

I’m twenty-two now, almost twenty-three, and it won’t be long until I graduate from college and head home to my family.

I know exactly what will happen then. My dad will introduce me to the son of someone he needs to form a business alliance with, and I’ll be handed over like the goddamned prize cow.

He’s even more desperate to marry me off these days, to consolidate his power, since our family has come under heavier attack than usual this past year.

People have tried to breach Father’s compound more than once, and I know he believes that if he can marry me to an heir of another crime organization, it’ll put him in a stronger position.

He’s probably been scouting for a suitable husband for me, someone in our world with power and money, like a Bratva heir, or a prince of the Cosa Nostra.

That way, he’ll be able to see his enemies off for good.

For my family, I’m a pawn in their games, and nothing more.

Watching my friends fall in love while they’ve been at the college, and choosing their own paths in life, even if it wasn’t what their parents wanted, has been both uplifting and painful.

I’ve often wondered if I have the guts to do the same.

But I’ve always been the good girl. The sensible one. The one others turn to for advice.

I’m trying to push myself out of my comfort zone before the cage snaps shut. I want to be the bad girl for a change, to surprise people.

This might be my last chance.

Ledger is gorgeous—thick, dark hair, long eyelashes, blue eyes that literally seem to sparkle. And yeah, he clearly has a body underneath his shirt that would look even better without the clothing.

But I’m broken. What is it about him that leaves me dead inside? The same goes for all the college guys. They just seem so immature. They’re little boys, even if they do look like men.

Only one person has left me spinning in the same way I’ve seen my friends fall for their men.

That heart palpitating, short of breath, just been hit in the chest feeling.

But I’m not allowed to think about him. I can’t.

It’s too dangerous to my sanity and the friendships I’ve built while I’ve been here.

“You ready?” Ledger asks.

I hold my tiny purse in my lap. “Absolutely. Where are we going?”

“Aah, now, that’s a surprise. I wanted to do something romantic.” He throws me a wink and a lopsided grin.

I wish he’d given me some idea. It isn’t easy to pick an outfit when you have no clue what you’re dressing for.

My bedroom floor currently looks like my closet exploded, but I think my emerald green cami top shows off my dark hair, and the dark blue washed jeans could pass for both casual and dressy.

I’ve paired it with a pair of heeled pumps.

It was only my one hundredth outfit option for the night.

It’s a warm evening, with the sense of being right on the cusp of summer.

Ledger has the windows of his truck rolled down, and he slings his arm over the back of my seat as he reverses and then swings the vehicle back around.

His forearm is muscular, and tattoos peep out from under the cuff of his shirt.

Objectively, I know he is hot, so why doesn’t he do it for me?

I know why, but I push the thought from my head.

You’re not allowed to think about him.

I’ve been hit by that undeniable wave of lust only once in my life, but the man I experienced it with is completely out of bounds.

I’ve seen him a few times since but done my best to keep my distance.

It’s partly out of embarrassment as well as knowing it’s not safe for me to be around him.

I threw myself at him once, and he turned me down, which was possibly the most embarrassing moment of my life.

Screw that, it was the most embarrassing moment of my life.

It’s not something I have any plans to repeat.

I’m pretty sure there’s zero chance of Ledger turning me down.

My top is low cut, and the bra I picked out makes my tits look amazing.

He’s trying to keep his eyes on the road as he drives, and I applaud him for his effort, but his gaze keeps drifting over to my chest. I don’t blame the guy.

I did it deliberately. I want to be noticed for once in my life.

I’m sick of always being the invisible girl.

The sidekick. For the first time, I’m ready to be seen.

With this guy, though? Or is it someone else I want to notice me? Someone big and bad and older.

No, no, Camile. Stop that shit. Dios mio.

Ledger drives us off campus, giving a wave to the security guards as we leave.

We’re not prisoners at the college, even though it does feel that way sometimes because the place is so remote and filled with security.

It means the sons and daughters of the crime families who attend here can be guarded twenty-four-seven, and unless you have a family member here, you’re unlikely to know the place even exists.

There are no online prospectuses available, and no open days.

Entry to Verona Falls University is through personal reference only.

There’s a small town called Arbington about twenty minutes’ drive from the college. It’s big enough that it’s got a movie theater and a diner, along with a coffee shop and a few other restaurants and stores. It keeps us entertained when we’re desperate to get off campus for a few hours.

I wonder which of the restaurants he might be taking me to, but instead he signals into the burger place drive-thru.

My stomach drops in disappointment.

“Seriously? This is where we’re going?”

He throws back his head and laughs, his Adam’s apple bobbing. “No, baby, this is just the prequel, I promise. Now, what can I get you?”

I order a burger, fries, and milkshake. Maybe I’d have preferred a decent restaurant for a first date, somewhere I could get a good steak and a glass of wine, but I don’t want to be stuck up about it.

Ledger must sense my feelings about the situation.

“Don’t be disappointed,” he says. “I’m going to take you somewhere special.”

With our food in a paper bag on my lap, we leave town behind us, weaving up the narrow mountain road. On one side, I catch sight of tall fencing and barbed wire between the trees, and my heart catches. I know what’s beyond that fence, or perhaps I should say who.

We really do seem to be heading out into the wilderness, though, and unease starts to settle in my stomach.

“Where are we going?” I ask.

“You’ll see. It’s not far now.”

Within another ten minutes, he’s guiding the truck over a dirt road. I hang on to the handle above the door as we bump and jolt. I can feel my tits bouncing with every rut, and a part of me wonders if he came this way on purpose.

The trees open, and we find ourselves on a rocky outcropping overlooking the Adirondack Mountains.

I must admit, the view is stunning. The tops of the trees look like the waves of the ocean, spilling away from us.

The blue of a lake glints in the late evening sun, and the gray of more rocky outcroppings intersperse the green.

A flock of birds flits across the sky, heading to the trees to roost. The sky is a watercolor of red and orange and yellow.

“Wow, this view is incredible.”

He glances in my direction, raises his dark eyebrows suggestively. “It really is.”

I don’t think he’s talking about the trees.

“We’re going to watch the sunset. It’s romantic, I promise.”

I force a smile, the unease still there at how remote this is. “Sure.”

He gets a blanket out on the bed of his truck and sits down, patting the spot next to him. I climb up, glad I wore jeans and not a dress. I guess this is kind of romantic, though a picnic would have been preferable to takeout.

We sit side by side, eating the burgers and fries and chatting about the people we know at Verona Falls, which professors we hate and which ones we tolerate, and which subjects we’re doing best in.

“Your family has been coming to Verona Falls for some time, haven’t they?” he asks. “Didn’t your brother go here, too?”

I frown, wondering how, or why, he knows about my brother.

The sibling he’s referring to is Leonardo.

He’s several years older than me and hasn’t been at Verona Falls for a few years now.

My other brother is even older and works away from our family, in a role where he can facilitate laundering money if needed, but he’s become increasingly estranged from us. I haven’t seen him in several years.

Taking a sip of my vanilla milkshake, I nod. “Yeah, he did. Why?”