Chapter 1
Chapter One
M y wrists chafe against the ropes binding me to a splintered beam. A dirty rag is stuffed in my mouth, soaking up my curses. I glare at the bastard responsible through the dusty shafts of light slicing into this godforsaken barn.
Fucking Blaze.
His golden hair gleams as he paces, all tense muscles and restless energy. Like a caged lion. Rich coming from me, trussed up like a damsel.
Everything is his fault. The fucking ambush. Daddy and my estranged uncle bleeding out on the concrete. I don’t even know if they lived, and now, the man I’ve hated all my life has me tied up.
Running for our lives, he said, but from who? Or what? He was the one behind the trigger, so why are we hiding out in the middle of Bumfuck Nowhere?
I work my tongue to shove the gag out, and when it slips free, I attempt to spit. My mouth, though, is cottony.
“Bastard,” I rasp. “Untie me.”
Blaze whirls, sky-like eyes flashing. “Not a chance! I’m not letting you ride away and get yourself killed.”
“I’ll kill you myself, traitor!” Spittle flies from my lips.
My enemy’s kid. Crown City MC’s golden boy. A football player in school, disgustingly popular, and someone I’ve thrived on despising.
I bleed blue with the Blue Throttle MC, the daughter of Prez Dominic Nyx. The generations-long war between the clubs has boiled to a head, and here I am…Blaze Schwartz’s captive.
“Listen to yourself, Vina,” he purrs.
“We’re no longer in high school, asshole. Your pretty-boy voice won’t work.” I set my jaw. “Not that it ever worked on me.”
“How can you believe I had something to do with the ambush?” Blaze stalks closer, his boots thudding against the dusty floor. “That I would put a bullet in my own father?”
I lift my chin. “Wouldn’t be the first betrayal in your MC.”
“Low fucking blow.”
“Just sayin’…maybe it runs in your side of the Schwartz line.”
He scoffs. “Wake up, Corvina. Someone’s playing us both.”
“Bullshit,” I croak, my mouth still parched. “CCMC set up the peace talk. You lured us there and then disappeared right before bullets started flying.”
Blaze brings his face level with mine. This close, I can see tiny gold flecks in his irises. He’s harder than the clean-cut quarterback he once was. True, his skin isn’t marked up like the others in the MCs, but there’s a rougher edge to him now.
“Funny thing about war,” he says. “You don’t realize you’re just another soldier in someone else’s fight until it’s too late.”
His fingers brush my cheek, and I flinch as he tucks a strand of hair behind my ear. I hate that his touch sets me on fire. Some twisted part of me has always been drawn to him, even though I’ve been raised to despise everything he represents. We come from different sides of everything, even at school.
Still, he’s always had something over me that I can’t afford to admit.
“You’ve got it all figured out, don’t you?” I sneer.
He hisses back, but I’m not backing down.
“So enlighten me.” I tilt my head to one side. “Who’s pulling the strings if you aren’t?”
Blaze rocks back on his heels. “That’s the problem. I don’t fucking know.”
I laugh, the sound grating against my parched throat. “Typical Blaze. All brawn, no brains.”
He brings his face close, inches from mine. “You’re so smart, yeah? The BTMC princess with all the answers.”
“It’s why my father trusts me with the club’s books.” I watch his reaction as I throw my patched status in his face. Unlike Elias Schwartz from CCMC, my father made a place for me among his officers. I wear a patch as the BTMC treasurer, while Blaze still sports a bare cut.
“At least”—he smirks—“I’m smart enough not to get myself tied up by my sworn enemy.”
I buck against my restraints. When they won’t budge, I meet his gaze. “From the day we were born. Or have you forgotten the fallout between our fathers?”
Blaze’s jaw ticks, a muscle feathering beneath the stubble.
He reaches up and braces himself on the beam above my head, hovering over me. “Tell me, Corvina. Ever wonder how shit would be if our fathers didn’t hate each other? If we weren’t born enemies?”
The question taunts me with its impossibility. I want to laugh it off, to tell him it doesn’t matter. There’s no changing who we are.
But something in his eyes stops me. A flicker of vulnerability, a glimpse of the boy he used to be before the MC hardened him.
I consider his words. What if we had met under different circumstances? What if our last names didn’t define us or dictate which side of the battle we stood on?
“No.” I shake my head, banishing the dangerous thoughts. “We can’t erase history.”
Blaze’s lips curve. “Maybe not. But we can choose how we play the hand we’re dealt.”
I narrow my eyes on him. “What are you saying?”
He leans back, his gaze never leaving mine. “What if hate isn’t inherited? It’s possible that we don’t have to blindly follow in our fathers’ footsteps.”
I scoff. “Ironic, don’t you think?”
He gives me a questioning look.
A laugh erupts from my chest. “Strange that you’re making that argument, Blaze. You’re the shining star of CCMC, always eager to impress your Prez and prove yourself.”
Blaze’s eyes harden. “Don’t pretend you know shit about me, Vina.”
“I know you’re a traitor to my club and yours. Your stunt may have killed both our fathers.”
He slams his fist against the wooden beam, making me recoil as dust rains down. “For the last fucking time, I had nothing to do with it!”
His chest heaves with ill-contained rage.
“Prove it,” I bark. “Untie me.”
“Yeah…no.” His eyes roam from my tied hands down my body. “I kind of like you like this.”
“If you’re not behind it,” I say, my voice a growl, “let me go so I can find out who is.”
A storm of emotion darkens Blaze’s bright eyes. For a moment, I think he might listen and release me. But his gaze drops to my lips, and his expression clouds with a hunger that sends chills racing over me despite the warmth of the barn.
“Blaze...” I warn too late.
His mouth crashes down on mine, hard and demanding. I gasp, and he takes advantage, his tongue sweeping inside. The brutal kiss is all teeth and tongues and desperate need. I tell myself to resist, to bite his lip and shove him away.
But my body betrays me. I melt, a moan escaping as his hands come up to cup my face. He tastes like fire and sin, a slow burn of whiskey and ash, laced with temptation and ruin.
I’ve never been kissed like this. As if he wants to consume me, to brand me as his. It’s terrifying and thrilling, something dark hatching between us. And I can’t get enough.
Blaze groans as he deepens the kiss. His fingers tangle in my hair, tugging. I strain against the ropes, desperate to touch him, to feel his skin.
He breaks away, breath ragged. “Fuck, Vina. What are you doing to me?”
I blink up at him, dazed. Stars dance before my eyes, and I realize I’ve been holding my breath.
“I...I don’t know,” I whisper.
Blaze closes his eyes, a muscle ticking in his jaw as he visibly tries to rein himself in.
I should headbutt him, scream at him to let me go. But I can’t seem to find my voice or my strength. That kiss shook me to my core, unleashed something long buried.
The roar of a motorcycle engine shatters the charged silence.
Blaze jerks away from me, his head snapping toward the barn door. “Shit, that’ll be Iron with my ride.”
“Hey, cut me down.” I say, weaker than intended, as he strides over to the door.
He’s once again every inch the hardened biker, as though the last few minutes never happened, as if he didn’t just turn my world upside down with a single kiss.
The door creaks open, and Iron Callahan, CCMC’s enforcer, fills the doorway. His cold eyes land on me, and a slow smile spreads.
“Well, well,” the enforcer drawls. “You caught yourself a little bird, Blaze.”
Blaze tenses. “She’s not a prisoner, Iron. I’m keeping her safe.”
Iron laughs harshly as he stalks toward me. “From what? Her own club?”
Blaze steps in front of him. “Back off, Iron. She’s not a part of this.”
He leans sideways to eye me again, just before he focuses on Blaze again. “Or maybe…you’re saving her from the truth about what really went down at that meeting?”
I thrash, my wrists chafing raw. “What truth? I was standing right beside Blaze. He disappeared just before shots were fired. He set everyone up!”
Iron’s gaze slides to me. As he side-steps my only shield, Blaze tries to stop him again, but they exchange a wordless conversation before Blaze lowers his head. Iron crouches in front of me, and I hate being so short. The scent of tobacco assaults my nostrils.
“Got it on pretty good authority that Blaze wasn’t involved,” he says. “And what you should be concerned about is who they are pinning it on.”
“Who’s that?” I snap.
Iron chuckles darkly. “There’s no right side in this war, sweetness. They—both clubs—are pinning the ambush on the two of you.”
My heart stutters. “What? That’s insane.”
“I brought your ride, Blaze. Gassed up and ready to go.” Iron tosses him a key, then digs into his cut and extracts a wad of cash, also tossing it to Blaze. “Hide out for a while. I’ll send word to the Westend Motel when it’s safe.”
Blaze eyes shift from the money to Iron.“The Westend? That’s a CCMC safehouse.”
“Yup, but more importantly, I control it. No one will think to look for you there.” He jerks a nod at me. “Good luck with that.”
I twist my wrists, ignoring the bite of the ropes. “I’m not going with him.”
Iron fixes me with a hard stare. “You don’t have a choice, little bird, if you want to live. Your best chance is to stick together.”
Blaze pockets the cash. “What are you going to do?”
“Someone’s gunning for both of you.” Iron strides toward the door. “I’m going to find out who, but until I do, you two need to disappear.”
He ducks out, leaving Blaze and me alone. Iron leaves the door open as he marches toward a black SUV on the dirt road.
Blaze turns to me, his expression unreadable. “Apparently, you’re stuck with me, princess."
I glare, my mind reeling. It doesn’t make sense. But nothing about this situation does.
My wrists throb. “Untie me, please.”
Blaze hesitates, his gaze flicking from my wrists to my face. For a moment, I think he’ll refuse, keep me bound just to assert his control.
But he sighs. “Fine. But don’t try anything stupid.”
His fingers brush against my skin as he works at the knots. I hate how my body craves the touch even as my mind screams in protest.
The ropes fall away, and I rub my wrists, wincing at the raw skin. Blaze watches me, his expression guarded.
“Thanks,” I mutter.
He nods. “We need a plan.”
“No shit.” I roll my shoulders, stiff from being tied for so long. “And I need to know how my father is.”
Blaze runs a hand through his golden hair. “Vina, you heard Iron. We can’t go back.”
I whirl on him. “I don’t fucking care about the danger. That’s my father, my club. Unlike you, I’m a patched member, and I need to be there.”
He grabs my arm in a firm grip. “What good will you be to them dead?”
I suck in a breath but have no words to argue that.
“Someone is framing us,” says Blaze. “We need to lay low.”
I jerk out of his grasp. He’s right, damn him. As much as it kills me to admit it, we can’t just ride back into town. Not when someone had already tried to blow us sky high at the gas station.
We did need a plan.
I stop pacing and face him. “Fine. We do this your way for now. But I have conditions.”
Blaze raises an eyebrow. “Of course you do.”
I ignore the jab. “First, I get to call my mom when we get to the Westend.”
Thinning his lips, Blaze gives a single nod.
“Then, we need disguises. We’ll be heading back to Crown City before long, and if we are being framed, we can’t look like ourselves. And finally…” I gulp a breath, needing to know if my father is okay. “I need to call my mom.”
Blaze is silent for a moment. Conflict rolls through his eyes, warring emotions. After an extended pause, he lets out a sigh and marches for the door. “Alright. Let’s go.”