Page 52 of Ryder's War

Glancing nervously around, Lily lowered her voice. “I don’t know all the details, but one of our girls got snatched by a gang from out of state. I think they wanted a ransom. She was Darkness’ sister. His father was our club president, and he went ballistic. They rode out one night, and no one had a good read on where they were going. The next morning, most of them came back at the crack of dawn, but we lost a third of our crew, including Darkness’ father.”

“Did they save the girl?” Tiffany was riveted by the tale of a woman being taken and saved by this rough crew of bikers. Some rescues left deeper scars than captivity. She knew that truth firsthand. Sometimes, surviving was just the beginning of the real battle.

Nodding, Lily murmured, “When they found her, she wasn’t in good shape. They had to send her off to some treatment center for trauma survivors. I didn’t see her, but Ven said she’d mentally checked out.”

Tiffany was all kinds of aware of how that could happen to a woman. When Stuart began his little games, her brain would just kind of click. She was aware of what he was doing but having mentally removed herself, it felt much like watching it happen to another person. It wasn’tthat she didn’t feel the pain; it was that in her self-induced altered state, she simply didn’t care.”

Lily’s quiet voice pulled Tiffany from her internal musings. “It’s a shame, ‘cause she was a real nice girl.”

Alyssa chimed in. “It was before my time, but I heard the brothers voted Darkness in within a few days of returning.”

“Yes,” Lily said. “That’s how I remember it. Ven had trouble sleeping for a long time after that. Though he’d never say, I heard no one from the rival club survived. I think it’s why all the other bikers and petty criminals in the area steer clear of us.”

Tiffany gasped. “I honestly can’t even get my head around a story like that.”

“Umm, it’s not a story. It’s club history.” Lily’s voice was strained and a little offended.

Tiffany immediately apologized. “I didn’t mean to insinuate it wasn’t. It’s just a lot to take in all at once. Does stuff like that happen a lot?”

“Thank God, no. Since Darkness took the gavel, the club’s been straying into more legitimate business ventures. I think they were all so traumatized by the horror of that day, they chose to take the club in a totally different direction.”

Alyssa nodded her agreement. “The brothers prefer real business ventures nowadays. The garage has always been here, but now they have an auto parts store, a hair salon, and a junkyard.”

“Things have really calmed down in the last few years. The townsfolk leave us alone, and we don’t cause trouble for them. They’re slowly coming around to see us as just regular folk.”

Alyssa eyed the older woman with interest. “Lily’s got her own story to tell. It’s a good one.”

Lily glanced around again, taking in where the few prospects were before speaking. “Every single person associated with this club has their own story, and some of them are really fascinating. My story is more Ven’s story. I was just along for the ride.”

Tiffany smiled encouragingly. “I’d love to hear it sometime.”

Alyssa quipped, “I know it by heart. It’s one of my favorites because it’s filled with love, romance, and Ven fighting against all odds to save his beautiful wife.”

Lily’s hands flew to her cheeks, which were turning bright red. “It’s not like that!”

Alyssa nodded at Tiffany with a knowing smile.

“Now I’m all kinds of curious.”

Flying to her feet, Lily glanced at Rose and the baby. “It’s a story for another time. I should go put Sammy down to sleep. It’s getting late.”

“It’s nice when the whole place is filled with people. Thanks for talking to us this evening, Lily,” Tiffany said.

Looking embarrassed, the older woman ducked her head. “You’re welcome, Tiffany. Don’t you worry about Ryder. Ven won’t let anything happen to his only son.” Trotting off in Rose’s direction, Lily called out that it was bedtime for the little ones. All the kids stopped in their tracks, clearly trying to decide if they were included in that group. Their confused little faces were all kinds of cute.

Tiffany turned to Alyssa. “Why do I think we’d need to get a few more drinks in her to get that story out of her?”

Laughing, Alyssa shot the older woman across the room a warm smile. “Don’t bother. All she ever drinks is lemon lime soda with cherry flavoring in it. The one you want to ply with alcohol is Ven. He loves telling the story of how they met.”

Warming up to the idea, Tiffany murmured, “I never would have guessed that.”

“Much like his son, he’s nursing a hero complex a mile wide. What’s better than being thehero of your very own story and saving a damsel in distress?”

Raising one brow, Tiffany replied. “Being the princess who can shoot her way out of trouble on her own?”

Laughing, Alyssa asked, “You’re joking, right?”

“Hell no, I’m not. As a matter of fact, I’m starting to think that maybe women in general, and me in particular, have been wasting our lives waiting for a hero we wouldn’t even need if we’d just put on our big girl panties and take care of our own business.”

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