Page 1 of Justice's Reward
Chapter One
Adley Pearson straightened her jacket and walked out of the courthouse. She hated those first seconds leaving the building but was unable to carry to defend herself. The courthouse’s stringent no guns or weapons policy irritated her. She deserved to be able to defend herself. So many people had no idea of the seedy underbelly of the city just waiting to take advantage of someone not watching after themselves. But Adley had lived in the seedy underbelly and was never going back.
In addition, sometimes her clients weren’t happy with her representation. She didwhat she could to get them off as long as she didn’t think they were guilty of what she considered moral crimes—murder, human trafficking, abuse, etc. If it was robbery, burglary, or non-violent crimes, then most times she’d take the case.
She caught a glimpse of Justice from the corner of her eye and turned toward her Jeep. Maybe she wouldn’t have to deal with him this time. The man knew every button she had and enjoyed pushing them. If he were some ugly Joe-Schmo, then she couldn’t care, but Justice was a member of the Saint’s Outlaws MC. The man was built with tattoos that had her rethinking her opinion on dating one-percenters at least once a day. The smirk that sometimes made her want to slap or kiss it off his face, coupled with him riding his motorcycle, hadher wondering how long she could hold out against him.
She needed to quit thinking about Justice and make a list of what she needed to do to stay safe. Safety trumped sexy time with a hot guy every time.
Her most recent client had been accused of robbing a jewelry store. She usually was a good judge of character, and she’d fallen for hisI only tried to rob the store to feed my familyline. His wife was convincing when she pleaded her case while holding their two-year-old son.
Adley had prepared what she thought was a slam dunk. Two days ago, they linked four more robberies to her client’s fingerprints—two of which had homicides involved where the homeowner was killed during the robbery. Suddenly, Adley’s slam dunk was a case she wouldn’t have said yesto if she’d had all the information. She despised being lied to.
Her client had yelled at her as he was pulled from the courtroom that she’d get what was coming to her. She walked toward her vehicle, putting a little speed in her step to make sure Justice couldn’t intercept her. Just once, she wanted to be able to relax and take a walk on the wild side, but she just couldn’t chance that. There was too much at stake for her to let loose and not worry about the consequences.
“Adley, how about I take you out for some fantastic Kansas City barbecue?” Justice called out in that deep, dark voice that had her imagining sweaty nights in a rumpled bed. Justice above her, his tattooed chest close enough for her to lick the sweat off of him. And don’t get her started on that ball cap he wore backward most of the time.
She held her hand up and flipped him the finger. She needed to keep as much space between them as possible. She couldn’t tell him“no”to his face because then she’d be able to smell the cologne that he wore. Between the bad-boy vibes in his suit and the intriguing smell when she was close to him, she needed to run far and run fast before she did something she’d regret.
Zane “Justice” Lawson debated if he was going to try one more time to ask the woman out who intrigued him with her sassy, smart-ass ways and her intelligence. The fact that she had a banging body in hertight-as-heck suit was just a bonus. Adley was the complete opposite of Justice’s last liaison.
He’d made the mistake of sleeping with a woman he picked up in a bar because he’d been lonely. First mistake. His second was using the condoms she’d provided. Come to find out, she’d wanted a free ride and thought having his baby would provide that.
His baby mama had a banging body, but smart she wasn’t. If the woman’s head was filled with marshmallows, he wouldn’t be surprised. Except for thinking the marshmallows probably had more substance than she did.
He hoped he was done dealing with her. He’d paid her twenty thousand dollars to sign her rights away to Ian Xavier because she hadn’t paid any attention to him in thelast month. Justice had wanted full custody, but she kept holding out for more. She’d picked up the money last night, dropped the papers, and said goodbye to Ian. At least Justice had made her say goodbye; she hadn’t even wanted to look at their son.
Justice stood waiting for the woman he couldn’t get off his mind to come out of the courthouse. She equally infuriated him and turned him on. If nothing else, he was all up for some hate sex. With the way Adley lit a fire in him, they’d burn up the sheets.
Adley Pearson walked out of the courthouse, and Justice headed toward her. He couldn’t figure out why she despised him. He was positive he’d caught a glimpse of interest a couple times in her eyes, but then she’d turn that icy stare on him and flip him off.
Did it make him a total jerk that he enjoyed watching her cheeks pinken when he pissed her off? Or that he wanted to yell“Any time”when she flipped him the bird?
“Adley, how about I take you out for some fantastic Kansas City barbecue?” he called.
She didn’t even turn to look at him. Just continued walking toward her Jeep and held her middle finger up high for him to see.
He chuckled. She was nothing if not predictable. He could not figure out why he couldn’t get the prickly woman off his mind.
He should be thinking about getting home to Ian. His baby mama had the birth certificate completed and submitted to the state before Justice had a chance to even offer any suggestions. If he had, he wouldhave suggested possibly honoring his dad or granddad. They’d both been gone way too soon when the club was almost wiped out when Justice was a senior in high school.
He'd be forever grateful to the Saint’s Outlaws MC for allowing his mom’s and aunt’s request to have their club become a part of them. He, his brother, and his cousin had served in the military, and when they’d come home, the club had been waiting for them.
He slid his leg over his motorcycle. He’d dressed for court today, but he didn’t mind riding his baby in his suit as long as he could ride her. Matilda had been with him for years. He and his dad had been building her when his dad was killed. The bike had sat unfinished until he came home from serving. He’d worked on it then until he got it running. He’d paid for a custom paint jobbecause he sucked at painting. Each time he rode her, he felt a little closer to his dad.
He chuckled as Adley drove by, rolling her window down and giving him another one-finger salute. He’d love to have a chance to turn that fire to moans. He rode toward the flower shop, wondering how Ian would do tonight. He’d been fussy last night and this morning, but his mom had said that all babies went through fussy times.
He wasn’t sure how he would have made it as a single dad without his mom and his club. Thank goodness, with Ian only being seven weeks old, he wouldn’t remember his mother. When Justice wouldn’t marry her, she’d basically held Ian hostage for cash. Justice was willing to pay, but what had spurred him to get Ian out of her hands was when a neighbor called, saying Gina had lefther apartment but that the neighbor could hear Ian screaming from inside.
Justice had gone over and immediately taken Ian into his custody. The money was so Gina didn’t come near his son again.
As he got closer to Ruthy’s Flower Shop, he had to hide a smirk. If his mom saw his amusement at seeing her all baby-crazy, talking in a sweet voice and making exaggerated faces, she’d smack him upside the head again like last week. His mom wasn’t the bake cookies and wipe your boo-boos type of mom. She was one of the toughest women he knew. She had to be to hold the club together with his aunt, Pit’s mom, Chuck. Very few knew that his mom was Ruthless, the boogeyman of the MC. It was a well-protected secret, and Justice planned on it staying that way.
His mom ran her flower shop, but it was a front for some of the other things his club took care of for people. Ruth was five foot five, with steel gray hair. She could look completely harmless at the flower shop when she wore jeans, biker boots, and a sparkly top. But then, tick the woman off or do something to someone she loved, and her face got that look that Justice knew meant retribution was coming. He backed into his spot behind the flower shop and went in to see his mom and son.
He used his code to get in because the front of the shop might look like a normal flower shop, but the back had state-of-the-art security that no one was getting through. It was the only way he allowed his son to be here.
He chuckled at the sight that met him. Pit, his President, was making faces at Ian. Hisson could make even the most stoic biker smile at him. Ian may not have come into his life the way he’d always thought he would have a child, but he didn’t regret having him.
