Page 1 of Drifter
Prologue
Limo and Ball Gown
Drifter
It’s been weeks—no, months—of watching Sasha. I feel like a goddamn stalker, but after the incident with her father, I haven’t been able to sleep without knowing she’s safely in her own bed. The minute her lights are turned off, I can relax. Especially knowing that I’ve installed a couple of cameras that alert me if someone shows up at her house. We should have put the cameras in sooner, and then Etain would have been covered, but since she was renting, Etain didn’t think it was fair to Sasha.
I’m sitting across the street in an SUV when a limousine drives past me and parks in Sasha’s driveway. Immediately, I get out and settle in behind the bushes. I creep through the trees to jump in when her father steps out of the car. But it’s not her father; it’s a much younger man, a male version of Sasha with the same caramel-brown hair. He’s tall and lean.
From where I’m situated, I can hear him knocking on the door. Sasha steps out in the kind of dress you would see in a movie or on an actress going to an Oscar’s gala. She looks like a starlet in her shimmering silver gown, her hair up, showing off her graceful neck. Her makeup is dramatic, with a smoky, sexy vibe. Sasha is beautiful in her yoga pants or loose-fitting hippy jeans, but she’s an absolute knockout in this dress.
“Hey, big brother, right on time,” she says, greeting her brother with a hug. He hugs her back with a serious expression on his face.
“Sasha, you don’t have to do this. I can make an excuse, say you’re sick or something,” her brother says.
“Simon, you know that won’t fly. Dad will lose his mind, and Mom will make my life hell for months if I don’t show up at her charity event. Besides, we made a pact: neither of us walks into the lion’s den alone.”
“If that fucker comes anywhere near you, I’ll fucking kill him,” Simon snaps.
“Thank you, but you know he’ll come over to say hello. Keep your cool. We’ll nod politely, have dinner, and leave.” Her voice is calm as she links her arm through his.
“You go nowhere without me. Not even the bathroom. Promise me,” he pushes.
“Promise.” She forms a smile, but it doesn’t reach her eyes.
“The fucker should be in prison,” Simon growls. “And Dad should be his cellmate for defending the asshole.”
Sasha stops in her tracks and waits for her brother to face her. “I don’t want to relive that night. Not now, not ever. Please, Simon, we go, we eat, we leave.”
He emits a heavy sigh. “Fine.”
Simon helps Sasha into the back of the limousine and gets in beside her, and they take off, leaving me with a whole hell of a lot of questions and a burning feeling in my chest. Who the fuck hurt Sasha? Whoever it was is going to pay.
Chapter 1
Breathe In, Breathe Out
Drifter
It’s just coming up on midnight when the limo returns. Simon walks Sasha back up to the door, and his expression is that of a pissed-off brother trying to hide his emotions and keep his temper in check. Sasha, on the other hand, has a smile on her lips, which masks her true feelings.
Simon murmurs something to his sister and kisses her on the cheek, making sure she gets inside and even waiting for her to lock her door before going back to the car. His gaze moves back to Sasha’s home. It’s as if he’s trying to decide whether he should go back. In the end, he pulls out his phone, types out a message, and waits for a response. He raises his head and once again looks at the house. The lights blink on and off twice, then his phone pings. He grins before getting back in the limo. I watch as the chauffeur drives away with Simon.
At least she has one family member who gives a shit about her. This does nothing to quench my thirst to know more about Sasha. My desire for her was immediate. Is she beautiful? Yeah. But I fucked a lot of beautiful women, and none have affected me the way she does. The kicker is, I’ve hardly said a word to her. I avoid her whenever possible, and she does the same to me. Sasha stirs up feelings that I’ve buried for a long time, and that scares the shit out of me.
A rival biker group, punks on the streets, even a firefight in the Middle East, haven’t terrified me as much as an adorable woman with a heart-shaped face and long hair that looks like strands of caramel-colored silk, with a body that is toned and fit and curvy in all the right places.
Up to a few short months ago, I was under the impression that Sasha’s quiet life was perfect. If it weren’t for Etain moving into the cottage next to her, I never would have witnessed her dick of a father getting in her face and shouting at her. That was the first time I’d seen fear in her eyes, and I hated it. Hawk wasn’t too happy about it either, and seeing that Etain and Sasha have become best friends, anything that disturbs Etain is going to rile Hawk.
Apart from that, Sasha was the one who spread the word that the Redemption Riders didn’t settle in our little town to rape and pillage. As shy as Sasha is, she has courage. She walked right into our shop and demanded to know what our business was, then proceeded to tell us about the wonderful people in this place she calls home. It took a while for Hawk to reassure her, but in the end, she became a friend and an advocate for our shop.
I stayed away all this time because a girl like Sasha doesn’t need a man like me. I’ve seen too much ugliness for me to be a nice man. Jaded is a good description of who I am. Unfortunately, when my mother left me and my father before I was even a year old, that set the stage for the kind of relationships I have with women. My father was a good man, and I miss him every day. He was my one solid brick in the wall when everything else was crumbling around me.
Dad’s death hit me hard, and if it wasn’t for Hawk’s friendship, I’m not sure where I would have ended up. Hawk’s more family than he is a club president, and as his VP, I’d die before I let anyone touch my brother or the club.
That’s another reason to stay away from Sasha. She’s beloved in this town. No one ever has a bad thing to say about her. The birds sing for her, the flowers bloom in her presence, and she’s capable of making the sun shine brighter when she’s out. Ridiculous, I know, but that’s what she brings when she’s around. She visits the senior center once a week, bringing them treats and playing checkers or watching Jeopardy with them, yelling out the answers along with them and making them laugh. Sasha participates in the bake sales, toy drives, and any other charity cause that arises in town, and she does what she can to make them a success.
A girl like that…just doesn’t fit with a hard-ass, jaded prick like me.
