Hard Rider

“Awesome,” I growled, letting the sarcasm slip into my tone. “Who the fuck is it this time?”

Grizz checked the door, speaking loudly enough for me to hear – and therefore the unwanted guest, as well.

“It’s Talon.”

The entire club went quiet enough to hear a pin drop. My men started reaching for weapons as I crossed the threshold and relieved Grizz from his post at the door.

Questions rolled through my head:

What the fuck was Talon doing here?

How the hell did he even find us?

With a reluctant groan, I unlocked the door and pulled it open. Sure the fuck enough, there stood Talon, a wicked grimace crossing his lips. Behind him, a van sat parked on the other side, one of his own Dragons standing watch beside the driver’s door.

If Talon was so fucking displeased to see me, he could have just not shown up.

“Hunter,” Talon replied, his growling tone bearing a sadistic glint. “I believe that it’s time you and I had another talk…”

“Is that so?”

“It is,” his voice rattled in his lungs. “They say that the enemy of my enemy is my friend, and you and I have a mutual enemy with a particularly large footprint…”

“Soroka Sarkonov,” I acknowledged. “Talon… it was you, wasn’t it? Disappearing the crate like that… I know for goddamned certain she’s going to rip your balls off when she finds out you had a hand in dumping that container into the Pacific.”

“Both are true when it comes to that bitch,” Talon chuckled, “and I think you’ll be singing a different tune when you know what she’s done.”

“Straight to business, I see. Alright, Talon, I’ll bite – care to fill me in?”

Talon tilted his head, watching me carefully. “Where do you think your woman is right now?”

The air escaped my lungs.

I fought down the burning rage that flared up, filling my very core. Rising inside and building pressure, it threatened to snuff out and sear away every ounce of rationality inside me.

“What did you do, Talon?”

“I didn’t fucking do anything, Hunter,” the diabolical biker president responded with complete seriousness. “The proxy of Soroka Sarkonov came to see me today, and your little bitch decided to eavesdrop on our little conversation.”

“How do I know any of this is true?”

Talon reached into his pocket, pulling out a smartphone and handing it to me. I recognized those little scratches and scrapes, and that lock screen wallpaper. It definitely belonged to Sarah.

“I believe that this is hers.”

My world came crashing down.

I could hear my men mobilizing behind me, but I waved them away. Drawing weapons now was not a good idea.

“You… you let her die…”

“I didn’t let anything happen, boy,” Talon instantly cut in. “And the last I saw her, your woman was still alive. We found Sarkonov’s cargo container, and the proxy took Sarah with her when she left…”

He descended into a coughing fit.

“Why are you telling me this?” I demanded to know, the second he regained his breathing. “Answer me, Talon… We have fucking bad blood between us. I’ll kill you right here with my bare fucking hands. Why the fuck did you come to taunt me?”

“Taunt you?” Talon roared. “Why the fuck would I taunt you? I need you! Time is of the fucking essence…”

“What the hell are you talking about?” I asked, trying to force my building anger back down. If there was any chance that she was still alive…

I could see the calculations running in the back of his head as he turned. The old bastard was weighing his words, carefully reflecting on precisely how to answer my question.

“Sarkonov’s proxy is responsible for your missing girlfriend,” Talon finally replied. “But Sarkonov herself has been a thorn in my side for a long fucking time. I need the bitch disposed of, and I need it done quickly.”

“You want to drag me into a fight.”

“As I recall, our enemy doesn’t have my pregnant girlfriend,” my nemesis continued. “I am giving you a rare and unique opportunity.”

I crossed my arms as I coolly regarded him. “And what is that, exactly?”

“Your woman is locked in the sealed container.”

I felt my eye instinctively twitch.

“The container is on the back of a truck, and it left my jurisdiction just over thirty minutes ago. Pretty soon, it’ll leave Los Angeles, and you’ll never fucking see her again.”

“Get to the point,” I snarled.

Talon appeared to contemplate savoring the moment, but quickly decided to relinquish his strategic position over me. “I know where it’s going, and I know who will arrive to take things from there.”

“Soroka Sarkonov,” I groaned.

“She won’t trust anyone else on this one,” he explained. “Once she discovers the liability locked inside, your woman is as good as dead.”

I gazed down at my hands. They were balled into shaking fists at my sides, the knuckles white with fury.

My family was in danger.

I had to rescue them, and fast.

Lifting my gaze, I matched his gaze with a dark glare. Paternal anger fueled my words as I decided that, whatever the cost, I would strike a deal with the Devil if it meant the safety of my child… and the safety of the woman.

“What do you want, Talon?”

The biker president smiled wickedly.

“It’s your lucky day, Hunter,” he replied. “I’ll give you the destination, and I want you to kill Soroka Sarkonov.”

“You want me to kill the most dangerous fucking woman in the world?”

He took a step forward.

“I didn’t ask for any of this,” Talon snarled, his rotting breath slipping into my lungs. “The evils that I call my clients – the evils that I know – are nowhere near the danger that she represents.

“You want to smuggle some drugs through my port? Fine. You want to ship some guns through? Sure. I’ve let shit move through that dock that would make your toes curl, and I have never said a fucking word. I keep my mouth shut, I keep the shit protected, and I take my money.”

“So why the fuck did you dump Soroka’s cargo into the goddamned ocean, Talon? You started this, and now you want me to fucking end it?” I replied, growling. It was written on his face now.

He was responsible for all of this.

“I didn’t know it was her fucking container, all I knew was what it had on the inside... Trust me, I did the fucking world a favor when I shoved that piece of shit straight into the water, and you’ll do the world a favor when you put a bullet in Soroka’s fucking head,” Talon replied angrily.

“What’s in the box, Talon?” I demanded.

“The crate’s lead-lined,” he answered cryptically.

...Fuck.

“There are few things in this world that would make an dangerous woman of her caliber scramble like this,” Talon continued, “and now you know why I did what I had to do. I knew the repercussions, and I expected to die, but still… I couldn’t have predicted any of this.”

A lead-lined box, in the hands of an arms dealer…

“I think you fucking know what’s in the box, Hunter,” he continued gravely. “But all you need to worry about right now is your woman. Stop Soroka, and we’ll all put that goddamned box somewhere that it’ll never be found…

“And maybe live to see another fucking day.”

“She threatened you,” I realized.

“Better than that,” Talon shook his head with a dark, defeated scoff. “She threatened the lives of my entire organization… And if she gets her hands on that cargo container, that’ll be the fucking least of our problems.”

Jesus Christ, I thought to myself.

Talon composed himself. “I’m dying, Hunter. I’m fucking dying, and I’ve done my share of bad fucking things. I can’t make all of that better, but I can sto

p whatever twisted bullshit Soroka Sarkonov is planning. I can try to make something right. This might be the only fucking good thing I ever do.”

“You want redemption?”

Talon chuckled. “Redemption? I don’t want fucking redemption. I want security for my men. I want a safe place for their children and their fucking grandchildren. This club is my family, and Soroka Sarkonov will wipe every last one of us off the earth if we don’t stop her now…”

“I want more than just her location,” I pressed.