Prologue
Coop ~ 2 years later
“You ready to move on, son? Again?”
My dad isn’t just my dad. He’s also a fellow brother-in-arms of the motorcycle club, Reckless Bastards out in Mayhem, Nevada, and he’s not happy about my choices in either capacity.
“Coop, when you said you wanted to do this nomad shit, I figured you’d go out on the road for a year or two, then come back to Mayhem. You damn near died in Mesa. Remember that?”
He grumbles under his breath, but just loud enough that I can hear him, even with the traffic rushing behind me.
I let out my own sigh of frustration as I pinch the bridge of my nose.
“But I didn’t, okay? I’m alive. It’s all good. I’m fine. And this nomad shit is a lucrative business that the Reckless Bastards get a piece of.”
He still refuses to accept my choice to be a nomad. I mean, it’s not like I spend my day laying around and doing nothing.. I bounce from one MC to the next, doing what I do best. Kick ass.
And get paid.
Then I move on before anyone gets too comfortable. What’s the downside, right?
He sighs, and I can picture him in my mind’s eye, shaking his head in disappointment.
“How long are you planning to be in New Mexico, Coop?”
I look up at the sky, at the stretch of desert before me. If I go east, I could be in Texas with Gunnar and his boys in a few hours. If I go west, I can take a detour north and go home for a visit. Or I can just keep going west.
“I’m done with the Dragons. Filling up on the Interstate before hitting the road again.”
“The road back to Mayhem?”
The vibration in my hand is just the distraction I need. I look down at the phone and grin.
“Not yet, I’m afraid. Just got word from Charlie. An MC in Yuma, Arizona, is having some trouble with the cartels at the border. Don’t know how long I’ll be there.”
I feel like an asshole for the smile on my face, but nothing is better than just being a man on the open road with his bike, eating up the pavement between fights.
“I don’t like it, son.”
“I know, but this is my choice, and Charlie’s all right with it. I’m heading to Los Angeles next.”
Charlie, the president of the Reckless bastards, and childhood friend is more than all right with me traveling the country, expanding the Reckless Bastards reach, making more connections, and assembling a crew of people owing us favors or cash.
“How are you and Ma?” I ask to change the subject.
“Your mother is worried about you. She wants you home, Coop.”
Well, that didn’t work. But I nod because it’s all I can do at this moment. I nod because I’m breaking my mother’s heart, because my friends and family are back in Mayhem, and my boys are kicking up shit in the heart of Vegas.
“I’ll come for a visit when I can. I promise.”
“You said that when you left. Then you said it again three months ago. You said it last month too.”
“I know.”
“Then, what the fuck?”
This is rich, especially coming from a guy who put his MC above his family time and time again over the years.
“What the fuck? Dad, I’m doing my part for the club. You don’t have to like it, just accept it. And if you can’t accept my choice, accept Charlie’s decision.”
Dad let out another sigh that hit me right in the gut.
“Dammit, son. It’s not about acceptance. You’re out there, pounding the shit out of anyone you’re directed to without any backup. Without anybody you trust to watch your back. It’s not just dangerous. It’s stupid.”
“Backup isn’t always a guarantee, Dad. My work as a nomad is fulfilling. These guys need me, my ability, and they want my help. I show up, and they are all happy to see me.”
“Happy,” he snorts. “Yeah, right.”
“Not happy they need me, but happy I’m there since they need help.”
As the son of an executive member of the Bastards, I have a unique perspective on different aspects of MC life. Plus, I love to brawl. And waking up next to a warm body I don’t have to ever see again is a perfect life.
Fight. Fuck. Leave. Women are very willing to get a piece of this pie.
“Whatever. You do what you want. You will anyway.”
“No different than you did.”
My father’s choices are exactly why I enjoy my life as a nomad. I get to be part of the life without constantly being compared to him.
“Look, Dad. You made your choices, and it’s time for me to do the same. Gotta go, Dad. Yuma is a long drive.”
“Yeah, all right. Be careful down at the border. The cartels won’t hesitate to chop you in pieces and scatter you across the desert if you even look at them wrong.”