Page 1 of Unruly Defender
CHAPTER ONE
– HENLEY –
My first intake ofbreath as a free man, and I’m using it to chuckle.I need another gulp of air to release a curse or two before I can manage a proper greeting.“Beck, my man, you made it.”
I shake my head and stalk over to my old cellmate, Beck Roman, who is standing next to his girl, Flora.A shiny car sits behind them, but it’s the custom-made bike in front of the car that catches my full attention.
“And I can’t believe you actually managed to do it,” I tell the man as I give him a casual hug.
He smacks my back twice before stepping away so both of us can admire the bike.It’s the shovelhead custom bobber my father owned before he died.Only a week before he left this Earth he wrecked the damn thing and put it in a shed to have it fixed at a later time.There was too much going on with the club and his company that needed his attention.
I would have fixed it for him but as the new president my attention was pulled in every direction as it was.A few weeks before I ended up in jail my father stepped down and handed me the gavel to lead the MC.He didn’t give me an exact reason, only that it was time.Three days after I took the gavel, he died in what the authorities ruled an accident.
But in my opinion the circumstances alone were an indication it was anything but an accident.Add the text I received a few hours before the accident, how he needed to talk to me about Rush, and the incidents after his death...everything to me seems like he was murdered and yet I have no evidence to prove my suspicions.
At least I got to bury him before I went to jail.And that’s just it, my head was too clouded with the loss of my father and dealing with club business and my father’s company while taking care of my mother who was devastated by the loss of her husband.
I should have seen the backstabbing betrayal coming, but I didn’t.It won’t happen again; I can tell you that.There will be no next time for those who killed my father and put me in jail, just so they could open roads for their own benefit and take what belonged to me and my family.
“We rushed over here as soon as I received your message.You didn’t leave us a big timeframe to get here, but I’m glad you’re out early.Good behavior, ‘eh?I should have known.And the bike?You’re a good man, Henley, I figured I owed you one.I’ve been in your shoes, remember?Standing outside these prison walls wearing the same clothes as the day you went in.”Our gazes connect and both of us share a moment.
Yeah, he knows what it was like inside the walls of the building behind us, and how it feels to walk back out.To be thrown back into the world where everything is fucked up and you have nothing but the same old clothes on your back and a mess you left behind to deal with.
Beck smacks my back again.“It really wasn’t that hard to track down your father’s bike because you mentioned the address.The old man who bought it was happy I wanted to take the piece of junk off his hands.He bought it for his son who didn’t want to fix it in the first place.Look at it, not so much a piece of junk now, right?I made sure it was up and running so I could surprise you with it.How else were you going to get home?”
Before I was thrown in jail my mother told me someone sold my father’s bike.She didn’t know if it was done intentionally or by accident, but it was gone nonetheless.Right before I was locked up, I tracked down the address of the one who bought my father’s old bike.I had the address but no one I could trust to head out and buy it for me.
I couldn’t ask my mother and risk her being pulled into club business.They already killed my father and set me up.I mentioned it to Beck once and he seemed to have remembered the address and bought the bike back for me and fixed the damn thing on top of it.
“I can’t tell you how much this means to me.What do I owe you?”I croak, emotions getting the better of me.
Must be due to my release after years of rotting in this place for something I didn’t do.I know, prisons are filled with innocent people.Those who claim to be, and those who really are.I’m not a saint, believe me, but I am one of those people who was set up and went into this shithole as an innocent man.Needless to say, I’m walking out with a mean streak of vengeance tainting my brain.
“Don’t worry about it.”Beck bumps my shoulder.“Are you ready to get out of here?I remember you telling me how fucking ecstatic you’d be if you were able to walk out of this place.”
The corner of my mouth twitches as I remember our final talk before he walked out as a free man.Half of our discussion was about the woman standing near the car, who is watching the two of us interact.How rude am I for ignoring her completely?
I step closer and hold out my hand.“I’m honored to finally meet you, Flora.I’ve heard quite a lot about you.I’m Henley, Henley Pierce.”
“Hi.Nice to meet you too.You must be relieved to be out and able to jump on that bike and ride off.Not that I think you should leave right now, but Beck told me how you were a biker.And, you know, finally getting on a bike and all.”Her cheeks turn a nice shade of red.
She’s cute and I understand her awkward ramblings with us standing here while she doesn’t know me at all.Well, other than some details Beck might have given her.Besides, I just walked out of prison.
I throw a grin at Beck and tell him, “She’s cute, no wonder you chased her down and claimed her as yours.Doesn’t matter how much groveling you had to do, ’cause the way she looks at you?I’m pretty damn sure it was worth it.”I direct my attention back to his girl.“You’re right, I can’t wait to feel the wind on my face and the roaring of the bike vibrating underneath me while it eats up the road in front of me.And I’m actually itching to leave this place behind me.”
Beck throws me the keys to the bike.I catch them with ease as he says, “Let’s get some coffee at the diner a few miles from here, or would you rather head home?”
I stroll over to the bike and straddle it.“Coffee sure sounds fine to me.Besides, I have all the free time in the world.You’re the only one I contacted and who knows I’m out.I’ll call my mother when I’m closer to home and have bought a new burner.”
I follow them to the diner and we spend over two hours talking, mainly about the two of them.When Beck walked out of prison, he didn’t think he could have a future with Flora because he fucked it up before he went in.
Seeing them together now shows love is worth the risk.It’s openly stated in their eyes when those two look at each other.Besides, if you don’t know and don’t try, there won’t be any love to begin with.I’m happy for both of them and the way it all worked out.
But I’m also happy to be on the road and heading home to Newport Beach.Happy might not be the correct word.Beck mentioned I would be fucking ecstatic if I was out of prison.And I am, but it’s more like I’m fucking ecstatic to be able to set my plan in motion for some good old payback.I have to be careful, though.I definitely don’t want to land my ass back in jail.Especially with the possibility of not being so innocent next time.
First, I’m heading over to see my mother.She runs an estate with a few bungalows; it’s in my name but that’s just a technicality.She loves running it along with a handful of personnel she’s hired over the years.The property is right on the beach which allows the perfect vacation setting.
I mentioned it to Beck and Flora, and even gave them an open invitation to spend a week or weekend there.It’s the least I could do because he didn’t want to hear anything about me paying him back what I owed him for perfectly fixing my father’s bike.
