Page 1 of Wild Side
PROLOGUE
ZADIE
VICIOUS REAPERS MC RIVARA CHAPTER
THREE MONTHS AGO
“I don’t think we should go. I mean, my dad has already said it’s completely off-limits,” I say.
I don’t care if I sound like a baby. I’m sure she thinks that’s what I am, but I follow the rules. They’re important, and they’ve been given to me for a reason. That’s what my dad says anyway, and I’m not about to get in trouble and get on his shit list.
It’s my goal to never suffer the consequences of my father’s wrath. I’ve made it a point to never find out what it’s like to be in trouble with him.
Sable rolls her eyes at me. She’s so sick of me being a goody two-shoes, something she has voiced more than once. And Ihave a feeling she’s been questioning our friendship over it all, too. That doesn’t matter, though.
I’m a rule follower. I always have been.
My father demands it.
I don’t know if it’s because he’s a single dad, if it’s because he’s the president of a motorcycle club, or if he’s just controlling, although if I had to guess, it would be a combination of all three. He enjoys control, thrives off it, really, and doesn’t care who knows it or who he hurts in the process.
He’s not my dad. He is very much my puppeteer, and I do my best to give him a wide berth—always.
Following the rules has not just been suggested in my house, it has been demanded and expected. There are consequences if you do not obey the rules. None of which I want any part of.
So if that makes me a party pooper, or Sable doesn’t want to hang out with me anymore, then so be it, because I’m not about to suffer my father’s consequences. It doesn’t matter how old I am. My father is not someone I want to cross.
“You’re twenty-one, you live in your own apartment, pay your own rent, and have a big-girl job. What can he really do to you?” she says, adding a snort at the end of her question.
I should be the one snorting, because I have no doubt my father could and would do something. I’ve lived my entire life walking on eggshells, so I have no idea what his punishment would be, but I have a feeling he can get very inventive if he wanted to.
Sable’s father is also part of the club, though he’s not a ranking member and seems to be nice enough. She was not raised the same as I was. We’re club kids, brought up in this world, but also extremely differently. She’s never had any real rules, and it shows.
I’ve had a thumb pressing on me, holding me down, my entire life.
With the few guidelines she has, she’s made it her mission to break all of them… often. And it’s so very clear to me in this moment that she doesn’t understand what my father is truly like behind closed doors.
I’m pretty sure he can’t or won’t do anythingtome, and I’m pretty assured he would never physically hurt me, but he can make my life very miserable. Even if he doesn’t pay my bills, it’s just not something I’m willing to chance.
“I know, but still…”
My words trail off right before I see a light nearby. Not just any light, but a flame from a lighter. That flame is in someone’s hand, and I watch as he lifts it to light a cigarette that sits between his lips.
I expect it to be one of my many dozens ofuncles, but when the flame illuminates part of his face, I realize I have no freaking clue who this man is. He’s a stranger standing right in front of me. Dressed in leather and jeans, yet a stranger, nonetheless.
And I’m too far away from the clubhouse for anyone to hear me scream.
“What’re you girls doin’ out here?” the rugged voice asks.
Sable snorts. “We’re club princesses. You better just walk away.”
She sounds like a spoiled smart-ass. I don’t say a word, as per usual. I clam up when faced with anything near danger. And this seems dangerous. Really dangerous. My eyes flick from them to the clubhouse in the distance. My voice can carry out here, but not like that.
Sable thinks telling anyone and everyone that we’re princesses is a flex.
The reality is that I’m the actual princess.
My father is the president, not hers. I’m his only daughter, but this guy could be from a rival club. Telling him that we’reimportant to Vicious Reapers could put us in serious danger, and Sable’s throwing it around like she’s a badass biker babe.
