Dax: Grim Riders MC Series, #1

By Molly Black

Who knew my whole life would be turned upside down over a pair of shoes?

With a gang threatening to sell my body to pay for my debts, I have no choice but to turn to another gang for help. 

Dax, my main protector, is tall and sexy with a dash of danger. But who knows what's going on in his head. 

Am I just a job to him? 

Somehow, I have to figure out a way to pick up the pieces of my broken life. I just don't even know where to begin. 

• Language: English
• Publisher: MB
• Release date: Aug 22, 2019
• ISBN: 9781393493730

Book preview

Chapter 1

Dax

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Another Friday, another day at the office, I thought as I looked around Dad’s office. He was on the phone with Brian, one of our clients and a guy I had just finished up protecting, actually. I was glad that job was over. It was easy enough to make sure he was okay, but there was something about Brian I just didn’t like. I wasn’t sure I believed him when he told me why these other guys were after him; there was just something about the story that didn’t add up.

But it wasn’t my job to ask questions. As long as guys like Brian paid up for services rendered, I and the rest of the Grim Riders motorcycle club would be there to do whatever it was they needed. Within reason...but our limits were pretty broad. Basically, there had to be a very good reason for us to fuck around where other MCs were involved, and if it came down to our safety versus the guy who was commissioning us, that was a problem.

I could tell Dad wasn’t particularly enjoying his conversation with Brian, either, and I felt a little smug about that. Dad hadn’t believed me when I’d complained about this job. He’d just reminded me that this was how I could afford the lifestyle I lived. And that was fair enough. I liked to live big. I could afford to, after all.

You’re welcome, Dad finally said, before hanging up the phone. He turned to Logan, one of the other guys in the club. Get the money from him tomorrow. He’s hiding something. I don’t like how evasive he was. And I want to make sure that we get paid the rest of what we agreed upon.

Logan nodded silently and left the room. I snorted. Logan was never the most eloquent of guys. He kind of kept to himself, even though as members of Grim Riders, we were all basically brothers. But he was a bit of an oddball with his two mismatched eyes and brooding demeanor. He honestly creeped me out a little; I could see why he made such a great collector for the club. Even guys like Brian who maybe weren’t planning on paying up couldn’t escape it.

When it was just me and Dad in the room, he stared at me, a serious look on his face. Dax, I need you to tell me the truth. Did something go wrong on this mission?

I gaped at him. I would have told you if something had, I snapped, wondering just what the hell Brian told him.

Dad held up a hand. I just want to make sure, he said. It just seemed like he wanted nothing to do with me on the phone, and that’s not the way our previous interactions went.

Well, maybe he realized he was just being paranoid, and that’s why he doesn’t want to pay up, I scoffed. I don’t know, Dad. Like I told you before, it was the most boring mission ever. Nothing happened.

You should be glad for a mission like that, Dad said, narrowing his eyes at me. Glad you made a little easy money. You’re always too quick to fight.

It’s not that. I just want to do a job that actually requires my being there, I protested. This was a waste of my time. But there’s something fishy going on with him, I think. I’m not surprised he’s giving you a hard time about the money.

Dad shook his head. Look, I don’t care why Brian wanted your protection or if he was just being paranoid. We had an agreement. And I get what’s mine.

There was nothing I could say in response to that. I decided to change the topic of conversation slightly. You know, if you’re looking to make more money for the club, maybe we should focus on bringing in a couple new members, I said slowly, watching his face to see how he would react. I had promised my brother, Kane, that I would talk to Dad about it, but honestly, I wasn’t going to risk my skin on this; Dad and I were on shaky enough terms as it was. I think the only reason he kept me around was because I did good work. He was just focused on money, to the exclusion of all else.

I’ve been looking for new members to bring in, Dad said shortly. I’m afraid it’s not that simple. It takes a certain kind of person to make it in a motorcycle club. They need to have ambition and focus, but they also need to be looking for that sense of brotherhood. Otherwise, you can never trust them to have your back. You need loyalty, or else they could bring down this entire organization.

I know that, I said. "But what about someone like Kane who’s blood? You won’t have to worry about his loyalty."

Dad snorted dismissively. With Kane, there’s plenty of other things I’d have to worry about, he said.

Such as? I knew I was playing with fire here, but I couldn’t help feeling angry on Kane’s behalf. I had talked to my brother, and he wanted this. He was ready. I believed him when he said that. But for some reason, Dad couldn’t seem to see it.

He’s young, Dad said.

I rolled my eyes. He’s twenty-two, I said. He’s far from the youngest guy we’ve ever brought in.

"I’m not talking about how old he is; he doesn’t have the maturity that we need in the club. He’s not responsible enough. You know that."

I groaned. Come on, you know he’d get a lot more responsible if you would give him a little responsibility, I argued. Put him on some of these stupid protection missions, give him something to do. If he fucks up, you don’t make him part of the club.

Dad narrowed his eyes at me. You know that’s not the way that it works, he said. "If he fucks up, we lose business. We lose our reputation."

I opened my mouth to argue, but suddenly my phone started vibrating in my pocket. I pulled it out, glancing at the name on the screen. Kane, of course. Probably wanting to know how my meeting with Dad had gone and if he was officially going to get to prove himself in the club. I declined the call and turned my attention back to Dad. I would call Kane later.

Maybe he was a little young sometimes. Or at least, impatient.

My phone started buzzing again almost the second I declined the call. Go ahead and answer it if it’s important, Dad said, and I wondered if he knew it was Kane on the other end of the line. He probably wanted to hear how that conversation went so that he could chew me out for the way I interacted with my brother. He’d tell me that I was babying Kane or something. That I was too soft for him.

But it wasn’t like I could decline the call again, not with Dad urging me to pick it up. And especially not when Kane showed no signs of stopping.

Hey, man, what’s up? I said, trying to be as neutral as possible.

I need your help, Kane said immediately, and I really hoped the volume of my phone was low enough that Dad couldn’t hear him. Couldn’t hear the worry in Kane’s voice.

What’s up? I repeated, glancing toward Dad and then looking quickly away. But he showed no interest in the conversation; he was looking at some paperwork on his desk like it was the most important thing in the world. Probably going over the earnings reports or something like that. A map of Grim Riders territory. He was always planning for the future, trying to make us bigger and better than before. He never wanted to focus on the present. Resting on our laurels, he had once called it.

Look, I’m behind the pharmacy in town. Just get here, Kane said before hanging up on me.

I frowned, but I tried to stay calm. I didn’t want Dad to clue in to the fact that something was wrong. Meanwhile, in my head, I was going over all the things that Kane could possibly have done. And right when I’d been trying to convince Dad he was responsible enough to be part of the Grim Riders too. 

Dad looked expectantly over at me, probably expecting me to continue arguing on Kane’s behalf, but instead, I stood up. There’s something I need to go check on, I told him.

Was it just me, or did Dad’s lips quirk into almost a wry smile? Did he know something? But if he suspected anything, he at least didn’t question it, and I was able to make my escape.

God, what the hell had Kane gotten into this time? Behind the pharmacy, he’d said. Something to do with drugs? That wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world; I was all for having a little fun sometimes. But what I didn’t like was that worried note to Kane’s voice, and the fact he needed me to bail him out. Again. As always.

I’d pled his case with Dad thinking that things had changed, that Kane had grown up a little, but it seemed like he was still the same kid he’d always been, calling in his big brother to help him out of a jam. Hopefully, this was the sort of jam that a little money could fix. But if it took a few punches too, well, I wasn’t complaining.

I walked around the back of the pharmacy and froze, seeing Kane standing over a man covered with blood. Seemed like someone had already done the punching. I spent a moment feeling impressed for Kane. He was quite a bit shorter than I was, although that was pretty true of most guys since I was six foot six. But Kane was definitely a much scrappier fighter than I was. I just forgot about that sometimes since I pretty much always won when he and I went at it.

I walked closer, looking down at the guy. He wasn’t breathing anymore, and he never would again. Jesus, Kane, get a little pissed about something? I asked. Definitely wasn’t ruling out drugs.

He tried to rob me! Kane told me.

So you killed him. Fair enough, I said, barely able to hide my smirk.

Dax, it’s not funny, Kane said, and there was that worried note in his voice again.

I shrugged. I’ll make the body disappear, I told Kane. You don’t have to worry about it.

In answer, Kane used his boot to nudge the guy’s lifeless arm. It dropped over to the side, giving me a clear look at the underside of his forearm. I sucked in a sharp breath through my teeth. I knew that tattoo.

Fuck, I muttered, unable to keep the expletive back.

Yeah, fuck is right, Kane said. That’s why I called you.

The tattoo was the one the Savages, our rival MC, gave to all of its members when they got through all the initiation rites. Kane hadn’t just killed a guy—he had killed one of them. This was going to be a problem.

What kind of problem, I didn’t even know for sure. They might just come after Kane. Just. I couldn’t let anything happen to my baby brother, even if he kind of deserved it for this one. This was a pretty massive fuckup.

Would they limit their attention to Kane, though? Probably not. They were more likely to come after our whole club. They didn’t know that Kane wasn’t a member of the Grim Riders, and they probably wouldn’t care either way. He was Otis’s son, and that meant this was a direct reflection on the club. They didn’t know that Dad hadn’t told Kane to come kill this guy.

This was basically an act of war as far as the Savages were concerned.

But I could tell that Kane was one step away from wigging out, and I knew I needed to be there to keep him calm. We’d deal with the fallout later. For now, I needed to make sure he was safe. I’ll deal with the body, I told him seriously, already making a plan in my head. "You need to get out of here. Go home. And stay there."

Kane nodded, his eyes wide. He looked like he wanted to say something, maybe to tell me he hadn’t meant to do this or maybe to thank me for yet again being there to clean up his messes, but I turned slightly away from him, toward the body, not wanting to hear any of that right now. I knew he hadn’t meant to fuck up like this, but Jesus. Did the kid have a brain at all?

Kane got the idea and practically fled. But there was never a question of whether I would help him. As much as I didn’t want to get involved, he was blood, and you couldn’t turn your back on blood.

Chapter 2

Olivia

I WANDERED SLOWLY THROUGH the mall looking at the window displays and trying to pretend I was just like everyone else doing their shopping here. Like I might actually buy those red pumps in Walton’s or that sexy black top in Carnegie’s. But the truth was that I didn’t even have the money to pay for the lunch I was meant to be having with Becca. I’d finally managed to scrape together enough money to pay my rent for the shitty studio apartment I lived in, but it hadn’t left me with any wiggle room for anything else.

What would it be like to have one of these glamorous mall jobs? With a steady paycheck and discounts that I could actually use. Instead, I was rotting away cleaning people’s houses on an as-needed basis. I kept trying to get the agency to give me more work, but there was nothing they could do about it.

I paused by the fountain, my eyes scanning the crowd for Becca. I spotted her at the same time she spotted me, and I made a beeline for her.

There you are! she said. You’re late.

I shrugged. I was browsing, I told her. Window-shopping. Besides, you know I’m never on time.

Becca rolled her eyes. Don’t I just, she said.

It wasn’t that I didn’t want to be on time, but it always seemed that either something came up, or else I just got distracted.

What are you thinking? Becca asked, looking around the food court at her options.

I was thinking maybe you’d get a burger or something, and I could steal some of your fries, I said, trying to sound nonchalant like it didn’t bother me that I couldn’t spend five or ten