West Read online

  Contents

  TITLE

  RIGHTS

  - PROLOGUE

  - ONE

  - TWO

  - THREE

  - FOUR

  - FIVE

  - SIX

  - SEVEN

  - EIGHT

  - NINE

  - TEN

  - ELEVEN

  - TWELVE

  - THIRTEEN

  - FOURTEEN

  - EPILOGUE

  - DON'T FORGET!

  - ALSO BY JESSICA GADZIALA

  - ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  - STALK HER!

  WEST

  A Henchmen MC Novel

  __

  Jessica Gadziala

  Copyright © 2020 Jessica Gadziala

  All rights reserved. In accordance with the U.S Copyright Act of 1976, the scanning, uploading, and electronic sharing of any part of this book without permission of the publisher is unlawful piracy and theft of the author's intellectual property. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the author except for brief quotations used in a book review.

  "This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places and incidents are products of the writer's imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales or organizations is entirely coincidental."

  Cover image credit: Shutterstock .com/FXQuadro

  PROLOGUE

  Reign

  Why him?

  That was the question I got from every-fucking-body when I brought up the idea.

  Of sending West.

  Ever since I'd started tossing the idea back and forth with the senior brothers in the club, we had been trying to decide who would be best to send down to Florida to meet the men, get to know them, and decide if there was even a remote possibility of turning that crew into Henchmen.

  If whoever we sent thought this new crew would work, then we would discuss the whole prospecting process and shit at another time.

  This was simply a mission to gather information.

  I'd been down there myself before taking off with Summer on a vacation she desperately needed.

  I'd met with Huck. We'd talked about the area, the competition, how willing he was to deal with said competition when—not if, when—it came to that point.

  I felt comfortable with him.

  Rough around the edges, blunt, with a low tolerance for bullshit. He was someone I would have easily let into the club had he decided to prospect in Navesink Bank.

  That said, I wasn't really looking to expand Navesink Bank at the moment. Mostly because I had a bunch of fucking kids itching to get their chance to prove themselves. I figured I would have to let them do it at some point or another. Even if a part of me—the part that was a father, not just a club president—wasn't thrilled about the idea of my kids (or the kids of all the other brothers or friends) living the kind of life I had lived.

  The violence.

  The stress.

  The uncertainty.

  They could have better than that. I afforded my kids—and the kids of all my men—the chance to do something else with their lives should they want to.

  That said, the part of me that had been a headstrong, reckless fucking young adult myself, understood the desire to get in on something like the club, to be a part of a brotherhood, to get a taste of danger.

  I couldn't make myself deny them the chance.

  As much as Summer—and the other old ladies—would like me to deny them.

  So Navesink Bank, for the moment, was set.

  But I'd been kicking around the idea of branching out for a long time. Since before Ferryn ran away even. But then life had taken a different turn, and my focus had been put somewhere else.

  But she was back.

  Things were as calm as they had ever been in Navesink Bank.

  I met someone who I believed was capable.

  So it was time to give it a try.

  Build a real empire.

  Something to leave to my stubborn-ass kids.

  A legacy.

  Like the one my father had left to Cash and me.

  But even bigger.

  More stable.

  Something to be proud of.

  Something they could leave to their kids.

  My father's club had never been stable enough to expand.

  Mine was.

  It was time.

  And I was sending West.

  No one—not even Summer who was kind to damn near everyone—could understand the decision.

  West was, after all, a complete and utter pain in the ass. He was like having a fucking fourth kid at times. Always getting into shit. Always needing to be reminded where the line was, and that he needed to stay on the right fucking side of it.

  Not a week went by where someone wasn't bitching about something he said or did.

  The thing was, that was exactly why I thought he was the man for the job.

  "Hear me out," I said to Cash and Wolf who were cradling steaming mugs of coffee between their hands in my kitchen on a Sunday morning, still trying to stage a last-minute intervention to my already-in-motion plans.

  "It makes the most sense if you give it five minute's thought."

  "Given it more than that," Wolf mumbled.

  "Yeah," Cash agreed. "Still can't see it being a good idea. The fucking kid doesn't have a serious bone in his body.

  That was actually not true.

  West had a very serious side.

  It generally came out with his anger, but it was there.

  "Look," I said, raking a hand down my face, looking for the patience I found myself short on. It wasn't that I resented their input. Cash and Wolf—and many of the others—had always been a sounding board for me when there were issues in the club. Sometimes, when you were too wrapped up in shit personally, it was hard to see it objectively. Having brothers you could count on for solid advice was important to the running of any successful empire.

  That said, we'd been having this fucking talk for weeks. Meaning they threw other names at me while I shot them all down. Because I knew I was right about this decision.

  "Huck is the oldest of his men," I reminded them. And by 'oldest,' I just meant the man was thirty-two. Still young, technically. But the rest of his men were in their mid-to-later twenties. "He's single. No kids. No sign on the horizon he'll settle down. Sound like someone you know? He'd relate better to them."

  "We can all hit a bar still," Cash insisted.

  "Yeah," I agreed. "But chase skirts? Fuck clubwhores?" I asked, brow raising, watching their gazes slide away. Because if there was one thing I knew about my men, aside from their loyalty to me, it was their loyalty to their women. Our clubwhore days, if we had them at all, were long behind us.

  "Then maybe send—" Cash started, trailing off because he was finally coming to the same conclusion as I had a while back.

  There simply wasn't another good, viable option.

  Vance would have been. Back before he settled down with my daughter.

  Colson was never an option because he was a single dad, and there was no one to leave Jelly with.

  Everyone else was married with kids. Aside from the new guys not being able to relate to them, I had to consider that those men would have their wife and kids on their heads, making them lose some of their focus on the job.

  They were better here at home.

  West had to go.

  He would hit the clubs, chase the women, etch some new notches into his headboard. And while he drank and fucked around, he would gain the trust of the new guys. They would open up to him. They would show their true selves, not just their front that I knew they would s
how to someone like me. Or Cash. Or Wolf.

  "I know he's a bit of a pain in the ass," I allowed, shrugging. "But I think the same could be said for all of us when we were his age. He's a loyal brother, which is the most important thing right now. He's been in the club long enough to know how things work here. So what if he goes and fucks around? Pulls pranks on the guys? All we need is to know if he thinks Huck's men will be club material, that they will be loyal, that they aren't complete pieces of shit. That is all we need from him. Some intel. As much of a fuckup as he might be, I think we can trust him with that."

  "So he's not going to set up the club?"

  "Not by himself," I said. "He might stay down there. But I would be going down at some point. One or both of you would be doing a drop-in. But all that official shit, that would be on me, on us. He's just letting us know if it is even an option. That's all. He's not stupid. He can give us that much."

  Neither of them looked pleased, but they gave me tight nods as they finally got on-board with the idea.

  Which was good.

  Because West was supposed to leave in two days.

  Collectively, I thought some of the women were breathing a sigh of relief that they wouldn't have to inspect their food before they ate it. But I had a feeling the club was going to miss something without him around to lighten the mood, to keep everyone on their toes.

  They wouldn't know it until he was gone.

  Then they would all wonder when he would be coming back.

  "How often is he checking in with you?" Cash asked, on-board, but still wanting to make sure all the kinks were ironed out. Even though I had always been the one to deal with the details, and he typically enjoyed shirking responsibilities.

  Time had matured him a bit.

  I guess it had done that to all of us.

  Opening a new chapter was just the challenge I thought we all needed. Something to be excited about. A new mission since things had calmed down so much in town.

  "Every morning. Every night, if he learned anything important. I don't want him getting fucking trashed and forgetting shit. From there, Renny can piece all the shit together to get an feel for each of the guys."

  To that, my brother gave me a nod, his gaze sliding off into the backyard. "Strange."

  "What is?"

  "Starting new. I'd swear to fuck we just took over this club like five years ago or some shit. Now we're the 'old guys.'"

  "You're just still fucking butt-hurt that the kids told you to cut your hair," I shot back, smirking.

  "Thank God it was one of the girls, or I'd have to crack some heads."

  "And gotten your ass handed to you," I told him, watching as he sighed.

  I wondered if our father had felt this way. When we were aging up. When we were getting bigger, smarter. When we had recklessness to go with all that bravado, giving us an edge over the older guys.

  It must have been a hard pill to swallow.

  Some days, I still felt like I was choking on it.

  We were older and wiser, sure. But they were younger and hungrier.

  It didn't take much to know that, should they ever need to prove themselves, they would.

  And we'd be eating fucking humble pie. And nursing our bruised egos along with our aching joints.

  It was strange to see your son become a man. A man you knew would one day replace you, take over for you.

  There was discomfort and confusion and uncertainty and, underneath it all, pride.

  To have raised good kids who were becoming good men.

  That was something to be proud of.

  Even if it chafed, knowing they would replace you.

  "He ridin' down?" Wolf asked, pulling me out of my wandering thoughts.

  "Yeah," I agreed, sharing a smile with my brother.

  I wasn't so big a man that I didn't get some joy in the idea of him taking on a twenty-something-hour ride on a fucking bike. He'd be sore for a week.

  "This is going to be interesting," Cash decided, getting up for a refill, clamping a hand on my shoulder for a second when he moved past.

  West.

  As our representative.

  In a strange state

  With strange men.

  Women.

  Booze.

  Guns.

  Yeah, I felt safe agreeing that this would be really fucking interesting...

  ONE

  West

  "I know, I know. Hearts are shattering," I said as I walked out of my room. For the last time for a good, long while.

  I wasn't given a whole lot of information about how long I would be down in Florida, but it was going to be at least a couple of weeks.

  A little fun in the sun and all of that.

  I was overdue for a vacation.

  Prior to landing in Navesink Bank, I had never stayed in one place for more than a few months at a time. I was always too restless. My job—if you could call it a job—allowed me to keep moving around, to never get too comfortable.

  I hadn't needed to put down roots because I had a place to go home to when I needed to. Or, more accurately, when my mom or my sisters ragged on me about not visiting for a while.

  I never thought I needed more than that.

  Eventually, though, jobs became harder to find when you never fostered any connections with any particular organization.

  It was time to grow up a little, find a place to settle down.

  I figured Navesink Bank was the best spot seeing as it was never dull. Not with all those players in town.

  As much as I did end up liking it, I had to admit I was excited to get away for a bit.

  Meet some new people.

  See some new sights.

  Well, not new.

  I'd done work in Florida more times than I could count. Let's just say that coastal areas meant a lot of crime. A lot of crime meant people needed people to knock heads together. It was something I specialized in. Before I mostly retired from it, that is.

  But I would be seeing parts of it, I was sure, that had changed since the last time I was there. And through the eyes of this new group of guys.

  I had to admit, that was what I was looking forward to most. People to go out with again.

  For a while there, I'd had Vance. But once Ferryn came back, his interest in going out on the town was next to nonexistent.

  From what I heard from Daddy Reign, none of these new guys were settled down. Which meant lots of nights out on the town. Tons of debauchery to be enjoyed.

  I was looking forward to it.

  The drive down the coast? Not so much. Especially since I was under strict orders to follow the speed limit and obey all road signs, which meant I wouldn't be able to shave off a little time.

  Since there was a small arsenal shoved under my seat, I guess I understood the order.

  "Yeah, I'm really sad that I won't have to taste test my food before digging in," Maze said as she moved into the kitchen.

  Maze gave as good as she got. Which meant she enjoyed the back and forth too.

  That was a nice thing about the Navesink Bank community, I had to admit. The girls. The back and forth. The soft in a hard place. It reminded me of growing up, of my sisters.

  There would be none of that down in Florida, but anytime I needed some of the soft and sweet, I could head back for a weekend.

  "You're gonna miss me, right, pretty girl?" I asked, turning to Rey who was sitting at the bar, lining up pine nuts for her cockatoo to eat. But Charlie's attention was currently directed at chewing the shit out of the molding. It was a favorite pass-time of his. And, luckily, I would be out of town, so I wouldn't be strapped with fixing the damage this time.

  "Well, I know Susie will," she said, turning to face me, letting me see the snake hanging around her neck.

  "Oh, for fuck's sake. Put that thing away," I hissed, cringing.

  "You know," she said, giving me a teasing smile, "Florida is chock-full of snakes. On the ground. In the trees..."

  "Stop."
br />   "They're really nothing to be afraid of."

  "I'm not afraid of them." I was totally afraid of them, but that was a long story. And I was never going to own up to a weakness. Not with all these women around who had sworn payback on me. "I just think they should all be sent back to hell where they belong."

  "Oh, come on. Susie is the cutest thing," she insisted, reaching up to remove the mostly white snake, letting it wrap around her hand.

  "Sweetheart, if you think that is cute, something is fucking wrong with you. They detach their jaws and swallow things whole."

  "I don't see her judging you for eating an entire bag of Flaming Hot Cheetos last night," she said, brow raising.

  "Because I'm sexy as fuck when I do it," I told her, lips curving up as her eyes danced.

  "Even covered in Cheeto dust?" she asked, shaking her head.

  "You're goddamn right, even covered in Cheeto dust," I agreed, chucking her under the chin as I made my way toward the door. "And don't go turning my room into a tortoise sanctuary or something while I'm gone."

  "No promises," she called back as I moved outside.

  "Christ, Sweeney Todd, make some noise or something," I grumbled as Ferryn appeared out of nowhere, Chris coming up at her six. "You know nothing good is going on when the two of you are together. Is someone being castrated today?"

  "Depends, are you going to be an asshole?" Chris asked, pale brows raising.

  "Probably," I told her, watching as her lips twitched ever so slightly.

  Chris wasn't always the easiest to get on with, but I think she and I had managed to build a little bit of a connection. She took everything too seriously. I never took anything seriously. It was a union of opposites sort of thing.

  "I can't believe my father is sending you to represent the club," Ferryn said, shaking her head.

  "From a leadership standpoint, it makes sense," Chris informed her. "He's young and stupid enough to fit in with other young and stupid men."

  I knew Chris well enough to know she didn't meant to be offensive when she called me stupid. She meant careless, reckless, prone to taking too many chances, not thinking things through properly. To someone as meticulous and analytical as Chris, that made me stupid. And it was a fair assessment.