ROUGH RIDER Read Free

that.
    Because what happened next hurled us into each other’s lives with the force of a rocket exploding into space.
    It was earth-shatteringly loud.
    It was violently messy.
    It was monumentally life-changing.
    And I wouldn’t have had it any other way.

2
    Dante
    “ L ooks like you two are lost,” the deep voice boomed behind us. The girl and I turned at the same time.
    “Just having a drink, that’s all,” I replied, sizing up the guy. He was big, no doubt… But I was bigger. Fear was an emotion that I didn’t waste time on, so I wasn’t about to back down to him.
    “Otto’s belongs to us,” he growled, running his hand over his greying beard.
    “I don’t see that posted anywhere,” I replied. “It’s a public place.”
    “Don’t matter. You ain’t one of us,” he sneered, turning and lewdly leering at the girl at my side. I didn’t know her name yet, but I wasn’t about to let this asshole look at her like that. I took a step to my right, gently pushing her behind me.
    “Look, brother. We’re just having a drink. Not looking for any trouble.”
    Two of his buddies saddled up next to him as I remained calm, lifting up a glass and polishing off my beer.
    “We aren’t familiar with your club,” his buddy said, nodding at the Outlaw Kings MC patch on my cut.
    “We aren’t one percenters,” I replied.
    “Yeah, well we are,” he crossed his hands over his chest. He was doing his best to intimidate me but that was fucking impossible. He just didn’t know it yet.
    “Look, the lady is going to finish her drink and we’ll be on our way,” I said, turning back to the bar. I didn’t want to put my back to them, but it was the only way to move things along. I wasn’t in the mood for a fight. I was never in the mood for a fight. In fact, fighting was at the very last of my list of preferred resources. Again, not because of fear, but because hurting people never really turned me on. If this was going to turn into a fight, then I’d rather hurry up and get it over with.
    A yelp sounded beside me and I turned to see the girl with her eyes wide and her mouth open in shock.
    “You pinched my ass, you fuckin’ cazzo!” she yelled, charging at the biggest guy and slapping him right across the face. Hard.
    His buddies erupted in laughter and the big guy’s face flushed red with anger. He grabbed her arm, pulling her close to him and then slapped her back.
    She fell to the ground at my feet, her cheek flushing red as she stared up at us in shock.
    He hadn’t hit her hard, but the fucker hit her and if there’s anything in the whole fucking world I can’t stand it’s an asshole that puts his hands on a woman. There’s no excuse in the whole fucking world for that, as far as I’m concerned.
    “I really wish you hadn’t done that,” I said, facing off with him. He snickered.
    “What the fuck are you going to do about it, asshole?” he sneered. “Take us all on?”
    “Not for nuttin’, but you’re a real fuckin’ scumbag, you know that?” Every time it was time to fight, my past came rushing back, as well as my New York accent. You don’t grow up in Queens without fighting, and the feel of the adrenaline pumping through my veins always reminded me of my old days runnin’ the streets.
    I didn’t wait for an answer. My fist made contact with his jaw before he could reply. He went down hard and his buddies were on me quick. I ducked, taking the first one out with a vicious right hook, then unloaded on his friend before turning to see how many more I was dealing with.
    There were at least another dozen bikers in the club and they were all focused directly on me. I grabbed a bar stool, knocking three more of them out of the way before grabbing the girl off the floor and pushing her behind me.
    “Stay behind me!” I barked, as I began moving towards the door. I needed to keep her close and try to make it to the exit as I fought my way through these guys, but now that she was on her feet,