Talon (Rise of the Pride, Book 1) Read Free

an adult, but she could honestly say
that it’d been the best.
    As the bar began to fill up, Liberty spent
time doing paperwork so that she could be on the floor when the
crowd really got going around eight o’clock. Her office was in the
back of the building, down the hallway from the bathrooms and a
small employee breakroom. She’d recently painted the walls a warm
green that reminded her of the woods behind her home. The old oak
desk that had belonged to her father was the main focal point in
the room. His picture still hung on the wall by the file cabinets
to her right. When she felt like she couldn’t succeed in the
business, all she had to do was look up at his smiling face and it
would remind her of the sacrifices he’d made to keep this place
running smoothly. She would touch his portrait and gain some unseen
strength. Sometimes, she felt like he was there watching over her
and Nova, ensuring she didn’t fail. He had loved this bar, and
Liberty would keep The Deuce running as long as she had air
in her lungs and love in her heart.
    The building itself was an old log home that
had been transformed into a bar. The clatter of booted feet walking
heavy across the hardwood floors was a sound that comforted her. So
was the glow from the neon lights in the windows that faced the two
lane highway that ran in front of the place.
    Leaving the office, she checked the
bathrooms, refilling the paper towel dispenser in the women’s room.
She knocked on the men’s room door and yelled, “Management! Is
there anyone in there?”
    “I got it, Liberty,” Cole announced as he
came around the corner. “Go on out front and cover the bar for me.
I’ll be right out.”
    “Ah, thanks, Cole.” She smiled, handing him a
rag and a bottle of cleaner. He nodded and ducked into the men’s
room without another word.
    The hallway by the bathrooms dead ended into
another short hallway. Turning left would take you into the kitchen
and turning right dumped you out into the bar area. She quickly
checked on Moe in the kitchen but didn’t say anything to the older
man. He was busy plating orders and setting them in the window for
the waitresses to deliver to the tables.
    Liberty gasped as she turned the corner and
almost plowed right into her sister. “Nova! Where’s the fire,
girl?”
    “Sorry,” Nova fidgeted, her face flushed.
“They’re here.”
    “Who’s here?” she questioned.
    “The cats,” Nova giggled, but zipped her lip
when Liberty scowled at her. “Sorry, Talon Shaw and his crew are
here and everyone is staring at them.”
    “Why is your face so red? Did anything
happen?” Liberty asked.
    “No,” Nova replied, then smiled. “Um, one of
them was flirting with me.”
    “Girl,” Liberty groaned. “Stay away from
those boys. In fact, stay away from all boys. They’re nothing but
trouble. Now, go wait your tables.”
    “Okay,” she answered, bouncing off to the
kitchen to grab her orders. At twenty-one, her sister was
strikingly beautiful and single. That was a bad combination.
    Liberty shook her head and made her way out
to the bar, glancing over at the booth in the back corner. Talon
and his brother, Noah, sat with four other men, all talking and
laughing amongst themselves.
    As if she’d called out, Talon’s head snapped
around, their eyes locking from across the room. His face was
momentarily cast in a shadow from the dim lights; that was until
his head tilted to the side curiously. Liberty was rooted to her
spot as Talon’s ice blue eyes darkened. A hint of yellow seeped
into them, and as quickly as she blinked, the color was gone and so
was the hold he had over her body. His brother nudged him, causing
the alpha to turn his head, but not before the corner of his lip
lifted into a naughty smirk.
    “Can you take these drinks over to our local
celebrities?” Luke asked, setting another round of beers on a
tray.
    “Sure,” she nodded, sliding the tray onto the
flat of her hand that was suddenly