Chapter 1

CHAPTER ONE

brIDGER

Ring light. Check. Camera. Check. Smoking hot body that drives women wild. Check. Mask to hide my face. Also check. I’m all set.

I hit play on my Spotify playlist and start dancing in the privacy of one of the holding rooms in the clubhouse’s basement. No one is ever down here this early in the morning.

I make money on the side, posting what people call thirst traps on TikTok. The booktok girlies go feral for my content. A masked outlaw biker giving them a show and glimpses of the life while keeping my identity a secret is their dream come true. I fell into it by accident. At first, I was just doing some videos of me riding. Doing burnouts. Zoomed out shots of some of our parties. Then the book babes stumbled onto my account and began making requests. I grew a massive following and the money I earn is my ticket to buying my own place. No chick wants a man who can’t provide.

I lost everything in my divorce and am having to rebuild from scratch. Rushing into marriage was one of the dumbest things I’ve ever done. Young, dumb, and full of cum. I thought I had life all figured out. Was fucking clueless.

Popping out of doing a handstand, gaining my feet, I thrust my hips at the camera, giving them a show, flexing my muscles.

“What the fuck are you doing?” a deep gravelly voice growls and I nearly trip over my own damn feet as I yank the ski mask off my face.

Glancing over my shoulder, I find Prez snarling at me, looking ready to spit nails and drive them through my eyes.

“Making content for my TikTok.”

“Is that some sort of pet name for your Ol’ Lady?”

I chuckle. “Nope.”

“Who the fuck is TikTok?”

“It’s social media.”

“I don’t want to hear about it. Just turn that shit off and don’t do it again. I need fucking bleach for my eyeballs. Make yourself useful and go clean something. And no filming on club property. Dumb fuck,” he mutters the last part to himself as he stomps off.

“Yo, Bridger. Prez wants you in his office,” Nav tells me.

Shit. This could go either way. You never can never tell what kind of mood you’re going to catch Murder in. The man can be your best friend or worst fucking nightmare.

I abandon my duty of sweeping the floors and head down the hallway to his office, passing by the portrait of his deceased daughter that hangs on the wall outside of his door. A reminder that life is short and can change in an instant.

“Was fucking humping the air. That boy ain’t right. Said it was for Tik something or another. Hell if I know. Gonna need you to swing by after you drop the twins off at school to make me forget seeing that. Wear them shoes I like. You know the ones.”

The tips of my ears burn and turn red, overhearing Prez on the phone with Alexa. I’ve got no doubt she’s already found my account and shared it with Pam. Fucking fuck. The guys will never let me live this shit down if they find out about my side venture.

“You wanted to see me.” I tap my knuckles across the open door, pretending I wasn’t listening.

“I gotta go. See you in a bit.” He ends his call. “Come on in and shut the door,” he grumbles, seated behind his desk. “Take a seat, Magic Mike.” His lips tip into an amused grin.

Fucker.

I drop onto one of the empty chairs facing the intimidating man that has a reputation for being a real hardass with good reason. You don’t get to be the president of a ruthless band of outlaws known as Royal Bastards for as long as he has, without being afraid to make tough choices. Without having killed a man or two, maybe more.

He’s damn sure earned the respect he’s given.

“What’s up?”

“Got a couple of questions for you.”

“Yeah, sure. Whatever.” I meet his hardened stare. He’s all business. I don’t think this is about my video.

“What the fuck kind of name is Bridger?”

I chuckle. “You’d have to take that up with my ancestors.”

“Fair enough. How’s life treating you?”

“All right.”

“Heard about you and Samantha.”

“We’ve been over for a while. Just took me some time to come to terms with everything.”

“Raw deal. Lots of men would have gone off the deep end. Their Ol’ Lady fucking around. Having another man’s kid. Gotta cut deep.”

“When I found out…” I shake my head. “Can you guess what the first thing I felt was?”

“Enlighten me.”

“Relief.”

His shocked gaze meets mine. “Didn’t want the kid or what?”

“Her. We weren’t the right fit. Dreaded going home, knowing it was to her. She didn’t care for me being in the club. Nagged me about it. Thought eventually she’d move past that shit. Want to be part of things here. But whenever I tried, she’d refuse. Give me some bullshit that it wouldn’t look good for her job to be associated with one percenters.”

My ex is a schoolteacher. Said her coworkers gave her shit.

Prez snorts. “Fuck her. You’re better off.”

“No doubt.”

“Got a job for you. There’s no one else I trust to send.”

I try to stop the grin spreading across my face from making me appear too eager, but this is my chance to prove that I’m all in for the club. “Whatever you need.”

“Glad to hear it. Slick’s youngest niece is going on a trip. Down to North Carolina. Writer’s retreat or some shit. Staying at some cabin.”

“Okay, what’s that have to do with me?”

“Need you to look after her?”

“You want me to babysit some bitch while she types?”

“She’s not some bitch. She’s family and we protect family.”

“She got a jealous ex or something?”

“Jennie has a stalker. Crazed fan. Real weird fucker has been sending her unhinged emails. Dead flowers.”

“Did she report it?”

“Cops won’t do anything unless they show up at her door or hurt her. Your job is to prevent that from happening.”

“Any idea who it is? Or who I should look for?”

“Not a damn clue. We got you set up in the cabin next to hers.”

“And she’ll be aware of who I am?”

Prez grins. “Nope. Keep it that way.”

“Right,” I mutter.

“Enjoy your trip.” He hands me an envelope stuffed with cash, a file on the niece, and the address of the cabins.

Prez didn’t mention that Slick’s niece is a smoke show. I let out a whistle as I stare at her picture. Dark hair, gorgeous brown eyes. If spending my time watching over this beauty is the perk of the job, then I don’t mind babysitting duty one bit. And hell, a trip out of town, all expenses paid to a cabin in the woods, isn’t too damn shabby. Perfect way to spend a week in the mountains.

I look up her social media accounts. She follows me. Has pretty much liked and shared most of my content.

This job just got a hell of a lot more interesting.