Hearts of Iron Read online

  The sheriff shook, fear behind his eyes, without answering. He’d felt a little pain in Lance’s absence. Lance, in reply, flicked a knife open and traced the tip along the sheriff’s jawline and down his throat. “I said, you hear me?”

  This had the desired effect: the sheriff nodded frantically and mumbled, “Yeah, yeah.”

  “Here’s what’s gonna happen. You leave town, make your excuses to your bosses. Say there wasn’t enough money to be made in Miller, say the people here are too poor. Say what you like. But you leave Miller and you stay gone and you make it sound as unappealing a prospect to anyone else who thinks they can come here and mess up the state of play. You come back, alone or with more lawmen for… revenge, or anything like that, and we’ll get more of our boys to track down your families and close every one of you fuckers down.” He kicked the sheriff’s leg hard to make his point. “Got it?”

  The sheriff coughed out in pain. “Ah!”

  When gibberish passed through his gag, Lance removed it and said quietly, calmly, “You wanna talk to us now, huh? Then talk.”

  The sheriff looked at all the guys standing ready to beat him to a pulp if he didn’t do as they said. “We’re good with those terms. Nothing interesting around here anyhow, like you said. And we’re not into your kind of trouble if there’s no money to be made. That right, men?” He asked his deputies, who were even more terrified, their faces drained of all color.

  “Y-yeah,” they said, nodding and mumbling with wide eyes.

  “Good,” declared Lance, replacing his knife into his vest pocket. “You’re not as thick as you look.”

  Josh grinned, loving the control they had over a sheriff and three deputies.

  “Load them up in the truck and drive them out of state somewhere,” he told Josh. “Leave them at the nearest motel, but keep their guns and choose two of the best cars to sell to cover two people’s medical bills.” He kicked the sheriff’s leg hard again. “I offered yours to Dan, the guy who got his nose broke.”

  “No way,” said one stupid deputy, without thinking it through.

  Lance swung around and smashed him in the stomach with his fist so hard he fell to the floor gasping, still tied the chair. “You complaining?”

  Sheriff looked down at his deputy and said, “Fucking deserved that, you dick.” Then he turned to Lance and said, “Take his car, he’s a jerk.”

  Lance didn’t like how he turned his back on his own. “I’ll be taking yours, Sheriff, like I said. It’s not my style, but I figure I could get a few thou’ for it. Stab another man in the back in front of me and I’ll take your wife, too.”

  His deputy smiled, or tried to, while he gasped for air. The sheriff remained tight-lipped, staring at him.

  Josh hoisted the deputy off the floor and Craig and the others started to drag the chairs to the truck. They would be easier to transport tied up that way. “I’m gonna like selling your cars,” Josh laughed. “Your hardware’s cute too. Maybe my girlfriend could use it.”

  The sheriff grimaced at Lance, but knew not to complain.

  After they all left camp, Lance called Katie. “On my way.”

  “What happened?” she asked. “Are you okay?”

  “Let’s just say it all worked out in the end and leave it like that.”

  “What did you say?”

  “Everything’s fine, I’ll…”

  “No, you said ‘it all worked out in the end’.”

  “Yeah, that’s what I’m—”

  “I know what you’re saying. It’s just, well. That’s my motto… and it was my father’s.”

  “Really?” Lance smiled. He wouldn’t call it his motto, but he decided it was true. It really had worked out in the end. “Anyway, quit talking. I wanna get on the road.”

  Katie sniffed. “You sure you’re okay?”

  “I’m more than okay.” And he was; he loved the idea of Lance and Katie, maybe with a few kids. “Can’t wait to celebrate with you, that’s all.”

  “Me too. Thanks so much, Lance. You saved the town from my stupid mistake.”

  “You couldn’t know they’d be corrupt as hell.”

  “No, but you did. So thanks.”

  He wanted to wrap his arms around her, make love to her, tell her how important she was to him. “You just saved me, period.”

  There was a moment of silence where he thought he might have gone too far, said too much. But then she said in the softest voice, “God I need you, Lance. Like I never needed anyone.”

  His heart hammered in his chest and he ran to his bike. “Gimme five.”

  “Be quick, but drive safely. If that’s at all possible.”

  “No chance,” he said before ending the call, aware of the huge smile spreading across his face. He had hope for the first time in a long time that his future was one he wanted to run toward, not from.

  He climbed onto his bike and drove as fast as he could though the night, imagining the wind in his hair was actually Katie’s fingers. He couldn’t wait to hold her close, to climb into her bed, to climb inside of her body and stay right there for as long as she allowed him. He didn’t know if bikers dated doctors or, if they did, how things worked out, but he did know he’d be racing home to her every night from then on.

  Enjoyed Hearts of Iron? You may be interested in other works by Laura Day

  Available in the Kindle Store!

  ***

  Derek Martinez isn’t looking for glory.

  He’s never been one to lead the pack, and he hates responsibility; he just wants to lose himself in the roar of engines as he follows his brothers in the Black Brothers Motorcycle Club. Even the women in his life want more than he’s willing to give, so he takes them as they come and leaves them in the morning.

  Danni Stewart has had more than enough bad-boy in her past.

  After falling for a biker, and ending up alone with a broken heart and a baby, she’s sworn them off entirely. Raising her son on her own, she just wants to work and give her son the best life she can, even if she has to go it alone forever.

  They couldn’t be more wrong for each other.

  When they meet at the diner where Danni works, neither can deny the chemistry between them. Even though she wants him more than anything else in the world, Danni's past experience tells her that he’s dangerous. As she gives him her body, she keeps her heart locked away.

  Derek can’t ignore the way Danni makes him feel, and for the first time considers the tantalizing possibility of something much more. They just might be what each other needs, but first they need to let themselves want it.

  ***

  They say that truth is stranger than fiction. But for Laura Turner it's also just as deadly...

  Landing the lead female role in the latest blockbuster action film was a dream come true for the struggling actress and there wasn't anything she wouldn't do to keep it. But when the director insists on the input of a real-life Motorcycle Gang member for authenticity's sake she starts to wonder if maybe she has made a mistake.

  Roman is gorgeous, mysterious, and thoroughly distracting. Swaggering around on set in his leather's and impressing cast and crew alike, Laura can't help but fall for his brooding charms, too.

  But when their professional relationship starts to take a seductively delicious turn things start to heat up and not in the way Laura would like.

  Someone out there has a problem with Roman revealing gang secrets. And because of her new-found status as Roman's old lady, that means someone out there has a problem with Laura, too.

  ***

  John Malcolm really missed his old life.

  He’d never considered staying in the military past when he was due to be discharged, but now that he had walked away and was trying to rebuild his life, he was wishing he was back in uniform. No one wanted to hire vets, and his skills were somewhat specific. Deciding to take things into his own hands, he opens a Private Investigation business and prays that this will be the answer.

  Becca Mc
Dermott just wants her crazy life to calm down.

  As a McDermott, she knows that crazy is in their genes, but she’s really getting fed up. After her sister enthusiastically decides to become a stripper (with her parents blessing,) and her mother comes out as a closet bi-sexual who is ready to “explore a little,” Becca doesn’t know how to also deal with her insane brother, who has seemingly gone AWOL from the navy after a trip to see her. She knows she needs to find him and talk him down, but she has no idea where to start.

  Becca’s so much more than John can handle.

  After searching on the internet for a PI, Becca pays John a visit and begs him to track down her brother. John wants to take the job, but there’s one problem--Becca is insisting on coming along for the ride. After she makes him an offer he can’t refuse, they set out to find her missing brother. But spending so much time together is starting to affect them both, and they can’t ignore the sexual tension growing between them.

  As their passion explodes and they try to find her brother, they might also find something no one expected.

  ***

  Book 1 of the Iron Raiders MC series

  She’s the only thing he’s ever wanted, and he’s the one thing she never saw coming.

  Things have never been black and white for Ellie Carmichael. Growing up surrounded by the men of the Iron Raiders, the motorcycle club that’s been the only family she’s ever known, she’s always believed in the clubs mission, even when they’re activities weren’t entirely legal. But, as the daughter of a prostitute in their stable, who got herself knocked up and then locked up, she grew up thinking of the men of the club as uncles, and then brothers, and the president who led them all as the father she never knew.

  Austin Parker tried not to take anything too seriously. After getting out of his crappy trailer park on the back of his alcoholic father’s bike, he spent two years travelling around the country before finding the Iron Raiders. Something about the club convinced him to stay, and he took full advantage of the bonuses of the lifestyle, including the rotating door of women in and out of his bed.

  Ellie and Austin have never gotten along. She can’t deny how attractive he is, but his couldn’t-care-less attitude when it comes to the club that raised her drives her crazy, as does his penchant for one-night-stands. But when a night of drinking leads to her waking up in his bed, she’s the one who can’t leave fast enough. Austin, for the first time in his life, can’t get her out of his head, and he decides to pursue her. Meanwhile, outside forces start to threaten the club, and it will take everyone to ensure the future of the Iron Raiders.

  As Austin begins to fight for the only things he’s ever wanted, it will take everything he’s got to prove his loyalty, to the club and to Ellie.

  ***

  Book 2 of the Iron Raiders MC series

  They’ll be put to the ultimate test to save their club, and a love like they’ve never known.

  Things are not going well for the Iron Raiders. Now that the Black Brothers have declared an open turf war, every man in the club has been put to work, fighting to reclaim their territory and remove the threat of a takeover. But for Austin Parker, things have never been better. True, the business with the club is nasty, but he’s finally convinced Ellie to give him a shot, and he’s determined not to screw it up.

  Ellie Carmichael has no idea what she was thinking by letting Austin into her life. But she sees a different side to him than she ever has before, and she hopes that he will prove her instinct right. In the meantime, she’s trying to support the club in any way they’ll let her, even as it gets her into trouble from time to time.

  As the Black Brothers get closer, things get more dangerous. As people get hurt, the stakes are raised, and Austin will be forced to risk it all to save the woman he can’t live without and the club that has started to feel like the only family he’s ever known. When everything is on the line, he’ll stop at nothing to protect the only people who’ve ever had his back, and the only woman he’s ever wanted a future with.

  It will take the fight of a lifetime to make that possible future a reality.

  ***

  Book 3 of the Iron Raiders MC series

  As they recover from the loss of their leader, Austin and Ellie will have to fight to save the love they can’t afford to lose.

  Everything has changed for the Iron Raiders. After the mission to save Ellie from the Black Brothers, which resulted in the death of their president and the only father Ellie had ever known, everyone is left in shock. With new leadership and a fight still on their hands, it will take every brother to save their club and get the vengeance they are determined to have.

  For Austin, almost losing Ellie was like a hard jab to the gut, and it’s made him realize that he’ll do anything to keep her. But Ellie isn’t so sure. She’s taking the loss of the man who raised her hard, and it’s made her doubt the love that Austin claims to have for her, pushing him away to avoid suffering any more pain.

  As Austin steps up to keep the club from falling apart, he will also have to fight to keep the woman who’s once again determined to hold him at arms’ length. But when the Raiders’ plan to destroy the Black Brothers once and for all runs into some problems, it just might be what Ellie needs to realize the depth of her emotion for Austin.

  She can only hope that it won’t be too late, for the sake of the club, and the man she’s fallen in love with.