Rebels (Nomad Devils Motorcycle Club Book 2) (9 page)

CHAPTER 1

For a man like Asher Hudson, waiting was not the norm. Not to say he had no patience. In his line of work, patience wasn’t just a virtue; it was a necessity. Rushing through anything could cost him or those he loved their life.

But sitting in a room and waiting to hear something wasn’t the way he handled things. He was a direct kind of guy. He would go to the source and find out whatever he wanted to know, when he could, which was not at this moment.

The woman he loves was in the hospital. She had been in an accident, using the term loosely, and he had heard it was bad.

The first thing Asher had done when Nelson had told him about Melissa was jump on his bike and head straight for the hospital. He needed make sure she was okay and then he’d kill the bastard that had hurt her. His gut told him that her accident was anything but.

Fortunately for him and everyone in the Nomad Devils, his right hand man Dakota had been directly behind him. The sound of Dakota’s voice as he was trying to get inside the hospital stopped him in his tracks. Not because he was surprised they followed him. Not because he felt guilty. But because that’s the way it worked. He was loyal to his brothers and that included when they were trying to stop him from doing something completely stupid.

Which is what he’d been doing.

Dakota reminded him that it was a danger to all of them if he set foot into Agent Fuller’s room. The two of them could not be linked. Especially not after the kidnapping.

In Asher’s mind it wasn’t much of a kidnapping. But the idea was the same. Any kind of link and they’d all be dead, Melissa included. 

Dakota had promised to return promptly with information about her but Asher hadn’t heard a word from him. Where the fuck was he at?

The idea of her being hurt, or worse, left him pacing back and forth. As he did, he remembered their times together. He thought about her smile. The look of desire that flooded her face when he touched her. The way her perfume lingered on his pillow. And the fact that she had gotten to him in a way that no one else had done.

This was one of those days when Asher didn’t much like himself. Mostly it was when he did something wrong. Today it was because he did something right with the totally wrong person. And now she was in danger, if she was even alive. A thought he didn’t want to entertain.

The sound of wheels on gravel stopped his pacing. He could only hope that Dakota had good news. Even as he watched the familiar Dyna Super Glide making its way down his driveway, he panicked and worried about what his confidant was going to say. Asher wanted to believe he was prepared for the worst. But he knew better. A part of him clung to the idea that Melissa would be okay in all of this. The other part was dead set on hate and revenge. 

He watched as Dakota got out of the vehicle and he tried desperately to read his facial expression. But much like the rest of the time, Dakota remained completely unreadable. Asher had been that way once. Strong. Loyal. Unable to be broken. Those days were long gone. Whoever had done this to Melissa Fuller had found his breaking point.

That’s why he was at the cottage and not his house. For many it seemed silly to have two separate places in the same town. For Hudson it was necessary. He had times when he needed to be there and not be seen by the guys who looked up to him. Times when he couldn’t be the strength that they needed to believe in.

This was one of those days.

He made his way to the door before Dakota ever reached it. Part of Asher wondered if it was taking his friend so long because the news he had for him was bad.

Dakota walked through the door, removed the light jacket he wore and headed straight for the bar. Asher watched as he poured himself a glass of whiskey and walked back to the sofa.

Everything inside of Asher wanted to shout. He wanted to find out why nothing was being said. He’d waited for what seemed like days to hear how she was doing and his friend sat across from him, silently sipping on his expensive liquor.

The only thing stopping him was fear. He didn’t want to hear anything bad and he feared that bad was all he had. So he quietly sat back in the recliner and looked at Dakota, waiting to hear what he had to say.

“Asher…” Dakota broke the silence and Hudson felt his heart drop. It wasn’t going to be good and he knew it. “I don’t know.”

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