Born to Ride_A Clubhouse Collection

chapter 1

MEADOW

You are my undoing.

Blood trickles down my fingers as I lift my shaky hand to my face, staring at it. So much blood. So red. So sticky. I lower my eyes to where my father slumps against the seat, panting, gasping for air, reaching for me with a desperation that I don’t quite understand. How did we get here? We were just heading to the bank, or so he said. Then, out of nowhere, they appeared: Axel and his gang.

Axel, who was once my father’s friend.

Axel, who once had saved my life.

He shot my father in cold blood, nothing but emptiness in his eyes. Like he never mattered to him. Now we’re in an alley he pulled over into, just barely. His skin is going a funny shade of gray, and his breath sounds wheezy. My heart is beating so heavily I can hear it in my own head. My entire body is tingling with fear, a fear that I can’t shake, because I don’t understand it. I know what my father is. I know he’s a bad man, but I didn’t know he was in this kind of trouble.

I reach down, taking my father’s hand and lifting it into my lap. “Dad?” I rasp. “Dad, what’s happening?”

“Baby,” he chokes. “R-r-run, you need to run.”

I shake my head. I’m confused. Why do I need to run from Axel? He used to swing me around when I was a little girl. He stopped me from ending my own life—why would I have to escape him? Where are my dad’s guys? Why aren’t they here? Why aren’t they backing him up? If they knew he was in trouble, they would be here. Wouldn’t they?

“Meadow.” He almost snarls, shoving something tiny into my hand. “Take this, run...deliver it to the police department in Los Angeles to a man named Raide. Don’t give it to anyone else. Promise me, please. Don’t let Axel get hold of you. H-h-h-he’s not who you remember. H-h-h-he’s f*cked up now. Promise me,” he begs, ending in a coughing fit that has blood splattering across my shirt.

“Dad, I can’t leave you,” I whisper frantically, ripping my shirt off and pressing it to the blood leaking from his body.

His eyes dart around and he shakes his head, coughing more blood from his mouth. No. No.

“Dad, please, let’s get you to a hospital and...”

“No!” he breathes, and his eyes begin to grow heavy. “Promise me, Meadow. Promise me you’ll take the case, and you’ll get it to Raide? Change your name. Leave the club. Leave this place. They’re dangerous; they’ll kill you. Promise me you’ll do this for me. It’s all I’ve worked for...Promise...Meadow...”

Who will kill me? I don’t understand.

“Please,” I whimper, feeling warm tears touch my cheeks as they slide from my eyes. “Don’t make me go. Don’t make me leave you here.”

He begins to gasp for air. “I’m g-g-g-going to die, baby. P-p-p-promise me...you’ll do this...”

I look into my father’s eyes, and I realize I’m about to lose the only family I’ve ever had. Without him, I have no part in the club he associates with. He’s been all I’ve had since my momma killed herself four years after I was born. He’s been my friend, my dad, my hero, and everything I’ve fought for...and now he’s going to die. My vision blurs as I take his hand, pressing it to my heart. You can’t stop death, but you can make it easier. I give him the one thing he needs from me, and I swear in that moment I’ll make sure I do it for him.

“I promise, Daddy.” I disguise my trembling with the firmest voice I can muster. “I swear I won’t let you down.”