His Runaway Mountain Bride by Madison Faye

Well, fuck. If I hadn’t been up shit’s creek before, I sure as fuck was then. I knew who I’d just blown away, and when word got back up the chain, I was going to catch some serious hell for it.

Anthony Marcello’s guys. Shit. I’d been attached the Marcello case for months, but fuck me, I’d never in a million years have tied those Chicago mobsters to a place like Blackthorn.

But there we were, and once again, all threads in my life seemed to lead back there. Or, maybe it was that they all led to her.

“Well, well, Captain America returns.”

I glared as the big garage door of Mountain Steel Motors rolled up to show the smug face of Ryker James. Behind him, his friends and business partners Stone and Axe chuckled. Alright, it was a stupid nickname, but I knew how I’d earned it. Months before, the last time I was on Blackthorn, I’d been there on official FBI business. Since then, I’d kept in touch a little bit with a few of the guys who lived up here.

Basically, everyone up on that mountain had come there either running from something or looking for a fresh start. And fuck, the old me wouldn’t have swallowed that at all. Back before when I saw things in purely black and white, I wouldn’t have seen any of these guys as “ex” outlaws or bikers, I’d have just seen them for the crimes and sins of their pasts.

But I’d changed. I wasn’t that black and white dickhead I’d been before. Life had bled and blurred the lines for me, showing me the grays, I’d never wanted to see before. Take Ryker, Axe, and Stone, for instance. In their old lives, they’d been President, Vice President, and Sergeant at Arms, respectively, for a pretty hard-core motorcycle club out west called the Lost Devils. They’d run a pretty rough crew, until they’d been betrayed, ambushed, and massacred by a rival club. All of the Lost Devils had been gunned down that night, except for the three of them who’d either been away or somehow survived the ordeal. Now, they’d all found their way to Blackthorn and new lives as new men.

Ryker had his little girl Kyrie, and his wife Addison, and was happily out of the outlaw life and running his own motorcycle shop. Axe was a partner in Mountain Steel Motors and was a proud father to the twin girls he’d had with his wife Larkin, Jackie’s sister. And Jackie and Stone were running a damn bar and restaurant. I mean, it was a far cry from the gun-running and bullet-dodging they’d done in their outlaw days.

And like I said, the old me wouldn’t have been able to see beyond the past. I mean shit, back when I was a cop, I’d arrested Lucy’s brother and my best friend Shepherd for drunk and disorderly conduct. My own fucking brother-in-law, when I could have just took him home and let him sleep it off. That’s the kind of rule-sticking prick I’d been before.

Now? Well, now I was changed. Or at least changing.

“Hey, where’s your big shield, Captain?” Axe grinned.

Alright look, I got it—the blond hair, the square jaw, the badge on my chest. Especially to a couple of ex-biker outlaws like Ryker, Stone, and Axe, I was Johnny-Law to the letter. But then, they didn’t know how split my heart was about the whole lawman thing.

“Staying out of trouble?” I grunted at Ryker, eying the big bearded ex-MC president.

He grinned that slightly dangerous, easy smile of his. “Depends if you’re here on police business or not.”

Lucy frowned. “Wait do you all know each other?”

Before, that last time when I’d been to Blackthorn to take down Harry “Shotgun” Shaunessy, Lucy had actually been away. Of course, I had no damn idea that my goddamn runaway wife was living there at the time, and I figured out later that she was probably pulling a job of some kind. But in any case, she hadn’t been on Blackthorn when the whole thing had gone down. Which means by sheer dumb fucking luck, she hadn’t been around when I’d been here. I’d asked the guys involved with the Harry takedown to keep my name and involvement to themselves, seeing as there was still an active investigation into Harry’s criminal network. And fuck, I guess they’d really followed through on that request.

Ryker glanced at me, and I cleared my throat. “That big shootout a few months back while you were out of town, when the police and the FBI were up here?”

Her jaw dropped. “That was you?”

I nodded.

“And you didn’t say anything?” she snapped, her eyes narrowing angrily.

“I didn’t know you were even here, relax,” I growled back before I frowned too. “And let’s remember who was the one who ran off and didn’t want to be found, sweetheart,” I muttered.

Just then, the door to the shop office swung open, and Jackie, Stone’s wife, came running out. She ran right over to Lucy and threw her arms around her, hugging her close.

“You’re okay?”

“Yeah, I’m—” Lucy shot another glaring look at me before nodding. “Yeah, I’m good.”

Stone frowned as he stepped forward, glancing between me, the FBI guy he’d helped out once, and Lucy, the Blackthorn newcomer who worked at his and Jackie’s restaurant.

“Hold up, you two know each other?”

Lucy looked away. “Sort of.”

I rolled my eyes. “We’re married.”

Jackie, Stone, Ryker, and Axe’s jaws dropped.

“Uh, what?” Jackie choked out.

“Married. She’s my wife.”

“Ex-wife,” Lucy muttered.

I just rolled my eyes again. “Still my wife, technically,” I growled at her.

“Okay, you know what?” She snapped back, glaring at me and shaking a menacing looking finger at me. “You want to go there?”

“Ooookay,” Ryker clapped his hands together sharply. “Let’s leave the Jerry Springer shit alone for a second,” he growled as his eyes swiveled to me. “Tell me more about what just happened up at Lucy’s place.” I’d called before we drove down to the shop, but I’d been pretty damn vague. Ryker stroked his beard as he took me in slowly.

“You put someone down?”

“Four.”

His brow arched in surprise. “Anyone I know?”

“I sincerely doubt it. A bunch of goons who work for Anthony Marcello.”

Axe frowned as he stepped forward. “Chicago mob Anthony Marcello?”

I nodded and he swore. “The fuck are those assholes doing on Blackthorn?”

I started to weigh the idea of telling them more, when Lucy just went ahead and spilled it anyways.

“They’re looking for me.”

I glared at her with a “watch what you say” look, but she just shrugged me off. Jackie frowned.

“Girl, what the hell is the Chicago mob doing looking for you?”

Lucy glanced at me, but I just shrugged. “Up to you,” I said quietly. I knew she’d build a new life up here. Telling the people who’d taken her into their community, and given her support, and a job that she wasn’t who or what she’d told them wasn’t going to be easy.

She took a deep breath and let the air out quickly. “I, uh… there are some things about me I haven’t really told you all, from before I came to Black—”

Jackie stopped her with a comforting hand on her arm and warm smile as she shook her head. “And you don’t have to, hon. Really.” She shrugged. “I mean, all of us came here from lives we wanted to get away from. It’s what’s so magical about Blackthorn, and it’s why we all stay here. Look, whatever you did before coming here, it doesn’t matter. You’re here, you’ve proven yourself to be a part of the community, and trustworthy, and that’s all that matters.”

Lucy chewed on her lip, and I liked that I knew how bad she was at taking compliments. Jackie pulled her into a big hug, and Lucy threw her arms around her friend.

“Thanks, really,” she whispered quietly.

Stone cleared his throat. “But, uh… it might help if you gave us maybe the Cliff-notes version?”

“Kyle!” Jackie muttered, using the name no one ever used for the guy as she elbowed him. “She does not!”

“It actually might help you all understand the risk here,” I muttered. “Sorry, but it’s the truth.”

Jackie frowned, but Lucy shook her head. “No, he’s right.” She chewed at her bottom lip. “Anthony Marcello’s guys are looking for me because of something I took. I owe them money, and they’re after it.”

“You owe Anthony Marcello money?” Axe’s jaw tightened before he glanced at me. “I’m guessing you already know about what kind of piece of work this guy is?”

“The basics,” I grunted. “The Bureau has a pretty huge file on him, but it’s never gone anywhere.”

“That file mention the way’s he likes to fucking skin his enemies like a goddamn savage?”

My eyes darted to Lucy, who swallowed thickly. Ryker frowned and held a hand up.

“Why don’t we dial it back, brother,” he grunted at Axe before turning his gaze to Lucy. “So, you took something from Anthony Marcello, and now he wants his money back.”

She nodded. “Yeah, basically.”

“So, unless one of the guys you put down tonight is Anthony Marcello himself, I’m guessing this isn’t over by a fucking mile.”

She shook her head, and Stone nodded. “I know a place where the two of you can hang and lay low.”

Lucy’s head snapped up. “I’m not leaving Blackthorn or going on the run. Not with Kennedy out there. I mean what if these assholes connect her to me?”

Kennedy had been Lucy’s first friend, not to mention her roommate, on Blackthorn. And currently, she was with two of the outlaws-turned-tattooists who’d helped me out big time with Harry Shaunessy, Landon and Caleb. And by “with,” I do mean with. I couldn’t fucking imagine sharing the woman you loved with another guy, but hey, to each their own, I guess.

My eyes narrowed. This was one of those instances where it was clear how similarly Lucy and I thought. Here she was in danger, and her mind instantly went to those around her who might get harmed by these pricks as a way to get to her.

But Ryker shook his head as he crossed his muscled, inked arms over his chest. “Kennedy will be fine,” he grunted. “I’ll call Landon and Caleb and fill them in. They’re all still off on that bike trip of theirs anyways, so until we know what the fuck we’re dealing with when it comes to this Marcello prick, I’ll just tell them to keep off the grid.”

“I mean can you even think of better people for her to be with than those two?” Jackie smiled, and I watched Lucy visibly relax a little.

I nodded at Stone. “What’s this place of yours?”

“An old cabin way up on the mountain.” He shrugged. “It ain’t fancy—”

“It barely has heat,” Jackie made a face. “But it’s pretty off the grid. Trust me, no one who doesn’t know where it is will be finding you up there.”

“Perfect,” I growled. “How do we get there?”

“Tomorrow morning, when it’s light,” Stone nodded. “You’re crashing here tonight, but I’m taking you at first light when I know I won’t drive off a fucking cliff getting you there and getting you safe.”