Cane's Promise (Forever Midnight MC Book 1) Read online

  Cane’s Promise

  Forever Midnight MC#1

  Victoria Gale

  Published in 2020 by

  Deryn Publishing

  United Kingdom

  First Edition

  © 2020 Deryn Publishing

  All characters, places and events are fictional. Any resemblance to real persons, places or events is purely coincidental.

  The moral rights of the author have been asserted.

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, copied, stored or distributed in any form, without prior written permission of the publisher.

  Table of Contents

  Prologue

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Epilogue

  “Never befriend the oppressed unless you are prepared to take on the oppressor.”

  – Ogden Nash

  Prologue

  I headed to the kitchen for a late-night snack. I’d skipped dinner and needed something in my stomach otherwise I would never sleep.

  Voices sounded downstairs. I froze and listened for a second before huffing out a relieved breath: Mom and Tony, my stepdad. They must be watching a late-night movie or something. I tiptoed down the stairs and across the hall, and then opened the kitchen door being careful to close it as quietly as possible. Even so, I winced when the inevitable click sounded.

  With no artificial light coming from either inside or outside the house, I used only the moonlight streaming through the window and patio doors to guide my way. I edged around the center island and rushed to the fridge, but as I opened the door, something made the hair on my neck stand up.

  My heart pounded. Someone was in the room with me.

  I couldn’t say how I knew. There was no noise or sense of movement. Just years of experience.

  “I missed you at dinner, Thea.”

  Hearing Daniel’s voice made my breaths come in shallow, panicked gasps. I’d been stupid to come, but Mom had said he had business in town this evening. I wanted to flee, to hide, but my feet felt as though they’d been nailed to the floor and moving would cause them unfathomable damage and pain.

  It took every ounce of strength I had, but after a moment, I reached into the fridge and pulled out an apple before closing it and turning to face the direction his voice had come from.

  He emerged from the shadows surrounding the patio doors. Silver moonlight reflected on his dark slicked-back hair and highlighted his sharp, angular face. As usual, he wore an expensive suit, also dark. He’d loosened the tie from his neck and unbuttoned the collar of his shirt. A whiskey glass rested half-empty in his hand. With a sneer on his face, he looked every inch the psychopathic bastard he was.

  I looked from him to the entrance leading to the hall. If I ran flat out, would I make it to my bedroom where I could lock the door, or better yet, my car?

  “I said, I missed you at dinner,” he repeated before taking a sip from his glass. “It shows good manners to respond when someone engages you in conversation. Do you need a session to teach you good manners?”

  “No, Daniel,” I said far too quickly. I lifted my chin and clenched my apple as tight as I could in an attempt to keep my hands from shaking. “Please pardon my rudeness. I was just surprised by your presence. If you’ll excuse me, it’s late and I’m very tired.”

  I edged toward the door. Daniel did too. He reached it before me.

  “I haven’t seen you in a while.” He brushed a strand of hair from my face and pushed it behind my ear. I stiffened. “Anyone would think you’re avoiding me. Missing dinners, making sure you’re out when I’m around.” he glanced down at my body. “Covering up.”

  Despite the spring heat, I’d decked myself in a set of thick flannel pajamas and topped those with a full-length dressing gown tightly drawn. I could hardly breathe, but it was worth it to keep his eyes off me.

  Daniel smiled at my obvious discomfort.

  “I missed you on your birthday. Did you get my present?”

  “Yes.” The red lingerie set went straight in the bin.

  “Yes, what?”

  “Yes, Daniel.”

  “And what else do have to you say?”

  For the first time, I turned my head toward him, but kept my gaze no higher than his nose. “Thank you, Daniel.”

  “It’s a shame you only show manners when prompted. I’d blame your upbringing, but...” He shrugged and was about to say more when the door swung open. Daniel stepped out of view behind it, but I stood face to face with Mom.

  She glanced at my nightwear and the apple in my hand and tsked. “I might have known I’d find you scrounging for food. If you’d eaten the dinner, I spent over an hour preparing, you wouldn’t have to.”

  “I wasn’t hungry,” I said and looked at my feet. Conscious that Daniel stood behind me, I added. “I’m sorry.”

  “Hmm. You should be. There are leftovers in the fridge. Heat them so all my hard work doesn’t go completely to waste.” She slurred her words, and I could see from the white specks lining her nostrils that she’d been doing more than drinking. She placed her hands on my hips. “Besides,” she said. “You don’t want to get too skinny and lose all your lovely curves. Not that anyone can see them beneath that get-up. You couldn’t look less feminine if you tried.”

  With that, she pushed me to the side and tottered over to the fridge, muttering something about my wasting the figure her good genes had blessed me with.

  “I should go. Goodnight, Mom.”

  She turned. “No, no, no, young lady. I said you should eat and you’re going to.”

  Daniel stepped out from behind the door. I flinched when he placed a hand on my shoulder.

  “Mom’s right,” he said. “We wouldn’t want you to lose those lovely curves.”

  “Ah, Dan. I didn’t realize you were still here. Can I get you a drink?”

  “I have one, thank you.” He lifted his glass and waved it at Mom.

  “So, you do. Then let me offer you a top-up, and I’ll grab another for your father and myself while I’m at it.”

  He waved away her offer. “I shouldn’t. It’s late and I have an early morning.”

  “Of course.” She tilted her head at me and continued, “A conversation with this one is enough to put anyone to sleep.”

  “Not at all. Thea’s been great company. We were just discussing her lack of proper manners, but there’s no need to worry, I’m certain the next time we meet, she’ll show me the appropriate level of gratitude required for the thought I put in to her birthday present.”

  Mom stared at me for a moment. I couldn’t quite read the look on her face. She knew what Daniel’s present had been, but rather than being furious that my stepbrother had chosen such an inappropriate gift, she marveled at the quality of the silk and the expense he must have gone to.

  Her eyes wandered to Daniel’s hand still resting on my sh
oulder. I wanted to smack it away and scream in his face, demand he never came near me again, but self-preservation stilled my hand.

  One day... one day, he’d pay. He’d meet someone he couldn’t push around, and they’d end him. My soul screamed, wishing that person was me.

  Mom turned and pulled a bottle of red wine from the cupboard, she set it on the counter and gathered glasses.

  Daniel trailed his hand down my back. Nausea churned my stomach and I pushed back the bile rising in my throat. He pressed his mouth close to my ear. “I retrieved your gift and placed it in your top drawer. Next time I see you, I expect you to be wearing it.” He pulled back and downed his glass before handing it to me. “And I meant what I said, I’ll expect you to show an appropriate level of gratitude, as well as make recompense for your callous disregard for the trouble I went to. Perhaps a session will be required after all.”

  He moved back to the patio doors, bade Goodnight to Mom and left. I stood frozen for a moment, too afraid to move or speak, praying that he’d gone, and I’d never see him again. But that was nothing more than a fruitless wish I’d made countless times.

  My muscles quivered and I tried to release the tension in my body. I stared at Mom as she opened the bottle and poured two glasses. When a light came on in the converted pool-house where Daniel lived, I released the breath I’d been holding.

  “How could you stand there and do nothing?” My pulse pounded in my ears as my pent-up anger and frustration built. I rushed to the center island and slammed his glass on the countertop, half wishing it would smash. “How could you have brought me to this hell hole?”

  Her lips thinned and curled on one side. “Tony and Dan work hard every day to keep a roof over our heads and put food on the tab—”

  “Tony’s a lowlife drug dealer who lets his men do all his dirty work for him, and Dan’s a sick fuck who should be ended so he can’t hurt anyone.” I didn’t need to add that she was the brains behind their whole operation. She knew.

  Her hand shook as she reached for her wine glass and took a swig, some of the dark red liquid dribbled down the side of the glass. She licked it off, before placing the glass back on the countertop.

  “You ungrateful little bitch.” A smile played on her lips as she stared at me. “You’re twenty-one and not a child anymore. It’s about time you learned your duty to this family. Dan’s a little unusual in his desires.” She chuckled. “Hell, he’s wanted you for years, if that doesn’t show how twisted he is then nothing does.”

  “Daniel’s more than twisted, he’s... he’s... a sadist and a perv.”

  “See, that’s where you need to grow up. All men are pervs. It’s about time you gave him what he wanted, earned your keep. The only reason Tony instructed him to keep away for so long was because of your age. You’re a grown woman now, there’s no need for him to keep waiting.”

  “Other than the fact that I hate the thought of being in the same room as him, and, oh, he happens to be my brother.”

  “Stepbrother. It’s not as though you have the same blood and were brought up together. He was eighteen when I married his father. Nine years is long enough.” She reached out and placed her manicured hand on my cheek. “Stop being a cock tease.”

  “Cock tease?” I batted her hand away. “What happened to you? When did you become this person? Before Dad die—”

  “You know nothing of my life before your father died. You were just a child at the time.”

  “I know we were happy. You were happy. Not some vindictive cow who treats people like commodities.”

  “I’ve worked hard to give you the best life I could, but always, always this ungrateful backtalk. Dan was right about your lack of manners. We should have let him have more sessions with you over the years. Maybe then you’d have a better understanding of what’s what.”

  My insides rolled at the thought of going down to the basement with Daniel. I knew what was what. I’d seen the shift in his eyes when his desire to hurt and control me had developed into something sexual.

  Oblivious to my discomfort or ignoring it, Mom waved her hand around to encompass the whole of our mansion kitchen. This one room was twice the size of the apartment we’d lived in with Dad, and more than twice as expensive to run. “It’s time you realized that without Tony and Dan, we’d likely be crack whores somewhere doing whatever we could to make ends meet.”

  I scoffed and shook my head. “It’s funny that you think you’re not a crack whore.”

  The words were no sooner out of my mouth when Mom pulled her hand back and slapped me across the face. As soon as she drew away, she lifted the wine bottle with her shaking hand and pressed it to her lips, barely taking a breath as she swigged almost the whole thing.

  Tears leaked from my eyes and my cheek felt as though it was on fire, normally I’d put ice on it, but right then, I wanted nothing more than to be out of the kitchen... out of the house. Forever.

  I pushed away from the counter. “I’m going to bed. Goodnight. Mother.”

  “He’s very attractive, you know,” she called after me. “His body could have been sculpted by the Gods, and those abs... If I were twenty years younger, I’d take a shot at him myself.”

  Bile rose in my throat, but I turned to face her. “You’re welcome to him,” I said.

  She raised the bottle as though toasting something with me. “Oh, darling, you’re not as precious as you think you are, remember that. Just open those tightly sealed legs and give us all some peace. Who knows, you might even learn to enjoy Dan’s little... quirks.”

  Without another word, I left the kitchen and ran up the stairs. Mom followed behind me. “There’s no use running away,” she said. “You know how well that goes. It’s better to accept your fate.”

  I rushed into the bedroom, but even in my agitated state and with Daniel in the pool house, I knew better than to slam the door. Instead, I gently closed it and slid the bolts I’d screwed into place before sagging to the floor.

  I shut my eyes tighter than I’d shut the door, wanting for all the world to be somewhere else, anywhere else. Silent tears streamed down my face. Mom was right, I did know how well my attempts at running away had gone before. We both did, but things would be different this time. This time, I’d made a proper plan.

  Two months later.

  Chapter One

  Cane

  “Well, ain’t the lot of you a sight for sore eyes,” Cherrie said while placing her hands on her hips.

  I ran my hand over my beard and wondered if it could do with cutting back and inch or two. Hell, the brotherhood had been on the road for so long, my hair had gotten a bit out of hand and needed tying back to save it from blasting in my face on the bike.

  “Your ass is looking fine as always,” Lucky said before Cherrie whipped at him with the cloth, she always carried around to wipe down surfaces.

  “You say that like I ain’t old enough to be your old Ma.”

  Lucky laughed. “I’ll be sure to tell my Ma you think she’s old next time I see her.”

  I smiled at their banter before reaching out to pull Cherrie in for a hug. Each of my brothers repeated the action. Lucky being sure to add a quick slap to her backside soon after.

  “And you’ll be wanting me to tell Greg how you’re man-handling his woman,” Cherrie said with a devilish grin on her face.

  Lucky pulled out a chair at the table and sat down. “We’ll just call it quits,” he said. “You don’t tell Greg and I won’t tell Ma.”

  “And Lucky pulls off another lucky escape,” Bono said. He was Lucky alright, lucky Cherrie had a soft spot him and let him get away with that shit.

  Everyone laughed while I took my seat at the head of the table. “What’s going on, Cherrie?” I asked as soon as they’d sobered. “Caleb said you had a problem.”

  We’d been touring the territory checking on businesses the brothers owned from town to town. Reading the local mood, dealing with any problems with the local gangs, and fucking the
local woman. A trip my brothers and I sure found a lot of fun making. We’d left our home base and Midnight Anchor not two months back and hadn’t expected to return for another three weeks.

  When my brother, Caleb, President of the Forever Midnight Motorcycle Club called saying he had his hands full with the Feral Sons, we weren’t expecting to be sent on a detour to Midnight Anchor, but here we were.

  “Well, it’s hard to explain really,” she said. “And probably nothing.”

  Lucky sat back in his chair and shook his head. “You ain’t gonna be calling Caleb for nothing,” he said. “Now, what’s the problem? You and Greg having any trouble?”

  He might play around with Cherrie from time to time, but when it came right down to it, he loved her like she was his own Ma, we all did.

  “Not on your life. Not anyone around here gonna mess with us. The brothers may be busy with those damn Feral Sons, but they’d be here in an instant if there was any real trouble.”

  She was damn right about that. Greg was a member of our family, Cherrie too. Even if you grew old, settled down and didn’t ride out with us that often, once you’re a brother of Forever Midnight, you’re always a brother, and we take care of our own. Not that the two of them would need our help.

  Cherrie sighed before pulling the only spare chair remaining out from the table and sitting down. “Well,” she said. “Just a week or so after you left, we had a visitor here at the bar.”

  Lucky sat forward and clenched his fists. “This visitor the source of your trouble?”

  “Cool your engine, she’s a slip of a thing and no bother to you.” Cherrie raised a hand and glanced at the door behind her.

  “She here now?” I asked.

  “She is. Tony and I put her up in the spare room upstairs. She’s been working and earning her keep.”

  I leaned forward and placed my arms on the table. No-one said anything for a moment, but Cherrie sat firm under my gaze.

  “You in the habit of taking in fucking strays now?” I asked, wondering what the hell we were doing. No wonder Caleb hadn’t come to look at this himself. We had enough shit of our own to deal with without needing to take on some bitch’s abusive ex or pimp. “What kind of shit is this girl dragging?”