Police and outlaw motorcycle clubs cannot, and do not, mix. My Prez would kill me if he knew I was talking to the detective, but somehow I can’t stop. Now here I am, a solitary biker out on the road with no brothers behind me, my only company the ghost of my old lady. I already have, but my club did me no favour, only banishing me, instead of killing me. My love for her fuelling such an uncontrollable rage it won’t be long before I upset the wrong person. She shouldn’t have died, she shouldn’t have left me. I don’t want to take my own life, but if someone does it for me, so much the better.

There’s no way to survive, nothing for me to live for. Her loss, my gain.Crystal, my wife, old lady and soulmate is dead. Well, Sheri, whoever the fuck she is, had clearly been careless about keeping it safe. Guiltily, I straighten the corner which I’d bent over to mark my place. Going back to the room where I’d left my bag, I start to slide the book into it, when guilt makes me pull it back out. Standing, I give up any thought of reading peacefully in the clubhouse. “Finders, keepers,” I tell her, snatching the book out of her hands. I just saw a perfectly good book that looked interesting, lying around and took possession of it. “I bet she went looking for it as soon as she realised she lost it.” Her reproving stare makes me react. Must have fallen out of her purse or something.” I think back and add, “There was no one around.” I found it, alright? At a rest stop in New Mexico.” I’m probably sounding more aggressive than I should, but I’m on the defensive, for some reason feeling guilty. “For fuck’s sake woman, I don’t need to steal a fuckin’ book. I shift awkwardly, not comfortable with her accusation. How the hell did you get your paws on it?” Her eyes narrow. A book like this is a prized possession, especially as the signing was only a couple of days ago. It’s not something a woman would treat casually.” She squints at me. “This is a personal dedication by the author. But this?” She taps the signature page again. Instead, she continues in a dreamy voice, “I wanted to go to the signing, but I couldn’t make it to Houston. “Give it to me,” I demand, as Camilla seems to have taken possession of the book that I was enjoying reading. “It’s a big signing for authors of Motorcycle, Mafia and Mayhem romance.” I just want to keep reading, but she’s intent on enlightening me. “Fuckin’ certain,” I growl, reaching to take the book from her. “How the hell did you get this? Are you certain you don’t know this Sheri?”

MariaLisa DeMora, MMM 23.” She glances my way and her eyes narrow. Look.” She traces the words as she reads them out. “It’s been personally signed by the author and dedicated to her.

Heart Broken by Manda Mellett