Chains Read online

  CHAINS

  A NIGHT REBELS MC ROMANCE

  CHIAH WILDER

  Copyright © 2020 by Chiah Wilder

  Kindle Edition

  Editing by Lisa Cullinan

  Cover design by Cheeky Covers

  All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the author except for the use of brief quotations in a book review. Please purchase only authorized additions, and do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials.

  Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated.

  Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

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  Insurgent MC Series:

  Hawk’s Property

  Jax’s Dilemma

  Chas’s Fervor

  Axe’s Fall

  Banger’s Ride

  Jerry’s Passion

  Throttle’s Seduction

  Rock’s Redemption

  An Insurgent’s Wedding

  Outlaw Xmas

  Wheelie’s Challenge

  Christmas Wish

  Animal’s Reformation

  Shadow’s Surrender

  Insurgents MC Romance Series: Insurgents Motorcycle Club Box Set (Books 1 – 4)

  Insurgents MC Romance Series: Insurgents Motorcycle Club Box Set (Books 5 – 8)

  Night Rebels MC Series:

  STEEL

  MUERTO

  DIABLO

  GOLDIE

  PACO

  SANGRE

  ARMY

  Night Rebels MC Romance Series: Night Rebels Motorcycle Club Box Set (Book 1 – 4)

  Nomad Biker Romance Series:

  Forgiveness

  Retribution

  Steamy Contemporary Romance:

  My Sexy Boss

  Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  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

  Notes from Chiah

  Author’s Note

  About Diesel’s Distraction

  Other Books by Chiah Wilder

  Chapter One

  The scent of jasmine and the high-pitched chattering in the room were nauseating. Through the slats of the shutters, Autumn saw two children playing with an orange frisbee beyond the sprawling maple tree in the front yard. Her tongue felt thick and her head pounded like someone had come up from behind and sunk a meat cleaver into it.

  “At least try and look like you’re having a good time,” Sadie whispered while nudging her best friend.

  “Why didn’t I listen to you last night? And why the hell did I ever think that martinis were the way to go? I don’t even like them.” Autumn lightly rubbed her aching temples.

  “That’s what Alicia, Rachel, and I were trying to figure out.” Sadie giggled.

  “Open my gift next,” Barbara Davis said, a smug smile creeping over her doughy face as she handed a brightly wrapped box to Autumn.

  “I can’t believe I let Bret talk me into having his ex-girlfriend’s mother at my bridal shower,” Autumn said through clenched teeth as she took the gift from Barbara.

  “Me neither,” her best friend agreed. “But then Bret’s not exactly Mr. Sensitive, is he?”

  Autumn clutched the box, irritation pricking along the back of her neck. What does Sadie know about Bret? Sure, he can be selfish and self-absorbed, but he’s always there for me when I need him. The memory of Bret canceling their meeting with the caterer floated through her mind. I didn’t need him for the tasting anyway.

  “Autumn, are you going to open the present or just hold it?” Rachel asked.

  She glanced at her friend, then chuckled. “I guess I’m a little out of sorts.”

  “I bet you are.” Rachel’s blue eyes twinkled. Alicia and Sadie chortled softly.

  “I think there’s an inside joke going on between the three of you,” Bret’s mother, Regina, said. “I’m still so sorry your mother couldn’t make it in from Denver to come to your shower.” Her future mother-in-law leaned over and plucked another mini quiche from the tray on the table.

  “She’ll be here for the next one,” Autumn answered while ripping off the yellow paper dotted with colorful umbrellas. The truth was that she’d hadn’t told her mother about the shower until it was too late for her to make the long drive to Alina. Her mother had always been afraid of small airports, so landing at the one in Durango some sixty miles away would not have been an option.

  For the past couple of weeks, Autumn had started having doubts about marrying Bret, but she didn’t tell anyone. She chalked it up to having cold feet, which she’d read was perfectly normal.

  Pushing aside the glittery tissue paper, Autumn stared at a single saucer and tea cup. A narrow gold band encircled the rim of the cup and china plate, and there was something engraved on the side of the saucer: Barbara and Teresa Singer. Staring at it, she couldn’t quite process that the names on the gift were Bret’s ex-girlfriend and her mother. What the hell? She glanced up and met the determined eyes of Barbara.

  “Don’t you love it?” the woman gushed.

  “I … uh … am speechless.” Autumn closed the lid to the box.

  “I know Bret will love it. Yellow is one of his favorite colors.” Barbara sank back into the couch and patted Regina’s knee. “Remember all the summer picnics we used to have when Teresa and Bret were dating? He always insisted on her wearing that cute yellow top he’d bought her during one of their many trips to Mexico.”

  Regina cleared her throat and slightly pivoted her body away from Barbara’s touch. “Autumn and Bret are planning a beautiful honeymoon in Italy, and it was all his idea.” She bent down and picked up a large box. “Here, dear, this one is from Stanley and me.”

  The awkward moment passed, and Autumn plastered on one of her biggest, most sincere-looking smiles and took the box from Bret’s mother.

  “It’s so heavy,” she said.

  “Only two more to go. Hang in there,” Sadie whispered as she helped Autumn unwrap the gift. A picture of a shiny black KitchenAid mixer on the box had several of Regina’s friends and family cooing.

  “I don’t even bake,” she said under her breath before pushing the gift aside. “I love it. Thank you, Regina.”

  “You’re welcome. I know how much Bret loves my brownies, so I’ll give you the recipe.” Regina smiled.

  Bret’s mother put Suzy Homemaker to shame, to say
the least. Not only did she make everything by scratch, including mayonnaise, ketchup, and mustard, she made and sold beautiful and delicious cakes for weddings, birthdays, quinceañeras, anniversaries, and many other events. She also kept an immaculate house and sewed like a professional. Oh … and she spoiled the hell out of Bret. Autumn had lost count of how many times he’d compared her ineptness to his mother’s super-human domestic skills. Not that Autumn resented Regina. She wished she could be more like her future mother-in-law, but Autumn just hadn’t inherited the domestic gene. Her mother wasn’t that handy in the kitchen, but she at least could make bacon without burning the hell out of it.

  Unlike Bret’s childhood of homemade sloppy Joe’s, chewy chocolate chip cookies, and freshly squeezed lemonade, Autumn grew up on takeout cartons, cookies out of a tube—her mother thought by baking them, it had meant she’d “made” them—and pitchers of Kool-Aid. Autumn was totally content with it, but sometimes when Bret made snide remarks about her domestic abilities, it made her want to enroll in a cooking class or take up crocheting. Unfortunately, with the hours she spent at the veterinary clinic, Autumn barely had time to go to the grocery store to pick up fixings for a salad. One thing she could make were super salads.

  The afternoon seemed like it would never end, and finally, Sadie—her best friend since she’d had moved to Alina a few years before—stood up.

  “I have somewhere to be. Are you ready, Autumn?” she asked, gathering up some of the gifts.

  Autumn nearly stumbled over her own feet as she jumped up from the chair. “I am.” She gripped two large shopping bags Regina had given her and began to pile the presents in them.

  “Let me help you,” Alicia said, crossing the room.

  “I feel terrible leaving you with such a mess. Please let me help you at least put the food away,” Autumn said.

  Regina shook her head, her hands on her hips. “I wouldn’t hear of it. Besides, my sisters are putting things away already.”

  “I had a wonderful time. Thank you for throwing such a nice shower. I now have so many things to stock my kitchen.”

  “You’ll have to get used to saying our instead of my.” Regina smiled.

  “That’s true.” Autumn’s head still ached and she longed to just get home, throw off her heels and clothes, and veg in front of the television with a cool rag across her forehead for a couple of hours. Later that night, she and Bret had dinner reservations at one of the new restaurants in town—Spice Room. It had taken her a lot of persuading and doing favors for Bret to finally convince him to try one of her favorite cuisines—Indian.

  “Don’t mean to rush you, but I really have to go.” Sadie walked over to the door and held it open.

  Regina nodded. “Have a good time tonight. Bret told me you talked him into going to that new place from India. I don’t think he’ll like it, but it’s good to try something at least once.”

  “I agree. Indian food is so varied that I’m sure he’ll find a dish he’ll like. Thanks again.” Autumn scooped up the bags and walked toward the door with Regina following behind her.

  “Bret wants me to teach you how to make homemade tortillas. Give me a call next week and we can set something up.” Regina stood in the doorway as Autumn stepped onto the porch.

  “Okay, but I’m very busy at the clinic. I worked way less hours when I had a boss.” She tipped her head toward Bret’s mother, then quickly thanked everyone again and waved goodbye as she scurried down the walkway.

  “I thought we’d never get out of there.” Sadie switched on the ignition. “It was nice but too long. How many more do you have to go to?”

  Autumn groaned. “Too many. One shower, maybe two, but not a slew of them. I wanted a simple wedding, and my mom and dad were on board with that too, so why is Bret insisting on all this fanfare? My parents and I are the ones paying for the wedding, so I should be getting some of what I want.”

  “I can’t believe Bret’s this involved in the whole process. I guess that’s kind of cool, but then again, it could be a pain in the ass.”

  She leaned back against the passenger seat. “It’s a total pain in the ass because he’s really not being all that helpful. Whenever we make plans to meet with various people, like the florist or the caterer, he cancels at the last minute by text. It’s so damn annoying. It seems like he enjoys the idea of being involved but that’s where it ends.”

  “He does like getting the attention,” Sadie said.

  “Yeah, and at six feet, piercing blue eyes, and sandy brown hair, he gets it … especially from women. It seems like every time we go somewhere in Alina, some woman he used to date or knew comes out of the woodwork.”

  “Alina is a small town, and I can see how that would be real infuriating, but I guess it depends on how he handles the situations with these women.”

  Autumn stared out the window at the passing trees and houses. “He absolutely loves it. It doesn’t make me jealous or anything, but Bret keeps talking about it afterwards. It’s almost like he wants me to be jealous.”

  “I can see that though. I’d be pissed if it didn’t bother Mitch that men kept flirting with me. And I wouldn’t be too happy if women kept coming over to him when we’re out together.”

  Autumn shrugged slightly. “I’m just not that way.” She gripped the door handle.

  “Not even when you found your ex-fiancé with your friend? What was his name?” Sadie asked.

  “Dylan, and not even then. I was devastated and hurt, but not jealous. Maybe something’s wrong with me.” She opened the door.

  “Or maybe you’ve never been in love.”

  Autumn turned toward her friend. “I loved Dylan at that time in my life, and I love Bret.”

  “Loving and being in love are totally different,” Sadie said, her gazed fixed on Autumn.

  “I hear that all the time, but I don’t agree with it. Are you going to help me with these gifts that’ll just collect dust on my granite counter?”

  Sadie laughed. “I can’t believe Regina gave you—of all people—a kitchen shower. Doesn’t she know that you don’t cook?”

  “Apparently not. Bret keeps trying to turn me into the happy homemaker as far as his stomach is concerned.” Autumn caught Sadie’s eyes, then the two women busted out laughing. “Yeah … that’s not gonna happen.”

  Sadie slid out of the car and filled her arms with several boxes. “Where do you want me to put these?” she asked as she walked toward Autumn’s house.

  “I guess in the kitchen. I’ll just put them in the cupboards and figure out what I’ll do with all these gadgets and machines at some point.” Autumn pushed open her front door and held it open with her foot while Sadie passed through.

  “How’s your hangover?” her friend asked.

  “Better, but a nap on the couch with a cool washcloth across my forehead is my plan for the next two hours.” She hoisted up the bags in her hands to the counter. “I’ll deal with all this later. Do you and Mitch have plans for tonight?”

  “We’re going to Vesta Grill with Alicia and Juan. Remember we asked you guys to join us?”

  “That’s right, but we already had plans. Maybe next time.” Autumn walked her friend to the front door.

  “It seems like we never go out as couples. That’s kind of strange, don’t you think?” Sadie stepped out onto the porch.

  Autumn raked her slender fingers through her auburn hair. “Bret and I are both so busy in our careers that when we have time to go out, he prefers to just be with me.” As Sadie stared at her, Autumn cut her gaze to the swaying branches of the tree in the front yard. “That was one of the reasons why I bought this house. I love weeping willows—they stand so firm, yet their branches are flexible and strong, bending without breaking.”

  Sadie glanced over at the weeping willow then stepped off the porch. “This has to be one of your better ways of changing the subject when it comes to Bret.”

  Autumn lifted up one shoulder and smiled weakly. “Have fun tonigh
t. Let’s get together for dinner one night next week.”

  “Sounds good. Let me know how you like the new restaurant.”

  Autumn watched as her friend drove away, then she closed her door and climbed the stairs to her bedroom to change clothes. Sadie was right about one thing: whenever she started to probe into Autumn and Bret’s relationship, Autumn steered the conversation away from it. And there was no way Sadie didn’t suspect that Bret was the reason they weren’t joining her friends for dinner. The truth was that Bret didn’t like her friends and didn’t want to hang out with them. They’d gotten into several fights about it, and the few times he’d acquiesced and gone out with her group, he acted like a pouting, spoiled child, so she’d just stopped asking him. Once they got married and were bonded as a couple, she was sure things would fall into place. Sometimes, Bret could be so self-centered and selfish, but other times, he could be so loving and attentive by sending her a bouquet of flowers for no reason or whisking her away to Aspen for an unexpected romantic weekend. It was true that the impromptu acts of love had dwindled in the last several months, especially after they’d become engaged, but Bret had it in him, and when this whole wedding fanfare was over, they’d settle down into their new life and everything would be wonderful.

  I hope. Of course it will be. Look at Mom and Dad and how happy they’ve been for the past thirty-five years. Everything’s going to be just fine. It seemed that had become her mantra for the past few months, and she recited it more often whenever doubts niggled at the back of her mind.

  Squeezing out the excess water from a washcloth, Autumn decided to forgo the couch in favor of lying on the bed. She pushed aside the many decorative pillows and eased down on the mattress. After several minutes her phone beeped, and she groaned as she reached for it on the nightstand.

  Bret: My mom said the shower was great. U’ll have to have her come over & show u how to use all the things u got.

  She rolled her eyes and sighed loudly.

  Autumn: It was good. Just resting b4 tonight.

  Bret: Yeah … well, I can’t make it tonight. Sorry.

  She sat upright, ignoring the dull pain of blood rushing to her aching temples. “What the hell?” she muttered under her breath.