Faithfully Devoted: Rage Ryders Templeton Read online

  Faithfully Devoted

  Rage Ryders: Templeton

  Liberty Parker

  Contents

  Cover Page

  Character Bible

  Acknowledgments

  Blurb

  Prologue

  1. Justice

  2. Justice

  3. Lizzie

  4. Lizzie

  5. Justice

  6. Lizzie

  7. Justice

  8. Lizzie

  9. Justice

  10. Lizzie

  11. Lizzie

  12. Justice

  13. Justice

  14. Lizzie

  15. Justice

  16. Justice

  17. Justice

  18. Justice

  19. Justice

  20. Justice

  21. Justice

  Epilogue

  Liberty’s Story

  Other Books by Liberty

  About the Author

  Copyright

  Faithfully Devoted

  Rage Ryders MC

  Templeton Charter

  Copyright © Liberty Parker

  Published by Liberty Parker

  Cover by: Dark Water Covers

  https://goo.gl/mhVY1Y

  Photographer: Shauna Kruse

  Model: Scott Benton

  Edited by: Darlene Tallman

  Formatting by: Liberty Parker

  Proofread by: Kim Richards

  This e-book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This e-book may not be resold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person or use proper retail channels to lend a copy. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return it and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author. To obtain permission to excerpt portions of the text please contact:

  [email protected]

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. All characters in this book are fiction and figments of the author’s imagination. No part of this story is based on any true events or anyone’s life. If any MC names, places or events are used by any real or true person it is coincidental and in no way based on them or any real-life human being living or not.

  Character Bible

  Justice

  Lizzie

  Kid

  Riley

  Ryder

  Skylar

  Malibu

  Kassi

  Tumbler

  Sadie

  Travler

  Kaci

  Jackson

  Tyler *Dust*

  Riptide

  Julius

  Andre

  Dedication

  This is always one of the hardest parts of a book. How do you choose between all of those who have been there for you, inspired you, and stood beside you?

  The thing is you can’t, so I’m going to do something a little different here and dedicate this book to my two PA’s. Nicole Lloyd and Sharon Renee.

  Nicole: When I’m freaking out, or when someone has done or said something vicious and heart-breaking about me, you’ve metaphorically held my hand and gave me the best advice of my life. “Just do you, and don’t worry about everyone else.” When I was ready to quit, throw my hands up and give up, you talked me down, lifted me up, and made me realize that I can’t be who I am if I run and hide. You are not only a fantastic PA, but you are an amazing friend with a heart of gold. Thank you for standing by me and believing in me and my books.

  Sharon Renee: You jumped right in taking care of my media needs. I was asked for a newsletter, lost and not sure what road to go down. When you messaged me, it was like a life jacket in a storm of complete freak out. Throughout this, you agreed to assist Nicole and make her life a little less stressful. We’ve talked on the phone on several occasions and you listened to me whine and cry about the unfairness of the hurt from others’ words. You’ve never judged, only inspired and held out a helping hand and lending a shoulder.

  You ladies are my rock…thank you for always being my voice of reason.

  ~Liberty

  Acknowledgments

  So many people to thank, where do I even begin?

  To my husband, Gregory. You’ve not only encouraged me, you’ve inspired me. You keep my things organized, my coffee habit fed and get onto me when I forget to eat when I become so enraptured in my writing. I love you to the moon and back, babe.

  Kayce Kyle, my baby sister, my best friend, and my confidant. We’ve been through some hard times and some fun times. We’ve had people try to separate us, only for us to come out the other side stronger. Rumors and innuendos be damned, we are, and will always not only share blood, sorrow, pain, love, laughter and family, but you will always hold a special place in my heart and soul. I love you, sissy.

  My three sons, thank you for always being my heart and the reason it beats. My life would be incomplete without you three.

  To my groups, Liberty’s Luscious Ladies and the Rebel Guardians Insiders, you keep my spirits lifted and always remind me of why it is I continue in this unforgiving and cut-throat industry. Your support and friendships never waiver, I am so thankful for you all.

  Darlene Tallman, you have become my closest friend, I trust you with all that I am. You not only edit my books, you make them the best they can be. Without you in my life, I’d still be spending money and not getting the quality that you give me.

  To my readers, thank you for giving this girl a chance. I was skeptical going in, but you keep me enthralled and enjoying these characters. Thank you for loving them all as much as I do.

  To #mytribe, your strength and loyalty keep me believing in us. You never judge, waiver, or question my integrity, or loyalty. You will forever be mine. Love you all <3 forever.

  Kim Richards, thank you from the bottom of my heart for always believing in me and my work and for jumping in and proofreading this. I love you so much and am honored to call you my friend.

  Blurb

  Lizzie

  I grew up knowing I would have an arranged marriage. When my father decides that it will be to a member of the Rage Ryders Motorcycle Club to further his connections, my prayer is that we can get along.

  When I meet him for the first time at the altar, I'm captivated. Tying myself to a man that I've only just met seems like something out of a book, but here I am.

  Justice

  The club has been everything to me since I first joined out of high school. I'll do anything my President asks, but when he tells me I need to marry someone sight unseen, I question my blinding loyalty for the first time.

  Until I see her. Something about her calls to me, despite my screwed-up past. Despite the man I am now as a member of the Rage Ryders.

  She is mine.

  Lizzie and Justice start out as a marriage of convenience, one that will help the Rage Ryders and also Lizzie's father. Can Lizzie rise above her past? Will Justice keep her at a distance because of how he grew up? It's time to ride again with the Rage Ryders and see if they'll become faithfully devoted.

  Prologue

  Lizzie

  My name is Elizabeth Dawn Cardozo. Today, I turn thirteen years old. Instead of having a birthday party like most kids my age do, I am attending my oldest sister’s wedding. There are three of us girls in total, unfortunately for my sister, it is a marriage not of her choosing, but an arranged marriage, where my father is the only one with a hand in picking her husband. Her husband to be is older than her by at least twenty years, if I had to guess. She’s only nineteen years old, her husband is nice to me. He always brings me c
hocolate treats when he comes to see my father.

  Well, he brings me, and my other sister, Rosa, chocolates, but always brings Genny flowers. Never the same kind, they’re always different, but always smell so sweet. Genny is kind and respectful to her future husband, even though you can tell she’s sad about marrying him. His name is Georgio Maldonado, he’s in my dad’s organization, but he’s not mean and cold-hearted like Father is. He’s always gentle when dealing with us girls. I think he’ll be good to Genny, I just don’t want to see her unhappy for the rest of her life.

  I hope she can end up falling madly in love with him, I want to see her smile—a real smile, not the fake one she’s been wearing since the announcement was made of her impending marriage.

  Rosa is my middle sister, Father says she’s next to be married and it has her nervous. Rosa is only seventeen years old, but Father says he’s already found her a suitable husband, and he is anxious to get his life started with her. Momma isn’t excited and has begged Father to wait until Rosa is of legal age. He says it’s out of his hands and has promised her to him. This makes me worried about my future, I’m only thirteen, but it won’t be long until I’m of age where he thinks it’s acceptable for me to be married off also.

  I’ve never had a chance to be just a kid. Unfortunately, kids in this house are to be seen but not heard. We’ve grown up around men who are rude and lethal, even at my age I know what they do isn’t nice or even legal.

  We’ve started learning about the law in school, which has confirmed my suspicions of my father’s livelihood of not being what it should be. Father is a mean man, when we don’t do what he wants, he has no problems raising his hands to us in anger or locking us in the basement for days if he wishes. I like it when school months are here, I don’t get locked in the basement during the week, only on weekends. It happens more than I’d like for it to, I have a problem controlling my tongue and always speak what is on my mind.

  It is unacceptable to Father, women are only good for being a good wife and mother. We are groomed from birth to be the best, so we can basically be ‘sold’ into arranged marriages. We are to make our father proud at all times.

  “Lizzie, we need you in your sister’s room, it’s time for you to get ready, child.” My mother calls for me. I can hear in her voice that she is sad for my sister, so I will try to be extra good today. I want this day to be as special as possible for her, so I need to mind my P’s and Q’s. For Genny, for Momma, and so I don’t embarrass Father and pay for it later on. I’m always messing up, but today I make a vow that I will be seen, and not heard. I hate that term Father uses when he scolds us. Who can keep their mouth shut when they see something wrong, or know that they are right? I don’t know that I’ll ever be good at it.

  “Coming, Momma.”

  “I know this is your birthday, child, but let’s make this important day for your sister about her, and not about you getting a year older,” she scolds me then promises me, “I’ll make it up to you tomorrow and take you shopping…. alright?”

  “Yes, Momma.” I answer like the perfect porcelain doll.

  “That’s my good girl,” she tells me with a smile on her face, it looks forced which worries me, is she concerned for my sister? Or is she just sad to see her leaving the house and starting her life with Georgio?

  “Everything alright, Momma?”

  “Everything is perfect Lizzie, let’s go get you ready.”

  “Yes, Momma.” My sister’s wedding day was perfect, and she was so beautiful. We had a good day, and an even better time. I saw my sister smile which made the uneasiness I felt falter.

  The next year we repeat the process with Rosa, she marries a man who is my Father’s enforcer, he’s a mean man, but seems to be fond of Rosa like Georgio does Genny. He isn’t nice to me like Georgio is though. His name is Roman Saltzer, and he firmly believes as does my father, that I should keep quiet and out of the way. Maybe he’ll change his tune once he has kids of his own. One can always hope anyways.

  Justice

  I hide in my closet when I hear my dad screaming at my mom. It’s the same thing every night, Dad comes home drunk, and finds something wrong that Mom’s done. It could be his dinner being cold, to the laundry not folded right, to the house not being cleaned to his liking. The thing he doesn’t understand is that if he came home on time, dinner would be warm, and that helping with laundry and cleaning the house is my chore to help Mom out. Mom takes the blame for it all trying to save me from his wrath. I can’t wait until I’m big enough to stand up for myself and Mom. She doesn’t deserve the back of his hand or the fist that often flies.

  I hate hiding like a coward, but at fourteen years old I’m still not strong enough to stand up to him. Mom insists that when he gets like this that I make myself scarce and hide somewhere. My closet seems to make me feel safe even though I know he can easily get to me here. I never seem to make it on his radar, either that or he’s just too lazy to seek me out himself. If I’m in plain sight I’m not safe from his anger. I’ve gotten a good beating from him on several occasions.

  I’d rather it be me than Mom, but she says it’s her job to protect me from him when he’s like this, and I’m to do as I’m told and not disobey her. It’s been hard to sit back and not run to her rescue, but he’s so much stronger than I am. I can’t wait for the day that it all changes and the roles are reversed and he’s the one who’s scared of me.

  I hate him so much, and one day I will make him pay for doing the things he does to her, her screams are in my nightmares along with the way she always looks the next day. The only good thing about my dad is he’s a good provider, he holds down a good job even though he’s drunk more than he is sober.

  He must be good at his job for others to turn their heads. He never leaves the house drunk to go to work, but he is always hung over and never walks through the front door after a day of work without being drunk.

  I hear Mom scream and I know that her safety has been compromised, why can’t we be safe in our own home? I’ve begged her to leave many times, she won’t do it, she loves him. She may be completely devoted to him, but I don’t think he feels the same way about her. He tells her all the time that if she leaves he’ll kill her and run off with me. I believe that’s why she stays and takes the abuse she does, fear for me and the unknown.

  I tell her we can make it on our own, I can get a job mowing lawns, take up a paper route and whatever else I can find that is in my age category. I don’t know if she doesn’t believe we could, or if she takes his threats to heart.

  I fall asleep in my closet and dream of better days, times where I protect and keep my mom happy. She never worries about what monsters will come for her at night, or fear where money will come from. I’m older and take care of her and she finally smiles all the time instead of only when it’s the two of us…alone.

  My dreams this night bring a smile to my face, and I know when I wake the next morning that I must make that dream a reality. If I could only figure out a way to make him leave for good.

  One

  Justice

  Joining the Rage Ryders out of high school was the best decision I’ve ever made. I tried to get Mom to leave Dad, but she was insistent that she was fine where she was. I don’t know if she’s just learned to accept the abuse, or if she truly worships him. It makes me sick to this day to think about, which is exactly why I didn’t ever want an Ol’ lady. What if his genes were more prominent in me than I ever knew? I never want to put someone through that the way he put her through it.

  I would enjoy nothing more than to purge him from this earth, but I know I’d be the first suspect since I’ve been so vocal about his abuse to anyone who was willing to listen. I learned the hard way that cops aren’t always on your side, they believe a parent before a troubled kid on any occasion. No matter how many black eyes were shown, or how many broken bones were set, we were pushed aside, and our word was never enough.

  When an arranged marriage was brought u
p in our meeting, and me being the only single officer left, I nearly shit my pants. Literally. Knowing the demons that may lay within me makes me sick to think of what her life could be like with me. I’ve seen how it can tear someone up when they walk on egg shells just to please or not anger the other. “Fuck that shit, that’s not how I want to live my life,” I mutter under my breath. “We don’t even know if we’ll like each other, let alone be able to make a lifelong commitment to each other.”

  I need to talk to Ghost about this shit running through my head, he’s my best friend and the only one I’ve confided in about my past and childhood. If I can only pry him and Bristol apart for a few minutes, I may get my talk I’m in need of. They aren’t at the clubhouse, so I send him a quick text asking if I can stop by. He answers only seconds later letting me know that it is good for me to swing on by. I go to my room, grab my keys and head that way.

  As I am riding and enjoying the freedom of the open road, I can’t help but to think that I have three days until I say I do to someone I’ve never met. Yes, I’m counting down the days…I’m calling it the countdown to dooms day. The day some poor woman will tie herself to me forever. I can’t help but feel a little sorry for her. I don’t think her father knew what he was signing his daughter up for when he decided it was acceptable to give her to me, I don’t see how I can ever make this work.