Unfixable: An Unacceptables MC Standalone Romance Read online

  UNFIXABLE

  AN UNACCEPTABLES MC STANDALONE

  KRISTEN HOPE MAZZOLA

  COPYRIGHT

  Unfixable

  Copyright © 2019 Kristen Hope Mazzola

  Published by Kristen Hope Mazzola

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form, including electronic or mechanical, without written permission from the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embedded in critical articles or reviews.

  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.

  This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This book may not be re-sold 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 you share it with. If you are reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should return it to the seller and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the author’s work.

  Published: Kristen Hope Mazzola 2019

  Cover Design: Kristen Hope Mazzola

  Formatting by: Kristen Hope Mazzola

  Editing by: C. Marie [email protected]

  Created with Vellum

  CONTENTS

  Note from the Author

  Unacceptables MC Logo

  The Unacceptables Bar and Pool Hall Logo

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Epilogue

  Did you enjoy what you just read?

  Want more of the Unacceptables?

  About the Author

  Also by Kristen Hope Mazzola

  AN OUTLAW’S CODE:

  Never say die and never give up.

  Whether in a fight, debate, or curve too tight,

  No matter how bad it gets, an outlaw never shows weakness and never gives up.

  THE UNACCEPTABLES MOTTO:

  Fear none. Respect few.

  NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR

  Thank you so much for picking up a copy of UNFIXABLE. I appreciate the time you spend allowing me to entertain you through my books. I genuinely hope you enjoy this story!

  Please note: This is meant for audiences that are 18+ for sexual situations, language, and adult content.

  This story is not for the faint of heart! But if gore, violence, and sexual situations are your cup of tea, this is the read for you.

  UNACCEPTABLES MC LOGO

  THE UNACCEPTABLES BAR AND POOL HALL LOGO

  PROLOGUE

  KATHERINE

  In an understated club in not the best part of town, I swayed and sang along as The Hysterics elevated their fans into rock and roll bliss. The roaring crowd was packed in like sardines, sweating and dancing to the thundering music. The air conditioning wasn’t keeping up, and as the temperature continued to rise, the muggy heat was getting the better of me but I had to hold out for just a bit longer.

  As the lyrics to my favorite song, The Lifespan of a Firefly, from the underground alternative rock band overtook my soul, I sang my heart out along with the rest of the patrons.

  It's a dull kind of pain that just sits in my heart and weighs me down

  And you're the only one who can fix it

  It burns and erupts at the worst times

  Stinging old wounds that have already been licked clean

  Right when headway is made, the darkness crashes again

  Closing in on my starlight

  Little flicks of magic extinguished one by one

  The firefly's lifespan gets tested over and over

  Thankfully, she is inked into existence for all eternity

  The rock gods started to transition into a fast-paced tempo of a brand-new, not released song and I found my window to escape the muggy heat for a moment. After shoving my way to the back door, I ducked into the alley behind Libations for some much-needed fresh air.

  The thumping bass pulsated through the thick brick wall behind me as the breeze pleasantly floated by. Rolling my head back, I breathed in the damp night air, finally cooling off.

  “Kat? You good?” Vicki called as she joined me.

  “Yeah, just needed to get out of there for a minute.” I smiled at my best friend as she pushed her drenched bangs off of her forehead.

  “Want me to stay with you?” Vicki was the sweetest, but I knew how much she had been looking forward to this concert.

  I waved her off. “I’ll be back in soon. I was just overheating a little.”

  She put her clammy hand on my shoulder. “You sure?”

  I playfully elbowed her back toward the door. “I’m a big girl.”

  After blowing me a kiss, she ducked back into the venue as the next song started to play.

  Reassuming my position propped against the wall, I closed my eyes, taking in the stillness and calm, trying to muster up the energy to rejoin the hoard of elated fanatics. After a few seconds, something deep within me my eyes to open, like some weird spidey sense. I couldn’t put my finger on why, but my heart started to race, my skin prickled and the hairs on my arms stood on end.

  Just as my eyes flew open, a towering man in a dark hoodie was rushing to my side, his face draped in shadows. It all happened too fast. I tried to get to the refuge of the club, my fingers reaching out for the metal knob that was only millimeters away. I tried to fight him off, but there was nothing I could do. The stranger’s arms were wrapped around my frame instantly as he pressed me against the cool bricks.

  “Stop! Help!” I screamed before his leather-gloved hand flew over my mouth.

  Smack.

  Searing pain shot through me as my head slammed into the wall a few times. I screamed and cried as blood started to trickle down the back of my neck.

  “Shhhhh,” he whispered in my ear. “You’re safe, Katherine. Don’t make me hurt you again. I don’t want to hurt you, precious.”

  “How do you know my name?” I tried to shout under the thick fabric. “Who the fuck are you?”

  “I have been waiting for this for a long time, precious,” he cooed before sticking a needle in the side of my neck as I continued struggling in vain, trying to escape his tight grip.

  Whatever he drugged me with worked rapidly, and before I knew what was happening, my body was limp and he was carrying me to a van parked at the end of the alley.

  “Why are you doing this?” I slurred, willing my heavy eyelids to not close.

  Nothing. No response.

  As he tossed me into the back of the blacked-out van, everything faded to darkness.

  CHAPTER 1

  REESE

  SEVEN YEARS LATER

  Sweat dripped from my forehead onto the concrete floor, pooling at my feet. The industrial fan whined in the background of the scorching shop, pushing around the sweltering air. It was stifling, overwhelming, and pissing me the hell off, but without a running bike, I felt useless.

  In the early morning hours on a Sunday, the mechanic shop I helped run was dead. Everyone else was off nursing a hangover from our celebration the night before, but I’d barely taken part in it. Yes, it was a victory, but I didn’t consider the bloodshed something to celebrate
like the rest of my brethren did.

  We were outlaws—we did what we had to do to keep our family safe. It was a necessary evil of the life we chose to live.

  I was a killer, had been my entire adult life, but I didn’t take pleasure in it. I didn’t get anything out of it. Maybe I was dead inside. Maybe I had been born heartless. Who the fuck knows? I sure as shit had no fucking idea and couldn’t give less of a fuck. It was just stitched into my DNA, and I embraced the talent wholeheartedly.

  Grabbing the cleanest rag I could find, I wiped my brow as salty beads of sweat threatened my vision.

  “Reese Hardgrave?” a singsong voice called through the open bay door of the shop.

  Standing, I stretched out my back before starting to walk over to the well-dressed, middle-aged woman. “Who’s asking?”

  Her heels clicked on the dirty floor as she extended her hand out to me. “Sandra Nichols. I am Jett Cowen’s attorney. I was sent to deliver a letter to you.”

  After shaking her hand, I looked into her soft, honey-colored eyes. “He all right?”

  I hadn’t heard that name spoken in over seven years, not since we were at Fort Benning together in the 75th Ranger Regiment gearing up for our second deployment together.

  As Sandra bowed her head, pursing her lips slowly, my heart sank.

  “Is he dead?” I choked on my words as I spoke them.

  Her head shot up as her eyes got wide. “No,” she replied quickly. “Just in a bit of trouble.”

  Pulling a sealed envelope out of her bag, she bit her dark cherry covered lip.

  “What’s it say?”

  Her shoulders tensed. “I was going to ask you the same thing. Mr. Cowen is not very forthcoming, to say the least. I honestly am at a loss with that man. I traveled quite a long way to deliver this to you, Reese, and I really hope it was worth the trip.”

  “Why not just have it couriered over to me or something?” I asked, staring at the thin parcel in my grasp.

  “Mr. Cowen insisted that it go from my hands to yours. He wouldn’t take no for an answer, so here I am.” She crossed her arms over her chest pushing her tits almost into her slender ching, eyeing me as I ripped open the seal and stared at Jett’s frantic chicken scratch scrawled on the loose-leaf paper.

  Reese,

  I know we haven’t spoken in years, but you’re the only one I can trust right now. I found her. After all these years, after they all swore she was dead, after everyone told me I was batshit crazy, after everything—I finally found my sister. I can’t explain everything in this letter, but go to the house at the end of Elm Street, the same one we threw that crazy party at before we left for basic training. The code will be easy enough to figure out for the back door. All of the information is there in the rolltop desk in the basement. Get to her. With me locked up, you’re my last hope. I got too close this time and I am scared that son of a bitch is going to kill her now. Keep her safe until I get out of this hellhole. I am trusting you, brother. She is all I have left. You always had my back all those years ago. I know this is a lot to ask, but you’re the only one who can save her.

  Hooah,

  Jett

  P.S. Rangers lead the way

  “He found her,” I muttered under my breath. I couldn’t believe it. That crazy asshole actually did the impossible.

  “Found who?” the lawyer asked foolishly. If she didn’t know, she wasn’t supposed to.

  “All you need to know is that whatever Jett did, it was for a real good reason. You need to get him out of jail.” I grabbed my truck keys off the workbench behind me. “I have to go.”

  I darted away from her as she stood slack-jawed in her expensive heels in the middle of a grease-covered garage.

  “I don’t know if that is going to be possible,” she called after me.

  “You have to. A girl’s life depends on it.” I looked over my shoulder at her just standing there in the doorway, staring at me with confusion taking over her slender face as I opened the door of my beat-up Chevy.

  “What does that mean?” she yelled, but I ignored her and skidded out of the gravel lot.

  I drove like a bat out of hell to Maccon’s house only a few blocks away. I needed backup, and he was the only one I knew wouldn’t tell me to fuck off for what I was about to ask him to do with me.

  Within a few minutes, I was banging on his front door like a lunatic.

  “Reese?” Allie snapped as she opened the door, pulling her robe tighter around her middle. “It’s the ass crack of dawn. You all right?”

  I rushed passed her, panting, “Is Maccon home?”

  She nodded up the stairs. “He just got outta the shower. What’s goin’ on?”

  There wasn’t time to explain, and Allie would eventually understand that. I took the steps two at a time, leaving Maccon’s sweet wife clueless in the foyer.

  “Maccon?” I yelled into their master bathroom.

  With a towel cinched around his waist, my best friend rushed out the door. “Reese? What the hell are you doing in my bedroom?”

  I rubbed the back of my neck as I started pacing in front of their bed. “I don’t fucking know dude, but I know I am going to need your help.”

  With each step I took, my nerves started to get the better of me. What in the actual fuck was I supposed to do? How in the hell were we going to be able to rescue some dame when her brother wasn’t even able to do it?

  He pulled boxers on under the towel and proceeded to get dressed at a rapid-fire pace. “What’s going on? You get yourself into something?”

  “No, it’s not for me.” I took a long breath in. “A buddy of mine from back in the day needs me to rescue his little sister.” The words came out sharply as the reality of the situation started to actually sink in. The gears were clicking, making my blood pump faster and faster.

  “What in the fuck are you talking about?” Maccon cocked his head to the side, narrowing his eyes at me. “Save whose sister?”

  “We need to go to Georgia—like right the fuck now. I promise I will explain everything on the way.” I stopped right in front of him. “Please, brother.”

  Maccon grabbed his cut from its hook on the back of the door. “Wherever you need, VP. Let’s go.”

  Allie was waiting at the bottom of the stairs for us with her arms crossed over her chest, tapping her foot. “I know that look. See you guys in a few days?”

  Maccon kissed her on the cheek. “I’ll call you as soon as I can, sweetheart.”

  “Be safe—both of you.” The stronger-than-hell woman glared at the two of us as we walked out onto the front porch.

  “We always are,” I reassured her before hopping back into my truck.

  “Should we call Hawk?” Maccon eyed me from the passenger’s seat with his flip phone clutched in his hand.

  I shook my head. “I don’t want to get the rest of the guys involved in this until we know what we’re actually dealing with.”

  “You’re going to need to give me a little more information on this one, man. What kind of shit are we riding up on right now?”

  I sighed. “I don’t really know.” I nodded toward the glovebox. “Read the letter and then I will explain everything I know.”

  Maccon did as I asked, and his jaw dropped to the floorboard instantly. “How many years has your buddy been looking for his sister?”

  “Seven,” I replied. “A little over seven years ago, Jett Cowen and I were Rangers together, and he got the call that his seventeen-year-old sister, Katherine, was missing. He fought to get discharged and has spent every day since looking for her. We lost touch soon after he got out, and I haven’t thought about him in years. If memory serves, she was last seen at some concert with a few of her friends. The cops assumed she was abducted on her way home and then murdered, but they never found her body, just her purse in some dumpster. It was soaked in sweat and blood, but Jett never could let sleeping dogs lie even when everything pointed to the fact that she had been killed. That stubborn asshole wa
s right all this time. Apparently, she’s alive, and we are going to save her.”

  CHAPTER 2

  REESE

  Two packs of cigarettes, three states, and eight hours later, we were pulling up to the tiny house I hadn’t seen since I was barely eighteen years old.

  Throwing the Chevy into park, I grabbed Jett’s letter to read one more time. At that point, I had the damn thing almost memorized. As Maccon snored in the passenger’s seat, I racked my brain, trying to see if Jett was clever enough to leave a hidden clue or some shit in his words, but nothing was jumping out.

  Hooah—that was the only thing that was off. Jett always hated all the Army chants and sayings, constantly complaining that they were stupid and only used when people didn’t know what else to say.

  Shaking Maccon awake, I grumbled, “We’re fucking here, dude.”

  He stretched and rubbed his tired eyes. “Now what?”

  “I figure out the code to the back door and see what the hell Jett has stashed in this fucking place,” I replied, killing the engine and hopping out of my truck.

  I looked down at my phone: three missed calls from Hawk.