Strikers yield devils ri.., p.1
Striker's Yield (Devil's Riot MC Book 13), page 1
STRIKER’S YIELD
DEVIL’S RIOT MC
BOOK 12
E.C. LAND
CONTENTS
Acknowledgments
Trigger Warning
Playlist
Devil’s Riot MC Members
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
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Epilogue
Author’s Note
Also By E.C. Land
Battling Aries
Touching Diablo
Tucker’s Strike
Social Media
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
So many people to acknowledge, but first and foremost, my family. They always have my back and support me. My husband and kids are my biggest cheering team, and I couldn’t ask for better.
Next, I’d have to shout out to all my readers for sticking with me and enjoying the world I’ve created.
Then there’s my team, everyone who works alongside me to ensure that each book I release is ready to go when the time comes. I couldn’t ask for better.
TRIGGER WARNING
This content is intended for mature audiences only. It contains material that may be viewed as offensive to some readers, including graphic language, dangerous and sexual situations, murder, rape, and extreme violence.
Proceed with caution. This book does entail several scenes that may very well be a trigger to some.
Also, tissues are a must with other scenes.
Not for the faint at heart.
If you don’t like violence and cannot handle certain subjects, then this is not a book you’ll want to read.
Striker’s Yield
This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are all products of the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblances to persons, organizations, events, or locales are entirely coincidental.
Striker’s Yield. Copyright © 2024 by E.C. Land. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the author, except in the case of brief quotations used in articles or reviews. For information, contact E.C. Land.
Cover Design by CT Creations, Clarise Tan
Editing by Jackie Ziegler
Formatting by E.C. Land
Proofreading by Rebecca Vazquez
Take a look at the playlist for Striker’s Yield!
Trouble – Josh Ross
Ride 4 Me – Austin Tolliver
Mug Shot – Colt Graves
Poison – Savannah Dexter
Getaway – Eddie And The Getaway, David J
Never Leave Your Guns Behind – Bryan Martin
Slow – LECADE
Unlove You – Troy Cartwright
Pray All The Way Home – Austin Snell
Devil You Know – Tyler Braden
Leave Me Alone – Tyler Braden
Leave A Light On (Talk Away The Dark) – Papa Roach
Wish I Never Felt – Nate Smith
Darlin’ – Chase Matthew
Take the Lonely – Hayden Coffman
Fine Red Wine – Overtime
DEVIL’S RIOT MC MEMBERS
O – OL’ LADY C – CHILD
Devil’s Riot MC Franklin
Twister – Prez – Izzy – O
Leanna Mercy– C
Horse – VP – Kenny – O
Jason Cole (JC) – C
Kayla – C
Caden – C
Thorn – Sergeant at Arms – Lynsdey – O
William Michael (Bud) – C
Anna-leigh Cleo – C
Rage – Road Captain – Cleo – O
Reagan – C (deceased)
Rosaline – C
Devin – C
Dragon – Medic – Connors – O
Gadget – Tech – Connors – O
Logan – C
Kagan – C
Keegan – C
Hades – Enforcer – Emerson – O
Alec – C
Burner – Treasurer – Ally – O
Lincoln –C
Badger – Member – Jordan – O
Nico – C
K-9 – Member
Red – Member
Striker – Member – Autumn – O
Brass – Member – Athena – O
Jesse – C
Mac – Prospect (Deceased)
Devil’s Riot MC Originals
Stoney – Prez – Rachel – O
Horse (Scotty) – Stoney’s C
Luca – C
Corinne – C
Sebastian – C
Talon – C
Tracker – VP –– Victoria – O
Jamie – C
Jason – C (adopted)
Blaze – Sergeant at Arms –– Raven – O
Matthew – C
Mark – C
Coyote – Road Captain – Tinsley – O
Cody – C
Chase – C
Bear – Former Road Captain –– Momma B – O (deceased)
Rage (Travis) – C
Jane – C (deceased)
Nerd – Tech – Cara – O
Shadow – Enforcer – Luna – O
Daniel – C
Ranger – Medic – Harlow – O
Venom – Secretary – Amaya – O
Whip – Chaplain
Viper – Treasurer
Neo – Member – Harley – O
Cane – Member – Parker – O
Piper – C
Devil’s Riot MC Southeast
Hammer – Prez – Avery – O
Tate – C
Malice – VP – Willow – O
Gates – C
Gavin – C
Gemini – C
Axe – Sergeant at Arms – CJ – O
Savage – Road Captain – Honor – O
Gunner – Enforcer – Zennia – O
Delilah – C
Cy – Tech
Bruiser – Treasurer – Gwyneth – O
Dagger – Medic
Rogue – Secretary – Rebel – C
Glock – Member
Ruger – Member
Blade – Member
Colt – Member
Carbine – Member
Devil’s Riot MC Tennessee
Blow – Prez – Storm – O
Nines –VP – Meadow – O
Keys – Tech
Lucky – Sergeant at Arms – Chelsea – O
Shiner – Enforcer – Olive – O
Milo – C
Griz – Road Captain
Surge – Treasurer
Scorn – Chaplain
Sniper – Member – Rain – O
Nerd (Nick) – C
Storm – C
Flash – Member
Switchblade – Member
Torch – Member
Devil’s Riot MC Colorado
Grinder – Prez
Blue – VP
Driver – Sergeant at Arms
Flicker – Road Captain
Wrecker – Enforcer
Tic – Tech
Quake – Treasurer
Rocky – Chaplain
Rex – Member
Player– Member
Blood – Prospect
Devil’s Riot MC Mississippi
Viper – Prez – Jade – O
Cyprus – VP – Noelle – O
Kevlar – SAA – Rosemary – O
Aries – Road Captain
Wolf – Enforcer
Black – Treasurer
Vulture – Hacker
Mace – Medic
Sabor – Secretary
Falcon – member
Dutch – member
Granite – member
Wrecker – Prospect
Chrome – Prospect
PROLOGUE
Autumn
Eight Months Ago . . .
“Please, please don’t do this,” I cry, pleading for my sister’s life.
“Shut up,” Rick, my sister’s stupid ex, shouts.
Tears stream down my face as I do everything I can to get my sister, but I’m unable to do so. Rick ensured it by locking me out of the house. He came in and threw me out, locking the storm door so I couldn’t get back in. All I could do was shout and scream for him to open the door.
I knew he wasn’t going to do it, though. He’s not just stupid. He’s a total psycho who should’ve been locked away years ago.
Avery learned the hard way when it came to him. My sister thought differently of him for a long time. He never showed his true colors. Not until he had her where he wanted her. Secluded away from everyone else.
Everyone but me.
She’s my twin sister, and I would never allow her to seclude herself from me. I fought for this and even got in Rick’s face about it, which is something I would never do under normal circumstances.
“Rick, you can’t do this.” I bang on the door once again, flat
palm, and jerk at the handle.
“She’s fuckin’ mine, and you took her from me.” Rick whirls around, waving the gun in my direction with one hand, holding my sister to him by her neck in the other. “I’m not going to let you or anyone else take her from me.”
Avery’s eyes meet mine, and I see the knowing fear in hers. She knows what he’s going to do. I know what he’s going to do. He’s going to kill her like he’s threatened to do more times than I can remember.
“Rick, we can talk about this,” I try once again to get him to calm down. “Just put the gun down, and we can talk about this. You know you don’t want to hurt her. If you love her, you won’t kill her.”
“The hell I won’t.” Rick turns the gun back to my sister’s head. “She’s mine. If I kill her, no one can take her from me again.”
In the next second, Rick pulls the trigger. To my horror, I watch him take my sister’s life. Her body slumped, half her face blown away.
Rick drops her body, and she falls to the floor with a heavy thump.
With wide eyes, I lift my gaze to stare at Rick, who lifts his gun under his chin, eyes on me. A smile played on his lips. “Now, you can’t take her away from me again.” Pulling the trigger, he takes his own life.
My breath seizes in my lungs, and I struggle to breathe. To feel anything. My sister meant the world to me. She was the other half of who I was. Who I am.
Several years ago, we’d left home, taking the money our parents gave us, and we decided to pick places off the map to start up a business. She wanted to open a café. So, we did. It was my sister’s dream to start up a café, a coffee shop-style place. Together, we worked to make it happen.
Our folks wanted to do what they could and gave us the start-up money, so neither of us had to get a loan from the bank. They weren’t rich by any means, but our grandparents, Dad’s parents, left an inheritance. Mom and Dad didn’t want the money. They told Avery and me we could have it to pay for college, though they’d been saving for that too. But college wasn’t for either of us. Sure, we took some accounting courses as part of the deal with our parents.
When we finished, Dad handed us both a check. He told us to follow our dreams, and we did.
We started Falls Café in Stonewall Mills and Avery’s Café in Franklin. They’re hours apart. I stayed to handle Falls Café for a while until business was good and a manager was in place. Then, I moved to Franklin to be with my sister.
She’d been with Rick for about two months when I moved in with her. He wasn’t too happy about that and didn’t hide his displeasure. She shrugged it off, but I didn’t, I watched him.
A few times, I caught him being a bit rough.
It took a while for Avery to see what I saw. When she did, the break-up was ugly, but he finally stopped. Or we thought he stopped.
I should have known he wasn’t done.
I shouldn’t have taken the day trip to check in on Falls Café. I suggested to Avery that she come with me, but she didn’t want to close her café.
This was fine, or I thought it was.
Business was good. We had customers coming in. The girls from the salon next to us were always coming for coffee. They found out we offered catering, and I swear they nearly lost their minds.
I’d been out of town for one event, and the next one was a wedding. A biker wedding at that. Avery had been busy, so she hadn’t been able to come with me.
A few of the women there, I learned, were ol’ ladies to the bikers, and they’d mistaken me for Avery. I hadn’t corrected them at the time. Mostly because I found myself transfixed by a guy who didn’t even know I existed.
Tall, dark-haired, with a maintained beard that wasn’t overly long, nor was it trimmed too barely there. He had tattoos on both arms. But it was the eyes that really did it for me. They were this dark blue, the likes I hadn’t seen before. So beautiful, enthralling, and mesmerizing. One look at him, and he’d taken my breath away.
The only problem was he didn’t know I even existed. I’d seen him, but he hadn’t seen me.
A couple months after the wedding, Avery and I were in the café together when several of the women who had been at the wedding, including the women next door, came in. They took one look at us and gave a surprised gasp. Usually, one of us was in the back and the other was in the front. Most of the time, it was her out front while I handled the paperwork.
“How had we never realized you were twins?” Emerson, the owner of the salon next door, asks.
Avery laughed and looked at me. “We’re identical twins.”
“Our own parents struggle to tell us apart even now.”
“You’re like a clone of each other,” Kenny, the woman we’d catered a wedding for, states.
We all laughed and joked about it.
I suck in a breath and then another. Sirens could be heard coming from the distance. One of the neighbors must have called the police when they heard the gun going off. Or they called when they heard me shouting at the top of my lungs.
Turning away from the sight in the house, I stumbled to the steps and slowly took a seat to wait for the police. There were going to be questions to answer. I was going to need to call our parents and tell them what happened. This was going to break them. I just knew it.
One thing at a time.
One moment forward.
Everything in me hurts right now. Losing Avery and watching Rick take her life, it feels like it killed something inside me.
CHAPTER 1
Striker
Present Day . . .
“Lila, you’re not going to some party, and that’s final,” I snap, glaring at my little sister.
“But Striker,” she whines, stomping her foot and crossing her arms. “It’s not fair. You don’t let me do anything fun.”
“That’s not true, and you know it. You’re just not going to some party that I don’t know the players,” I tell her, not letting her tantrum bother me. I’ve been raising her since she was ten and moved her in with me. I know what she’s like. Also, I know she’s a beautiful girl, and I don’t want anything to happen to her.
In the past years, hell, in the past few months, I’ve seen a hell of a lot of shit happen to women I know. There’s no way I want something to happen to my little sister.
“It’s not like I’d be going alone. Marcie and Valerie would be going with me,” Lila states like that means anything to me.
“Not happenin’, Lila. Give it up. You and your friends want to do something, fine, do it here at the house where I know you’re safe,” I suggest and pull my cut on. “I’ve got to get to Devil’s Nirvana.”
“Fine, whatever,” Lila snaps, throwing her hands in the air. “I’ll tell them to come over here, and we’ll just watch movies and order pizza.”
“Good.” I nod, shoving my wallet and keys in my pocket. “Don’t think to get any wild ideas, thinking you can run off after I leave. Prospect will be watching, and Athena’s gonna come by. Think Jessie wanted to hang out with you.”
Athena’s son had a bit of a crush on Lila and loved hanging out with her. Mostly because she always gave him her attention no matter what was going on around them.
Lila’s eyes narrow to slits as she glares at me. “You set me up,” she accuses.
Smirking, I shrug. “What can I say? I know how to make sure my little sister keeps her ass safe.”
I don’t give Lila a chance to come up with a retort. I’m already running late as it is. Brass had plans with Athena, and I needed to get there so he could do whatever he’s got planned.
Striding out to the garage, I open the door and head to one of the two bikes I bought after the wreck that fucked up my leg. I hadn’t been able to ride for months.
Between the physical therapy and getting my head around the accident where that stupid bitch Selina had nearly killed me, I haven’t been myself. My brothers knew. My sister knew it. Everyone knew it.
I went from being laid back around everyone to pretty much being a dick to anyone not family. I knew this, and I didn’t give a fuck. The way I see it, you come around, you gotta earn my respect.
Leaving the house, I hit the throttle and give a chin lift to the prospect as he pulls up in front of my house. At least I know Lila’s protected here at the house while I’m busy.
I don’t like leaving her alone, but she just turned seventeen. Her independence strike spiked even higher than it ever has. She’s bound and determined she’s going to live her life, party, and do whatever she wants. I don’t have a problem with her doing her thing to an extent. I’ll always do what it takes to protect her, even when she doesn’t like it.
