{"id":28135,"date":"2021-11-23T10:34:00","date_gmt":"2021-11-23T16:34:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/twinsietalk.com\/?p=28135"},"modified":"2021-10-31T10:47:28","modified_gmt":"2021-10-31T15:47:28","slug":"newrelease-mc-shakedownsouls-chapel-revenants-mc-book-8-by-lani-lynn-vale","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/twinsietalk.com\/?p=28135","title":{"rendered":"#NewRelease #MC #excerpt – Shakedown(Souls Chapel Revenants MC Book 8) by Lani Lynn Vale"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Shakedown<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Wanted: someone to hand feed me Doritos so my hands don\u2019t get orange. No weirdos.<\/span><\/p>\n

Belle Pena was an editor. Not a writer.<\/p>\n

When her brothers challenge her to create a dating profile, she makes up the most random biography she can think of. She never, not ever, thought she\u2019d find anybody to respond. But she was sorely mistaken.<\/p>\n

Sadly, she finds that she has way more interest than she ever could\u2019ve imagined.<\/p>\n

But only one profile catches her eye.<\/p>\n

Bruno never meant to take the dating app seriously. Being the last single man in his band of misfits, he\u2019s happy being the odd man out. Women spelled trouble, and he had enough trouble in his life to last him through the next decade.<\/p>\n

Only his newfound family doesn\u2019t feel the same. One innocent \u2018sure\u2019 has the women of the Souls Chapel Revenants MC creating him a dating profile that is too spot on to be comfortable. And just when he decides to delete the app entirely, a particular face catches his eye.<\/p>\n

One innocent question of \u2018Belle is that you? Do you remember punching me in the throat in high school?\u2019 has him stepping into trouble neck deep, and he doesn\u2019t even realize it until it\u2019s too late.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Bruno<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cWhy Farmers Only?\u201d I asked, wincing when I read the website\u2019s name.<\/p>\n

\u201cBruno, you have pigs. You\u2019re a farmer. This is perfect,\u201d Six assured me. \u201cIt\u2019ll work out great. You can invite your date out to meet you at your farm. Y\u2019all can go feed all of the animals. Then you can cook her dinner.\u201d<\/p>\n

I looked at Six.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t want to do this,\u201d I told her bluntly.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you do this, I\u2019ll never bring up you leaving me behind again,\u201d Six declared.<\/p>\n

I stared at her, wondering if her words were true.<\/p>\n

I\u2019d do just about anything for her to never bring that up again.<\/p>\n

A long time ago, when we were in high school, her father had given me an ultimatum.<\/p>\n

Leave Six alone, and never contact her again, or he\u2019d make Six\u2019s life a living hell.<\/p>\n

The bad thing was, I knew that he could do it.<\/p>\n

So like any dumbass seventeen-year-old, I\u2019d done it.<\/p>\n

I\u2019d left her behind, gone my own way, and had never looked back.<\/p>\n

At least, for appearance\u2019s sake anyway, that was what I did.<\/p>\n

In reality, I kept an eye on her from a distance, making sure that she was always okay.<\/p>\n

At least, until Lynn, the man that might as well be my very own father, had taken a liking to her.<\/p>\n

Then Six had come back into my life with a vengeance, and ever since she and Lynn had married, I\u2019d found it almost impossible to get back into her good graces.<\/p>\n

Which, might I add, was bullshit.<\/p>\n

I\u2019d done it for her.<\/p>\n

Sure, once I\u2019d \u2018grown up\u2019 I could\u2019ve come back into her life, but who the hell would want an ex-con in their life?<\/p>\n

I knew that I wouldn\u2019t want anyone like me in Six\u2019s life.<\/p>\n

Hell, it was bad enough that I had to allow her husband, Lynn, to have a part of her life. If anything, Lynn was worse than I was.<\/p>\n

But at least he loved her and would protect her.<\/p>\n

That was more than I\u2019d done for her.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s not going to matter to him, honey,\u201d Lynn said. \u201cHe believes that he deserves your ire, so he won\u2019t care if you stop.\u201d<\/p>\n

That was true.<\/p>\n

I did deserve her ire.<\/p>\n

I\u2019d left her, like she\u2019d said.<\/p>\n

Then again, I\u2019d left a lot of people behind in my thirty-two years. Six was just one of many.<\/p>\n

\u201cFine,\u201d she said. \u201cThen just do it because I want you to be happy.\u201d<\/p>\n

My eye started to twitch.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m an ex-con, Six,\u201d I said. \u201cNo woman\u2019s going to want anything to do with me on Farmers Only. Or any website for that matter.\u201d<\/p>\n

Six rolled her eyes. \u201cBruno, you\u2019re hot, successful, and you\u2019re unattached. Trust me when I say that any woman is going to go for you, ex-con status or not.\u201d<\/p>\n

I sighed.<\/p>\n

\u201cI shot and killed someone. On purpose. There was no \u2018oh, I might or might not have been high on adrenaline because he beat up my sister.\u2019 I shot and killed someone. On. Purpose. People don\u2019t just get over that because I\u2019m hot,\u201d I argued.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou shot someone because you had to.\u201d She waved my worry away. \u201cAnd trust me when I say, someone out there will understand.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hell, I didn\u2019t even understand.<\/p>\n

And I\u2019d been the one to do the shooting.<\/p>\n

Granted, the guy had been a piece of shit.<\/p>\n

He\u2019d raped three women. He\u2019d beat up his own mother. And he\u2019d all but maimed a two-year-old with his careless actions.<\/p>\n

But that wasn\u2019t my reasoning for killing the piece of shit.<\/p>\n

Hell, I hadn\u2019t even known about all of that other stuff.<\/p>\n

I\u2019d known that the motherfucker had tried to kill me because of some suspected slight, and I\u2019d had no other choice but to shoot him and suffer the consequences. That was it. Me or him.<\/p>\n

I\u2019d chosen me.<\/p>\n

And then I\u2019d spent the next eighteen months behind bars until the parole board had learned of all the other shit that the man had done in his life. Then they\u2019d been all, \u2018Oh, no. We need heroes like you on the outside.\u2019 Which was a bunch of shit.<\/p>\n

I was no hero.<\/p>\n

\u201cAre you even listening to me?\u201d Six snapped.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou know he\u2019s not listening to you.\u201d Catori, one of my brothers\u2019 wives, chuckled.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhere is your cut?\u201d another woman asked. \u201cYou can\u2019t take a picture like that. You have to have your cut on.\u201d<\/p>\n

I looked over to find Swayze, Trick\u2019s wife, staring at me with her phone in her hand.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause leather and bikers go hand in hand,\u201d she said. \u201cIf you don\u2019t have your cut on, nobody will know that you\u2019re in a club. And being in a club automatically ratchets up the hotness factor.\u201d<\/p>\n

I rolled my eyes. \u201cIt got dirty. Had to have it dry-cleaned.\u201d<\/p>\n

In all honesty, it got blood on it, and I\u2019d had to douse it down with the water hose before taking it to the dry cleaners to see if they could salvage it.<\/p>\n

If not, I might or might not need to find a new one.<\/p>\n

I was hoping that it came out, though.<\/p>\n

Or, at least, when I wore it, it didn\u2019t look like I\u2019d tie-dyed it in blood.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell that\u2019s just stupid,\u201d Swayze grumbled as she put her phone down.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have one from last week,\u201d Blaise called out, pumping her fist into the air as if she\u2019d hit the jackpot. \u201cAnd he looks good in it. He\u2019s not even scowling!\u201d<\/p>\n

I rolled my eyes.<\/p>\n

\u201cOh, that one\u2019s perfect. Send it to me.\u201d Six was still typing away at the computer. \u201cWhat do you think of this biography for a profile? Hobby pig farmer by day, Souls Chapel Revenant MC by night. Thirty-two-year-old man looking for a woman that isn\u2019t afraid to get her hands dirty. Anybody that can\u2019t manage that need not reply.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we should add this\u2026\u201d Wyett suggested as she rattled off her idea of edits.<\/p>\n

I sighed and sipped my beer, wondering idly how long it would take to get dinner figured out.<\/p>\n

I was ready to go home.<\/p>\n

Today had been long, and my fucking knuckles were aching.<\/p>\n

Even worse, I think my back was acting up again.<\/p>\n

I\u2019d have to make another appointment at the chiropractor. The one that was scared of me.<\/p>\n

Yay.<\/p>\n

\u201cOhhh.\u201d One of the ladies laughed, catching my attention.<\/p>\n

\u201cOh, here\u2019s one for you.\u201d Six dissolved into laughter, turning the computer screen my way.<\/p>\n

Wanted: Man to feed me Doritos so my fingers don\u2019t get orange. No weirdos.<\/em><\/p>\n

My ideal match: No animals, no kids, no annoying voices, doesn\u2019t like beaches, can deal with me not talking, and doesn\u2019t mind when I talk down to you or that I\u2019m smarter than you. Also, it\u2019d be ideal if you don\u2019t like to cuddle, because my body temperature runs hot, and I don\u2019t generally like people touching me skin to skin. Is blunt and doesn\u2019t try to use sarcasm. Won\u2019t try to get me to go out to places where there is a large group setting.<\/em><\/p>\n

Again, no weirdos.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cThis chick sounds like she\u2019s perfect for you.\u201d Six clicked on the photo, but she didn\u2019t need to.<\/p>\n

I\u2019d seen the photo.<\/p>\n

The woman was gorgeous.<\/p>\n

Though I couldn\u2019t see her height, I could make out other things.<\/p>\n

She was curled up in a chair that looked like a cocoon of sorts. One with really tall sides, big, poofy cushions, and it was all hanging from a contraption from the ceiling.<\/p>\n

She had her knees crisscrossed in front of her, and she was wearing a baggy white t-shirt, black horn-rimmed glasses, and had a book partially in front of her face.<\/p>\n

That book happened to be one of my favorites.<\/p>\n

Captain\u2019s Fury<\/em>\u00a0by Jim Butcher.<\/p>\n

In all honesty, that was the very first thing to catch my eye.<\/p>\n

Her hair, which was so fuckin\u2019 curly that I knew if I tried to run my fingers through it, they\u2019d get caught at least a dozen times.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s perfect,\u201d Crockett declared. \u201cMessage her. But don\u2019t make it weird. Make it\u2026 sweet.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBruno\u2019s not sweet,\u201d one of the boys, likely Sin, called out. \u201cDon\u2019t make him come off as sweet. The chick will definitely know that it wasn\u2019t him that wrote it.\u201d<\/p>\n

I rolled my eyes.<\/p>\n

\u201cMessaged her. Let\u2019s see what she says.\u201d Six squealed, clapping her hands.<\/p>\n

I sighed.<\/p>\n

\u201cOh, she already messaged back. Oh my God. She said, \u2018Hell no.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

My brows lifted at that.<\/p>\n

\u201cOh, she\u2019s perfect. I just know it.\u201d Six snickered.<\/p>\n

\u201cOh my God. I knew she looked familiar! That\u2019s Belle Pena! One of my good friends! Sorry, Bruno. But there\u2019s no way in hell that she\u2019s going to agree to date you. She has a type,\u201d Beckham said as she settled her son, Hiro, more firmly on her shoulder.<\/p>\n

She looked like she was lagging, though.<\/p>\n

I bent forward and caught the kid before Beckham, who really was interested in this whole mess, dropped her own kid.<\/p>\n

Beckham didn\u2019t even notice that she was giving him away to me before she was insinuating herself into the bullshit.<\/p>\n

I tipped back the beer and settled the kid more solidly on my shoulder.<\/p>\n

He snuggled in deep, buried his face in my neck, and promptly sneezed all down my neck.<\/p>\n

Gross.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Goodreads<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n