Dare To Run (The Sons of Steel Row #1)
Jen McLaughlin
About the Author
Jen McLaughlin is the New York Times bestselling author of numerous books including the Out of Line novels. She has also written under the name Diane Alberts.
For more information, visit her website: www.jenmclaughlin.com, find her on Facebook: www.facebook.com/DianeAlberts6 or follow her on Twitter: @DianeAlberts.
Praise for the thrilling romance of Jen McLaughlin:
‘A fast-paced, sexy read with the perfect bad boy in Lucas. Warn your loved ones they will be ignored when you’re reading Dare To Run!’ Erin McCarthy, New York Times bestselling author ‘With hot, sexy chemistry and heroes to die for, Jen McLaughlin’s books always deliver!’ Laura Kaye, New York Times bestselling author ‘A sexy forbidden romance – my favorite kind of read!’ Monica Murphy, New York Times bestselling author
‘Addicting from start to finish! A sexy, emotional, steamy read’ Addison Moore, New York Times bestselling author ‘Jen McLaughlin’s books are sexy and satisfying reads!’ Jennifer Probst, New York Times bestselling author
‘I devour [Jen McLaughlin’s] books no matter what genre she’s writing in’ Romance for Every World
‘A really enjoyable read. No one does angst and romance quite like Jen McLaughlin does . . . I laughed, shook my head and swooned’ Once Upon a Book Blog
‘Fast-paced and utterly romantic’ Book Angel Booktopia
By Jen McLaughlin
The Sons of Steel Row Series
Dare To Run
Dare To Stay
Dare To Run (The Sons of Steel Row #1)
Jen McLaughlin
About the Book
The Sons of Steel Row.
Being bad can be so good.
Lucas Donahue is not ashamed of his criminal past but, after a brief stint in prison, he’s ready to go legit. The thing is, no one leaves the gang without permission – as the hit placed on him shows. He really doesn’t need to get involved with a feisty bartender who’s likely to cause him even more trouble.
Heidi Greene knows to keep her distance from a dangerous ladies’ man like Lucas – even if she can’t keep her eyes off him. When he rescues her from an attack outside her bar, she’s forced to stay by his side for safety. But the longer she spends with him, the greater her chances are of getting hurt – in more ways than one . . .
The stakes are dangerously high . . . and the passion is seriously intense. Follow the exploits of the Sons of Steel Row in Dare To Run and Dare To Stay.
This one goes out to my agent, Louise.
You said we could get me here, and we did.
Thank you for all that you do.
CHAPTER 1
LUCAS
The smells of rotting fish, salt water, and dying dreams on the docks of Boston Harbor were all too familiar to me, but even so . . . they made me reflect on my choices every single f*cking time. I’d lived in the heart of Boston my whole life, but I’d never taken the time to enjoy the city the way the tourists did. For them, it was all about a celebration of freedom and liberty. It was all memories and American pride and all the shit that goes with it.
For me, the city meant jail time for assault, bloody bar fights, meaningless one-night stands, blackouts from binge drinking, money lost to gambling, lives lost to violence, and shady shipments on the docks at midnight. Which was why I stood here in the dark, with no moon shining brightly, watching a bunch of sweaty men struggle to unload crates from an incongruous shipping container that looked as if it carried car parts but held so much more. The lack of natural light made the job nearly impossible, but we weren’t about to turn on the spotlights so they could see better.
As I watched, I crossed my arms and tapped my foot impatiently. We were well within the allotted time I’d scheduled of twenty minutes, but it felt as if I’d been standing on these smelly-ass docks for hours, watching men grunt and curse at one another for not moving fast enough. They’d probably move a little faster if they stopped throwing nervous glances my way, silently communicating with one another about the “new” guy, fresh outta lockup.
I didn’t have the patience for this type of shit, which was why I didn’t normally oversee this portion of the business. Supervising the weapons shipments was my little brother’s territory, but word had come in that the ATF had been tipped off on the impending shipment of guns. So I’d told Scotty to keep his ass home and I’d take care of things.
To throw the feds off, I’d moved our delivery up, and now I was standing on the docks watching for any suspicious activity . . . in more ways than one. Scotty, on the other hand, had opted to spend his night off trying to get in the pants of some girl he “loved,” attending some lame-ass event to prove he was a “decent” guy.
He wasn’t.
None of us were.
Illegal guns were just part of what we dealt with, for f*ck’s sake. That didn’t exactly scream decency to me. Knowing Scotty, he’d been up front about his employment, tossing the bad-boy element in the girl’s face. It had obviously worked. Me? I tended to avoid anything that required more than a slap on the ass and a thank-you as she walked out the door, never to be seen or heard from again. I’d been locked away from society for too long to try for anything else.