Kiss of Death MC, Book 12
A Bones MC Romance
MC Romance / Suspense / Age Gap
Date Published: March 20, 2026
Publisher: Changeling Press
I thought my past buried until I learned I have a critically ill
daughter. Only I can save her life.
Knight -- I just found out I have a daughter. Brynn. Walking back into
Lavender’s world forces me to face the woman I never stopped loving and
the child I failed before I ever knew her. The system doesn’t care that
I’ve changed, and powerful men are willing to sacrifice Brynn’s
future for their own gain. I will not let that happen. I will give my little
girl my kidney without hesitation, and I will fight anyone who stands in our
way. Redemption is not guaranteed, but this time I’m staying.
Lavender -- For eleven years, it was just the two of us, me and my daughter.
Now she needs a kidney transplant, and I’m forced to find the man who
walked out on us. Rhys is no longer the man I loved. He’s harder,
dangerous, and bound to a motorcycle club I don’t trust. I won’t
forgive him, and I don’t want to need him. But when becomes collateral
damage, Rhys proves he won’t walk away again. Letting him back into our
lives could cost me everything, but losing him after this would cost even
more.
Excerpt
Copyright ©2026 Marteeka Karland
Knight
A month ago, I had my life figured out. The people in Kiss of Death MC had
become my brothers and sisters. They’d all had my back, in prison and
out. The club represented the entirety of my loyalty. My life.
A month ago.
I’d been staring at this Goddamned email since I’d found it.
I’d opened it. Read it. Then promptly vomited. I’d told Ada and
she’d been excited, but the longer I thought about it, the more dread
settled in the pit of my stomach.
As with most nights since I’d gotten the email, I sat staring at the
screen. Just… reading the words over and over and trying to make sense
of them. My eyes burned from the blue glow of the screen.
The hit came back as “close relative/first cousin.” Given the DNA
Ada sent in was hers, I had very little doubt this child was my daughter.
Brynn Leahy. Brynn. The name Lavender and I had picked out right after her
senior year of high school. Then later. The night I’d gotten arrested.
She’d asked me about the name Brynn for a baby’s name. Looking
back, after Ada had voiced her suspicions, Lavender might have been going to
tell me then. We’d been interrupted by the feds, of course. Because
I’d gotten greedy and stupid. Lavender had even given the child my last
name instead of hers. I knew Lavender. We’d spent a good deal of our
lives together. Practically grown up together, though I was six years older
than she was.
She’d had a hopeless crush on me my junior year of high school.
She’d been in the fifth grade. Even though I’d started out being
amused by her, she’d quickly grown on me. I’d thought of her as an
adored little sister. Right up until I’d come back from college after
getting my masters in economics -- just in time for her to ask me to her
senior prom.
I never even contemplated telling her no. Never occurred to me. Just got the
day and time she wanted me to pick her up, rented a tux, bought her flowers,
and showed up in a limo. No way she was getting anything but the best.
I’d swaggered to her door. I hadn’t been heavily muscled or
anything, but I knew I was good looking. I also knew that bringing an older
date to her prom would make her friends envious. Then she’d opened the
fucking door…
And I literally fell to my knees on her front porch. I’d begged her to
marry me on the spot. She’d thought I was playing a bit, being dramatic
to make her smile. What she didn’t find out for two solid years was
I’d been totally serious. We’d kept in touch while I’d been
away at school, but I’d never seen her in anything other than jeans and
a T-shirt. The slinky formal dress she’d donned had me wanting to keep
her covered and at the same time show her off so everyone knew the goddess in
the room belonged to me.
Memories sliced through my brain painfully. Lavender had been the one person
in the world I wanted to protect with everything I had. Still did. Apparently,
I’d fucked up twice. First when I decided I could make enough money to
set us up for life sooner rather than later and got caught. Then when
I’d basically told her to get lost and that I never wanted to see her
again. And I wasn’t nice about it.
“Fuck,” I whispered to the empty room. “Fuck, fuck,
fuck.”
I pushed back from the desk, the chair legs scraping against concrete. Cold
sweat broke out across my forehead and ran down my spine. Brynn. Brynn
existed. Brynn lived and breathed in this world. Brynn. My daughter.
The word felt foreign, impossible.
Outside, the compound hummed with night activity. Music thumped dully from the
clubhouse. Engines roared as brothers returned from whatever jobs had kept
them out past midnight. Normal sounds. My life since I’d gotten out of
prison.
I dragged my hands down my face, feeling the rough scratch of stubble. How old
would Brynn be now? Eleven? Christ. A whole person, a part of Lavender and me.
And I’d missed every Goddamned second of her growing up. I’d
basically left Lavender to fend for herself. She’d been a foster kid and
on her own the second she’d turned eighteen. I hadn’t wanted her
to have the life she’d already lost out on. I wanted her to have a
better life. That didn’t include an ex-con for a husband. But I’d
panicked. I hadn’t wanted any blowback to hit Lavender. Looking back, I
could see how big a fucking coward I’d been.
I moved to the tiny window overlooking the compound. These men trusted me with
their lives. Just like I trusted them. I’d carved a new life out for
myself here. Become someone completely different. Lavender would never
recognize me and I seriously doubt she’d like the man I’d become.
I returned to my desk, staring at the e-mail. The DNA service offered a
messaging system. Assuming Brynn was Lavender’s Brynn and not some other
random Brynn Leahy meant Lavender would have been the one to send in the
sample. There could be no other reason for her to put our child’s DNA
out there than for me to find her. Lavender knew the old me better than
anyone. She’d have made things as easy for me as she could have if
she’d wanted me to find her and our daughter.
Like I did every night, I hovered over the email button for a long while. What
the fuck could I possibly say? “Sorry I didn’t know you
existed?” “Sorry I pushed your mom away?” “Sorry
I’m a felon who rides with an outlaw MC and has nothing to offer a
kid?” Somehow, I doubted any of that would be adequate enough.
I wanted to close the email like I had every day since I’d received it.
Instead, I sighed and hit the message button through the service to reach out
to Lavender. Whatever she wanted, whatever had prompted this search, I needed
to know. Even if it destroyed the life I’d built.
But, Goddamnit. No one in my life -- no matter how much they meant to me --
was more important than Lavender. And Brynn. Even if I hadn’t known she
existed.
I spent the next three hours trying to write a Goddamn email. Me, Knight,
resident finance genius and master hacker, sat paralyzed by a blinking cursor.
My first attempt read like a police report. Second one turned into a fucking
apology letter. Third one just said “What do you want from me?”
but nothing felt right.
“Fuck this,” I muttered, shoving away from the desk. My chair hit
the wall with a dull thud. I grabbed the bottle of Jack Daniel’s from
the counter, bypassed a glass, and took a burning swallow straight from the
neck. The whiskey did nothing to ease the tightness in my chest or quiet the
circus in my head.
I took another pull from the bottle and set it down hard on the desk. The few
personal items I kept shifted from the impact. A photo frame wobbled and
nearly fell. The only picture I had from before. Me at eighteen, arms wrapped
around Lavender from behind, both of us laughing at something forgotten. I
kept it to remind myself of everything I’d lost through my own
stupidity.
I didn’t straighten it. Instead, I started typing, addressing Lavender
directly even though the account had Brynn’s name.
Lavender. Why are you looking for me?
I hovered the mouse over the send button. This message opened a door I’d
spent a decade making sure stayed locked. Once I clicked, there’d be no
going back. Whatever Lavender wanted, whatever had driven her to find me,
I’d have to face it. I’d have to face her.
The compound below had quieted, most brothers either passed out or gone home
to their Old Ladies. In the new silence, the click of my mouse seemed
unnaturally loud as I hit send.
I leaned back in my chair, a strange calm settling over me. The waiting would
be the hardest part. Whatever came next, I’d deal with it the same way I
dealt with everything -- head-on, no bullshit, no apologies.
If Lavender needed something from me, she’d have to take me as I am now.
Not the Rhys she remembered, but Knight. The harder, colder, more dangerous
boy she’d once loved.
I turned off my monitors, plunging the room into darkness. Tomorrow would
bring whatever it brought.
And for the first time in eleven years, that included a daughter I never knew
I had.
About the Author
Marteeka Karland is an international bestselling author who leads a double
life as an erotic romance author by evening and a semi-domesticated housewife
by day. Known for her down and dirty MC romances, Marteeka takes pleasure in
spinning tales of tenacious, protective heroes and spirited, vulnerable
heroines. She staunchly advocates that every character deserves a blissful
ending, even, sometimes, the villains in her narratives. Her writings are
speckled with intense, raw elements resulting in page-turning delight entwined
with seductive escapades leading up to gratifying conclusions that elicit a
sigh from her readers.
Away from the pen, Marteeka finds joy in baking and supporting her husband
with their gardening activities. The late summer season is set aside for
preserving the delightful harvest that springs from their combined efforts
(which is mostly his efforts, but you can count it). To stay updated with
Marteeka's latest adventures and forthcoming books, make sure to visit her
website. Don't forget to register for her newsletter which will pepper you
with a potpourri of Teeka's beloved recipes, book suggestions, autograph
events, and a plethora of interesting tidbits.
Author on Instagram & TikTok: @marteekakarland
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