Rexs code, p.1
Rex's Code, page 1
Rex’s Code
Forever Midnight MC
Book Five
Victoria Gale
Published in 2026
First Edition
© 2026 Deryn Publishing
All characters, places and events are fictional. Any resemblance to real persons, places or events is purely coincidental.
The moral rights of the author have been asserted.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, copied, stored or distributed in any form, without prior written permission of the publisher.
"I am no bird; and no net ensnares me: I am a free human being with an independent will."
— Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre
Prologue
Rahat
My fingers raced over the keyboard as I pored over my script. I'd always loved this. The thrill that came with seeing my code work, with knowing that I solved a puzzle and achieved a goal.
The fan whirred overhead, sending a cooling draft down my spine that made me shudder. The room was filled with the soft glow of blue screens. I glanced at the clock on my screen and then out the window and the darkness beyond. It was a little after 9 pm. I wasn't sure when everyone else had left. I'd been too wrapped up in my work to notice. For all I knew, they could have left hours ago. I should have too, but I wanted this finished, and more importantly, so did Adam.
I hadn't known him for very long. At twenty-four, he was a good few years older than me. He'd known my cyber security lecturer at uni and turned up to one of my lessons. After class, he'd approached me and mentioned how he heard I was good at coding. A few of the guys were going out for drinks later, and he invited me along. He had these piercing blue eyes, slightly wavy brown hair, and a neatly trimmed beard and moustache that served to sharpen his already chiselled jawline. To say he was gorgeous would be an understatement. He reminded me of a young Paul Newman. The actor was one of Mum's favourites. She loved the brooding, charismatic antihero type. But any illusion I'd had that Adam would be a lovable rogue was quickly diminishing.
He moved behind me and leaned over my shoulder while staring at my computer screen. I kept my eyes fixed on the monitor, though every part of me had gone still. "Wow," he said as he rested his hand on my head before trailing it down my cheek and brushing my long black hair over my shoulder. "You are fucking extraordinary."
I tried not to squirm under his touch. I was a fucking idiot is what I was. I should have left with the others and never put myself in a situation where I was alone with him. Hell, I should never have agreed to those drinks all those months ago. He'd met me at Velour, once. The club was owned by Carina's brother, Gabriel. She warned me against him then and there, said how he gave off bad vibes. I'd shrugged off her opinion at the time. She'd been my bestie since we both started secondary school, and in that entire time, neither she nor her brother had been particularly warm to members of the opposite sex. Though don't get me wrong, they both welcomed and loved a lot of attention. They just didn't take any of it seriously. Besides, Carina could never understand what it was like to be British-Indian. Even at fifteen, she was a petite brunette with olive skin and gorgeous wavy hair and even more gorgeous curves. She never had to work at being bubbly. I was a lanky geek who spent all of her time in front of a computer. I didn't exactly get a lot of attention from boys. Sure I'd worked hard over the years to get the best figure possible. I'd even splashed some cash on a boob job as soon as I turned eighteen. Still, Adam was the first person who ever looked at me like I was something to be desired.
I wished he wouldn't.
"Save everything you have," he said, resting his hands on my shoulders this time. "I want to go over it." He rubbed my collarbones and pressed his thumbs into the side of my neck. The pressure kind of hurt. I tried not to let it show, but he had to feel my heart racing. "I want your back-up data too."
"B-back-up." My shoulders hunched and the words came out pained as Adam dug his thumb in hard to the muscle that connects my shoulders to my neck. My eyes watered at the sharp pain that radiated through my whole head like a hot wire being pulled tight inside me. After a few seconds, he released the pressure, making me gasp. The pain dimmed, replaced by a sudden flush of warmth, but a phantom pressure remained.
He smiled and brushed his hand against the same spot. I flinched and waited for the return of the pain. It didn't come. Instead, Adam backed away from my chair. My hands still hovered over the keyboard. I tried to still their shaking, to catch my breath, but my heart was racing too fast, and my mind was a blur of confused thoughts. The only thing I knew with any certainty was that I had to get out of here.
Adam moved behind me. Afraid to turn around, I watched his reflection in my monitor as he leaned against the window frame. A smile split his face as he pretended to study his nails. "I'm waiting," he said after a moment.
I swallowed down the lump forming in my throat. "It's all saved."
"And your back-up."
My eyes remained fixed on the screen. "My um... laptop’s in my bag." Ice flooded my veins as I motioned across the room to my bag. It sat about three feet from the door. As well as my laptop, the keys to both my car and apartment were inside, as was my phone. If I could only...
I rose, slowly, from my chair. My legs felt weak, like they wanted to buckle beneath me, and my stomach felt like there was a rock inside it, dragging me down. But I lifted my chin high and walked towards my backpack. Adam shifted from the window ledge and hovered near one of the desks. Then, he turned his back to me and glanced out the window. I took the only opportunity I had. I grabbed my bag and rushed for the door. My hand clasped onto the doorknob, ready to yank it open and rush outside. But a monitor exploded against the door, mere inches from my head.
A heartbeat later, Adam was across the room. He fisted his hand in my hair and yanked my head back. His hot breath sizzled against my cheek as tears flooded my eyes.
"Adam... please."
His only response was to tighten his grip on my hair and yank my head back further. He used his other hand to run a trail down my shoulder, and over my T-shirt until it cupped my breast. He leaned close and brushed his lips against my ear. My breath hitched and my head swam. The walls closed in around me. I couldn't breathe, couldn't think.
"Please," I said again, though I wanted to scream.
With one hand still firmly in my hair, Adam yanked the backpack from my hand and shook the contents out of it. They fell to our feet with a thud, and for a second, Adam's grip on my hair lessened. But then he slammed my head into the wood of the door. My vision blurred and the metallic taste of blood filled my mouth. I tried to fight and claw at his hand. He slammed me into the door again, and then released his grip, and dropped to pick up my laptop.
The next thing I knew, he had me spun around and the laptop was pressed tight against my throat while my body was pressed tight against the door. My head throbbed, my vision swam, and I couldn't even swallow.
"You're mine," he said as he sniffed the side of my face. "Every line of code you write. Every thought in that brilliant fucking head of yours." He ran his tongue up my cheek, and a sob escaped my lips. "It all belongs to me. You belong to me."
With that, he removed the laptop from my throat and wiped a tear from my cheek. The door was hard and cold at my back as slid down the wall and hugged my knees tight, unsure if he'd ever let me leave.
Adam placed my laptop on the desk where I'd been working earlier. He straightened his cuffs. Nonchalant. Like nothing had happened, and I wasn't sitting on the floor with blood in my mouth. "I'll see you tomorrow. You get out of your Network Configuration lesson at 2 pm, if I'm not mistaken."
He wasn't, though I'd never told him my class schedule. The fact landed in my stomach like a stone. I only nodded in response, before gathering the spilled items from my bag and leaving.
The fresh cold air outside hit me like another blow to the face, and I ran, and ran, and ran. I didn't know where I was headed until Carina answered her front door.
"Fuck, Rahat," she said after taking one look at me, and then enveloped me in a bear hug. "What the fuck happened?" she asked as she dragged me inside and guided me to her sofa.
"You were right about Adam," I said, before telling her what happened.
Her eyes darkened. She grit her teeth and shook her head. "Gabriel will fix this," she said and then left me alone with a mug of hot tea while she called him.
Chapter 1
Rahat (Six Years Later)
God, it was good to be back in London. The city hadn't changed a bit in the six months I'd been in Colorado. The heavy bass coming from Velour hit us as soon as we stepped out of the taxi, along with the ozone scent left behind from an earlier rain shower and the exhausts of too many cars.
I smoothed down the hem of my cute ruby-red mini dress while Rex came around from his side of the taxi and offered me his hand. I took it with a beaming smile on my face. We were going to meet Gabriel, and I was beyond excited to show him my home and have him meet my family. Although Gabriel was technically not family, he might as well be. He was my best friend's brother and the owner of Velour. He was also always there for me when I needed him growing up. He also had business dealings with Forever Midnight, the motorcycle club Rex belonged to, and I guess Carina married into when she wed Jameson.
"Wow, the clubs busy for a Tuesday," Rex said as he looked up at the club’s black awning and the queue snaking back along the street.
"It's always like this. Velour doesn't do quiet."
He'd left his club jacket bac k at the hotel. It was weird seeing him without it. But I was glad he had. For one, tonight was hot. Like really hot! He would have been sweaty if he kept it on. But I was even more glad because it meant I got to drape myself on the arm of a fucking hunk of a man whose tight T-shirt did nothing to hide his lean body beneath. With his broad chest and defined muscles, not to mention his super sexy hair with that tousled fringe and those brooding eyes that had my panties flooding, every woman in the queue had already clocked him. But he was all mine.
I leaned into him, needing to stake my claim and feel the wall of his muscles against my side. Just being close to him made my core throb. If he so much as brushed my arm, i was at risk of turning into a sopping mess right there on the pavement.
Rex glanced at the doorman and then at the camera above the entrance. After that he turned his attention to the side street running adjacent to the building. His hand tightened around mine.
"You can stop clocking the exits for one night," I said, stifling a laugh.
"I'm not clocking exits," he said.
I tilted my head. "We've been here all of five seconds, and you've looked at the alley twice."
He glanced at me sideways, looking rough, ready and entirely edible. "There's a man in the black transit. The engine's running, but the lights are off."
"This is Brixton, Rex. It's just a fucking van." I shook my head, but couldn't help the smile that split my face. "Come on," I said before ignoring the line and climbing the steps. The doorman nodded us straight through. This was Gabriel's club. Gabriel was family. We didn't have to queue.
The bass hit us as soon as we entered. House music filled the room, and made my body thrum. I was itching to get on the dance floor.
"Hey Rahat," Nicki called from the cloakroom. "How you been?"
"Good," I said as her eyes landed on Rex with obvious appreciation.
"I can see that."
Rex leaned closer to me, his mouth curving into a smile. And here came that big fucking grin of mine again. God, if I kept this up, my cheeks would be burning in less than an hour.
As we moved deeper inside the club, the lighting system shifted from midnight blue to a slow amber pulse. Which meant that the main floor was at seventy percent capacity. I'd helped Gabriel's tech team reconfigure the whole rig about three years ago. There were motion sensors feeding into the board. Zone-based colour coding lets the bar staff read the floor without a radio call.
"Come on," I said. "Gabriel will be upstairs."
We found him on the mezzanine, looking as devastating as ever. Gabriel is a man who demands attention. He's also one that looks good in a suit. He reminded me of Tom Ellis as Lucifer in the TV series. He had that knowing and superior, not to mention dangerous, air about him. Of course, I didn't know then that he was a fucking mafia boss and head of the Rizzo family. You'd think my best friend would have told me at some point in the fourteen years I'd known her. But no, I had to find out when some other mafia don, or whatever the fuck they liked to call themselves, decided that she was his, and we were both shipped off to Colorado. Not that I objected. Carina found her one true love, and well... I gripped Rex's hand tighter and gave it a quick squeeze. A part of me wondered, hoped, that maybe I did too.
Gabriel spotted us instantly. He said something to the man beside him that clearly ended their conversation and crossed over to us. "You look well," he said, before kissing both of my cheeks. "Colorado must suit you."
"It does." I stepped back. "Gabriel, you remember Rex."
"Of course. It's good to see you again," he said as they shook hands.
Gabriel was not small by any stretch of the imagination, but Rex had a few inches and a fair amount of bulk on him. But what I liked most was the way neither was sizing the other up the way you often see weaker men do. They knew their worth. And neither of them was lacking.
"Carina mentioned you were going to be around for a few months. I hope that means we'll see a lot of you at the club." Gabriel led us to the railing where we could see the club filling up. A mass of bodies moved to the pulsing music beneath the amber light.
"You couldn't keep us away," I said, making Gabriel smile.
"Good." Gabriel waved over one of the VIP serving staff and ordered us all a drink before turning his attention back to Rex. "Jameson also mentioned we had some club business to discuss. We'll have to arrange a meeting once you've settled in a little bit. In the meantime," he added just as the girl returned with our drinks, "enjoy your night. I have some other business to attend to, but if you need me, I'll make time."
With that, Gabriel grabbed his whisky and disappeared into the crowd. I downed my shot and took Rex's arm again before leading him downstairs. I really wanted to dance, but I decided to give him a guided tour of the place first. I showed him the main floor layout. The bars were positioned so that staff had full sightlines in both directions. Cameras covered any blind spots. Whatever went on at the club, Gabriel wanted eyes on it. As always, Rex clocked everything before I had the chance to tell him. He even spotted the secondary exit behind the DJ booth that most people never noticed.
The entire time, Rex kept his hand on the small of my back. More than once I caught an appreciative murmur from the women we passed. We soon found ourselves on the dance floor. And I had to say, dancing with Rex was a whole sensory experience. The way he shifted his body against mine. The look in his eyes and the smile on his face as he ran his hand down my hip and pulled me closer. Pretty soon, any thoughts of dancing were replaced by only one thing: heading back to the hotel, pushing Rex down on the bed and fucking him senseless.
But when he spun me around and pulled my back flush against his chest, I spotted a familiar face watching us from beside the bar. It took me a moment for my brain to register who it was. The beard and moustache were gone. But I'd never forget those piercing blue eyes or the menace in his smile.
My whole body went cold, and my stomach churned.
The warmth of Rex at my back, the bass thrumming through the floor, and the heat of two hundred bodies… all of it faded into the background.
A shiver ran through me and I stopped dancing. Rex reacted instantly. He followed my gaze before grabbing my hand and pulling me behind him. For a moment, he locked his eyes onto Adam, who only raised his glass as if in a toast before downing the contents and leaving.
Rex didn't move straight away. He watched the space where Adam had been standing for a moment before turning back to me.
"You okay?" he asked when Adam was completely out of sight.
"Yeah," I kept my voice steady. "Just some creep. That's all." Because that’s what he was. What else could I say?
"You sure?"
"Positive." I squeezed his hand and smiled, and if Rex didn’t believe me, he was kind enough not to say anything. "Come on," I said, and pulled him back to dance.
Chapter 2
Rahat
The last person I wanted to think about was Adam fucking Dexter. Why would I allow him even a second of space in my brain when I had the sexiest man in the world on my arm and in my bed? The second the hotel door shut behind us, I turned Rex to face me and pressed my hand flat against his chest, and felt his heartbeat pick up at my touch.
He smiled as I made short work of his T-shirt, roamed my hands over his chest, and traced the line of his clock tattoo and the date below. It always made me feel a little sad. He'd told me once that it was his mother's birthday, and the clock was a reminder of how short time is. I kissed it before unclipping the halter top of my silky dress, and letting it fall to the floor. My panties followed in quick succession, and well... I wasn’t wearing a bra. Goosebumps rose on my skin as Rex bit his bottom lip and raised an eyebrow.
He was on me in seconds. His hand found the back of my head and tangled in my hair and his mouth crushed against mine. His tongue claimed me and heat spread through my whole body, making my core tingle. All the while, I fumbled with his belt buckle and the fastening on his jeans.
Rex broke the kiss and locked his dark eyes on mine. A spark of mischief flashed inside them before he grabbed my hands, pushed me back against the door, and pinned them above my head.
