RUTHLESS HOLD (A Back Down Devil MC Romance Novel) (15 page)

Trev patted the stone.
“
Me and Ashburne
’
s are solid on this, beautiful.
”

“
Oh.
”

“
So
one night I go out for a few drinks,
”
Trev said.
“
Griffin tailed
me. He knew I was pissed off. He knew I was looking to find a reason to fight
someone. Always trying to save my ass. I get to this dive bar and the fucking
guy who screwed me is sitting there. Two pretty women around him and he
’
s buying shots. When he saw me,
he nodded like nothing was wrong. He fucked with me and I wanted to fuck with
him. The thing was, I had gotten into a little bit of trouble and I had the PD
on me. They were waiting for me to fuck up. They wanted to put me away and I
was seconds away from having it happen. The guy walked over to me and put a
hand out to shake my hand and quickly went on the defensive about the parts. I
asked him what the fuck he was trying to prove. He laughed at me and wanted to
know what I was going to do. He put his finger to my chest and said that a
bunch of dirty leather guys weren
’
t
going to rattle his chains. The second he said it I felt my hand go back. Then
Griffin was there. Standing next to me. Before I could do anything stupid,
Griffin knocked the guy out. One punch. The entire bar went silent. The guy was
out, on the floor, arms out. Griffin knew how much I was out so he crouched
down and dug through the guy
’
s
pocket and got me twice what I had paid.
”

Trev started to laugh. He let out a
long breath and shook his head. He looked away, blinking fast.

“
So
I bought a round for everyone at the bar, for the disturbance. The bartender
had two of his workers drag that asshole out. I never saw him again. And that
was Griffin.
”
Trev looked
at Eden. His face like stone again.
“
That
was your father. He always looked after me when we ran outlaw together. When he
patched back into Back Down Devil, down here in Frelen, it was like I lost a
father. I get it. It was good to see him again years later but it wasn
’
t the same. There was a lot of
shit he had to keep to himself, and so did I. But that was Griffin. He was
smart as hell. Always managed the finances great. Always had business ideas.
And at the same time, he
’
d
drop the pencil while calculating some kind of percentage of something and grab
his gun, ready to fight for his club and for his brothers.
”

Eden turned and walked to Trev. She
didn
’
t care what kind of
message she sent, she put her hands around Trev
’
s
back and hugged him. She clutched his leather tight, shut her eyes, and inhaled
him. He smelled like a wild man. It was so dumb to think that, but that
’
s what came to her mind.

“
Thank
you for telling me that,
”
she whispered.

Trev hugged her back.
“
Anytime, beautiful. I know you
don
’
t like this shit, but
it
’
s important to see.
Things are  going to get wild around the clubhouse and the town. It
’
ll work itself out though. That
’
s what happens in this life. One
second you
’
re having a deep
talk with a good friend and the next there
’
s
a bullet ripping through your neck and spine. Remember that.
”

“
I
will. I can
’
t stop thinking
about it.
”

“
Okay,
let
’
s get out of here. Let
him rest. Let him do whatever he
’
s
doing, wherever he is.
”

Eden looked up at Trev.
“
Hey. Do you believe in heaven
and hell?
”

“
I
don
’
t know. I believe in
what I can see. I
’
ve seen
hell. I
’
ve experienced
hell. But for some reason it never made me want to be a better person to go to
heaven.
”

“
You
’
ve never experienced heaven
…”

Trev smirked. He touched Eden
’
s face and wiped a tear off her
cheek.
“
No, I
’
ve never experienced heaven,
beautiful. But
…
looking at
you
…
being near you
…
I sort of get it.
”

Eden felt her heart drop into her
stomach.

Was that romantic? Was that Trev
just being nice?

Trev took out his gun and Eden
tensed up. He took out the bullets and peeled one away. He loaded the gun away
and tucked it back into its holster.

“
What
are you doing?
”
Eden asked.

Trev walked to her father
’
s headstone and put the bullet
on it.
“
Just something I
do. Hard to explain. My own dumb reasoning maybe. Thinking that this bullet
could maybe save me. Save us. Hell, maybe he takes it with him. Each time I
leave one, the next time I come back, it
’
s
gone.
”

“
So
you do believe in something.
”

Trev patted the stone and walked to
Eden.
“
Come on, let
’
s get out of here. You need to
go hang at the clubhouse. I have business.
”

“
What
does that mean?
”
Eden asked
with a smile.
“
You
’
ve got people to kill?
”

She was honestly just joking,
trying to lighten the mood and the weight in her heart.

Trev looked at her.
“
That
’
s exactly what I
’
ve got to do.
”

__

twelve.

Trev sat in a chair with a knife in
his hand. The two prospects stared at him, their hands chained, their feet
barely touching the ground. They were weak, tired, their eyes begging for
death. It had gone beyond any old fuck up. The two prospects had gotten spooked
about justice and outlaw. A friend in the PD had given some intel that one of
them had been spilling tips to Ethan about the MC.

That was treason.

If they had tattoos on their body,
those pieces of skin would have been cut off and shown to them.

Complete fucking treason.

What Trev really wanted to do was
just put a bullet between their eyes and end it. But a message needed to be
sent. A clear message to every other prospect who wore a leather cut and
dreamed of being a patched in member. Don
’
t
fuck with the MC. The MC will fuck you right back.

And since these pricks were on the
wrong side of outlaw, their washed up bodies would send a message to Ethan too.
Miller had a plan to tie the prospects to the murder and make it as though they
were working against the MC, which they were, and then it would take the heat
of Back Down Devil and it would make Ethan look like a fool.

As Trev sat in the chair, he could
only think about Eden. What to do with her next. How to really protect her from
all the bullshit of this life. Hell, maybe it would be smarter to find a way to
let Eden escape. Shit, if
The Lost Men
weren't such filthy humans, she
could go there.

A door opened behind Trev.

“
You
going to do this?
”
Miller
’
s voice asked.

Trev stood up.
“
Yeah. I
’
m ready.
”

“
You
sure? You look off.
”

“
No.
I, uh, I took Eden to Griffin
’
s
grave. Respect for her, you know? Him too, I guess. Trying to make her
understand all of this. So she doesn
’
t
flake out on us.
”

“
You
think she
’
s a problem?
”

“
No.
I think I
’
m the problem.
The past is hard to shake off.
”

“
I
’
m still waiting on a call from
up north,
”
Miller said.
“
Let
’
s take care of one problem at a time. Remember,
Trev. One of these motherfuckers talked behind our backs. Could have brought
all of us down.
”

Trev felt the anger build inside
him. He and Miller met eyes and Miller nodded.

It was time.

Trev turned and walked right to the
prospect on the right. One quick swipe of the knife opened his throat, spraying
blood everywhere, including on Trev. He then turned, standing next to the
prospect and nodded to Miller.

The prospect only had a few seconds
of life before he was gone. The other prospect started to scream and kick,
pleading for his life. Trev side stepped and grabbed a wrench off the table and
swung it back and cracked the prospect in the jaw. That got him to shut up
pretty quick.

Miller opened the door and Blaine,
Nate, and Jace were there with two prospects each, their hands cuffed in the
front, their leather cuts missing.

“
Bring
them in,
”
Miller said.

Trev stood with blood on him,
staring at the prospects. When they realized what they were looking at, their
faces all dropped. Two of them started to cry within seconds.

“
Shut
the door,
”
Miller said.
“
Guard it.
”

Blaine shut the door.
“
Good luck, assholes.
”

“
Now,
”
Miller said.
“
I
’
m
going tell you something important about my club. We don
’
t tolerate weakness. When you
’
re given a job, you fucking do
it. You talk to anyone and you end up like our friend hanging here. Dead.
Understand?
”

All the prospects nodded. They said
Yes, sir
in unison.

“
Now,
my guy here, Trev, is in a fucking bad mood. Anyone want to add to it?
”

Trev stepped forward. He walked to
a random prospect.
“
What
’
s your name?
”

“
Andy.
”

“
You
have fucking family, Andy?
”

“
None.
”

“
Your
Daddy beat you as a kid?
”

“
No,
sir. My Daddy left us. I was on the street by thirteen. Arrested by fifteen.
Riding by seventeen.
”

“
How
old are you?
”

“
I
’
m twenty-one, sir.
”

“
You
want to see twenty-two?
”
Trev asked.

“
Not
unless I
’
m wearing a cut
for this MC.
”

Trev nodded.

He backed up a few steps.

Miller walked behind the prospects
and gave a nod to Trev.

“
Let
’
s make it very clear,
”
Trev called out,
“
what happens to anyone who fucks
with this club. I don
’
t
want any doubts. I don
’
t
want any questions. There are three things I love in this world. I love to eat.
I love to fuck pussy. And I love to kill.
”

Trev slashed the knife down the
other hanging prospect
’
s
shirt. The guy let out a weak yell and Trev ripped his shirt open, showing the
open wound. He then sliced the knife up and down, shaking, almost hating
himself for what had to be done. All he could think about was Eden and how
innocent she still was. The outlaw life wasn
’
t
for her. She needed to be saved and then she needed to get the hell out.

When Trev stopped, he turned and
looked at the prospects. They were all in shock. One coughed and vomit shot
from his mouth. That led to two more throwing up before Miller ordered the door
to be open.

“
Christ,
it smells like the shit Blaine likes at night,
”
Miller said.

“
Hey!
”
Blaine said.
“
That was before. I
’
m a changed man.
”

Everyone laughed except the
prospects.

Trev stepped forward and held the
knife out to a prospect.
“
Lick
the blood off the blade right now.
”

The prospect licked his lips. He
slowly opened his mouth.

“
Hurry
the fuck up, kid,
”
Trev
growled.
“
We don
’
t have all goddamn day around
here.
”

The prospect stuck his tongue out
and aimed it for the bloody blade of the knife. The tip of his tongue came
within a centimeter of touching the blade and Trev took the knife away. He put
a hand to the prospect
’
s
chest and pushed him away.

“
We
’
re not doing this again,
”
Trev said.
“
This life isn
’
t about looking cool. This life
isn
’
t about getting laid.
This life isn
’
t about
riding a motorcycle and throwing the finger to police officers because you want
to be tough. This life is about survival. We live on a different side of the
law. We abide by our own justice. If you fuck with that, there
’
s no arrests. There
’
s no lawyers. There
’
s no judge. No jury. No fucking
peers.
”
Trev held up the
knife.
“
This knife is the
judge. I
’
m the goddamn
jury. And behind me
…”
Trev
pointed the knife behind him at the two dead prospects.
“…
this is our justice. This is our proof of action.
There
’
s no appeal. There
’
s no questioning. There
’
s no rehabilitation into
becoming something different. You either handle this life or you handle our
death.
”