AN OUTLAW MONSTER (A Back Down Devil MC Romance Novel) (20 page)

This time he didn
’
t leave the bed though. He
reached across me and touched the gun on the nightstand. It was fully loaded,
safety off, ready to be used if needed. Then he turned off the light.

Trent wrapped his strong arm around
my body and held me tight to him.

“
Sleep
tight, darling,
”
he
whispered, his breath scattering across my back and shoulder.

I shivered, feeling another warm
gush between my legs.

And I felt a dangerous warm gush
in my heart.

twenty-five.

(trent)

I stepped off my motorcycle and
looked to the shitty apartment building. A few years ago, officials in Daurian
got together and decided to shop themselves out to some new developers. Their
plan was to redo the east side of the city, taking old buildings and cleaning
them up. Then they were going to sell huge chunks of land up north to be turned
into new house and retail shit. The plan was to attract people from the hustle
of the bigger cities and then create a vacation getaway place. We were only an
hour or two from the mountains, where it got nice and cold and it snowed quite
a bit. That was a huge change for most people who were used to being in a beach
town and living in the sun.

The idea, on paper, seemed great.
The problem? More attention on the town meant more attention on the MC.

The club had no choice but to
police the deal ourselves and kill it off.

See, if they ran through and
started cleaning up or knocking down buildings, it would push a lot of people
out of their apartments and homes. Granted, they weren
’
t luxury homes, but they were all these
people had. That would displace quite a few families and leave a lot of people
running the streets, trying to deal to survive. Again, more attention, more
police, more of a headache for Back Down Devil.

My father
’
s apartment building had been one of the
buildings slated to come down. I hadn
’
t
been this far east in a long time. We only ran through here if the violence got
out of control and we were asked to help out. Imagine that. The fucking PD in
town couldn
’
t even
handle its own crime.

I put my helmet on my ride and
looked back at Jasper and Cash.

Trev stayed back at the clubhouse
to deal with phone calls and fall out of the messes we were trying to clean up.
I kept Harlee at the apartment along with a few prospects and Max and Austin.

I hated that there were so many
variables floating around. I didn
’
t
do variables. I did control. I was the goddamn enforcer and that meant staying
in control. Giving Harlee that ring was a mistake. And now the thoughts of
giving her my heart
…
that was another mistake.

“
Ready
for this?
”
I asked.

“
Always,
brother,
”
Cash said.

“
Why
don
’
t you take the
back, Cash?
”
I asked.
“
There
’
s a small patio out there.
Hang tight in case something goes wrong. VP, can you stay out front?
”

“
I
’
m solid here,
”
Jasper said.
“
Do what you need to do.
”

“
I
’
m not here to kill him,
”
I said.
“
I
’
m just making that very clear. I
’
m here to find out how bad
the situation is.
”

“
Understood,
”
Jasper said.
“
We still need to make that
down payment before we worry about your old man.
”

“
I
’
m going to make sure he
’
s not thinking of bolting.
”

I was trying to convince Jasper and
Cash as much as I was trying to convince myself. That was the sad part of it
all. The lines between right and wrong were always blurred for guys like me,
but this entire situation, the lines were invisible.

I knocked on the door and then
turned the knob.

“
Fucking
unlocked,
”
I
whispered.

The apartment looked like a single
guy lived there. Pizza boxes, beer bottles, and empty bag of chips on the coffee
table. A TV with some sports program on. I could see straight across to the
backdoor of the apartment. I saw the figure of Cash standing there.

I let out a little whistle.
“
Hey. You here?
”

A second later my old man appeared,
coming from the right. He had a towel over his shoulder, half his face lathered
up with shaving cream. In his left hand was a razor. In his right hand was a
gun.

I quickly drew my weapon because
you never fucking knew what could go wrong.

“
Trenton?
”

“
Yeah,
”
I said.
“
Put that fucking gun away,
old man.
”

My father looked at the gun and
stepped forward, placing it on the TV stand. He then pointed to his face.
“
I was just cleaning up a
little. I have a job interview today.
”

“
Yeah,
sure,
”
I said.

Job interview? Probably going to
hustle some cash.

“
What
are you doing here?
”
he asked.
“
Everything
okay?
”

I tucked my gun away. I looked
around the apartment.
“
Still
living like this?
”

“
You
know the economy.
”

“
You
eat anything besides pizza?
”

“
Pussy,
”
he said and grinned a
fake white smile grin.
“
When
I can afford it.
”

I shook my head.
“
Clean yourself up a little
more often and you won
’
t
need to pay for it.
”

“
Ah,
not me,
”
he said.
“
I have an acquired taste
…”
He put fingers together
and kissed them.
“
I
can
’
t just take some
two-in-the-morning bar pussy. Never my style.
”
He turned and waved at me to follow.
“
Come
on. I have to finish shaving.
”

I followed the old man to the small
bathroom. It smelled of cheap soap and was thick with a heavy wetness from the
shower. He wiped the mirror with the towel and went back to shaving. I listened
to the razor peel against his skin.

“
Let
’
s talk about what you can
afford,
”
I said.
“
Because I heard some
stuff.
”

The old man tapped the razor to the
sink, splashing shaving cream and specks of hair into the sink.

“
I
’
m not worried about it,
”
he said.
“
I
’
ll manage it, like I always do.
”

All the old man
’
s fingers were crooked
from getting broken so many times.

“
With
a job?
”
I asked.
“
What kind of job is that?
Going to be a doctor?
”

The old man looked at me.
“
And what do you do for a
living? Huh? Fix up old cars and bikes? That
’
s
what you want me to believe?
”

“
You
know what I do,
”
I
said.
“
It
’
s the life that came to
me. The life that saved me. Maybe I
’
m
here trying to save you.
”

The old man finished shaving and
wiped his face with the towel. He left the sink a mess and then tossed the
towel to the shower.

“
I
don
’
t do the leather
and motorcycle thing,
”
he said.
“
Trenton,
you don
’
t have to
worry about me. I
’
m
perfectly fine.
”

I blocked the doorway.
“
Tell me you
’
re not in debt anymore.
”

“
Of
course I have debt. Everyone in the goddamn country has debt. I don
’
t live luxurious but I get
by.
”

“
You
know what kind of debt I
’
m
talking about,
”
I
said.
“
You owe for
gambling, drugs, and pussy.
”

The old man smiled.
“
I only go for what I can
afford. Which is why none of it is here, Trenton.
”

“
I
’
m supposed to believe
that?
”
I asked.

“
Come
here, let me show you something.
”

I was then following the old man
through the apartment. He opened the fridge and showed me he had whole milk,
some oranges, an apple or two, and some orange juice. He opened all the cabinet
doors and stood there.

“
Want
to search?
”
he asked.
“
Treat me like a
fucking child?
”

“
No,
”
I said.
“
I heard some shit, that
’
s all. Heard you
’
re in for quite a bit.
”

“
Not
me,
”
he said.

It wasn
’
t the first time the old man lied to me. It
shouldn
’
t have
surprised me, but it sort of bothered me. I closed in on him, having a good
four inches on his height. I could break him in a second if I needed to.

“
Look
me in the eyes and tell me,
”
I said.
“
Father to
son. I want the truth. I
’
m
owed the truth.
”

Trent, what the fuck is the
point of this? What are you going to do? Stand up to the O
’
Nuall family and
pay off your father
’
s
debts?

Yeah, the entire scene was useless.

But I wanted to hear it. I wanted
to feel it again. The lies. The deception. The hurt.

“
Tell
me you have no debt on the streets. No gambling. No pussy. No drugs. Tell me
you
’
re not in on some
big crews or families.
”

The old man reached up to me and
touched my face.
“
You
’
re a man now, Trenton. You
’
ve been a man for a long
time. You
’
re not my
little boy anymore. You have nothing to worry about when it comes to me.
Understand?
”

“
No,
I don
’
t.
”

“
Well
you should. Because I
’
m
giving you a straight answer right now. I
’
m
fine. No debts. No thugs coming to break my hands. No crews coming to shoot me
in the head.  Okay? I
’
ve
got a few grand on some credit cards, that
’
s
it.
”

“
That
’
s the truth,
”
I said.

“
The
entire truth, Trenton.
”

I slowly backed away. I nodded.
“
Then I guess I better be
going.
”

“
Good.
Go live.
”

“
Good
luck with that job interview,
”
I said.

“
Yeah,
sure. I
’
m sure I
’
ll nail it.
”

I made it two steps from the
kitchen when the old man called my name. He was the only person that called me
by my real name.
Trenton.

I looked back at him.
“
If you ever need anything,
Trenton. You know where I am.
”

Damn, those words were cryptic.
Dangerously cryptic.

I stormed out of the apartment and
made a line for my ride. I needed the thunder and the road.

I climbed on the motorcycle as
Jasper stood next to me and Cash came running from behind the apartment.

“
What
the hell is going on?
”
Cash asked.

“
Nothing,
”
I said.

“
Did
you get what you need?
”
Jasper asked.

I looked at him and nodded. He put
a hand to my shoulder. Together, we both nodded.

I was no longer going to be Trent -
or Trenton
. I was going to be
the monster. The enforcer.
I would
die for my club
…
and
lately
…
I would die
for Harlee.

I looked to my right and saw the
old man standing at the window. Our eyes met. He knew there was a bullet coming
for him. That was something he lived with everyday for the last twenty years,
probably more.

What he didn
’
t know was that the
bullet was going to come from
his
son.

**

“
I
spoke with Peter today,
”
Trev said, addressing the full table.
“
Everything
is in place. We
’
ll
ride south and east, meet up for the fight, and then spend the night. Pack for
a campout, guys.
”

“
Question,
”
Cash said.
“
Will Peter and his friends
be bringing some of that fine and tough pussy with them again?
”