RUTHLESS HOLD (A Back Down Devil MC Romance Novel) (19 page)

“
Aye!
”
Shay yelled and slammed his
fist to the table.

Jace, Erik, and Landon started to
hit their fists. Down around the table, all the way to Trev, they all started
to pound their fists. Trev did the same and when Miller took his shot, the rest
of the table did the same at the exact same time. They all then flipped their
shot glasses upside down and pushed them to the middle of the table.

Miller slowly took a seat and gave
everyone a second to collect themselves.

“
Ripper
was out on a run,
”
Miller
said.
“
We knew that
already. Any communication about Griffin
’
s
daughter is dead right now. Pardon the pun. We need to focus and help our
brothers up north get through this bullshit.
”

“
What
happened?
”
Trev asked.

“
Ripper
said they were ambushed. It was just he and Giovanni on a run.
”

“
For
what?
”
Blaine asked.

“
Some
kind of deal,
”
Miller said.
“
His charter, his problem.
”

“
Point
is,
”
Gaige cut in,
“
we lost a brother and we need to
go and honor him. We
’
ll
attend the funeral up in Daurian. Just the table though. The rest of the guys
are going to stay here just in case.
”

“
We
have to find out what happened,
”
Trev said.
“
Could someone
be attacking us through other places?
”

“
How
so?
”
Nate asked.

“
Look
what happened with Eden,
”
Trev said.
“
A blatant
attack and murder. Whoever did that knew what they were doing and wanted her.
Now someone up in Ripper
’
s
crew gets hit? Maybe someone is trying to move us, keep us distracted
…”

“
Maybe,
”
Miller said.
“
We
’
ll
have to keep our eyes open on everything. We
’
re
going up north for the dark ride. We have to send our brother off the right
way. Ripper
’
s table is
voting on what to do with his cut and then they have to fill a seat. I know
that the VP up there, Jasper, was close to Giovanni. They
’
re all in a fragile spot.
Talking to Ripper proved that. He sounded numb and distant. We can
’
t let that charter get shaky.
Especially with Jenn and this Eden situation.
”

“
Agreed,
”
Gaige said.
“
Suit up, brothers. We
’
re riding tomorrow.
”

“
Now
get out there and let this shit sink in,
”
Miller said.
“
The reaper
’
s close. Too fucking close.
”

Miller hit the gavel.

He then pointed to Trev and gave a
nod.

Stay behind.

When it was just Miller and Trev,
they stared each other down for a few seconds.

“
What
are you thinking?
”
Miller
asked.

“
I
don
’
t know what to think,
”
Trev said.
“
Seems too convenient to me.
”

“
You
think it
’
s all connected?
”

“
I
think something is going on up north. I have a weird feeling, Miller. Hard to
explain. We
’
ve always had
problems with Ripper. He runs a little strange of outlaw. Taking one lone guy
on a run? They get ambushed? Ripper wasn
’
t
shot?
”

Miller nodded.
“
Let
’
s just get up there first. This is still touchy.
Now it
’
ll get even worse.
”

“
We
can
’
t hide Eden forever,
”
Trev said.
“
She knows her father is dead.
Maybe shit with Jenn could work out somehow. Someone sent that letter to Eden.
There
’
s no way in hell Eden
is going to stay down here while I
’
m
gone.
”

“
Jesus
Christ,
”
Miller said.
“
You want to take Eden up there?
She and Jenn see each other
…”

“
Exactly.
Let them see each other. See how everyone reacts to it. That
’
ll tell the story.
”

“
That
’
s a risk.
”

Trev stood up.
“
Everything we do is a risk,
Miller. I feel like we
’
re
preparing for a really shitty war.
”

“
Me
too, brother. Me too.
”

Trev walked away and left the
conference room without looking back or being dismissed. It was a bit of
disrespect toward Miller, but Trev wasn
’
t
worried about respect anymore. He was worried about survival. For the first
time in his outlaw life, he gave a shit about living.

And that was Eden
’
s goddam fault.

__

fifteen.

Eden stood at the door as two
prospects stared at her.

“
What?
”

“
Clubhouse,
”
one said.
“
Come with us.
”

“
Why?
”

“
Trev.
”

Eden felt her heart sink.
“
Is he hurt?
”

“
No.
”

“
Oh.
Good. Why can
’
t he come
here?
”

“
Clubhouse,
”
the prospect said again.

“
Right
now,
”
the other said.

“
Fine,
”
Eden said.

She followed the prospects down the
metal stairs and walked across the lot toward the clubhouse. It seemed fuller
than normal. More motorcycles. More guys with leather cuts lingering around. It
was a scary sight as Eden wondered how many people all these men had
collectively killed, but then again, weren
’
t
they just protecting themselves and their club?

When Eden entered the clubhouse, it
was bustling. She recognized all the main table guys and their girlfriends. The
President, Miller, stood with two kids in his arms. One kid was older than the
other, laughing as Miller tickled his ribs.

“
Daddy!
Stop!
”
the kid
cried out.

The other guy was just a baby,
clutching Miller
’
s leather
cut tight.

“
Be
careful,
”
a woman said as
she stood with Blaine.
“
Don
’
t drop my baby.
”

“
Come
on,
”
Miller said.
“
I
’
d
never drop the future of Back Down Devil MC.
”

“
My
baby isn
’
t getting patched
in,
”
the woman said.

“
Oh
shit,
”
Blaine said.

“
What
do you want him to do in life, Jessa?
”
Miller asked the woman.
“
Look
at his eyes. He
’
s got his
father
’
s evil eyes.
”

“
And
he loves Jessa
’
s tits just as
much as I do,
”
Blaine said.

“
Asshole,
”
Jessa said and slapped Blaine.

Eden smiled and saw the life they
all lived for something greater. They really were a family together.

A hand touched Eden
’
s back and she turned to see
Trev standing there.

“
Hey,
”
she said.

“
Hey
you,
”
Trev said.
“
Figured you could use a break
from the apartment. Can we talk?
”

“
Of
course. Everything okay?
”

“
Come
on,
”
Trev said.

He slipped his hand into Eden
’
s and they walked to the side of
the bar. They sat down and a prospect was there with two beers.

“
Anything
to eat?
”
the prospect
asked.

“
This
asshole makes the best burger,
”
Trev said.
“
Fire two of
those up.
”

The prospect walked away and Trev
faced Eden.
“
Someone was
killed up north, Eden.
”

“
Okay
…”

“
Different
charter, same MC,
”
he said.
“
One of our brothers is
dead.
”

“
Oh.
Shit.
”
Eden looked back and
saw the way all the guys were looking around, assessing their lives.
“
Shit, Trev. I
’
m sorry.
”

“
Hey,
look at me, beautiful.
”
Eden looked at Trev. He touched her face.
“
It
could be pretty serious depending on how things shake out.
”

“
What
does that mean?
”

“
I
don
’
t like any of it. The
guys are buying it for face value, but I
’
m
not. I told Miller. Something is happening with Ripper. He
’
s the President up there. I
think
…
shit, beautiful, I
think Griffin wrote that letter to you a long time ago.
”

“
I
got it a year ago,
”
Eden
said.

“
No.
Not that, Eden. I think he wrote it a long time ago. Years ago. And he gave it to
someone to send to you in case he ever died.
”

“
What?
”

Trev nodded.
“
I think he was watching out for
you, beautiful. The picture you have
…”
Trev sighed.

Eden touched Trev
’
s leg.
“
What is it? Please, Trev. I
’
ve done everything I could since I showed up.
Please trust me.
”

“
I
do trust you,
”
Trev said.
“
That
’
s what blows my mind in all of this shit. Griffin
’
s your father, right? He was
patched down in here in Frelen. He ran outlaw a few times, because of his own
beef with the MC. He
’
s
always had a purpose for it. The thing is
…
he was working with the charter up north. With their President, Ripper. Ripper
’
s old lady
…
she
’
s
…”

“
We
got lights!
”
someone called
out.

“
Ah,
shit!
”
Miller bellowed.

Trev looked to a security camera
and Eden looked too. There were two police SUV
’
s
in the lot. She quickly grabbed Trev
’
s
hand and started to shake.

“
What
is this?
”
she asked.

Trev got close to her and pulled
her tight. He kissed the top of her head.
“
Just
relax, beautiful. We know why they
’
re
here.
”

“
Everyone
stay,
”
Miller said.
“
Nobody move an inch. We act
normal. Just make sure all the guns are out of sight. They have no warrant to
be here. Just questions.
”

Eden didn
’
t care how many bikers were in the clubhouse, this
situation bothered her a lot.

She looked at Trev.

He was about to say something to
me.

“
It
’
s okay,
”
Trev said.
“
I
promise. Just stay with the story. They won
’
t
bother you.
”

“
What
about Dimitrio
’
s murder?
”
Eden whispered.
“
Won
’
t they ask
…”

“
No.
That
’
s not their
jurisdiction. That
’
s a
break-in gone wrong. Drink your beer. Laugh at the stories everyone is telling.
We
’
re going to send a clear
message to the PD about true family.
”

There was something stoic in Trev
’
s eyes when he spoke. It was
like he was the one calling the shots, like he was the leader in all of this.
It was really sexy to watch.

Blaine took his son from Miller.

Miller put his boy down and stood
there, holding the kid
’
s
hand.