RUTHLESS HOLD (A Back Down Devil MC Romance Novel) (26 page)

Blaine stuck his fingers into his
mouth and whistled. Miller grinned and knocked on the table.

Trev waved it all off.
“
Hey. Show some fucking respect.
The seat I
’
m filling
…
remember that.
”

“
What
’
s the status of Griffin if this
goes south?
”
Landon asked.
“
Not to bring up a tough subject,
but shit, he was tapping another brother
’
s
old lady. Got her pregnant. Gave up the kid. Maybe he was dealing with Ripper
and setting up this O
’
Nuall
thing.
”

“
Bite
your fucking tongue, Landon,
”
Trev growled.

“
Fuck
you, bro. It
’
s the truth.
We gave him an honorable burial. Cut and all.
”

“
What
do you want?
”
Trev asked.
“
Dig him up and take it back?
”

“
Why
not?
”
Landon asked.

Trev jumped at the table. Landon
kicked back and Shay and Gaige were there to grab Trev off the table before
something crazy happened.

“
This
is what we don
’
t need,
”
Miller bellowed.
“
Landon, shut your fucking mouth.
Trev, stand down about Griffin. I know you
’
re
hitting his daughter, which is fucking romantic, but if Griffin had a bad name,
then he
’
s got to grapple
with that on the other side. Now can we get back to business?
”

The table fell silent.

Trev ripped himself free and combed
his hands through his hair.
“
Sure,
Miller.
”

“
Eight
Under has been knocking off some gas stations and liquor stores. Petty stuff,
but they knocked off two in Frelen.
”

“
Kill
anyone?
”
Blaine asked.

“
No.
They either tie the clerk up or just beat him up. Not good in this town. At
least it
’
s keeping Ethan
busy. Keeping him off our back.
”
Miller shook his head.
“
But
it still can
’
t happen.
”

“
Ethan
will twist that to us,
”
Blaine said.
“
He
’
ll take it to the papers. He
’
s ruthless.
”

“
Then
we cut that off,
”
Gaige
said.

“
How?
”
Erik asked.

“
Simple,
”
Trev said.
“
Two prospects at each gas station
and liquor store in Frelen. We show force to the PD and when Eight Under tries
something, we get the fucking guys. We can give them up to Ethan to show good
faith. Or we can cut the fuckers hands off and send them back to whoever the
hell is running Eight Under.
”

“
I
like that idea,
”
Blaine
said. He waved a finger.
“
I
really like when Trev gets regular pussy.
”

“
Okay,
”
Gaige said.
“
Enough of the pussy talk for a
second. That
’
s a good idea
though.
”

“
Then
let
’
s list names,
”
Miller said.
“
This will give them a chance to
get out of their
…”

There was a heavy thud at the door.

Miller nodded to Landon.

Landon opened the door.

One of the prospects stood there.

“
What
do you want?
”
Trev called.

“
I
’
m sorry to bother you all.
”

“
Make
it fucking quick,
”
Landon
said.

“
There
’
s a woman here.
”

“
Again?
”
Gaige asked.

“
She
’
s hurt
…
beat up
…
she
’
s asking for her
daughter.
”

Trev looked at Miller.

Fuck.

*

Like daughter, like mother.

Jenn took out a handgun and wiggled
it in her hand way too freely. Her left eye was bleeding pretty badly. Her
right eye was black and blue. Blood on her lips and her shirt was almost torn
off her body. She had one high heel on at a time. She looked drunk, beat up,
ready to kill.

“
Hey,
hey, hey,
”
Trev said as he
approached.

Miller tried to breeze by.
“
Tell me Ripper did this.
”

Trev grabbed Miller.
“
Hey, Prez. Kindness for a
second. Let me talk to her. Go inside and get shit set up for her, okay? We
have to clean up these cuts and find out what
’
s
going on. Get the guys in line and get the prospects spread out across the lot.
Just in case.
”

“
Fuck,
”
Miller said.

“
I
know,
”
Trev said.
“
You said it yourself
…
act smart, right?
”

Miller turned and started barking
orders.

“
There,
Jenn,
”
Trev said.
“
It
’
s
just us. You and me.
”

“
Why
’
d you bring her there?
”
Jenn asked. She broke down in
tears.

Trev took a step closer. When Jenn
looked down, Trev made his move. He grabbed the gun and easily twisted it from
Jenn
’
s hand.

“
No!
”
she screamed.

A second later, nails scratched
across his face. It hurt like goddamn fire. Trev grabbed for Jenn
’
s arms and turned her, walking
back to a car, putting her on the hood. He needed to be aggressive but he didn
’
t want to scare her any more
than she already was.

“
I
’
m not going to hurt you,
”
Trev said.
“
I need you to believe me. Christ,
Jenn, what the hell happened.
”

“
Get
away from me,
”
she said.

Trev backed up and unloaded the
gun. He put the gun and the clip on the ground.

“
Look.
It
’
s just us talking.
”

“
You
fucking brought my daughter up there.
”

“
Yeah,
I did. She
’
s terrified
right now. She was almost killed. Then she came here thinking her father was
alive.
”

“
Oh,
Griffin,
”
Jenn said. She
started to weep harder. She lowered her head and lost all control.

Trev looked to his left and saw
Blaine standing at a distance.

Blaine mouthed
What the fuck?

Trev waved him off.

“
Look,
”
Trev said.
“
Nobody here is going to hurt
you. Whatever happened in the past is done. You and Griffin had a thing and it
was
…
whatever.
”

“
It
was real,
”
Jenn said.
“
It just couldn
’
t come out.
”

“
Okay.
That
’
s something to talk
about with Eden. She was really hurt that you pretended like you didn
’
t know her.
”

“
What
was I supposed to?
”
Jenn
asked.
“
Look at my face.
”

“
Ripper
did that?
”

Jenn slowly nodded.
“
Yeah.
”

“
Why?
”

“
Because
of Eden.
”

“
You
told him.
”

“
He
knew,
”
Jenn said.

“
Shit,
”
Trev said.

“
He
lost it on me. He always accused me of having an affair with Griffin. There
were so many times we almost got caught. But we never did. Then I got pregnant.
I had to play it all off, you know?
”

“
Does
Ripper think he
’
s Eden
’
s father?
”

“
As
far as I know, yes,
”
Jenn
said.

“
That
’
s why he smacked you around?
”

“
Yeah.
Because she was supposed to be gone from all of this forever. When she showed
up
…
Ripper is in a bad
place, Trev. Okay? I
’
m here
because I need help. He lost his mind.
”

“
Okay.
I
’
m going to take you
inside. We
’
re going to get
you cleaned up. Jenn, we will protect you. But listen to me carefully. You
’
ve been around this life for a
long time. Longer than me.
”

“
You
’
re still a pup,
”
Jenn said.

“
Yeah,
right. A pup. You need to tell us everything. What Ripper
’
s doing. Who he
’
s with. Why he
’
s doing it. If there
’
s something internal
…”

“
You
’
re going to kill him,
”
Jenn said.

Trev gently touched Jenn
’
s shoulders.
“
I didn
’
t say that.
”

“
No,
I did. It was a statement, Trev. I want you to kill him. I want you to kill
Ripper. For all he
’
s done.
For all he
’
s taken from me.
For what he did to Griffin.
”

“
What
did he do to Griffin?
”
Trev
asked.

Jenn touched her eyes and wiped
away tears and blood. She then laughed.
“
I
just thought if Eden was safe, I could live this life out. That
’
s what I told myself. That
’
s what I believed. I kept my
promise to Griffin. I sent the letter when he died. And then I
…”

“
You
sent the letter to Eden?
”
Trev asked.

“
Yes.
That was our agreement. Because if Griffin was dead, he wanted her safe.
”

Trev felt his stomach and heart
flip at the same time.
“
Okay.
Let
’
s get you inside and
cleaned up. Jenn, this is all about honesty.
”

“
I
want to see Eden.
”

“
You
will. Just not like this. Okay? I promise you. Get cleaned up and then we
’
ll go see Eden.
”

Jenn looked at Trev and she started
to cry again. She clutched at Trev
’
s
arm.
“
Please, Trev. Tell me
…
tell me you love her and you
’
ll always protect her.
”

Trev slipped an arm around Jenn to
keep her standing.
“
Yes
…
I love Eden. And I will
always protect her.
”

__

twenty.

Eden hated the apartment. But she
didn
’
t mind the company.
Baby Caine was on the floor, sitting up, playing with blocks. Eden was on the
floor across from Caine, rolling the blocks to him. When two blocks smacked together
Caine would crack up laughing.

“
He
laughs at the silliest things,
”
Jessa said. She was on her knees behind Caine, making sure the baby didn
’
t fall back.

“
That
’
s what babies do,
”
Eden said.
“
It
’
s
so good to hear something happy.
”

Eden smiled big and rolled another
block. It hit two blocks and Caine threw his head back, cackling. Jessa put a
hand to Caine to keep him steady. Caine then instantly stopped laughing and got
a mad look on his face. He grabbed two blocks and started to smack them
together. Then his face turned red.

“
What
’
s wrong, little guy?
”
Eden asked.

“
He
’
s, uh, going to the bathroom,
”
Jessa said.
“
That
’
s his poop face.
”

Eden snorted.
“
Oh. Okay. I
’
ll give you some privacy then,
little guy.
”

Eden climbed up into a chair. Jessa
put Caine into a portable playpen to let him
do his business
. She then
sat down and put a hand to Eden
’
s.
“
How are you?
”