Trey
When I left the hospital, I was so mad I could have spat. Part of me wanted to go back in there and kill Wolf, slowly, like he deserved for being a goddamned pussy rat. What kind of man would rat out his president just for getting his fucking fingers broken?
“No man,” I said grimly. “Only a little kid would do something so selfish.” I shook my head in disgust. The whole time I thought I’d been raising a tribe of men, I’d only been raising a tribe of pussies. No wonder Angel and Chuckie were in trouble. If I’d actually taken the time to be around real men, they would have been protected. Between the prospect’s fucking off when he was supposed to be watching Angel and Wolf’s easy betrayal, I wasn’t feeling good about the future of the Skullbreakers.
I sped towards the shitty part of town, where Angel had a little bungalow. As I approached, my heart sank in my chest. It was obviously empty; she hadn’t been there in days. The driveway was soaked with the rain that had fallen all night, and I didn’t see any fresh oil or gas leaks from Angel’s old car.
“Fuck!” I screamed loudly and beat my fists against the handlebars of my bike. “Fuck! They’re fucking gone!”
Setting my mouth in a thin line, I climbed back on my bike and carefully combed the neighborhood. There was no sign of Angel or Chuckie. I tried to watch for similar cars, thinking maybe she had hidden somewhere. I had no idea where they would have taken her, but I didn’t think it could be good.
Damien. He had to know something. Gunning my bike into high gear, I pointed it in the direction of Damien’s house. I hadn’t been there since I’d warned him to stay away from Angel. Now, it was almost comical. I’d been so stupid; I’d seriously thought that talking to him would prevent anything too awful from happening. But I’d been so goddamn cocky and stupid. I was no better than Wolf. I deserved this.
But Angel and Chuckie didn’t deserve this at all. They deserved a safe, happy, comfortable life, away from danger. They deserved more than I could give them, and now they might not even still be alive.
My hope was mounting. They had to be with Damien. But as I pulled into his driveway, my chest tightened. His house was obviously abandoned. I could tell no one had been there in days. There were cobwebs stretching across the door and the driveway was as empty as Angel’s had been. I was racking my brain, trying to think of where Damien would have taken them. I cursed aloud as I realized I really had no idea. I didn’t even know where the Steel Demons had their nasty clubhouse.
“Goddammit!” I screamed, beating my fist against my thigh. “God-fucking-dammit!” I couldn’t believe that I’d been so stupid, so horrible to Angel. If I hadn’t upset her, she never would have left. She and I could be making love right now! She and I could be fucking and Chuckie could be sleeping and all could be right with the world! In my desperation, the idea of fucking Angel almost made me sad. Now, I’d never get to fuck her again. Even if I somehow managed to save her, she wouldn’t want a goddamn thing to do with me. And she was totally right: she shouldn’t be around me. She should never have been around me. That was the reason all of this shit was happening in the first place. I closed my eyes to that fateful day, back in the library parking lot.
Back then, I thought I could just punch guys and they’d respect my patch authority enough to stay the fuck away. But that hadn’t worked. I’d been too sure of myself, too cocky. I should have beaten them so badly they couldn’t even stand on their own two feet. Then maybe they would have thought twice about going after Angel and our son. Our son. The thought of Chuckie made me actually want to cry. He was so young, so innocent, and now he’d been dragged into more trouble than he’d ever seen.
My phone buzzed in my pocket. I yanked it out and saw an unfamiliar number flashing across the screen. As quickly as I could, I pressed it to my ear. “Hello?”
There was a wicked, dark laugh from the other end of the line and I immediately knew it was him. Damien. The evil one, the one who’d tried to steal my family. Well, he wasn’t going to have the last laugh. I’d beat him yet.
“Find them?” Damien’s voice was dark and smoky, full of humor I didn’t see.
“Where the fuck are they?” My own voice was a growl. It permeated the airspace like that of a caged animal.
“Oh, I’ve got them someplace safe and tight for now,” Damien said.
He laughed and I felt a new bolt of rage course through my body. It was enough to make the anger I’d felt for Wolf look like child’s play. “Where the fuck are they, Damien?”
“Oh, so you figured out it was me,” Damien said with a chuckle. “I tell you, I’ve always wanted to put my hands on that little cunt of yours. What a foxy woman, Trey. I have to give you credit. Those tits! I wanted her back then and I sure as fuck still want her now.”
“Leave her alone,” I hissed through gritted teeth. “She’s not yours. She never will be. Angel belongs to me, and she always will.”
“Well, that’s just the thing,” Damien purred. He’d slowed his voice to a liquid drawl. “If you know where to look, you might be able to find that sweet little cunt pretty soon. The thing is, Trey, I’m gonna need your word on a few things first. You got that straight?”
I nodded even though Damien wasn’t able to see me. “I understand,” I said through gritted teeth. “Whatever the fuck you want me to do, I’ll do it.”
“I know you will,” Damien purred in reply. “I’m gonna need your resignation as president of the Skullbreakers before twenty-four hours have passed. You got that, asshole? No longer are you gonna lead that MC. You’re gonna be a broke asshole like the rest of us, fighting for your cut in the world. You’re gonna have to struggle, just like I struggled for all of those years.”
I gritted my teeth. “Fine,” I snapped. “I’m out. I’ll call the guys as soon as I’m off the phone with you. I’m done. I’m out. I won’t ever see your face again, Damien. You got it.” I couldn’t believe he was letting me off so lightly! It felt like I was being given a light sentence.
“Good, good,” Damien purred. “I’m so glad you’re starting to see things from my point of view, Trey. It’s always better when we can work together.”
I snorted in disgust. I couldn’t believe that, years ago, I’d actually been friends with this cretin. I’d even felt bad for him so many times. I’d pitied him and wanted to help him come up in the world because I felt so sorry. He’d come from the same wrong side of the tracks I’d come from, but, unlike me, he was obviously still nursing a grudge that I’d succeeded where he’d failed.
“Oh, and, Trey?”
“What?” My words cut through the air like a dagger. “What else, Damien?”
Damien laughed, a high-pitched sound that made me think of a farm animal. “There’s one more little thing,” he said in a jokey tone. “One more, tiny little thing. I don’t think you’ll mind, Trey. I don’t think you’ll mind at all.”
My heart thudded in my chest. “What is it, Damien?”
“Just one more teeny little favor,” Damien wheedled. I could sense he was grinning even through the phone. “You promise me you can help me out with that?”
“I’ll try,” I said through gritted teeth. “But since you haven’t told me what’s going on, I don’t know.”
“Oh, Trey,” Damien said. I could tell he was pouting. “You need to help me out with a little cash. You know things have been real hard on me lately. Don’t you wanna help me out?”
“How much do you need?” I asked shortly. “You’d better fuckin’ deliver her to me in one piece, and the boy, too.”
Damien laughed. “You gettin’ ahead of yourself. You didn’t even ask when I needed it by.”
I growled. “Cut the shit, Damien. Just fucking tell me, okay?”
Damien chuckled again, a low, sinister sound. “I’m gonna need somewhere in the ballpark of five million. You think you can help me out with that, boy?”
I gulped. Five million? I had no fucking idea where that money was going to come from. All of the Skullbreakers had a decent stash built up but even borrowing from the guys, I had no idea where I was going to come up with that money on such short notice.
“Got it,” I said smoothly. “Five million.”
“And I’m gonna need that within twenty-four hours,” Damien said smugly. “So I really hope you’re gonna be able to provide that shit for me. You got it?”
I paled. I had no idea where the money would come from, especially on such a short notice. But letting him know it was impossible was like handing Angel and Chuckie a death sentence. I wouldn’t be able to do that. Somehow, I’d have to lie and bluff my way through this one.
“Fine,” I snapped. “Within twenty-four hours. I got it, Damien.”
There was a silence and I heard Damien suck in a big gust of air. “Good, good,” he said mildly. “You got any questions, Trey? Or is that everything?”
“That’s everything,” I snapped. “Now where is she?”
“Ah, ah, ah,” Damien said. “Now isn’t a good time to be hasty, Trey. All in time. You’ll see.”
“Promise me you’ll let them go,” I hissed. “Promise me and the money is yours. I’ll step down from Skullbreakers, and I’ll never see any of my guys again.”
Damien chuckled. “They’ll be fine,” he said. Before I could answer, he hung up.
Fuck. What the fuck was I going to do now?