Trey

 

That night, a full moon shone high above Centerville. I felt a slight touch of spookiness chilling my bones, and no matter how many deep breaths I took I still didn’t feel like I was getting enough air. Resign from the Skullbreakers. Step down. Pony up five million. Then Angel and Chuckie are yours. I didn’t have a choice when it came to trusting Damien; I had to. It didn’t matter that he was probably lying, that he and his thugs had probably already roughed Angel up more than they should have. But I had no way of helping her right now. I was totally helpless. I hated it — I’d never felt this pathetic in my life. Not even when Angel left me all those years before. At least then I was forming friendships with the guys who made up my MC. But now I was going to have to give that up, too.

 

I had to call all of the guys and tell them I wanted to talk. Judging from Ram’s tone, I guessed that everyone thought it would be about Wolf. Wolf as a cautionary tale, Wolf as something we shouldn’t ever do because we would wind up dead. Ironically, stepping down meant I wouldn’t be able to take vengeance on Wolf for betraying my family. He was going to come out of the hospital and probably be just fine. I wondered if the new leader of the Skullbreakers would even make him patch out. Hell, after I made my announcement, I was betting they’d all be so angry with me that Wolf would become their new folk hero. I rolled my eyes. Fuckin’ pussy ass biker, and now he was going to get away with the most egregious sin of all time. When you patched into the Angels, you patched in for life. That meant protecting your brothers and their families. Wolf had betrayed me in the absolute worst way, and it killed me that I wouldn’t get to punish him. But Angel and Chuckie were more important, and they were my life now. I had to get past the “eye for an eye” mentality if I was going to be a good family man.

 

But I couldn’t get the nut up. I rode around for hours, staring at the black darkness. I’m still the president, I told myself. Even though it’s not gonna last, I’m here now, ain’t I?

 

It was futile. No matter how frequently I reminded myself that I was still in power, I knew it would soon be drawing to a close. Soon, I wouldn’t have any kind of power. I’d have to start from the ground up to build a good life for Angel and Chuckie. I knew I could do it, but it was gonna be tough. After all, I’d sunk most of my twenties into the Skullbreakers. And now I didn’t know how I was going to live without my guys around me. I had a bond with them tighter than my bond with anyone else, except maybe Angel. And even though I loved Angel back then, she never got into those dark parts of my soul I let the guys in on. She never knew how much pleasure I could take from being an outlaw, never knew how good it felt to punish someone for doing the wrong thing. Angel would have recoiled from me if she had a snapshot of how my life had been since she’d been gone. She wouldn’t have wanted anything to do with me. I smirked as I imagined her with some dorky asshole who worked at the library. Sure, she’d be bored as hell, but she’d never have to think about her boyfriend scalping some renegade bikers for revenge. No, Angel wouldn’t like that at all.

 

I cleared my throat. All of the guys were gathered around me and I felt a spike of nervousness. In all my years leading the Skullbreakers, I’d never imagined it would go down like this. I always thought I’d ride or die. That was what I’d signed up for when they patched me in. And now, leaving the club would mean I was giving up my support system, my brotherhood, in exchange for Angel’s freedom. If six months ago someone told me where I’d be today, I wouldn’t have believed them. But now, helping Angel and our son was all I could think about. There was literally no other option. I knew what I had to do, and I knew why I had to do it.

 

“What’s going on?” Ram shifted from one leg to the other as he watched me. “What’s happening, man?”

 

I blinked. “I need to talk to y’all,” I said, trying to keep my voice as calm and steady as I could. “It’s about the MC. I don’t think I can lead you guys anymore. I’m stepping down. I haven’t done a good job as president, and this part of my life is over.”

 

Ram and the other guys stared at me. Eric, one of the guys I’d known the longest, was gaping. “What the fuck, man?” Eric asked softly. He stepped forward and gave me a hard look. “You in trouble or some shit? You need some help, man?”

 

I was dying to say yes, but I knew I couldn’t reveal anything. I knew I had to play it off like I didn’t care, like this was just a normal day for me. “I’m fine,” I muttered. “But I can’t lead y’all anymore. I’ve got too much shit going on. Eric, you’ll be a good president.”

 

Ram glared. I knew he’d been waiting for the spot forever, but I couldn’t let him usurp Eric. Even though Ram was my best friend, he was hotheaded and fiery. He wouldn’t be a good president. Not now, when these guys were going to be plunged into turmoil from my departure. I cursed Damien and the day we’d ever spoken as friends. I hated him. He was the worst bastard on the planet. He’d already stolen Angel and Chuckie from under my nose, and now he was making give up the club, too.

 

“Man, can you tell us what’s going on?” Eric and Ram looked at me with concern. The other guys were standing around, muttering and kicking at the ground with their combat boots.

 

I shrugged and tried hard to look casual. “It doesn’t matter,” I said. “I just need to get away from the MC for a while and live my own goddamn life.” The guys were looking at me with hurt plain on their faces. I felt like shit for hurting them like this, but they had to realize that sooner or later, leadership would shift. This would have happened eventually. But it still hurt.

 

“How can you do this to us?” Ram looked at me and I had to glance away. “You were just setting up plans for the future! And suddenly you don’t care anymore? What the fuck happened, man?”

 

“It’s nothing,” I said, shrugging. “I’ve got to get going. You guys stay here. Figure it out.”

 

I almost wanted one of them to catch up to me, but they didn’t. In a display that recalled what had happened at the hospital with Wolf, I reached into my pocket for a knife. The guys watched in horror as I slid the point of the knife under my patches and began to cut. When “President” and “Skullbreakers” were severed, I dropped them on the ground and walked away.

 

Getting on my bike, I revved the engine and set off in the direction of the city limits. Damien and his MC controlled some abandoned warehouses out of town. Whipping out my phone, I called Damien.

 

“It’s done,” I said shortly. “I stepped down. Now where are you? And where’s the girl and her son?”

 

Damien laughed. “We’re at the warehouse. I assume you’ll be here soon.”

 

“Damn straight.” I hung up and sped off in that direction.

 

There was a bad feeling mounting in my stomach and I couldn’t shake it off, no matter how hard I tried. Don’t be a paranoid fuckwit, I told myself as I sped up and exited the highway. It was fully dark and I could barely see. This was a bad part of town, worse even than the part where Angel had lived. I shuddered as I thought about her trapped and scared. I desperately hoped they hadn’t hurt her, but I didn’t have a good feeling. Damien was a wild asshole, and his men were no better. They were animals, and Angel was a gorgeous woman. I clenched my hands into fists and gripped the handlebars of my bike. If any one of them had laid a finger on her, I’d break every bone in his body. He’d be screaming for mercy before I even really started to do some damage.

 

I still had no idea what to do about the money. Part of me was hoping Damien would call it even. After all, I’d stepped down. That was what he’d wanted, and that was what he’d get. I had to hope I could bargain with him. Five million dollars was a lot of money, and I didn’t think I’d be able to get my hands on that kind of money. Not even with the help of the guys. Now that I’d stepped down, I didn’t think I could count on any of them to help me out. I shook my head and set my lips in a thin line. Damien was devious, and I knew he’d asked me to step down so the guys wouldn’t have my back. As President, they were obligated to help me. But now, I wasn’t so sure they’d have my back. They’d feel betrayed, and with good reason, too. After all, a sitting president of the Skullbreakers hadn’t ever left before. Sure, guys had gotten booted out for stealing. More presidents had died while leading the Angels than had been kicked out. And if you put my guys to a vote, I was almost positive they would have wanted the same outcome for me. There was no shame in a good death, but there was all too much shame in walking away from the tribe.

 

As I approached the warehouses, the bad feeling in my stomach got even worse. The lights were out, which was strange. After all, they wouldn’t have left Angel and Chuckie alone, no matter how tight their bonds were. They would have left a couple of men — at least — to guard. But there was no one there. The sound of my bike’s engine revving echoed and bounced around the empty walls. When I dismounted, my boots clicked on the pavement. I felt like a man in a ghost town.

 

“Damien? You better get your ass out here,” I called loudly. “I’m not fuckin’ around, man. Come out and get me, asshole!”

 

There was no reply. The bad feeling got worse and I felt my heart start to pound in my chest. As I looked around, I’d never felt more alone. More than anything, I wished I’d brought one of the guys with me, temporarily forgetting I’d just stepped down and now the guys weren’t under any obligation to me whatsoever.

 

Walking around, I ducked into one of the warehouses. It smelled foul, like rotten water, and I could tell no one had been here in months. I frowned. Where the fuck were they?

 

He lied to you, a voice chimed in from the back of my head. He lied to you. They’re not here. You’ve been played, Trey, you son of a bitch.

 

I shuddered. I didn’t want to believe Damien would have fucked me over so easily, but this didn’t bode well. I screamed Angel’s name. I screamed Chuckie’s name. Over and over, I screamed for Damien.

 

There was never a reply. It hit me with a sudden, cold certainty that they weren’t here. That I’d been lied to, and Damien had them somewhere else. And now I’d left my men at the mercy of Damien’s witness, and Angel and Chuckie at the mercy of the devil himself.

 

Cursing loudly, I hopped back on my bike and sped towards the Skullbreakers clubhouse. Horrible, terrible thoughts were running through my head the whole time. Angel bound and gagged, stripped naked and prodded for the amusement of Damien and his savage men. Chuckie bound and gagged, forced to watch his mother cry tears of shame as my rival slid his greasy hand down her perfect body. The image that hurt most of all was that in my mind of Damien telling Chuckie whose son he really was.

 

Pulling my phone out of my pocket, I dialed Eric. He answered almost immediately. That was when I got the first surge of confidence I’d had since before speaking with Damien.

 

“What’s up?” Eric’s voice was low and gravelly, like he knew something bad was going down.

 

“There was a member of the Steel Demons watching us just now,” I said hastily. “Find him. You hear me? Fucking find him!”

 

“Got it, man,” Eric said. I could tell he was dying to ask me a million questions, but to his credit, he stayed silent. “Where are you?”

 

“I’ll be there soon,” I said through gritted teeth. “Just find that asshole and make sure he doesn’t get away.”