RUTHLESS HOLD (A Back Down Devil MC Romance Novel) (31 page)

“
Trev,
you don
’
t have to do this.
I
’
m sure you guys could
figure out a better way.
”

“
No,
this is the only way. Take the cut off me right now.
”

Eden reached up and did as told.
She gripped the collar of the leather cut and felt it slide down his arms. He
stepped away and stood there in just his t-shirt. Trev was a monster. Eden had
never seen a man so big before.

“
Put
it on the bed,
”
Trev said.

Eden placed the leather cut on the
bed.

Trev then turned around. He reached
for Eden
’
s hand and put it
to his chest.
“
What I need
you to do while I
’
m gone is
get closer to your mother. She needs it. You need it. Nobody is going to ever
hurt you both again. You listen to anything Miller says. Trust anything Gaige
says. And if Blaine comes within two feet of you, punch him in the gut. If you
hit him in the balls, he
’
ll
get hard. If you scratch his face, he
’
ll
get hard.
”

“
Are
you serious?
”
Eden asked.

Trev grinned.
“
Sort of. You listen to Miller
and Gaige though. Respect the club. Okay?
”

Eden touched Trev
’
s face.
“
Anything for you, Trev. I love you.
”

“
I
love you, Eden,
”
he said.
“
I have to go now. I
’
ll be back soon.
”

Eden nodded. She forced herself to
smile.

Trev grabbed the leather cut held in
Eden
’
s hand. They walked
through the apartment in silence. When Trev opened the door, Jenn stood there,
smoking.

“
They
’
re waiting for you,
”
Jenn said.

At the bottom of the steps stood
the entire table.

Eden smiled bigger, loving that
they were all so close. They were ready to see their brother off and knew the
impact of Trev
’
s decision
and what he was willing to sacrifice. As Eden stood there, she reached for Trev
as he reached back and they touched hands until the last possible second.

Her mother then stood next to her.
“
You
’
ll be okay, sweetie. I
’
m here.
”

“
I
know,
”
Eden said.
“
He
’
s
going to make this work. I believe that.
”

“
You
just have to get through the hard part.
”

Eden nodded.

She thought
the hard part
was Trev going away.

She was wrong.

Trev got to the bottom of the steps
and handed his leather cut to Miller. Miller put a hand to Trev
’
s shoulder. He then shoved Trev,
spinning him around. Blaine was there, punching Trev square in the jaw.

The sound surprised her as much as
the action did. She stepped forward and her mother grabbed her arm.

“
No,
sweetie. It has to be done.
”

“
No,
”
Eden said.

Gaige took a swing and hit Trev in
the face.

Trev stumbled back, arms out. Nate
came at him, the only man in the MC bigger than Trev. He lumbered at him and
let out a grunt as he swung, hitting Trev so hard, he went up and over the hood
of a car.

Then Trev was on the ground.

The entire club attacked, keeping
him on the ground.

Eden tried to move again but her
mother wrapped her arms tight around her and held her back.

“
It
has to be done like this,
”
Jenn said.
“
Don
’
t look. Don
’
t think about it.
”

“
Let
me fucking go!
”
Eden
yelled.

Her scream was unheard. What she
heard was the sounds of Trev being attacked by his own club.

It was the worst sound she
’
d ever heard in her life.

How was Trev supposed to help the
MC if he was beaten up?

The assault came to an end and the
guys all walked away. Eden leaned forward a little, wanting to make sure Trev
was still alive. Instead, her mother dragged her into the apartment.

“
You
don
’
t need to see him like
that,
”
she said to Eden.
“
He
’
ll
come back.
”

Eden broke out of her mother
’
s hold and ran to the bedroom.
She shut the door and locked it. She then climbed into the bed and rolled up in
the covers, clutching at Trev
’
s
pillow.

She could still smell him.

She cried.

Please, Trev
…
don
’
t die.

__

twenty-four.

The wind burned the cuts on Trev
’
s face. He had told the guys to
rough him up and make it look believable. Yeah, they had done that and then
some. Trev
’
s right side
hurt like fucking death and for a minute or two he worried about controlling
his motorcycle. Whoever had been working on his side had been working a little
too hard.

But it was worth it.

It was going to all pay off, and
soon.

The late night had been overtaken
by a beautiful sunrise. Amazing colors bloomed out of the horizon. For all Trev
knew, it could be the last time he saw a sunrise. It was early to get to the
charter up north, but Trev knew some of the guys would be awake. They
’
d be drinking. Some would be
getting ready to go to sleep. Others would be chugging black coffee trying to
kill off their headaches and regrets.

Trev had a cell phone with him that
had one phone number in it. That would connect to a phone Miller had. If anyone
but Trev placed a call to that number, the phone would be tossed into the
ocean.

Worst case, Trev had a meeting spot
with Gaige and Blaine.

As much as Trev needed to stay the
fuck away from the Frelen charter, he needed to stay in constant contact to
discuss what he found, learned, and when to lure Ripper in to finish him off.

The second Trev pulled into the
Daurian charter, he felt instant tension. Two prospects opened the gates and
Trev rolled right up to the bar. He turned his motorcycle and walked it back
into an open spot.

Giovanni
’
s spot.

It was a complete sign of
disrespect and that
’
s what
Trev wanted. He wanted to rattle every motherfucker in the bar and get right to
Ripper as fast as possible.

The door to the bar blasted open
and out came Jasper and Xavier.

“
What
the fuck?
”
Jasper yelled.

Trev climbed off his ride.
“
Where
’
s Ripper?
”

“
What
the hell happened to you, man?
”
Xavier asked.

“
Where
the fuck is Ripper?
”

“
You
can
’
t put your ride there,
”
Jasper said.

“
Why?
Giovanni gonna beat me up?
”

A total shot to Jasper
’
s gut and he took the bait.

A second later Jasper charged at
Trev. They tangled up and ended up going up and over a motorcycle to the
ground. Trev got on top of Jasper and landed a punch, just to calm him down. He
could have destroyed Jasper but he wasn
’
t
there to do that to him. Instead, he tangled with Jasper again and was able to
get close enough to talk.

“
I
’
m here to save everyone,
”
Trev said.
“
Go along with everything I do
and say or you
’
ll end up
dead.
”

A gun boomed and Trev broke away
from Jasper.

“
Get
him up,
”
Ripper
’
s voice yelled.

Xavier ran to Trev and lifted him
up. Trev shook Xavier away and stared right at Ripper.

“
Now
I know Jasper didn
’
t do
that to your face,
”
Ripper
said.
“
And you
’
re missing a leather cut.
”

“
You
’
re pretty fucking smart, Ripper,
”
Trev said.
“
So then tell me what I
’
m doing here.
”

“
Don
’
t talk to him like that,
”
Jasper said.
“
You hear me?
”

“
Fuck
off, Jasper,
”
Trev said.
“
I
’
m
running outlaw. I take orders from no one.
”

“
Interesting,
”
Ripper said.
“
And you come here?
”

“
We
need to talk. Right now.
”

“
You
don
’
t get to order me
around,
”
Ripper said.

“
Fair
enough,
”
Trev said. He
walked to his motorcycle and climbed back on.
“
I
’
m going to head east. You change
your mind, you call me.
”

“
Everyone
inside right now,
”
Ripper
yelled.

“
What
about me?
”
Jasper asked.

“
I
said everyone,
”
Ripper
growled.
“
Get the fuck
inside.
”

Trev was grinning on the inside.

The guys all went into the bar.

Ripper stood with his hands at his
side.

“
Ready
to talk?
”
Trev asked.

“
Fuck
yourself, Trev. You think I
’
m
going to buy into this? You come up here all bloody
…
where
’
s
your cut?
”

“
I
lost it,
”
Trev said.
“
I gave it up.
”

“
Fuck
you. Liar.
”

Trev stood up with his motorcycle
and looked back.
“
Whatever,
Ripper. I don
’
t owe you
shit. You don
’
t owe me
shit. But you
’
ll be an
asshole if you don
’
t at
least let me tell you where Jenn is.
”

Trev started the motorcycle and
revved the growling engine. He saw Ripper approaching in the mirror and waited.
As Trev was about to leave - calling a big bluff on Ripper - he watched as
Ripper reached for his shirt.

“
Turn
that fucking thing off!
”
Ripper yelled.

Trev killed the engine. He climbed
off the motorcycle as Ripper dragged him.

“
Something
wrong?
”
Trev asked.

“
What
the fuck do you know about my old lady?
”

Trev grinned.
“
I know where she is. I know who her
fucking daughter is. The daughter that
’
s
not yours, Ripper. But you knew that, didn
’
t
you? They did this to me because I refused to buy into their bullshit.
”

Ripper
’
s eyes went wide.
“
Who?
”

“
Miller,
”
Trev said.
“
The entire charter down there.
They need to be stopped, Ripper. I was outlaw before and I got patched in
thinking I was helping. Then I learned the truth about Griffin. I wish I put
the bullet in his fucking neck. I can
’
t
do that but I can put a fucking bullet in Miller
’
s
head.
”

Ripper let Trev
’
s shirt go. He slowly nodded.
“
Okay. Let
’
s get you a beer and let
’
s have a conversation.
”

Ripper started to walk away and
Trev took a second to collect himself.

All he could think about was Eden.

How is th
is
all
going to shake out for her?

__

twenty-five.

Eden clutched her stomach and sat
on the edge of the bathtub.

Her stomach was emptied out. The
stress of Trev leaving had won the battle. There was no sleep to be had and the
last thing Eden expected was to cry until she threw up. She couldn
’
t stop getting sick either.

As she shut the lid of the toilet,
Eden felt her eyes fill with tears again.

There was a knock at the bathroom
door.

“
Can
I come in, sweetie?
”
Jenn
asked.

“
Yeah,
sure.
”

Jenn opened the door.
“
Heard you in here. Sick.
”

“
Yeah.
Stress. I can
’
t stop
thinking about it.
”

Jenn sat next to Eden on the edge
of the tub. She put an arm around Eden and pulled her close.

“
I
’
ve waited so long to do this.
”