Devil’s Knights MC Box Set 1

by Winter Travers

  Troy’s eyes flared with rage as Gravel bumped him and his fists clenched. Oh boy. This was going to be interesting.

  “Excuse him, Troy. He’s been a bear the past week.” Ethel walked in behind Gravel and shut the door. “He’s been chomping at the bit to come over here all week. I’ve managed to hold him back this long, but he wasn’t listening today. Sorry, we didn’t call first,” Ethel walked over to the kitchen island, setting three plastic grocery bags down.

  “No damn reason I should have to call and ask to see my daughter. She should be staying with me right now anyway. Not some cowboy,” Gravel huffed as he sat down on the couch, grabbed the remote and started flipping channels.

  I looked from Gravel to Troy and shook my head. I swear I was in the twilight zone right now.

  “Don’t you think you should say hi to your daughter since you’re finally here?” Ethel scolded.

  Gravel turned his gaze to me and winked, “Hey, darlin’,” he grunted.

  “How about you say hi to the guy whose house you just barged in on?” I shot back.

  “Eh.” Gravel turned back to the TV and continued to flip channels.

  “I’m gonna go for a ride to my house and grab some things since you guys are here,” Troy said as he grabbed his truck keys off the top of the fridge. He walked over to the bed where he had his cowboy boots tucked under it and pulled them on. Wait, what? Troy was leaving? “You’re leaving?” I asked, panicked.

  “Yeah, baby. I’ll be back in an hour.”

  “Can I come with?” I didn’t want Troy to leave. I have been with him for the past week and the thought of him leaving left me feeling lost.

  “You aren’t going anywhere. King still hasn’t gotten shit squared away with the Banachi’s,” Gravel ordered.

  “No more than an hour, I promise.”

  “Okay,” I whispered, still not liking the idea of Troy leaving.

  “Walk me to my truck, Sunshine,” Troy called, opening the door.

  I raced over to the door, sliding my sandals on, and shot out the door.

  “Where’s the fire, baby girl?” Troy called as he shut the door and followed me around the garage to his truck.

  I leaned up against his truck and waited for him to make it to me. He stood in front of me and shoved his hands in his pockets. “You really need to grab stuff from your house or are you just trying to get away from me?”

  “Honestly, Sunshine?” I nodded my head and waited. “I’m pretty sure if I have to spend one more minute with your dad, I’m going to knock his fucking lights out, and I don’t want to do that to Ethel.”

  I pushed off his truck and wrapped my arms around his waist. “Thank God. I thought you were for sure getting the hell out of dodge and not coming back. Although, thank you for not hitting Gravel. I know he means well.”

  “He needs to get over the bullshit he has swirling around in his head about me.”

  “Why doesn’t he like you? I mean, I know most fathers give their daughter’s boyfriends hell, but he seems to have a deeper affliction to you.” “You haven’t heard?” he asked, a smirk on his lips.

  “Not a clue, tell me.”

  “He thinks I’m after Meg and just biding my time to swoop in and steal her away from King.”

  I was speechless. Troy in love with Meg? All you had to do was spend five minutes with them together, and you could see they are only friends. Hell, they could probably pass for brother and sister. “You’re shitting me.”

  “No, Sunshine. He is convinced that a guy and a girl can’t be friends without something going on.” Troy reached up and brushed my hair behind my ear.

  “For the record, I have never thought you two were more than friends. Meg is head over heels in love with King. You’d have to be blind not to see it.”

  “Thank God. Another person on my side. I’ve talked to King about it, and he just laughed his ass off. He said Gravel had talked to him about it before, and he wasn’t worried.”

  “So, my dad didn’t like you before, and now that you are dating his daughter, he hates you even more. I don’t know if he’ll ever like you,” I laughed.

  “As long as you like me, Sunshine, that’s all that matters.” He leaned in and brushed his lips against mine.

  “I’m pretty sure I like you,” I whispered, leaning into his kiss.

  “Well, as long as you’re pretty sure,” he smiled. His lips caressed mine, as he wrapped his arms around me and pushed me into the side of his truck.

  “Don’t leave. We’ll make them leave,” I pleaded as he trailed sweet kisses down my neck.

  “Hang out with Ethel for a little bit, baby girl. From the looks of her bags she brought, it looks like they are staying for dinner.”

  I sighed as his hands trailed down my sides and he grabbed my ass, our bodies flush. I delved my fingers into his hair and gripped his head as his kisses rained over my breasts. I arched my chest into him, begging for more.

  “Marley!”

  Troy stopped kissing me and buried his face in my neck. “Your dad is such a cock blocker,” Troy mumbled.

  “I’ll be right there, Gravel,” I hollered back. “He really does have the worst timing,” I whined.

  “All right, I’m going to run to my house. Is there anything you need from your house? I can stop and get it for you?” Troy leaned back, his eyes connecting with mine.

  His eyes were still cloudy with desire, and I could tell he was ten seconds away from throwing me in the back of his truck and having his way with me. “Um, a sweatshirt? Maybe we can have a fire tonight?”

  “Okay, baby girl. I’ll stop by your house and grab some warm clothes. Sure there isn’t anything else you need?”

  “Nope, the only thing I need is for you to hurry your ass up and get back here.”

  Troy grabbed me by my neck and laid one on me. I’m talking kissed me so good all thought left me, and all I could do is feel. I held on and just enjoyed the ride.

  “Fifty-nine minutes and I’ll be back. Maybe less,” he growled.

  “Make it less,” I moaned, kissing him one last time.

  Troy stepped back from me and ran his fingers through his hair. “You have no idea how tempted I am to take you with me and drive the hell away from here.”

  “I think I have a bit of an idea how you feel.”

  “Stop looking at me like that, Marley. We both know we can’t do that. Go help Ethel make dinner, and I promise every dirty little thought that is going through that pretty little head of yours will come true tonight.” Troy walked around to the driver’s door and climbed in, slamming the door shut behind him.

  I moved away from the truck, and he cranked it up. He stuck his hand out the window as he drove away, giving me the typical two fingered guy wave. I watched his truck disappear until I couldn’t see the taillights anymore.

  “He’ll be right back, darlin’. I could see the way that boy was wrapped around your finger as soon as I walked in the door.”

  I turned around and saw Ethel standing by the corner of the garage. “I like him, Ethel.”

  “Good, hun. You both need each other.”

  “I don’t know about Troy needing me and all my drama, but I do need him. I’ve never been with someone who makes me feel the way he does.”

  “Hold on tight then and don’t let go.”

  This was why I loved Ethel. She always knew the right thing to say. “Did Gravel send you out here to check on me?”

  “Oh Lord no. It was more like I had to beat him back from the door. I told him I would see what was holding you up. I knew you were saying goodbye to Troy and didn’t need your father breathing down your neck.”

  “Thanks, Ethel.”

  “No thanks needed, hun. Now, why don’t you go on in the house with me and help me make an apple pie for dinner.”

  I threw my head back and laughed. “Troy was right. He said you probably brought dinner with you.”

  “Well of course. I do have manners. I brought all the fixings
for meatloaf with all the sides.”

  I turned my nose up at meatloaf. I had never met a meatloaf I liked. “Ugh, do you think we could maybe have burgers instead of meatloaf?”

  Ethel laughed and shook her head. “How about you give my meatloaf a chance and then if you don’t like it, I’ll make you a hamburger.”

  “Okay, deal.”

  Ethel headed back to the house, and I followed behind. I glanced behind me, looking where Troy’s truck was and smiled. Fifty minutes until he was back.

  *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

  Chapter 24

  troy

  My bag was sitting by the door, and I was ready, but I wasn’t ready.

  I didn’t know what the hell I was doing. I didn’t understand how I could have such strong feelings for Marley, and I had barely known her. And now I sounded like a wuss. Fuck me, what the hell was Marley doing to me.

  I sat down on the couch and ran my fingers through my hair. I always told myself

  I wanted to settle down and have a family, but I didn’t know how it would happen. I never expected a girl to storm into my life and completely take me by surprise.

  Looking around my house, everything looked the same, but it didn’t feel the same. My whole life looked the same, but damn if it felt the same. I had always valued my time alone. Even when I would date a girl, I would need my own time. I craved it.

  With Marley, if she wasn’t within ten feet of me I couldn’t breathe. I always had to know where she was, and if it werent next to me, I’d go to her.

  The big question was, did she feel the same? Could she breathe without me? I was only her second relationship. Her first relationship had lasted over ten years and, from the sounds of it, had led a sheltered life. Hell, a sheltered and much more expensive life than I could give her. I’m sure Mark had given her everything she needed or wanted.

  All I could give Marley she had seen. I worked forty hours a week, paid my bills, and had enough money left over for a couple of twelve packs at the end of the week.

  “Open up, fucker. It’s your best friend you haven’t seen or talked to in over a week!” Meg yelled as she pounded on the front door.

  I opened the door, and Meg stood on the other side, her hand raised to pound on the door again. “How the hell did you know I was here?”

  “I happened to be driving by and saw your truck. Let me in,” she demanded as she pushed past me.

  “I’m about to leave, Meg. I still have to run to Marley’s and pick up some stuff she wanted.” I slammed the door shut and crossed my arms over my chest.

  “You can spare five minutes for me, ass.” Meg plopped down on the couch and kicked her feet up on the coffee table.

  “You could have called me, you know. The phone does work both ways.”

  “I know that, do you?”

  “What do you want, Meg? I know I haven’t been to work in a week, and you miss me, but coming over and harassing me seems a bit over the top.”

  “Oh well, you know me. Over the top is my specialty.”

  “We all know that. Well…”

  “All right, since I’m on a time limit, I’ll just cut straight to the point. How are you and Marley? Scared shitless?”

  And right there was the freaky thing about Meg. She knew me. Too well sometimes. “I’m, well, you know, getting used to it.” “You’re scared shitless, Troy. Admit it.”

  I wasn’t scared per say, it was more like I didn’t know what the hell to do. Oh hell, who was I kidding? I was ready to rip a page out of Marley’s book and get the hell out of dodge. “I have no idea what the hell I am doing, Meg. Things are fucking perfect right now. How the hell is that possible? We don’t even know each other.”

  “I think you know each other more than you think.”

  “This shit doesn’t happen. You don’t have such strong feelings barely two weeks into knowing someone.”

  “Now you know how I felt with Lo. It scared the ever living shit out of me that a man like Lo could look at me the way he did so soon. That shit happens in the books I read, not my life. But it did happen to me Troy, and I think it’s happening even faster to you, too.”

  “So what the hell do I do? I can’t give her much. This is all I have,” I said as I stretched my arms wide.

  Meg looked around and shook her head. “This,” she twirled her finger over her head, “is not what Marley wants.”

  “Then what the fuck does she want with me?”

  Meg stood up and pulled her truck keys out of her pocket. “She wants the man who is my best friend. The man who helped Cyn when she was hurt. The man who is doing everything in his power to keep her safe. I can guaran-damn-tee that is what she wants. Everything else is irrelevant.”

  “What if you’re wrong? What if she gets sick of the man I am? I don’t have a fancy job and a vault full of money.”

  “Then you let her go and find the girl who is looking for exactly what you are. But, I don’t think you’ll have to worry about that. I’m going to tell you the same thing Ethel tells me, ‘Let that boy in.’” Meg’s eyes bugged out, and she waved her hand. “Well, substitute girl for boy. Whatever, you get the point.”

  “It was going pretty good until you called me a girl.”

  Meg ran her fingers through her hair and brushed it to the side. “Yeah, not everyone can be Ethel.”

  “You’ll have to work on your closing more,” I laughed.

  “Ugh, I’m out. All this sappy shit is making me miss Lo. I gotta find him and hug the shit out of him.” Meg walked up to me and just stared at me.

  “You’re going to hug me, aren’t you?”

  Meg got a big loopy smile on her face and wrapped her arms around me. “You’re gonna be fine, Troy,” she whispered in my ear.

  She walked out the door. Her truck fired up, and she was gone before I could say a word.

  I grabbed my bag, locked the door behind me and made my way over to my truck.

  I made it over to Marley’s in less than ten minutes and grabbed the key from under the rock she had texted me about. As I was walking in the door, my phone went off for a text message, and I pulled it out of my pocket as I shut the door behind me.

  You have seventeen minutes left before I come looking for you. I guess I couldn’t say she didn’t care about me.

  Just got to your house. Be back to you soon. It was a twenty-minute drive back to the apartment so I would need to hurry the hell up and go about twenty over the speed limit to make it back to her.

  I’m counting the seconds.

  I’ll always come back to you, Sunshine. Damn, I was turning into a sap, but it felt so right. I needed to let Marley know I was missing her as much as she was missing me.

  I’ll always be waiting.

  I shoved my phone back in my pocket before I texted any more sappy shit.

  As I was making my way up the stairs, I thought I heard footsteps in the kitchen. I stopped to listen but didn’t hear anything. I shook my head, thinking I was losing it and made my way up the rest of the stairs.

  I flipped the light on in Marley’s room and knew instantly I wasn’t hearing things. “You’re not who we were expecting, but we’ll make this work.” There was a man sitting on the edge of Marley’s bed, his hands clasped in front of him. He was wearing a dark blue pinstriped suit and looked like he had stepped off the cover of some fancy magazine. “Grab him.”

  I turned around and ran into a wall of a man who spun me back around and twisted my arms behind my back.

  “Where is Marley?” The man demanded.

  “I don’t know.”

  “You know what I hate, Troy?” Oh shit. My idea of playing stupid might not work. This either had to be the Banachi’s or Mark’s family. “I hate a liar.”

  “I don’t know where she is.”

  “Then what are you doing in her house right now? You know, I don’t care. I don’t have time for this.” Suit stood up, straitening his jacket.

  He walked past me, whispered something to the guy
who was holding me and walked out of the room.

  That was the last thing I remember before the lights went out and everything went black.

  *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

  Chapter 25

  Marley

  “He should be here by now, Gravel!” I yelled as I ate dinner at the kitchen island. It had been over an hour since Troy had texted me. I had tried calling him ten times, and he didn’t answer. I knew something was wrong.

  “You two have been together for the past week. He’s probably just taking a breather. Grab your fork and eat. I’m sure he’ll be here any minute,” he said as he shoveled more food into his mouth.

  I couldn’t believe this. Something could have happened to Troy, and Gravel was acting like nothing was going on.

  “Just calm down and eat, hun. If Troy isn’t back soon, Gravel will start looking and making some phone calls. I’m sure he’s ok.” Ethel handed me a plate and gently pushed me to sit next to Gravel.

  I took a deep breath and looked down at my plate. Ethel and Gravel were right. I’m sure Troy got held up doing something else. I put a small helping of food on my plate and sat down.

  “Just breathe, darlin’,” Gravel said quietly as he wiped his hands on a napkin.

  “I’m sorry. I’ve already lost one man I cared about.”

  Ethel stood on the other side of the island, her plate full and she smiled at me. “I know exactly how you feel, hun. When I lost Henry, I didn’t think I would ever be able to love another man and then your father came along and showed me love I never thought I would have again.”

  “I don’t love Troy, I just don’t want anything to happen to him.” I ducked my head, not wanting Ethel to see that I might love Troy. They would think I was crazy if they thought I was in love with a man that I barely knew. Hell, I thought I was crazy for feeling the way I did.

  Gravel grunted and shook his head. “I might not be the biggest fan of that cowboy you’ve fallen in love with darlin’, but I can tell you one thing.” “Gravel, be nice,” Ethel warned.