by J. L. Drake
He rolled his eyes but tilted his head when something caught his attention.
“My, my, my.” His tone changed. “Well, isn’t that Clark’s beautiful Tessa.”
My blood pumped through my neck and vibrated the demon’s cages, an alert that my switch could still be flipped at any moment.
Tess stepped to my side, and I shot a look at Ryder. He was supposed to have kept her out of sight, and now he wouldn’t make eye contact. Strike two.
“Tess,” I warned.
“I just wanted to see him one last time.” She kept her eyes on my father as she took a step toward him. I reached out and took her arm to hold her back. She turned to me, and I saw her expression. Her jaw was locked in place, and her eyes burned fire. Tigress. I let my fingers relax and released her.
She headed for the table and ran fingertips over the grooves of a gun. Her shoulders were relaxed, and her movements fluid and slow. I could almost hear the dark thoughts that raced through her head. I carried that same look whenever someone needed to die.
Slowly, she stopped and seemed to have made a decision. She snatched up a wrench, whirled around, and smoked Allen on the outside of his kneecap. He jolted sideways as he screamed in pain while he tried unsuccessfully to remain on his feet. He dragged himself to the table and held on for balance.
“Son of bitch!” he screamed as foam flew from his mouth.
Tess dropped the wrench on a fuel barrel and stood in front of him. “That was for Gus.” With that, she came and stood behind me.
I looked over at Zay. He had remained quiet while this was all going down, watching Tess from his post near the door. When he caught my gaze, he stood a little straighter and raised his head.
A challenge?
“You like what you see?” I asked and walked over. Morgan followed a few feet behind.
I licked the inside of my mouth to ease the rage that consumed me. This piece of shit needed to be put in his place. I knew he wanted Tess.
“It’s not what you think.” He squared his shoulders, but his words didn’t match his posture.
“I don’t really care.” I reached over, took his head between my hands, and to my surprise, he allowed it.
But just as I was about to snap his neck, he spoke. “That’s very Cain and Abel of you.”
“What?”
“Stop!” a familiar voice said sharply, and a moment later, she showed herself.
My fingers dug hard into Zay’s head. What the fuck was going on?
“Lovely,” Allen muttered. “I didn’t know we were having a family reunion. Zay, feel free to handle this.”
“What are you doing here?” I glared at my mother. She seemed to be a little less weak than she had been before.
“I failed you years ago, Nolan. I wasn’t about to do it again.” She glanced over at Allen while I tried to connect the dots. “You’ve been nothing but a monster, Allen, and when I heard what you were up to, I played you at your own game.”
“Meaning?” I grew annoyed. I hated surprises at the best of times, and right now it interfered with me killing my father.
“Meaning,” she turned to face me, “Nolan, meet your brother.” She pointed at Zay, but I didn’t follow her line of sight. Instead, I saw Tess shake her head like she was as lost as I was.
“Half-brother,” Zay clarified. “You can let go now.” He pushed my hands away. “I’ve been the eyes and ears for our mother, feeding her information to help stay ahead of Allen.”
My head felt like it might spin right off. I stepped back as my mother joined my side.
“I’ll fill in the blanks later, but right now, you have something more pressing to deal with.”
Allen let out a hiss and tried to stand without the help of the table as I moved my attention over to him again. The demons screamed, and the rage came roaring back.
“You traitorous shit!” Allen hissed at Zay. “I should have known better. I should have let you become someone’s bitch in the shower. “
“You mean that fake proof you had?” Zay fixed his jacket. “Like I’d be stupid enough to let someone film me.”
Allan fell as he tried to take a step toward Zay.
Enough! This was my fight!
“For years, I feared you,” I said loud enough for all to hear. “For years, I feared I’d be like you. Until the day I got a knife to the back and found you at the other end of it. You turned my fear into fuel, and without hesitation, I returned your kindness.” I frowned slightly and remembered my disappointment when his limp body was carried away last time. “I was almost sad it had ended so quickly. I really didn’t feel like I got my revenge.”
“Well, here we are.” He held open his arms and hobbled a couple of steps.
“Yes, and here we are.” I waited a beat to savor the moment.
“So, kill me!”
I kicked his feet out from under him and drove my fist into his gut. He shot up against the van and heaved to catch his breath. His eyes watered, and his hands raced around his midsection to find a way to ease the pain.
I lowered myself to just above his eye level and whispered for only him to hear. “The difference between then and now is I saw an opportunity and took it. Sometimes the best revenge is the one you never see coming.”
“What?” He gasped as two sets of boots appeared on either side of me. I stood and stepped back while three more cartel men took my place.
“We seem to have a problem here, Mr. Vineyard.” Bruno dropped the picture of Zay wearing a DR cut on Allen’s lap.
I grabbed Tess by the arm and turned her around while the hungry weasels squealed as they awaited their next victim. Like my father, the weasels had no loyalty.
Just before we hit the cool night air, I heard the screams and felt my own demons race across the desert floor and join in on the kill.
“I can’t believe you didn’t kill him yourself,” Tess huffed as I helped her onto my bike. “He was right there for the taking.”
“A year ago, I would have dragged his sorry body to the slaughter room, but now they owe me.” I nodded to the cartel outside guarding the hanger. “I gained a debt, and that’s more valuable.”
“Ah,” she gave me a knowing smile, “growth.”
I supposed so.
She leaned up and kissed me hard. I started my bike, waited for her arms to wrap around me, and we took off toward home.
I never once looked back. I was finally free.
***
It had been a long time since the club had enjoyed a real party free of worry. A level of lightness was felt by all as the endless bottles of whiskey and rum where passed around. Ryder had recruited three more prospects who seemed to fit in well. It was good to see my club numbers grow again.
“Congrats, you old bastard.” Brick slapped Morgan on the shoulder.
“I wear it with honor.” He gave me a tight nod. It had been hard to convince Morgan to take over the position of Sergeant at Arms. I assured him Gus wouldn’t have wanted it any other way.
Rail bumped into Morgan as he made out with some redheaded chick. She threw me a cocky grin and made me laugh. She looked familiar, then I remembered it was that wild little number from Strokes.
“Have you seen the women here?” His words were slurred. “We’re outnumbered.”
I grabbed his bottle of whiskey and downed the rest. I searched the sea of bodies and spotted her by my pickup.
Fuck me.
“You sure Tess didn’t send that one?” Brick laughed.
“Fuck you.” Rail punched his arm. “She got me so messed up I always check the throat. That one sure doesn’t have a lump. Believe me, any she’s got are all in the right places.”
“I don’t know, Rail.” Morgan joined in. “You never can tell.”
“Chicks with dicks, man. Stay away.” Brick ducked the fist that came at his head.
“Trigger?” My mother stepped out of the crowd. “Can we speak?”
I noticed Zay was back against the door, loo
king as uneasy as shit. I nodded at her to follow me. We headed into my office, and he followed suit.
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you what I was up to. Truthfully, I didn’t think you’d allow it.”
“Nope.”
She sighed. “Just let me explain, then you can kick us to the curb, so to speak.”
I waved for her to continue.
“I’ll keep it short. I had Zay six years after I had you. I was in a better position then.” She rubbed her neck uneasily. “He’s not a saint, Lord knows that, but when he answered a call one night to do a hit, I heard the voice on the other end of the phone, and it chilled my soul. I knew it was him, and I told Zay. He met up with him. He was all dressed to impress and wanting to do a hit on a member of the cartel. We kept an eye on him, following him, and soon learned what his real motives were.”
“Gus was poking around a long time ago,” Zay spoke up, “lookin’ for her.” He nodded at my mother. “Word spread quickly that Allen was back from the dead and looking to build an army to take down Devil’s Reach. So, one thing led to another, and we embedded me into his life.”
“Why?” I found this all very hard to believe.
“We’ll call it an opportunity.”
“Meaning?” I folded my arms.
“Meaning,” my mother stepped closer, “I had one last chance to do right by you, Nolan. Zay agreed to do this. All he wants in return is a place at your table.”
I shook my head and ran my hand down my beard.
“How nice of you to let him think I’d ever consider that.” I dripped with sarcasm.
“Look,” her tone sharpened, “you can be pissed off all you want, but I’m a fighter too, and I don’t have a lot of time. If this is what it takes to bring you two together before I’m six feet under, then so fucking be it.”
I glanced at Zay, who smirked with a shrug. “She’s a lot feistier than she lets on.”
I pushed off my desk and thought for a moment. I never saw this coming, but it was shoved in my face, and I needed to sort it out. The party was getting louder and drew my attention to the fact that devil was finally gone, and I apparently had gained not only a mother but a brother.
I looked at him intently; his face was unreadable.
Fuck.
“I’ll find a room for you tomorrow. We’ll hash out the rest of the shit another time.” I put Rail’s bottle on the desk before I chucked it at someone and moved toward the door. I needed to get the hell out of there before I changed my mind.
I pushed through the back doors and let that shit stay inside. It was time to party. Fuck knew I deserved that much.
Rail was already back on the hunt for his little redhead. I moved past them and over to Tess. She had on a tight black leather dress, and when she turned to let someone pass, I saw the back, and my dick stood to attention. Crisscrossed down her back was a thin biker chain that held the fabric in place.
She had never looked sexier.
She pivoted on her studded heel when she saw Minnie point over her shoulder. A big smile spread across her lips and lit up her eyes.
“Hi. You like?” She bit her lip, and my erection twitched.
“Tray!” I shouted above the music.
He was next to me in three beats.
“Now.”
He whistled for everyone to shut the fuck up before he looked down and thought for a moment.
“Nothing traditional, Tray,” Morgan yelled. “We keep it short and sweet.”
Tray nodded and stepped up to us. “I had the privilege to get ordained in prison, and now I have the privilege of standing here in front of you two to tie you together forever.”
“I said short,” Morgan joked.
Tray held up a hand like he got it. “Nolan Vineyard, do you take Tess Marin to be yours today, tomorrow, and forever?”
“Yeah.”
“Tess, the same shit goes for you?”
“Yes.” She gave me a wink.
“With the power of some dusty church in prison, I can now say…you’re married.”
The entire place blew up with cheers, bottles breaking, and gunshots into the air.
I grabbed Tess by the waist and slammed her against me and kissed her with every single part of me.
The party lasted well into the night. Tess toyed with my patience because she wanted to stay, and all I wanted to do was have her naked beneath me. She assured me she was mine to do whatever with as soon as the place died down.
“Brick.” I signaled for him to step away from the group.
“What do you need, boss?”
I handed him a piece of paper with an address scribbled on it. “I don’t know much, because it’s not my shit to know, but he’s alive and working in Washington. He goes by a different last name now, Wilson.”
Brick studied the paperwork for a few beats before he glanced at me with a complex expression. His eyebrows were pinched together, and his mouth twisted as he thought.
“Follow the lead or don’t, just couldn’t sit on it any longer.”
“Right, thanks.”
“Yeah.” I slapped his shoulder before he wove through the crowd and disappeared. I understood that feeling all too well, and I wasn’t sure if I liked that I was the one who just dropped my VP in some unwanted shit, but it was something he deserved to know. I knew Brick had never met his father, but he was a good man. So, if he decided to find his brother, I’d back him.
Some guy body-slammed me. His face fell when he saw who I was. I pushed him into the wall, and he bounced off and into the pool. Jackass.
Mike: Congrats, man. Well deserved.
I tucked my phone away and found Tess and Minnie doing shots with Morgan. I knew she would have liked to have had Savannah and Mike here, but there was a line we didn’t cross. We might be acquaintances—friends, even—but our worlds operated very differently.
The chatter got to be too much for me, so I moved away.
I sat on the seat of my pickup, door open and feet on the ground, arms resting on my knees. The little purr that came from behind me soon showed herself. Now that she was bigger, she had moved into the cab of the truck. She squeezed under my arm and onto my lap.
“Too loud for ya?” I rubbed her ear, and she yawned and settled in. I wasn’t an animal person, but this little shit had grown on me.
“Hey! What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” I heard Rail shout behind the gate. I set the cat down on the passenger seat and started to make my way over to him.
I swung open the gate to find Rail and Denton kicking the shit out of a Stripe Back. I reached over and hauled Denton back as he pulled his boot back and was about to kick the man’s face in.
“What the—” Denton went to swing but stopped short when he saw it was me. “This dick was about to crash the party!”
“Get rid of him,” I ordered Rail.
Denton tried to wiggle out of my hold. “Come on, Uncle T. Let me have one last swing at him.” His face was red and sweaty, and his eyes held a familiar gleam.
“Not yet.” I waited for him to calm down before I released his arm. He fought to fix his shirt and wiped his forehead on his shirtsleeve. Denton was scrappy, and I admired that. “Your time will come.”
We watched as Rail stuffed the man into the back of the weapons van. He’d be dumped later.
Denton slowly lifted his head to look at me, and the dark promise that raced through his expression and lit his eyes proved my opinion was right about him.
He would take my seat at the head of the table someday, after I made this club something he could be proud of.
***
Tess
“Come on.” I hopped off the bike and motioned for him to follow.
“You promised me a night of you beneath me,” he muttered darkly.
I took his hand and pulled him to follow me. “Trigger, you can have as many nights as you want, but on this one night, this is important to me, so shut up and come.”
“I would love to,
” he grunted, and I laughed.
With my bag over my shoulder, I hit the button, and the elevator rose. When the doors opened, we were met with the cool night air and a sky full of stars.
It was exactly what I hoped for, and as I looked around, I saw Minnie had done a great job.
A few candles were lit along the edge of the stone rail, a bed was set up across from us in the corner, and my favorite part was right where it needed to be.
“Night’s looking up.” He smiled at the bed.
I twisted and removed his shirt then pulled back his hair and studied his face.
“Will you do something for me? Don’t say anything until I’ve finished my story.”
He nodded.
“Okay, well, when I moved here, Brick got me the place right over there.” I pointed, but he didn’t look. He kept his intense gaze on me. “I was reading my book and heard this noise over and over again. I went to my window and saw a man. He seemed almost to be dancing. He was punching a bag—in perfect form, I might add. I grabbed my camera and snapped this photo.” I held it up for him to see. “I called you my rooftop boxer. I was intrigued by you, and when I met Trigger at the bar, I almost felt conflicted on who I wanted to know more. It wasn’t until Minnie and I were in the desert that I shared this story, and she told me it was you.”
He kept looking intently at me as I rushed on. I wanted him to hear it all. “My point to this story is you have many different sides to you, Trigger, the good, the bad, and the flip, and no matter where you are inside this head of yours, know I will always be there to bring you back.” He smiled, but a real smile—one I hadn’t seen in a very long time, if ever.
“I love you,” I whispered through the unwanted emotion that flooded me.
He kept his eyes on me as his chest rose and fell. I wondered if I had gone a little too far with my story, but as I went to step back, he grabbed my arms and closed his eyes.
His fingers inched down and found mine, and something cold and smooth slipped over my ring finger.
“I hate traditional shit, but you deserve one.”
I swallowed the lump that formed in my throat. A simple black band that matched my engagement ring shone in the low light.