AN OUTLAW MONSTER (A Back Down Devil MC Romance Novel) (15 page)

I felt my face burning even hotter.

Then I saw something else.

Another picture, face down.

I took it out of the drawer and
turned it around.

It was Trent, on a motorcycle, with
a beautiful woman with her arms around his neck. She had long black hair and
sexy eyes. She was cheek to cheek with Trent and the smile on his face was
completely genuine. He was in a cut off t-shirt, showing off his muscles and
tats. The woman looked so clean and innocent.

I instantly looked to the diamond
ring and wondered if I was the wrong person wearing it.

There was a sound at the door and I
hurried to put the picture away. I slammed the drawer shut and spun around as
the door opened.

I thought it was Trent.

I was wrong.

It was Duke
…
the biker I tried
to kill
…

nineteen.

(trent)

The prospect put three beers on the
table and then stood there.

I gave it a few seconds and saw
Trev getting pissed.

“
Hey,
asshole,
”
I said.
“
What do you want? A
fucking tip?
”

“
I,
uh, no
…”

“
Get
out,
”
I yelled. I
reached for my knife and whipped it out.
“
You
’
ve got ten seconds to
disappear or I
’
m
cutting off a finger.
”

That got the prospect moving.

I swear - some of those guys were
only in it for the image. And when they did something for us they expected
something in return. That
’
s
what a lot never learned. You never, ever expect a thing in return. What you
work for and what you earn is respect. I would take a bullet for Jasper not
because I would expect him to do it in return. Fuck no. I would take a bullet
for Jasper because I respected him. And because if a bullet were to come at me,
he
’
d take it because
he respected me.

“
What
are we doing here?
”
I
asked Trev.

It was me, him, and Jasper.

“
First
off,
”
Trev said.
“
I guess we owe a congrats.
”

“
To
the monster
for settling down,
”
Jasper said.
“
I don
’
t believe it.
”

“
I
don
’
t think many of
us do,
”
Trev said.

We eyed each other again, knowing
it was all bullshit. But I respected Trev for keeping his head on straight for
the moment with this thing.

“
So
I guess she sticks around,
”
Trev said.
“
Good for
her. We
’
ll keep her
ass safe.
”

“
Keep
her ass away from Cash,
”
Jasper said.
“
Christ,
I heard him last night telling some chick that he was money. That
’
s why his name
’
s Cash. What a frigging
moron.
”

“
As
much fun as this casual chat is, can we get serious?
”
I asked.
“
I
’
d like to settle up with
my bride-to-be. She really didn
’
t
have a chance to explain herself yet as to why she pulled a gun on a prospect.
Her mouth was preoccupied.
”

“
Good
for you,
”
Jasper
said.

“
Takes
guts to do what she did,
”
Trev said.

“
That
’
s why I
’
m marrying her.
”

“
Right,
”
Trev said.
“
Right.
”

“
Okay,
back on track,
”
Jasper said.

“
My
father.
”

“
He
owes the O
’
Nuall
family a lot. More than we could ever think of helping with. From pussy to
gambling to drugs, it
’
s
full circle. He was either too dumb or just didn
’
t
realize that he was in debt three ways with the same group.
”

“
He
’
s a complete asshole,
”
I said.
“
I wouldn
’
t save him if it was
offered to me.
”

“
Good,
”
Jasper said.
“
That might make this
easier.
”

I slammed my beer down, sending
bubbling foam up and over the top.
“
Fuck.
Someone tell me what
’
s
going on right now.
”

Trev looked at me.
“
Fair enough, Trent. The O
’
Nuall family wants him
dead. They
’
re willing
to work with us and negotiate on this gun situation. But your father is a big
pawn.
”

“
Then
let him die,
”
I said.

Jasper put a hand to my wrist.
“
It
’
s not that easy, brother. They have specific
terms.
”

“
Trent,
”
Trev said.
“
They want you to
kill him
…
they want you to kill your own father.
”

twenty.

(harlee)

I bent a little and tried to open
the drawer. My plan was to get the gun and get Duke out of my way. Then I
’
d run for help, screaming
for Trent as I hurried through the hallway.

But Duke made the first move and
made it fast.

He came at me and I screamed. I
covered my face and moved out of the way, losing any chance at getting a
weapon. He kicked at the nightstand and then took out his gun.

“
Please,
”
I whispered.

Without a word, he did something to
the gun and the clip fell out. He tossed it to the bed and then placed the gun
on the nightstand.

“
I
just want to talk,
”
he said.

“
Then
talk,
”
I said.
“
You come near me again and
I
’
ll scream for
Trent.
”

Duke laughed.
“
You
’
re engaged now, huh?
”

I showed him my hand.
“
Yeah. So?
”

“
Trust
me, sweetie, I don
’
t
buy that for a second. Whatever you have on Trent, it must be good.
”

“
Meaning?
”

“
He
wouldn
’
t give a fuck
about some bar hopping whore like you,
”
Duke said.
“
I
’
ve seen him run through so
many women. Now all of a sudden he
’
s
into you? A woman that was going to kill me? Unless your pussy tastes like
chocolate ice cream.
”

“
Wouldn
’
t you like to know,
”
I said.

Duke turned and stepped toward me.
“
Engaged ain
’
t married. If I wanted a
taste, I
’
d damn well
take it. Trent owes me one anyway. So keep fucking with me.
”

I froze up and felt my blood ready
to freeze up next.
“
So
what do you want?
”

“
I
want to hear it from you,
”
Duke said.
“
What
happened that night.
”

“
What
night?
”

“
The
night you were going to murder me.
”

Duke was big and very unstable. His
eyes kept changing as he spoke. One second he was smiling, the next he looked
ready to pounce.

“
Rocco
and Gunner wanted to get back at you,
”
I said.
“
I don
’
t know why. Gunner took me
into their meeting room and showed me all your pictures. He stopped at your
picture and said he wanted you dead. I was put on the spot to do it. They gave
me a small bottle of poison and I poured it into your drink. That
’
s when Trent showed up.
”

“
And
that
’
s right about
when I lost my mind,
”
Duke said.

“
Yeah,
”
I said.
“
Then those other guys
showed up with machine guns.
”

“
So
you were really going to serve that drink to me?
”
Duke asked.

“
I
don
’
t know,
”
I said.
“
I was stuck in that moment,
okay? Grabbing the drink, wondering if I could actually do it. Hand it to you
and walk away. Try to be casual as you began to die. I tried to play it in my
mind over and over and convince myself it was okay to do.
”
The emotion caught up in
my throat. I coughed and turned my head.
“
They
were going to destroy me if I didn
’
t
do it. Daxton had already been pushing me around. Swinging at me. It was a
moment where I would lose no matter what.
”
I paused and collected myself so I could look at Duke again.
“
It wasn
’
t about killing you, Duke.
It was about buying myself time.
”

Duke stepped toward me again. I
thought about screaming but I had no breath to do it. My energy was spent
trying not to break down and cry. When he reached for me, I feared the worst.
He was a tough and smart biker. A military guy. He could probably choke me out
or break my neck in a second.

Duke squeezed my arm.
“
Look at me, Harlee. I want
you to listen carefully. When I was across the ocean, chasing down what felt
like an invisible enemy, I had that feeling too. It was all about chasing time.
Not winning a war. Watching guys I had been in basic training with getting
blown up like they were nothing. And then it was my job to track down and blow
up those guys. This never ending cycle of death. The only thing I clung to was
a sense of time. The brotherhood I had with so many was left over there. Fuck,
it
’
s probably still
blowing around in the dust. I came back in one piece, physically, and knew the
only way I could survive was to ride that feeling until death. Do you
understand me?
”

“
Yes,
”
I whispered.
“
I
’
m really sorry, Duke. For everything.
”

“
I
respect your honesty. I respect whatever it is Trent sees in you. I hope you
realize for all the years I
’
ve
known him, nobody got this close.
”

“
What
about the woman in the picture?
”
I blurted out.
“
Who
was that?
”

“
That
’
s a story I can
’
t tell.
”
Duke reached up and
touched my face.
“
Don
’
t ever try to kill me
again, Harlee. Because if you do and you fuck it up, I will have to kill you.
”

“
Deal,
”
I said.

The bedroom door opened again and I
turned my head to see Trent standing there.

“
What
the fuck is this?
”

**

I put my hand out and knew there
was no stopping Trent - or Duke.

The two outlaws collided together
and ended up against a wall. I let out a scream and then watched as they
started to hit each other! Trent punched Duke in the stomach and Duke punched
Trent in the mouth. Trent grabbed Duke by his leather cut and swung, throwing
him across the room.

“
There
’
s nothing wrong!
”
I yelled.
“
We were talking!
”

Trent ran at Duke and rammed his
shoulder into Duke
’
s
gut, lifting him and slamming him against another wall. Trent got a right punch
to Duke
’
s jaw and
then Duke backhanded Trent in the face. They were then separated by a few feet
and then froze.

The only sound I heard was my heart
pounding inside my chest.

Duke wiped the corner of his mouth.
“
You done, brother?
”

“
Stay
away from her,
”
Trent
warned.
“
It
’
s over, Duke. The entire
situation. It was all bullshit and we
’
re
fixing it.
”

“
I
know that,
”
Duke said.
“
Doesn
’
t make it right, Trent. I
came to hear it from her mouth. To hear the truth. She gave it. I
’
m done with this.
”

“
Good,
”
Trent said.
“
Now stay the fuck away
from my woman and stay the fuck away from my room.
”

Duke flexed his jaw.
“
I
’
m leaving then. And just for the record,
Trent, she was asking about Allie. You might want to clear that up before you
walk down the aisle.
”

I gasped, realizing what Duke had
just done. Allie must have been the woman in the picture. Duke collected up his
gun off the bed and left the room without a care in the world and I was left
with the angriest version of Trent I
’
d
ever seen. This was
the monster
I had been hearing about. The way he
stood, somehow looking two feet taller and twice as big with muscle.

“
What
did you do?
”
he asked
me.

“
Nothing,
”
I said.
“
He came and cornered me. I
talked. That was it.
”

“
You
were looking around my room while I was gone.
”

“
I
’
m curious, Trent. Okay?
You gave me a diamond ring that you already had
…”

Trent
’
s
right hand grabbed my waist. He pulled me close.
“
We
’
re leaving.
”

“
What?
”

“
We
’
re going back to my
apartment.
”

“
Why?
Why can
’
t we stay
here? I thought you said
…”

“
Harlee,
I need you to do one thing for me.
”

“
What?
”

“
Trust
me. When I say we need to leave, we leave. End of discussion. Understand?
”

I nodded.
“
Trent, I didn
’
t
mean to find anything.
”

“
Yes
you did. That
’
s why
you were looking.
”

My face burned.
“
I do trust you. I want to
know more about you. I know the engagement thing is fake but that doesn't mean
everything has to be fake.
”

Are you trying to romance an
outlaw right now?

Trent leaned down and placed his
lips to mine. An actual kiss. Lips to lips, lasting longer than a second. His
lips parted and our tongues touched.

Then Trent pulled away. Both hands
at my hips, keeping me away.

“
You
’
re poison,
”
he said.

“
So
are you,
”
I said.

“
I
know, darling.
And if you want to step into this world with me, I
’
m going to tear you
apart
…
and you
’
ll
never want anything or anyone else for the rest of your life.
”