Devil on Your Back

by Max Henry

  “Hey, asshole,” Alice growls behind me. “Hands off my woman.”

  I spin and lunge, placing my palms on Alice’s chest, stopping him in his tracks before he catches a glimpse of Sawyer’s face. Thankfully, between the hood and the shadows, it’s hard for Alice to see from this distance. Last thing we need is Vince’s boy going off like a fire-cracker at the wrong moment. Sawyer is unstable, crazy, a danger if he’s not handled right. I should know; I’ve been around the kid since he was still a boy playing with Tonka trucks in the clubhouse yard.

  Jane is fighting Sawyer, clawing at the arm wrapped around her chest. “Leave her alone,” I call over my shoulder, still battling Alice. He pushes against me, my feet sliding in the mud.

  Sawyer shoves Jane on her ass, and steps back into the light. “Sure thing, Sonya. The main course just showed up anyway.” The reaction written across Alice’s face can only be described as savage.

  This isn’t going to end well . . .

  I catch Vince approaching from the front of the house in my peripheral. It takes everything in me not to give it away, to keep my expression neutral and my eyes trained on Sawyer as he advances on Alice.

  I stay between the boys, and place a hand on Sawyer’s stomach, urging him back. “What are you trying to achieve here, Sawyer?”

  He shrugs. “Other than proving I’m not as hopeless as Dad thinks, I hadn’t really thought more on it.”

  “These are people’s lives you’re playing with, honey. Think about that.”

  His eyes drop to mine, and I shiver at the vacancy. He simply doesn’t get it. The kid is crazy, and you can’t reason with crazy.

  “Can you move please, Sonya?” he asks as sweetly as the kid who would beg for me to make more brownies.

  “I don’t want you doing this,” I urge.

  “Out of the way,” Alice grumbles. “Let us figure this out, Sonya.”

  “No!” I turn my head to address Alice, and it’s my downfall. Sawyer shoves me over while I’m distracted, and steps over my sprawled body to get to Alice.

  He gets the first hit in, and the solid sound of flesh on flesh echoes between the house and garage as Alice staggers back. His bare foot slips in the mud as he tries to get his bearings, and the ground squelches under his weight when he lands flat on his back. Sawyer still advances for more. I lie on the ground, frozen in shock when Vince leaps over me, heading for the brawl. My breath hitches in my throat, the blade of a knife in Sawyer’s hand catching the light. He kneels over Alice to finish him, only to have Vince rip him violently off.

  Jane is screaming at the men to stop as Alice finds his feet. My eyes are glued to the carnage, my heart painfully thumping into my ribcage as I watch Vince wrestle Sawyer for the knife. The tip of the blade nicks his arm, and the anger in Vince’s eyes grounds me firmly where I am. He roars out, and gives Sawyer a smack to the head so severe I swear his neck damn near doubles flush onto his back. The kid expels all breath with a loud ‘oomph’, and promptly goes limp.

  “Fuckin’ troublemaker,” Vince growls, dropping him onto the ground.

  Alice is on his feet and lunging for the unconscious Sawyer, but Vince catches him mid-flight, hauling him off the ground, Alice’s legs still moving and his arms still clawing for Sawyers body. Adrenalin still pumping through my veins, I sit up and stifle a nervous laugh at the sight of Alice, a man who’s not small by any means, being restrained by his father like a child mid-tantrum.

  Jane rushes over to Sawyer and snatches the knife from his reach. She hesitates, and places a palm on his chest to check his breathing. “He’s out cold, all right. What are you going to do with him now?”

  “Got a cupboard to lock him in?” I joke, although, for the most part I’m deadly serious. My natural high from the adrenalin is starting to wear off, and it’s either laugh about it, or cry about it.

  I’d rather go with the humor after a night like this.

  Vince sets Alice down, and looks over to where I am. “Let me look at you.” He’s on his knees before me, fingers on my chin, tipping my head towards the light that spills from the back of the house. It won’t be enough for him to see the welt smarting on my face, so I fib my way out of it. “Fine. Barely felt it.”

  “Give me a hand, Dad,” Alice calls out. “We’ll get him inside and restrained before he comes to.”

  Vince sighs, and kisses my forehead before moving to help Alice get Sawyer’s dead weight up the porch and indoors. I watch them move him, choosing to stay where I am for a little while longer as my heart rate returns to normal.

  Jane finishes undoing the rope on Rocco and gives him a hug and a ruffle of the ears. “It’s okay now, buddy.”

  I stand, and wait for her, just in case Sawyer wasn’t alone. We walk inside together, and she giggles beside me as we start up the porch steps.

  “What’s so funny?” I ask, trying not to think about how close to death Vince just was.

  “I’ve never seen Alice look so much like a little kid. You have to admit it was funny seeing Vince hold him back like that.” She looks over at me with a twinkle in her eye.

  I smile, and laugh. “Yeah. It was kind of hilarious.”

  • • • • •

  THE GUYS bind Sawyer’s arms and legs together, left foot to right hand, and vice versa. He’s constricted in a way that he’s unable to even twitch without falling off balance. They prop him up on the sofa, unconscious still, and we all change out of our muddy threads while Jane makes a round of coffees.

  I sit opposite Sawyer in an armchair, and watch him as he ‘sleeps’. My heart aches when I think about the smiling boy he once was, always so full of life and eager to see us all at the club when his mother would bring him in. But that was back when Carlos wasn’t a drug lord, and when life was so much simpler. When things were as they seemed, and you didn’t have to wonder who would double cross you next.

  I sigh, longing for those days back, as Vince sets a coffee down in front of me.

  “He’s messed up, but you wouldn’t have been able to break through that,” he tells me.

  I nod. “I know. I guess I just see him differently to everyone else, knowing what he went through.”

  “I can see your point, baby, but you need to remember that in there”—He gestures to Sawyer—“is nothing of the boy you knew.”

  “It’s sad,” I muse, reaching for the coffee. “Sad that things can shape a person like that. Sad that the person lets them.”

  Vince shrugs. “I don’t think he chose to ‘let them’ as such. I’m sure the kid just woke up one day realizing he wasn’t the same, but not caring enough to try and change that.”

  “You sound like you’re not talking about Sawyer anymore,” I observe, sipping the hot drink.

  “I guess I’m not.” Vince looks across to Alice and curls the corner of his lips up. “How different life could have been.”

  “Totally,” I agree.

  Jane arrives with her drink, and Alice stands behind her as she takes up residence in the other armchair. “You’ve got quite the bruise there,” Alice points out, motioning to my face.

  I scowl at him, and frown as Vince puts his drink down to move around me. He hisses at the sight of my face, and I glare at Alice. I’d done a pretty good job of hiding it from Vince until now.

  “Fuck, Sonya.” His eyes track to Sawyer, and I know what he’s thinking.

  “Don’t you even think of doing anything of the sort.”

  Vince shakes his head, and resumes his position on my good side. “He’s fuckin’ lucky he has you ladies in the room.”

  On cue, Sawyer stirs, and jerks awake when he realizes he’s bound. “What the . . .?”

  “Good morning, sunshine.” Alice smirks.

  “Fuck you,” he spits. “Untie this shit.”

  Vince laughs. “You’re so used to everyone jumpin’ on command, aren’t you?”

  Sawyer glares his way. “Yeah, because you spineless fuckers know what shit will go down if you step a foot out
of line.”

  Vince nods, and scoots forward so he’s in Sawyer’s face, an amused smirk on his lips. “Doesn’t matter anymore, kid.”

  Sawyer lunges, trying to head butt Vince, but he backtracks faster.

  “We’re past hiding our differences from your old man, so your little issues don’t really mean fuckin’ squat.”

  “What are you doin’ here anyway?” Sawyer asks, looking about the four of us. “Why are you involved?”

  Alice grins, and turns to Vince. “You want to tell him, Dad? Or should I?”

  Sawyer’s eyes go wide, and he grins like the psychopath he is. “Holy fuckin’ shit. He’s your kid?” He wriggles with pent-up energy. “This is fuckin’ gold!”

  “Oh, I’m sure you’re thinkin’ that’s the bloody jackpot.” Vince chuckles. “But fuck, it’s twice the trouble for you, kid.”

  “How? I get twice the satisfaction when I knock you both off. Jesus . . .” His eyes go glazed as he drifts into his thoughts. “. . . So many things I could do, like torture you both in front of each other.” He bucks against the ropes holding him down and falls off the sofa onto his side, laughing hysterically. “When can we get started?”

  Jane looks mortified, but the rest of us stare at him blankly. I’ve been around Sawyer long enough to know how his crazed head works, and I’m sure the boys have seen plenty like him in their time.

  “Listening to you gives me a headache,” Alice grumbles. He steps over and grabs Sawyer’s head in his hand, lifting it a little then slamming it down on the floor.

  The kid goes quiet with a heavy thunk.

  DAWN LIGHT invades the living room, spilling over the floorboards like a lava flow, slowly spreading towards where my feet sit under the table. I’m cradling my fourth cup of coffee since this bullshit started. Sonya’s back in bed, catching up on lost sleep, and although I sent Alice off to do the same I have a feeling he hasn’t had a wink by the looks he was giving Jane earlier.

  Nothing like a little danger to make you value what you have.

  Sawyer sits on the sofa where we hoisted him back up to, staring blankly at the wall opposite him. He’s been doing it for the last hour and a half, and quite frankly, it’s starting to freak me the fuck out.

  “What crazy shit goes through that head of yours these days?” I ask, moving from the table to the armchair beside him.

  His gaze slowly slides off the wall and crawls over my face like icy fingers before meeting mine. “You wouldn’t understand it.”

  I tend to agree. It’s probably crazier than a loony bin full of drug-addled clowns.

  “What were you going to do when you’d finished this little tirade?” I question. Did he think his jaunt would get him a job offer from Carlos?

  He shrugs. “Not sure yet. Had contemplated going solo.”

  “And Mack?” I only ask about his kid because we all know how little he loves Ramona . . . if at all.

  “I’m sure he’d be fine with Bruiser as his daddy,” he seethes. “Fucker’s been trying to take that role since before the kid was born.”

  I choose against saying anything about Bruiser. It’d only spur him on, make him think he’s winning in this petty game of payback.

  “Maybe the kid’s better off without you in his life anyway.” I take a gulp of coffee, and chill despite the warmth of the brew as Sawyer’s gaze slides back to the wall.

  “Yeah, maybe,” he mumbles. He returns to his trance, transfixed on nothing but a blank sheet of painted drywall.

  Ditching my empty mug in the kitchen sink, I wander over to the doors that lead out onto the porch. My line of sight back to the lunatic is perfect when I step outside, so satisfied the jackass isn’t being left unsupervised I shut the door, and pull out my phone.

  King picks up in a few rings. “Hey. Callum shouldn’t be far away from you; Ramona wanted to set off early so Mack would sleep most of the way.”

  “Fair enough. We’ve got a bit of a family reunion when she gets here.”

  “You found Sawyer?” His curiosity is clear.

  “He found us. Jane disturbed him last night, and long story short he’s tied up and sitting on the sofa, doing whatever it is a nut job does.”

  “Nice. That works in well actually.”

  “Why’s that?” I ask, keeping my sight trained on Sawyer as he sits rigid as a statue.

  “I made contact with Carlos.”

  “And?” I prompt, squashing the unease that’s rising in my gut.

  “He seems interested to talk about our common problem—Sawyer. Think I might be able to strike a deal, and you having Sawyer contained already is going to speed that along quite nicely. I’m heading down your way shortly, meeting him at neutral ground.”

  “Not alone?”

  “Nah. I need some help with that. I’ve left what good men I have back here to keep watch over the place. Just because Carlos was agreeable to a meet-up doesn’t mean I’m stupid enough to think he won’t try something while I’m gone.”

  “You call it, we’ll be there.”

  Alice emerges from the hallway, and pauses when he sees Sawyer in an empty room. He finds me on his first sweep and gives me a tight nod before continuing into the kitchen.

  “What about Ramona?” I ask. “You want to move her now that Sawyer’s here?”

  “I’d like to, but it’s her call,” King answers. “I know how much she hates messing Mack around. If she feels safe with you lot, then that’s okay with me.”

  “No problem, then. I’ll give her the option.”

  “I’ll give you a heads up when I’m an hour or so out,” King says. “But in the meantime, can you get Malice’s guys rounded up?”

  “Sure thing.”

  I disconnect and head indoors. Sawyer still stares at the wall as I hang a left and join Alice.

  “Pres is on his way down.”

  Alice jerks his chin up.

  “I need your lot here before he arrives.”

  “Why?” Water boils in the kettle behind him. “What’s he comin’ down for?”

  “He’s meeting Carlos.”

  “Eh?” Alice narrows his gaze. “What the hell, Dad?”

  “He’s got a strategy up his sleeve, and knowing the guy, I’d run with it.”

  “The boys won’t like it; you’re taking this out of our hands.”

  “It’s not about ego, boy,” I growl. “You do what’s best for your girl, and if that’s allowing us to take control, then fuckin’ suck it up.”

  The teaspoon slams about in the mug as he makes a coffee. I couldn’t give two shits if the kid is going to sulk for the rest of the day or even the year—this is about more than just him, and the moment he realizes that, things will run a lot smoother.

  “Get some sleep, Dad. I’ll watch him.”

  I head past Sawyer, wondering if he’ll look as pretty when I get back from a bit of shut-eye. In his current mood, I wouldn’t put it past Alice to knock Sawyer about a bit, just to make him feel like a bigger man.

  Sonya’s still out to it when I enter the room, but the scrape of denim on my legs and the clank of my buckle as it hits the floor wake her.

  “How long have I been asleep?”

  “About four hours,” I say. “Callum isn’t far away with Ramona.”

  “Do you think that’s wise bringing them here, with Sawyer?” she asks, propping herself up on an elbow as I get in beside her.

  Good lord, the woman’s naked.

  “The guy’s tied up, and it’ll be three to one, or five if Alice’s boys arrive first. He’s not going to achieve anything.”

  “If you’re sure,” she says with a rise of her eyebrows.

  “Certain. Now get over here.”

  She giggles when I grab hold of her and haul her body over mine. Golden locks of hair fall around our faces, effectively shielding us from the world. Our own little bit of paradise, hidden away from all the shit going down around us.

  Her lips find mine, and I bite gently on her bottom one,
tugging her closer. She deepens the kiss, her hands on my face, and her heart hammering in her chest. I wonder if she can feel mine doing the same, the way she affects me?

  She pulls back and sighs as my hands trail over her back and cup her ass. The woman’s a perfect hourglass shape, all curves and softness. There’s the hint of a strong body underneath it all, and I wonder . . .

  “When did you stop working out?”

  Her face twists in confusion. I know it’s not the best way to word it, but eh, I say what I think.

  “I’m not insulting you, baby. I was just wondering when you stopped going to the gym.”

  She sits up, her hair covering her breasts, and straddles my hips. “Five years ago, right after Mike died.”

  “Do you miss it?” I ask quietly.

  She nods, a small smile playing on her lips.

  “Do you want to start again? With me?” I run my palms up and down her thighs, feeling the muscle beneath.

  She stares across to the window, and bites her lip. “That would be nice, yeah.”

  “We can go when this shit blows over, get you back on the horse.” The thought of her working out has me growing under her.

  “Thank you,” she says, leaning down and placing a gentle kiss on my lips. “I guess I hadn’t wanted to do it alone, you know? Although, with you I may get distracted.” She wriggles down so her body hovers over my legs, and her mouth is blowing hot air over my shaft.

  Fuck me . . .

  “I think we’ll find a way around it.”

  Like fucking in the change rooms before we start.

  She grins, and her pink tongue darts out, lavishing my length with a slow and brutal tease. I groan, tucking my hands behind my head, and watch as she sucks and nips. I’m pretty certain there’s nothing better in this world than watching her suck me off and seeing how long I can go without touching her. It’s torture, in the most erotic way.

  Sonya works like a champ, deep throating, stroking with her hand, squeezing the base as she pulls off my cock, her lips in a vacuum. The woman’s doing what she can to elicit a response, and holding back is heading me towards blowing early.