“No,” Taz growls.
Dragon holds up his hand, effectively shutting Taz up without saying a single word. I hear a low growl in the back of Taz’s throat, but he otherwise doesn’t say anything else.
“Not sure who you think we’ve killed, but we haven’t killed any women. At least, not yet,” Dragon grunts.
Something in Angel’s eyes glitter. He knows something that we don’t. Pressing my lips together, I wonder what it could be. What could he know that we don’t? I haven’t been around here for a while, so I’m completely lost.
“Missing one of your men?” Angel asks.
“The fuck are you getting at?” Taz asks.
Angel shrugs a shoulder, his eyes moving to focus on Eagle. He watches him, tilting his head to the side to really look at his half-brother. It’s as if the rest of us disappear. Angel’s lips twitch into a small smile.
“Must be hard to know that the man who fucked your woman, who had all but claimed her is a traitor. Just curious, that bebé his?”
Eagle doesn’t move. I can feel him behind me. It seems as if everyone around us freezes. I know they’re talking about Jaguar. He had an obsession with Della, and I thought they would eventually get together and stay together.
I was a little surprised when Eagle claimed her and married her. But I know that this life, this world, sometimes what you least expect, it happens and everyone finds where they’re meant to be.
“Not Jaguar’s if that’s what you’re asking. What do you know about it?” Dragon asks.
Angel smirks. “I know more than you think I do. Like how you say way too fucking much around your whores. They listen.”
“Charm,” Eagle hisses.
Angel snorts. “Guess you got something from our father. You aren’t a complete dumbfuck,” he snaps. “She was your sister. Did you fuck her? Please, God, tell me you did,” he barks with laughter.
Eagle lets out his own laugh. “I don’t like my pussy with teeth. So, no, I didn’t fuck her. I’m not sorry she’s dead either and the sweetest part is, Jaguar killed her, right?”
“Fuck you,” Angel hisses. “She was my blood. She was not meant to be used and discarded like trash. I know her body is out there, not at rest.”
Eagle pushes past the group and stands directly in front of his brother. Dipping his chin, I notice that Eagle is at least a head taller than Angel and realize he was lucky to get all the height genes.
“Don’t know dick about Charm. Don’t know where she and Jag went off to and don’t give much of a fuck, either. What I do know is I want you gone. Give us the girl and get the fuck out.”
“Or what? You’ll make me?”
Eagle, obviously done with all of this, leans forward. “I don’t give a fuck about you. I don’t care if you’re my relative, actually, the very fact that you have my father’s blood inside of you makes me want to kill you on sight. So, yeah. You don’t give me the girl, I’ll shoot you right here and throw you in that river. I do not give one fuck about you.”
“You think I don’t have a backup plan for my own life? Do you think I’m stupid?”
Eagle growls, taking a step forward and shoves his gun in his brother’s face, pressing it against his forehead. “Just tell me what the fuck you want,” Eagle barks.
Angel smiles. It looks demonic. He shrugs a shoulder, licking his lips before he speaks. “I want you to suffer. He always talked about you, always. Nobody could ever be as good as his perfect Santiago. So, you won’t be getting the girl, I’ll be taking the one there and Ana.”
“What makes you think we’ll let you just walk out of here with them?”
“Your homes are surrounded by the Donkey Punchers. Not your favorite group, right? Your women will be killed, your babies the same. You kill me and all of your men’s families are slaughtered, instantly.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
TAZ
“You’re bluffing,” I call out.
Angel turns to me, his gaze black as night and fucking evil. “I’m not. I have five minutes to check in with them, or they begin their massacre. They’re positioned at each house, even the one on the compound, what’s her name? Gisele?”
My entire body locks up at his words. Charm, that fucking cunt. She ratted us out and this shit was started before we even destroyed their operation.
“You just want three women? Really? What else do you want? I know women to you are dispensable. So, what is your deal?”
Angel grins. “I just want your whole club to suffer. It doesn’t have to do with anything else. No other reason, just suffer for harming my family. Now, give me the putas.”
“Please, Angel, don’t do this,” a soft voice begs.
I watch as she takes a step toward him. Ana is wearing a pair of jeans and a tank top, looking much like the other Old Ladies of the club, I actually have no doubt that she will be claimed by one of the Skulls.
She’s pretty, smart and fucking strong. I keep waiting for her to break, but what does she do? She fucking becomes friends with Gator and Maria.
“Why are you speaking? You know the rules,” he spits, looking down at her.
She jerks her chin up. “I know that you are angry with Papa. I know that none of it has to do with these men, with their women. Our sister was as much of a pawn as anyone else, except I think that she liked being desired above all else, even family. Yes, she spied, but when it came down to it, she wanted to be desired and to be powerful. That was all she cared about, not us, not family, not blood.”
“She’s dead, you want to join her?” he spit.
Ana juts her chin forward. “I am prepared to do that, yes. Hurting these women, these people, will not bring her back. It will not bring anything back. Go with your new men and be gone.”
Angel snorts. “I don’t think I will,” he growls. It happens quickly. Angel lifts his hand and pulls the trigger, shooting his own sister.
Chaos ensues. Shots are fired. I turn and push Trista to the ground before I cover her body with my own and lift my gun, ready to defend her. She’s mine to protect, my Old Lady, and nobody is getting her.
The bullets stop flying, smoke floats around, my body continues to cover Trista’s before Eagle announces that Angel is down. Jumping off of her, I hold out my hand and tug her to her feed.
“Avah,” Trista cries.
She starts to run toward the SUV, but Hawk beats her there. He wrenches open the door and before anyone else can get there, he has Avah out of the car. Her long black hair is draped over his arm as he carries her away from the SUV and toward the bikes.
Reaching out, I wrap my arm around Trista’s chest from behind, holding her to my chest. Dipping my chin, I whisper against her ear.
“Let your father help her. When we get to the clubhouse, you can be on duty. Right now, I need you right here with me,” I rasp.
Trista nods. Lifting my gaze to find Dragon, I watch as he crouches in front of Angel’s limp body. He roots around in his pockets until he pulls out a phone. I can’t take my eyes off of him. I watch as he thumbs through the device then a ringing sound fills the air.
“You want us to get started, amigo?” a rough voice asks over the speakerphone.
“Hey, Riot. This is Dragon. Now, I know we’ve been in talks, you want to explain to me what the fuck is happening here?”
There’s a moment of silence, then Riot’s voice chuckles. It’s the goddamn president of the original charter. Angel didn’t lie and apparently, he didn’t fuck around, either.
“Where’s Angel?” Riot asks.
Dragon chuckles. “Don’t need to worry about him anymore, talk to me. I thought you wanted to continue to keep this shit between us civil? Now, you’ve been teaming up with an enemy, and you have men on our Old Ladies ready to kill them and our kids? So, you do want war? I gotta tell you, brother, I do not like the sound of all this shit.”
Trista wiggles in my arms, but I keep her firm against me. I want her right where she is. I want to be able to touch he
r, to feel her against my skin. I’m on the edge, seconds away from losing my fucking mind as it is.
“You just killed my supplier. What the fuck, man?” Riot shouts.
“What the fuck is he supposed to supply you?” Dragon growls.
There’s a moment of silence, then Riot clears his throat. “Not your goddamn business.”
“It’s all my business while my family is at stake. You touch a hair on the head of any Savage Beast’s property and there will be retribution, the likes of which you couldn’t even imagine.”
My entire body is stiff, solid, not just with anticipation of what is about to come, but also with fear. I won’t admit it out loud, but if the Donkey Punchers kill the women, if they hurt the babies, we won’t survive.
“This about women?” Dragon asks, his voice barely above a whisper.
“Doesn’t everything revolve around sex and money?”
Dragon shakes his head once, I don’t want to think about what this means. “What do you want with women?”
“You want to strike a deal?”
“Meet me at the Skulls’ clubhouse. It’s away from our families, but still on a more neutral ground,” Dragon offers.
There’s a moment of silence, Dragon flicks his gaze to Bones who dips his chin. He’s down on the ground, tending to Ana. She appears to just have a shoulder shot and as long as she gets cleaned up and stitched up, she’ll probably be okay.
“Be there in an hour,” Riot snaps.
Dragon ends the call, his eyes flicking to each of us. “The only way to save our women is to make a deal with the devil. As far as I’m concerned, any member of the Donkey Punchers is the spawn of Satan himself. I’ll deal with them to save my family, to save our families, but I’ll also fuck them over faster than they can blink.”
“Let’s do this,” Bones growls. “I’m taking her to my woman to patch up. Gator, you wanna ride in the back with her?” he asks.
“Yeah,” he mumbles.
I watch as he walks over to them, scoops Ana up in his arms and carries her over to the back seat.
“I’m taking Avah back to the clubhouse,” Hawk announces.
Trista moves in my arms, but I tighten my hold. She’s not leaving me. No fucking way. “Trista is coming with us,” I announce.
Dragon’s eyes flick from me to Trista, then to me again before he dips his chin once. “Let’s get to Bones’ clubhouse.”
“I’ll stash the extra bikes in the shed. We’ll pick them up later.”
“Eagle, stay here with your woman and baby, keep them safe,” Dragon announces.
Eagle looks relieved as he nods his head. Without another word, we start to get on our bikes. Guiding Trista toward mine, I turn to face her when we’re away from the rest of the men.
Without a word, she lifts her hand, opening her palm and slaps me across the face. Then she balls her hand into a fist and starts to pummel them against my chest. Wrapping my fingers around her wrists, I hold her still, squeezing to keep her from hitting me, but not hard enough to bring her to her knees.
“You asshole,” she seethes.
The bikes around us roar to life and leave without waiting for us. It’s fine with me, I could go my whole life without seeing another Donkey Puncher and be just fucking fine.
Leaning forward, I put my face right in hers. “Calm the fuck down,” I bark.
She jerks back, but doesn’t get far, my grip is still firm on her wrists. “Let me go with Avah. She’s here because of me and you’re keeping me from her,” she cries.
Tugging her body against mine, I dip my chin. “You’re not out of my sight, Tris. Not fucking ever. Not ever again.”
TRISTA
I struggle against Taz’s hold, but only for a moment. Not only is his grip too fucking strong, his words are too. Lifting my eyes to meet his, I cringe at the redness of his cheek, knowing that I’m the one who put it there.
“Why?” I ask.
Taz shakes his head. “They are not taking you from me. No way in fuck. Nobody is taking you from me.”
Licking my lips, I tilt my head back. “Angel is dead. He’s not taking anyone, not ever again.”
Taz dips his chin, his mouth hovers above mine. “He wanted you and if I wouldn’t have forced the issue, he would have had you. Then he comes here threatening everyone’s families. It would have been really fucking easy for Dragon to hand you over to him. I would have never gotten you back, babe.”
Tears fill my eyes, not just at the thought of being taken, but more at the sheer pain in Taz’s eyes. Taking a step closer to him, our arms trapped between our bodies, I let out a small sigh.
“What happened in your past, who didn’t you save?” I chance asking.
This fear of me being taken, it’s more than just me. This has something to do with someone else that he loves. Someone that he couldn’t save, that he tried to save.
“It doesn’t matter,” he breathes.
I hum, lifting to my toes and touch my mouth to his. “It matters to me, my devil.”
He snorts. “My sister. My sister and her best friend were killed at a frat house party in college. Apparently, drugs, booze, and frat boys don’t always mix. They were raped and murdered. Nobody did even a goddamn minute of time. They got off because they were good college kids with rich families. My sister and her best friend were poor, there on scholarships. Our families weren’t going to be donating any libraries or any shit to that college, but the boys’ families would.”
“Ridge,” I breathe.
He shakes his head. “So, they died. The club was nice enough to pay for the small funerals.”
“I’m sorry, I know you don’t want to hear that, but I am.”
Ridge slides his thumb across my lips. “Babe, it fuckin’ sucks. But I’m not having anyone else I give a fuck about taken from me again. That includes you. So, I didn’t let you go with Avah. She’s safe with Hawk. You’re staying at my side and I want you close enough to touch from now until the day I die. You got a problem with that?”
I pretend to think about his question, but I don’t have to. “I don’t. Not at all. I’m all in, all yours—always.”
He shifts one of his hands from between us, releasing my wrist only to grip the strands of my hair at the back of my head. Tilting my head to the side, he slams his mouth against mine in a hard, all-consuming, owning kiss.
Breaking the kiss, he touches his forehead to mine. “Let’s get to that clubhouse and see what the fuck the Donkey Punchers want, by that time your girl should be settled and you can take care of her.”
“Okay,” I breathe. “Okay.”
Taz lifts his head, I watch as he jerks his chin before he calls out to Eagle. “You need me to stay here, brother?”
“Go. Update me when it’s done,” he calls out.
Taz lifts his hand, giving Eagle a two-fingered wave before he climbs on his bike. Without a word, I scramble to climb up behind him. Wrapping my arms around his waist, I press close against him before the bike lurches forward.
The way we ride, I know that Taz is proficient on his bike, and although he’s going fast, he is in complete control. It reminds me of the way our relationship is. We’re moving quickly, but Ridge is in control. He knows what he wants and he’s taking it.
I only worry that he’s not necessarily thinking of the future, not thinking about the true daily life of being a husband, a father, a partner. It’s scary and I need him, I need him to be at my side the way he needs me at his.
Closing my eyes, I let all of that worry roll off of me. So what if everything goes to shit? I had a taste of happiness, and that’s all that fucking matters. I’m done overthinking, overanalyzing. I’m just going to hang on and enjoy the goddamn ride.
The clubhouse comes into view thirty minutes later. There are no signs of Donkey Puncher bikes, but thankfully all of ours are in place. The clubhouse is dark, no party in sight. Everyone who isn’t part of this is gone, and now only brothers and Trista remain.
&
nbsp; Taz pulls up next to Dragon’s bike and we quickly climb off. Taz wraps his hand around mine and tugs me after him. He’s in a rush, so I don’t try to slow him down at all. We arrive at the group and Dragon grunts as his acknowledgment of our arrival.
“Coyote spotted them, they’re rolling in any minute, get your guns ready. Don’t pull them out yet, let’s see what they have to say before we shoot,” Dragon grumbles.
Bones appears and parks his truck next to our bikes. “Ana and Gator are with my woman. Ana’ll be okay, my woman can take care of her.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
TRISTA
Pressing my lips together, I try really hard to hold my shit together. I can’t stop myself from trembling. Donkey Punchers.
These guys have basically been the boogeyman my entire life. Now I’m going to be meeting them and not just a couple members, the president of the original charter. I’m not mentally prepared for any of this shit.
Ridge slides his hand around my hip, tugging me against his side. Closing my eyes, I allow myself to just feel him. I let him calm me. It doesn’t really work, but I force it. Turning my head, I look up at Ridge just as I hear the rumble of the bikes headed our way.
“I got you, babe,” he grunts.
His face is set, it’s hard and serious. I recognize his expression for what it is. He’s worried but strong. He’s putting on his best face so that I don’t freak the fuck out. My lips turn up into a wobbly smile.
“Okay,” I say with a single nod.
I’m not convinced of anything right now, except my overwhelming sense of fear and my need for flight. I want to get away from all of this. God, this whole scenario was one of the reasons I left the club life.
UnTouch Me (Savage Beast MC Book 5) Page 20
