Dead Bastard

by Jenika Snow

  Daniella was prepared to die. If Shakes died, she wouldn’t want to live anymore without him.

  “Where is he?” Zeke asked.

  She pressed her lips together, glaring at him.

  Zeke walked up to her, grabbing her arms roughly. “Where is that little shit?”

  “You don’t need to do that,” Demon said. “He will come back for her.”

  Just then the phone rang throughout the house.

  “Pick it up,” Zeke said.

  She moved back toward the phone. Picking it up, she heard Shakes on the other end. Her heart was pounding, and her head hurt from the pressure.

  “Hey, baby, how are y—”

  “Shakes, they’re here, run. Run and get free.” Zeke jerked her back away from the phone, and Demon grabbed the phone, talking into the receiver. Pulling away from him, she stumbled to the floor, praying that Shakes would listen to her.

  She needed him to stay alive, and she wouldn’t give her father the satisfaction of killing him.

  Shakes slammed the phone down on the receiver. The ranchers currently helping today stared up at him, confused. He didn’t bother saying anything to them, just grabbed his keys off counter, and took off out of the house.

  “Hey, we got another two hours of work to do.” One of the guys helping today said.

  “Fuck off,” Shakes said. He didn’t give a shit about this job or this new life. What he cared about was getting to Daniella before Zeke left with her. Oh, he knew they would find them eventually, because it was inevitable that Zeke and the club would know where they were. No amount of running from them, or getting new IDs, would help them stay hidden. Hell, even if they lived underground in a fucking bomb shelter, Zeke would have still found them.

  One of the ranch hands reached out and took Shakes’ wrist, stopping him from leaving. Shakes was feeling volatile, rage-filled, and when he looked down at the guy’s hand on his arm, a low rumble left him. “If you want to keep that fucking hand and not have your ass on the ground, I suggest you fucking let go of me.”

  The guy instantly let go and took a step back. “We got a lot to do. You can’t just leave work.”

  “Fuck this work.” Shakes started to leave again, but the guy was a fucking moron and grabbed Shale’s arm once more.

  “Hey, seriously, man—”

  Shakes turned around, and brought his fist right into the guy’s face. Blood sprayed out of his nose and the other guys started yelling. Shakes didn’t stay around to kick their assess, too. He left the house, got into his shitty car, and peeled out of there. The house they were staying at as only a few miles up the road, but he was feeling like he couldn’t control himself right now. If Zeke had gotten to her then the club would be there, too.

  His heart was racing, his body corded, tight, and ready for anything, He couldn’t lose her, not to her fucking father, and not because he’d been stupid enough to think running with her was the answer. Hell, staying hadn’t been the answer either.

  The less than ten minute drive to the house seemed like it took forever, and as soon as he pulled onto the dirt road that led up the driveway, he saw the dark, expensive SUVs and the Harleys lined up outside the front.

  “Fuck.” They’d all came, it seemed, and this was either going to go down with Shakes leaving in a body bag, literally speaking, or one hell of a bloody fight until the end. Shakes wouldn’t give Daniella up, even if that meant killing her father and all the lowlife piece of shit guys Zeke had working for him.

  Skidding to a stop in front of the house, he saw the front door open and Zeke and Daniella step out. She was crying, and the rage in him grew. Before Shakes got out of the car, he grabbed the Glock he had stashed under the front seat. This was going to get ugly no mater what, but no fucking way he was going down without a fight.

  He got out of the car, gun in hand, focus trained on Zeke. A few of Zeke’s men came out from behind the side of the house, their dark clothing and they guns they held trying to appear menacing, but all Shakes saw was soon to be dead bodies on the ground.

  Daniella tried to go to him, but Zeke grabbed her arm, pulling her to his side. “Go to him and I’ll put a bullet right in his god dammed head, Daniella,” Zeke said in a low, menacing voice.

  “Don’t you fucking touch her,” Shakes said, his finger twitchy as hell over the trigger because he wanted to shoot Zeke, just end it now. Demon and the rest of the Soldiers came out of the house, their focus intent, hard, and not fucking around.

  “Put the gun down,” Demon said in a hard, pissed off voice.

  He couldn’t blame the president of the club for being upset, especially since Shakes had ignored the fact his old lady and unborn baby were in danger because of Shakes.

  “I’m not putting the fucking gun down, Demon.”

  His prez growled low in his throat and took a step closer. “You ran off, betrayed the club to be with Daniella, and put my old lady and baby in danger. For that alone, I should be the one to kill you.”

  Shakes knew he’d betrayed the club, but he also knew that if the roles were reversed, Demon and every fucking member of the Soldiers would have done the same to be with the woman they loved. He looked at Daniella, saw her tears running down her cheeks, and felt the monster inside of him snap. He didn’t want her hurt or crying, didn’t want to be the cause of that.

  “Daniella, baby…” Shakes said. “Tell me what you want.” He could have just started shooting Zeke’s men, and although he only had six bullets, didn’t even know how many of the fuckers were around, he didn’t want to put Daniella in danger…well, not anymore than his ass already had.

  “Shakes, I don’t know what to do,” she said and looked at her father. He still held her in a loose, but clearly firm hold. “Why are you like this?” she asked Zeke. He turned and looked at her. She was crying so hard now, and all Shakes wanted to do was go to her and hold her. “Why are you interfering, threatening the life of the man I love?”

  “Daniella, you don’t understand—”

  “No, I don’t understand, and I want to know why you think you have any right to come into my life and tell me who I can love.” She wiped away her tears angrily. “You are nothing but a sadistic bully, a man that uses his power to get what he wants. I’m your daughter, for fucks sake. Leaving should have been the first clue I wanted this life, not the one you think you can provide for me.”

  “Daniella, you don’t understand; you don’t get how this works.”

  “No, I get it just fine. You want to have total control over everything in your life, me included.” She wrenched her arm out of his grasp. “But I won’t let you do this. I love Shakes.”

  “Daniella,” Zeke growled out.

  “No, you don’t get to decide this. I wouldn’t have left with him if he didn’t mean everything to me. You weren’t in my life for years, had my mother killed, and have ruined my life.”

  Zeke clenched his jaw tightly. “She deserved it. She was a horrible bitch, Daniella.”

  “There isn’t any love lost on not having a real mother in my life, but you missed the point when you went ahead and killed her, didn’t tell me, and thought that even if she was a monster, I’d be okay with that.” Daniella wiped away her tears again. “If you do this, ruin what I have with Shakes, you’ll lose me forever, Zeke.”

  The silence stretched out between them, and when Shakes saw the determination on Zeke’s face, realized he was never going to let go of his daughter, Shakes knew he had to put a stop to this now if he ever had a chance with Daniella. They couldn’t move forward with Zeke on their tails, following them, hunting them like he had any right to fucking tell her how to live her life. Shakes would rather die in a bloody fight than let Daniella go willingly. No, he’d never do that.

  “I won’t let you take her away from me, not without a fight,” Shakes said to Zeke. The other man grinned, the smile sadistic.

  “I hoped you wouldn’t.”

  Everything seemed to happen in slow motion, as he took
in the amount of people around. Shakes could see three men that Zeke had brought with him. Demon, Joker, and Steel were on the porch, but Shakes was going after Zeke’s men first. He lifted his gun, aimed at the man closest to him, and shot him in the chest. Then all hell broke loose.

  Daniella screamed out when the gunshot rang out. Zeke pushed her out of the way, and she slammed into the side of the house. Pain radiated up her arm, but she knew he had pushed her out of the line of fire. She watched in horror as Shakes started shooting Zeke’s men. He took down two within seconds. The MC members were getting their guns, but everything was moving so slowly. Adrenaline rushed through her, but she saw everything as if it had been slowed. Zeke reached behind his back, pulled out a deadly, huge looking gun, and aimed it at Shakes. She couldn’t let this happen, couldn’t let her father kill the man she loved.

  Daniella moved forward, grabbed Zeke’s arm, but just then a shot rang out so close to her, she felt her ears rang. But it was the searing heat and pain that encompassed her arm, spread throughout her whole body, that had her looking down. She let go of Zeke, stared at the blood starting to form on her shirtsleeve, and felt the world tilt. The pain was like nothing she’d ever felt. It was intense, and the sight of the blood continuing to grow over her shirt, slide down her arm, and drip to the floor had her eyes rolling back in her head and the ground rushing up to meet her.

  But before she hit the ground, she heard her father shout out something foul, and heard Shakes roar. The sound of guns going off was the last thing she heard before the darkness took her away.

  Hearing Daniella’s scream, Shakes turned around, and froze. Blood bloomed on the arm of her shirt, and without considering his own safety, he dropped his gun, and rushed to her. Before she hit the floor, Shakes caught her, pulling her into his arms.

  “Dani, baby, please,” he said.

  He pressed his fingers to her neck, realized she was still alive, and her pulse was strong. She’d simply passed out from the pain of the bullet wound. Daniella was fine; she was healthy.

  “What the fuck did you do?” Zeke roared out.

  Looking up, Shakes watched as Zeke raised his gun, pointing it at one of his men.

  “She tried to stop you, boss. I’ve been ordered to protect you.”

  “That girl is my fucking daughter, you stupid bastard.” Zeke fired a bullet, and it hit the man in the jugular. Zeke didn’t stop there. He kept firing his gun until there was a mess where there was once a man.

  Shakes was thankful. If he’d gotten his hands on the man, he’d have annihilated the bastard.

  Kissing Daniella’s head, he kept calling her name, waiting for her to answer him.

  Zeke moved closer and Daniella groaned, slowly opening her eyes.

  “Ouch, my arm” she said, wincing.

  Shakes laughed, and she turned to smile at him. “Hey, baby,” he said.

  “Am I in heaven?” she asked, teasing. At least she was here with him, able to joke, even if now wasn’t the time for it.

  He snorted, and Zeke cleared his throat.

  All the happiness in Daniella’s face shut down. She looked so sad; it angered Shakes. She deserved happiness, not these emotions that she was clearly feeling.

  “Obviously not in heaven,” she said.

  “Let her go,” Zeke said, snapping the words at him. Shakes held her a little tighter, not wanting to let her go.

  Daniella used her good arm and touched his face. “I don’t want you to let me go.”

  “This was going to happen sooner or later.” He pressed a kiss to her head.

  “I was hoping for us to have a little longer together,” Daniella said.

  “I think it’s just a flesh wound, baby. But I want to get you checked out to make sure.”

  She glanced down at her arm and winced once again, the pain clear on her face. “Being shot is not fun.”

  “He won’t harm you again,” Zeke said, sounding angry. Shakes didn’t blame him, he was pissed she’d been hurt.

  Shakes listened as Daniella sighed. She stared into his eyes as if she was begging him to make them leave.

  “You should have run like I said,” she said.

  “Do you really think I would leave you behind? I love you, baby. I couldn’t leave you.” He looked up and stared at Demon and the other men in his club. They watched them warily, looking between him and Zeke.

  “He’d never have hurt me.” Tears leaked out of the corner of her eyes. It broke him apart inside to see her so sad. This was his woman, and she shouldn’t be sad.

  “Don’t cry,” he said.

  “I can’t help it. I don’t want to lose you.”

  Stroking her cheek, Shakes truly felt close to death. Glancing up, he saw Zeke still held his gun by his side. Demon and the rest of his brothers were glaring at him now, ready to pull the trigger. He’d risked this the moment he left with Dani, and he’d accepted that.

  “I’ll always be with you.” He smiled down at her, knowing he was going to die here.

  He lifted her to her feet, and Daniella wrapped her good arm around him tightly. He held her close, not wanting to let her go. Daniella wouldn’t let him.

  “Daniella, let him go,” Zeke said.

  “I don’t want to. I don’t want to lose you, Shakes.” Her tears turned into full-blown sobs, tearing him apart to listen.

  “Shh, listen to me, Daniella.”

  “No, you’re going to give me the good bye speech, and I don’t want to listen to it. I want to be with you, Shakes. I don’t want to leave you, and I don’t want you to leave me.”

  Tears finally filled his eyes as her entire body shook. He ran his hands up her back, kissing her neck, and breathing her in.

  The club and Zeke fell away as he focused all of his attention on her.

  “I love you,” she said.

  Pulling away, he cupped her cheek, running his thumb across her bottom lip. “You don’t need to cry anymore. We knew this was going to happen eventually.”

  “No.”

  “It was only a matter of time. The Soldiers were going to catch up with us, Dani. I was an idiot to think we’d last longer than we did.” He couldn’t resist touching her lips. Pressing a kiss to her mouth, Dani trembled in his arms.

  She was so strong, and now she was falling apart at the brink of losing him.

  “We’ve not had enough time.”

  “Baby, a lifetime with you wouldn’t be enough. I’ve been blessed to have these few days alone with you. I’m not going to lose that. No one can take that away from me. I love you with my whole heart, every part of my being. I’m happy to have gotten the chance to be with you.”

  “Don’t, Shakes,” she said.

  “You’ve got to go back, Dani. Your father can offer you far better.” Shakes hated it, but this was going to be far better for her. The last thing Daniella needed was to see him killed. He’d betrayed his club, taken Zeke’s daughter, and put Deanna along with her unborn child in danger. Shakes deserved a bullet, and he expected death. He hated to admit it, but he feared death. And he didn’t want her to witness it.

  Before he met Daniella, he lived for death. He hadn’t given a fuck if he lived or died. Now, he cared. Daniella had given him something to live for.

  “She doesn’t get to see,” Shakes said, looking straight at Zeke. He didn’t wait for a response and looked toward Demon, and his brothers. They appeared angry yet sympathetic. The men he now faced knew what it was like to be in love, and what it meant to fight for that love. All he’d done was fight for the love he had for Dani, right or wrong; it’s what his brothers would have done.

  Either way, he was going to accept whatever punishment he had coming to him.

  Zeke held onto Daniella as she sobbed. He’d dropped his gun, and the other three men who had been in the rear of the house were now making their way toward the porch. His men were now pointing their weapons at the Soldiers. Before he’d entered the ranch house, he’d given his men the order to kill all of the me
n who’d turned up from the MC.

  Daniella shook with her sobs, and he was breaking apart. He loved his daughter more than he loved anything in this world. For the past couple of days, no, from the moment she’d left, he’d been dying inside, wanting her back. He had so many enemies and Shakes didn’t have ability to take care of her. Zeke, being who he was, had put a mark on her head. If anyone wanted to get to him, they could easily take Daniella.

  She’s in love.

  He hadn’t believed Daniella and Shakes were in love, but what he’d just witnessed showed him the truth. His little girl was breaking apart because Shakes was minutes from death. He shouldn’t care if this bastard lived or died, but he did, because keeping him alive meant making his daughter happy.

  If he allowed this bastard to die like he wanted, he’d lose Daniella. She’d never talk to him. It wasn’t just that, her reaction right now told him he’d lose her completely. If she lost Shakes, his daughter would die inside, and it would only be a matter of time before he would lose her forever.

  What kind of father puts his own happiness before his daughter’s?

  Nothing would give him greater satisfaction than watching Shakes bleed out and hurt before he found death. Zeke had planned hour’s worth of torture, involving chains, knives, broken glass, and fire. He was very inventive when given the time.

  “Baby, a lifetime with you wouldn’t be enough. I’ve been blessed to have these few days with you….”

  Shakes’ words came back to haunt him. He couldn’t do it. There was no way he could allow his daughter to be hurt.

  Before he got a chance to say anything, Daniella turned her eyes to him, gripping his arm. Blood spilled out of the gunshot wound she’d gotten.

  Your man did that to her, not Shakes.

  This was harder for him than he ever realized.

  “Please, Dad, I don’t want to lose him. I love him. Please.”

  Demon and Shakes were talking. Zeke held his daughter and he had a decision to make, leave the Soldiers to take care of Shakes, or bargain for the bastard’s life.