B-ry: A Steel Paragons MC Novel (The Coast: Book 4)

by Eve R. Hart

  It didn’t take long for him to come around.

  “Here’s the thing, Steve,” I said slowly. “We know why you did it. We know what your plan was. We also know you’re a dumb fuck that has only managed to piss us off. But what we don’t know is who is the man that you work for?”

  “Fuck you. I work for no one.”

  It seemed like he really wanted to believe that.

  “Who is the man with the accent?” I asked.

  “You are calling me a dumb fuck when you can’t even figure that out.” He laughed despite the fact that we had his number right now.

  So there was something we were clearly missing.

  Something that was probably so obvious that we were overlooking it.

  “Tell us. Or don’t.” I shrugged. “Either way, you die in here. I don’t give a fuck if you make it easy on me or not. You took my fucking woman and for that, there will be hell to pay.”

  I stood then, knowing he wasn’t going to say anything else. I reached for the shears that were on the floor.

  “You said you were going to cut off her finger and send it to me,” I said as I drew closer to him.

  He started to wiggle and squirm.

  “How about you tell me who I should send yours to.”

  His scream bounced off the metal walls as I slowly pulled the handles together. The blades around his finger cut clear through and the digit fell to the floor with a wet thump.

  “Nothing to say?” I taunted. “Maybe I should take another one. Ya know, just for the hell of it.”

  I snipped another finger with ease.

  He screamed like a bitch and I wasn’t surprised by it even a little.

  His body trembled as he looked up at his bloodied hand.

  I smiled, taking in the missing ring and middle fingers.

  “Three weeks is a long time to be locked in a cage. I couldn’t imagine how that must feel. Can you?”

  I had to admit there was an eerie edge to my tone that I’d never had before.

  “Oh, Steve, don’t worry. You won’t have to imagine it.”

  With that, I turned around and left the crying fucker alone. Once we were all outside, I closed and locked the doors.

  “That it?” Iron asked me with a questioning brow.

  “For now,” I said with a smirk. “Give him a little time in there alone. Let him think we’re gonna leave his ass all alone in there that long.”

  “It’s your show,” Iron said with a shake of his head. “But I want fucking answers.”

  “I’ll get them,” I said confidently. Because I would. I would wear him down until he was spitting out everything. “Have someone keep watch. I’ll be back in the morning. After all, I have to make this last three weeks.” I smiled, maybe a little creepily.

  Knowing that someone had brought Laurel back to the compound, I headed back there. I showered, then made her dinner, which she seemed to really like. It made me oddly happy but in a good way. And I found myself desperate to have that feeling every single fucking day for the rest of my life.

  She didn’t ask questions but I was pretty sure she knew. She had an understanding that we had something big going on. I wanted to tell her, but I also wanted to enjoy my night with her. It was maybe fucked up that I took even more pleasure in spending time with her knowing that fucker was suffering.

  Later that night, she settled down into my side and rested her head on my chest. I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face if I wanted to.

  There was a heavy load on my shoulders as well as the club’s.

  But right now, I let myself focus on the things I did have. And one of those was the most imperfectly perfect woman right by my side.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  Laurel

  The next morning, Bryan slipped away from me before the sun was up. He left me with a kiss on my forehead and a sweet whispers of how much he loved me.

  I was half asleep but somehow aware of what was going on. After the door closed behind him, I chose to let myself drift off again.

  I knew it. I had no idea how I knew, but I did. It was a feeling that had settled into my bones.

  They had him.

  I didn’t know where.

  I didn’t know if he was still alive.

  But I did know that they had him.

  I found some kind of comfort in that. Enough to where I didn’t ask what was going on. There was a moment when Bryan looked at me and I knew that he would always take care of me. He would do everything to make sure I was safe. And now, he would make sure the things that had become my living nightmares would see a fitting end.

  I woke hours later. Or so I figured because the sun was now up and the light was streaming into the room.

  I took a quick shower and threw on something comfy but decent enough to step outside of the room in.

  As I opened the door, I wasn’t at all surprised to see that there was someone standing near.

  “Colby,” I greeted.

  “Ma’am,” he said with a tip of his head.

  I didn’t bother correcting him about calling me that and how it made me feel old. I had a feeling it wasn’t going to do any good.

  “Do you cook?” I asked.

  “Not so great, no,” he answered.

  “Well, neither do I, or so I think. I haven’t really tried. Come on, let’s go see how many things we can ruin.”

  He followed behind me as we made our way to the kitchen. I wanted to do something nice for the guys. I figured breakfast was a good idea. How hard could it really be to make something? I mean, people did it all the time, right?

  I searched the pantry until I found a huge box of pancake mix.

  “Alright,” I said to no one in particular. “This shouldn’t be too hard. I can follow directions.”

  Colby got out a huge mixing bowl for me and I got to work. I read the directions twice, just to make sure I didn’t miss anything.

  “There’s a griddle plate for the stove,” Colby said and bent down to look for it in one of the bottom cabinets.

  He was also nice enough to set it up and get it heating for me.

  “How old are you, Colby?” I asked trying to make some kind of conversation as I poured circles of batter on the griddle.

  “Twenty-two.”

  “Did you go to college?”

  “No, ma’am. I had a sick momma that I had to take care of.”

  “Oh,” I replied not really sure what to say. “I didn’t do the whole college thing either.”

  “It’s not for everyone,” he said.

  I flipped the first one over and realized that I had done it too soon. I made a mess. The second one I waited too long and when I turned it over, it was black. I wondered what the smell was. I kept messing with the heat, turning it up and then back down. None of them came out right.

  “I’m not very good at this, am I?” I asked shaking my head and laughing.

  “No. Sorry to say, but you’re not. I honestly could never do pancakes myself. I like waffles because the waffle maker has that little light that tells you when they’re done.”

  “Oh!” I said excitedly. “That would have been so much easier. Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”

  “You seemed hell-bent on making pancakes once you found that box.” He gave a half-shrug and a shy smile.

  I laughed.

  “Fine. You have a point.”

  Just then, Bryan walked into the kitchen. He wrapped me up in his arms and by the strong, fresh scent, I could tell that he had just gotten out of the shower.

  “Do I even want to know?” he asked as he pulled back a little and looked over at the stove.

  “No,” Colby and I said in unison.

  Bryan raised a brow and looked back and forth between us. Then he smiled and shook his head.

  “You know she’s mine right?” He looked at Colby with a deadly expression on his face but I could tell he was just messing around. It was all in the tone, it was playful.

  “Stop it,” I said swa
tting his hard stomach.

  “Come on,” he said reaching for my hand. “Prospect, clean this up and then get your ass to the hospital. It’s that time.”

  I didn’t have a chance to ask what was going on or where we were going. Or even say that I didn’t want to leave the mess there for Colby to clean up. That wasn’t fair at all especially when the whole thing had been my idea.

  “It’s what they gotta do, baby,” he said like he could read my mind. “Now, get your ass up to the room and get changed.”

  He swatted me on the butt, effectively making me yelp and giggle at the same time.

  “Jeans,” he said when I was about to open my mouth to ask him what I should wear.

  So much for me trying to be sly and get some information out of him. Wherever he was taking me, he wasn’t letting me in on it.

  I was a little surprised when he turned into the hospital. Only because he made it seem like we were doing something different. He had never cared what I wore here before. But then he headed past the main entrance and parked in front of a building off to the side. It wasn’t all that hard to figure out what part of the hospital this was because it was written on the outside.

  “Why are we here?” I asked with confusion ringing in my tone.

  “Just come on.” He playfully pulled me along.

  No one stopped him as he strolled right in wearing his cut and looking like a biker up to no good. In fact, the old lady at the desk smiled at him like she knew him. Doors opened without us even being questioned.

  And it was on the third floor that I found out why.

  We greeted Mouse and Ky. There were a few other members that sent us that chin jerk thing that is like a silent ‘hello’ I assumed. I, however, did not chin jerk back because I didn’t feel like I could pull it off. I wasn’t some macho man Neanderthal, after all. I only meant that in the nicest way possible.

  Then I saw all the bags that reminded me of what I imagined Santa had when I was a kid. They were overflowing with stuffed animals. A few of the guys were dressed up. Some of them even going all out and wearing spandex superhero costumes.

  “Um,” I said looking at the guy in the far corner. “Why is that one dressed like a unicorn? And shouldn’t he be like down on his hands and knees? It just looks weird with him walking all human-like.”

  “Because little girls like unicorns, right? And that was the best we could do. One time, we had one of the prospects dress up like a princess. Some of the parents weren’t so happy about that one.”

  That sparked an idea in my head. But it turned out that I didn’t even have to say the thought out loud.

  “You wanna dress up like a princess, baby?” Bryan asked me with a soft, sweet look on his face.

  “Yes,” I said with a smile spread wide on my face.

  “I’ll make it happen next time. I promise.”

  He pulled me into his side.

  The next few hours were spent going room to room and talking to all of the kids. It was so amazing to see the strength in all of them. They didn’t let the fact that they were sick get them down. And you could tell they were really excited to see the guys there. A few of them shared secret handshakes, which let me know this was something they did often.

  I read some stories and even ended up attempting to paint some nails. I wasn’t great, but they didn’t seem to mind all the excess paint all over their fingers.

  “Thank you,” I said after it was over and we were standing next to his bike.

  “I kind of figured you needed it as much as them.”

  He wasn’t wrong.

  Maybe I had been lost. But I was slowly starting to find my way with a little help from him.

  It turned out the day wasn’t over.

  He took me to a hair salon and told me to get whatever I wanted done. I was nervous and I hated that he was paying for it, but the look on his face told me not to argue.

  I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do. I could cut it all off and start fresh. Maybe even find a new look. But in the end, I decided to keep the long hair and go a shade in between the golden blonde I had before and the ash blonde I was naturally.

  “You look beautiful,” he said the moment I walked up to him. And he kissed me like he was trying to prove that point. “Now, you ready for dinner?”

  “I could eat. What do you have in mind?”

  “Cami told me about a place,” he said cryptically.

  I shrugged and decided that I was along for the ride.

  But when he stopped outside of the Phoenix Fire Café, I started to feel a little dizzy and unsure.

  I understood what he was trying to do and I really hated to let him down.

  But I wasn’t that girl anymore. And I thought that maybe I never really had been.

  It didn’t matter that we were dressed the way we were because places around here added casual to pretty much everything. You could eat at upscale restaurants wearing jeans and no one would care. I also had a feeling it wouldn’t matter because Bryan would get a table no matter what, that was just the kind of guy he was. He didn’t give a crap what people thought. Even though I didn’t really see him eating at a place like this. He was clearly doing this for me.

  Really, none of that mattered. Not that I didn’t feel made-up enough to walk in there or that I could run into someone I might know. And it wasn’t that I was ashamed to be seen with Bryan because that hadn’t even entered into my mind as I sat there and stared at the golden phoenix that was on the door.

  “What is it?” he asked as he half-turned to look at me.

  Maybe the fact that I hadn’t made a move to get off the bike had been a dead giveaway to my hesitation. He seemed so excited about this idea that I really hated to tell him this wasn’t what I wanted. And I didn’t want him to think it was for all the reasons that weren’t true.

  “Cami said you love this place.”

  “I used to. Maybe. I don’t know,” I said and bit my lip.

  “Okay,” he said slowly. “Tell me what’s going on here.”

  “I don’t want to go to some fancy place and eat a salad.”

  “Well then don’t get a salad. I’m sure there’s other shit on the menu.”

  “No,” I said and let out a frustrated breath. “I don’t want to eat here at all. Can’t we just go get burgers or tacos or something normal? This isn’t me. This isn’t… us.”

  There was a smile that spread across his face so slowly that it was almost agonizing. When it was fully there, it made my heart flutter like crazy.

  “That’s all you had to say, my Queen.”

  I settled against his back again, with my arms wrapped tight around his waist.

  We ended up at a tiny place that I had never seen before. We ordered burgers and shakes and it felt like a date straight out of the fifties. I loved it. It couldn’t have been more perfect.

  Suddenly, I realized nothing mattered outside of this bubble. Not the man that took me or the things that might come tomorrow. Not the fact that I felt like I was starting all over, yet again. Or that I didn’t really know who I was.

  It didn’t matter because I knew he would take care of the things I couldn’t. He would get revenge for me and his family. He would be by my side to catch me when I stumbled. And he would pull me up when I fell down. He wouldn’t let me take on the world alone, but he also wouldn’t do it for me. Because he knew. He understood me so well.

  That was what I loved the most.

  That I had a partner in this life.

  And I saw it all with him.

  The family gatherings.

  The time in between that was all ours.

  The house.

  The kids.

  Everything.

  Forever.

  Epilogue

  B-ry

  “It’s been three weeks,” I said as I walked into the shipping container. “You know what that means.”

  It was the day I had been waiting for. I had spent every day drawing his pain out as much as possible
. Making him suffer the entire time he was here.

  And yeah, I fucking enjoyed every second of it.

  But it was time.

  I made a promise and I wasn’t one to break them.

  He didn’t say anything, not that I expected him to.

  After all, I had cut out his tongue two days ago.

  He wasn’t going to give up who he was working with and I was running out of things I could do to him.

  Taking three days to pull out his teeth was stretching it as it was.

  He didn’t give up who the guy with the accent was.

  Not when I had the guys hold him down while I smashed his kneecaps with a sledgehammer.

  Or when I slashed up his chest with a red-hot blade.

  Or when I cut off his balls with a dull razor blade.

  I finally gave up on getting anything out of him when I scooped out his eyeball with a spoon and he still didn’t spill everything.

  So yeah, we were still clueless on that part.

  I was actually surprised he didn’t sing like a canary by the end. He didn’t take the things I did to him well, screaming and crying like a bitch the entire time.

  The rest of it had been simply to make him pay for everything he’d done.

  “You shouldn’t have fucked with us,” I said calmly as I pulled out my knife.

  It was sad, just a little, that look in his eye. The one that said he had already resigned himself to his fate. That he had accepted it. I had a feeling this was going to bring me far less joy than I had hoped for. But what mattered was that it was about to be over. He was about to pay what he owed to us.

  “Any last words?” I said, my ear tilted in his direction. “Didn’t think so.”

  With a steady hand, the knife sliced slowly across his neck. Blood sprayed all over me and I was surprised he had that much left in him after everything. There was that gurgling sound as he tried to scream and breathe.

  I watched until the life faded completely from his eye.

  Laurel

  “You’re late,” I said with a hint of irritation in my tone.

  “Yeah, I know,” he said gruffly. “Fucking had shit to take care of.”