Of course we didn’t have the money but we weren’t going to let Harlee die.
Jasper, Trev, and Cash were going back to the clubhouse. The plan was to clean out the safe of all cash and work a deal with Daxton to get Harlee out of there alive. The second Daxton knew the guns weren’t delivered and a lot of his brothers were knocked off, he would do anything he wanted to Harlee.
Shit, if he left the meeting spot…
I gritted my teeth and felt my head spinning. I wanted to know what happened. How the fuck he found Harlee. And what the fuck my father did to try and stop this from happening?
There were answers waiting and nothing I could do to speed up time.
I darted in front of the van and Austin beeped at me. I threw him the finger and sped up even more. Amazing at how wild the life was. We had just gotten done taking out a lot of guys that we didn’t know but were enemies because of the leather cuts they wore. And now I was on the opposite end of the deal. I was the one fighting for my life… and my life was Harlee. Shit, she had done more than just gotten to me. She had become a part of me. Losing her would be like losing my cut, my club, or my life. It could not happen. And if it did happen, I was better off eating a bullet myself then.
I got a good distance from the van and the rest of the guys.
The last five minutes of the ride felt like it took about five years. Every possible scenario ran through my mind, which was new to me. As the enforcer for the MC, my job was to observe and simply react. No trying to come up with multiple plans. Just like at our little meeting. That guy got too close to Trev so I knocked him out. That’s how I did things.
Cruising off the road, I didn’t know what I’d find. There was too great of a chance that Harlee would already be killed.
The second I spotted Daxton’s ride, I damn near jumped off my own. The motorcycle came to a skidding halt and I just ran. There was a small clearing and there was Daxton, under a tree, standing with Harlee. The bend of his elbow locked to her throat, a gun pointed straight out at me. He used the tree to protect his back.
“Stop this,” was the first thing that I said.
Like it fucking mattered.
“Fuck you, asshole,” Daxton said. “You set all this up. All of it.”
“I didn’t do shit to you, Daxton.”
“You took my old lady. You fucked her. I can smell her on you. You ruined her pussy.”
“Fine,” I said. “Take it out on me.”
“No. I can’t do that.”
“You fucking almost killed Trev’s old lady and unborn kid. You know what shit you’re in right now?”
Daxton’s hand shook. “Drop all your weapons, Trent. Right now.”
I put my hands out and slowly moved. I disarmed both my guns and opened my arms and turned around. When I was facing Daxton again, I started to walk toward him.
“Come on,” I said. “Let Harlee go. Trev is getting the money right now. I even have some extra guns for you guys, just to bury this hatchet for good. Austin is bringing the van.”
“The guns,” Daxton said. “They were delivered?”
“Yeah. Didn’t you hear from Rocco yet?”
“No,” he said. “I haven’t talked to Rocco since I took off.”
Shit. He’s completely rogue.
“Okay,” I said. “Guns are delivered. We took on the O’Nuall family and got your weapons. We’re in the shit now, Daxton. Not you. You have to make this right with Trev. Start by letting Harlee go. No more hurting women in all of this.”
Daxton pushed Harlee forward. I couldn’t believe he was actually going to let her go.
I was wrong.
He took a handful of her hair and pulled. Harlee screamed and was pulled right back, falling down to her ass. Daxton’s hand was twisted tight in her hair.
My instinct had me jumping forward to save her.
That’s when Daxton shot me.
**
I fell back and went down hard. Harlee screamed my name and it wasn’t in the same vain as she did in the bedroom. I hated this version of her scream.
I pushed myself back up and saw that he had gotten me in the shoulder. It burned like fire but I was still able to move. I climbed back to my feet and turned. The rage poured through me like lava. But I knew any explosion of my own would result in Harlee getting hurt or killed.
“What are you doing here, Daxton?” I asked.
“I’m showing Rocco I belong as VP. Simple. They get the guns and I get the cash. I show them I can handle business.” He pulled at Harlee’s hair. “And this little cunt is coming with me too.”
“That can’t happen. I’ve got guys coming with your money. They won’t allow it.”
“She’s going to die,” Daxton said. He finally took the gun off me but pointed it to Harlee’s head. “I’m offering the cash and Harlee as my way back in. You fuckers screwed everything up.”
“What’s everything, Daxton?”
“I was working with Ripper. He and I… the Irish… fuck, even the Russians… we were going to do something great together.”