Page 3 of Devil's Vengeance

“Hey, fuck you, man. I’m a fucking delight,” Viper shot back, a smug smirk on his face.

“You’re a fucking idiot, is what you are. Let’s go. I could use a drink,” I growled, tipping my head toward the closest bar. We didn’t have to move as a crew, mostly we split off to enjoy ourselves, and a drink sounded fucking fantastic right about now. I followed Bear away from the group, tracking the girls over my shoulder one last time to make sure they were covered. I doubted the officers would let them out of their sights, but you could never be too safe with them.

My point was proven less than twenty minutes later. Riley and Allie strutted in alone, talking and laughing without a care in the world. They were smart enough to be wearing their property cuts, but that never stopped some guys. I tipped back the rest of my beer when I noticed someone step in their path, a lecherous grin on his face. Knowing those two, this was going to end up in a fight, so I was on my feet and moving before anyone noticed.

“Not interested, asshole,” Allie growled, glaring at the idiot who wouldn’t back the fuck off.

“Now, come on. Don’t be that way. I’m sure I can treat you better than your man could. They don’t call me Horse for nothing.” He grabbed his junk in emphasis, which only made the girls grimace. Had that line ever actually worked before?

I was inches from the guy, ready to remind him to show some respect, when someone else came up behind the girls, his drawl drawing their attention. “Now, now. That’s no way to act around a woman. Show them some respect. After all, they’re someone’s old ladies.”

My spine went ramrod straight, and I froze, eyes locked on the speaker. I almost didn’t recognize him at first. He’d changed over the years. His blonde hair was longer, and he’d put on muscle since the last time we spoke. His face was the same, though. Filled with arrogance and bravado. And his eyes were locked on me. He shot me a smug smirk, like he thought I wouldn’t kick his ass just because we were at a rally. He was fucking wrong about that.

But before I could get close to him, he stepped back, tossing his arms around the girls. “Come on, ladies. Allow me to escort you to a table. No need to sully yourself dealing with shitstains like him.”

“Don’t fucking touch them,” I snarled, shoving past the first asshole, who was too drunk to follow the conversation. His attention was already moving on. Which left me face to face with the ghost from my past, ready to gut him in front of the entire bar.

Trick grinned, dropping his hold on the girls. They were smart enough to step immediately out of range, coming around to stand behind me. Trick paid them no mind, looking me over with a condescending smirk.

“Look who’s all grown up. Joined a crew too? You always did love to copy me.”

My blood boiled, but I didn’t give him the satisfaction of answering him. It’d only give him what he wanted. Instead, I jerked my chin toward the door. “Wanna go outside? Catch up?”

The undertone wasn’t lost on him. I wanted him outside so I could kill him. He wasn’t stupid enough to take the bait.

“You’d like that, wouldn’t you? But if you’re gonna invite me out, you should invite my friends, too.” When he said that, a group of bikers stood up behind him. I heard the scraping of chairs as my own crew stood. They didn’t know what was going on, but they had my back either way.

Trick’s grin only grew when he realized I wasn’t alone. It would’ve turned into an all out battle if Reaper and Croy hadn’t come in when they did. They took one look at what was happening and stepped in.

“There a fuckin’ problem here?” Croy demanded.

Trick’s crew all whipped around, ready for a fight. They took one look at Croy and thought better of it. Croy was well known in our world. You didn’t fuck with him and live to tell the tale. And Reaper was worse, a fucking ghost who’d tear you apart and leave no trace that you were there in the first place. No one here was stupid enough to challenge them.

Trick eyed the men with a sneer. “Nope. All good. Isn’t that right, Chase?”

“Go fuck yourself, Charlie.”

His head snapped around and he bared his teeth at the insult of ignoring his road name, but before he could say shit, Croy shoved past him, goingstraight for his old lady. Reaper followed, standing beside his sister protectively.

“Chase. You got work to do,” Croy demanded. I didn’t, at least I hadn’t thought I did, but I took the order for what it was. A not-so-subtle request to get my ass moving or he’d hand it to me. With a grunt, I shot Trick one last scathing look before stalking outside. I made it about as far as the end of the block before Croy stopped me.

“Gonna fuckin’ explain yourself?”

With a heavy sigh, I turned around to face him, shoving my hands into my pockets. If I looked even a little bit aggressive with Riley right there, he’d hurt me. I wasn’t looking to fight him. I had someone else in mind.

“It was nothing. Just someone I knew way back.”

He looked like he believed me about as much as he believed Riley when she said she’d behave at a club party. Thankfully, Riley came to my rescue.

“I’m hungry. Is there anything good around here?”

He gave his old lady a look that said he knew what she was doing, but he went with it anyway. “Yeah, baby. We’ll find somethin’. Chase, you’re with us. You’ll watch over the girls when we’re busy.”

I resisted the urge to scowl. It wasn’t the job I had a problem with, I’d do that in a heartbeat. It was the fact that it made it that much harder for me to sneak away and find Trick. Me and him needed to have a chat. If it ended up with steel in his belly or a bullet in his head, that was his own fucking fault.

CHAPTER 3

CHASE

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