Page 16 of Trident: Mayhem Makers

Neveah gasped. “O.M.G! Which one is it? All three of them were at the 4th of July party; weren’t they? Which one did you hook up with? Please tell me it wasn’t Animal! He’s just… no.”

She mock shuddered in a way that had me chuckling despite my inner turmoil.

“It’s not Animal.”

Dammit. There was no way I was getting out of this without having to tell my girls about Trident. And I suspected that would be the least of my problems if he spotted me.

***

Trident

“Where the fuck have you brought me?”

We’d come into downtown Dallas to some swanky hotel, parking next to Animal’s bike near the entrance to their restaurant. He’d left the clubhouse a good ten minutes before us, and as far as I knew, didn’t know we were trailing him, so it wasn’t a surprise he wasn’t outside waiting for us.

Looking inside, I could see all the bloody women that were in there. But hard to miss, considering a bunch of them were now pressed up against the glass like we were gonna put on a show for them at any moment. At least with so many ladies in the one place, I had no doubts where Animal would be.

“Fuck, Trident. Wipe that look off your face before you scare off the women. It’s a book event. Tomorrow is the main thing where they have a bunch of authors at tables selling their books and shit. Tonight’s dinner is more of a casual catch up to chat thing.”

I turned to glare at him. Was he for fucking real right now? “Seriously?”

He held his palms up in surrender, chuckling. “Hey, don’t knock it til you’ve tried it, brother! This event? It’s called MMM: Motorcycles, Mobsters and Mayhem. Trust me, these ladies read some pretty dark shit. And they do love a bad boy, especially a real live biker. Who am I to deny them?”

I really wasn’t sure I liked this new version of Stone that laughed and joked like this. Prior to his sister finding him, he wouldn’t have been caught dead anywhere near this place.

“How exactly do you know so much about all of this?”

Sick of feeling like a tiger in a zoo with so many folks staring my way, I left my bike and started toward the entrance. If Stone was forcing me to do this, I intended to get it done and over with as quickly as possible.

“Discovered it when I started watching over Animal a month or so ago. Got pulled in to join a shoot he was doing. It’s not a bad gig. There’s a heap of authors that write MC Romance and they want bikers on the covers. The more realistic, the better. And they’re happy to fucking pay for the images.”

I paused with one hand on the door.

“You’re seriously telling me, there’s books, like more than one, about bikers being romantic? And you and Animal are what? On the fucking covers? Man, you’ve both gone and lost your damn minds. It’s embarrassing. For real.”

Stone shoulder bumped me as he passed me and went inside ahead of me.

“Bastard. They’re not making us out to be a bunch of Prince Charmings. Like I said, some of these ladies read some dark shit. Lots of suspense. Kink. Criminals. Vigilante justice. And it’s fiction, for fuck’s sake. Not like I’m giving away club secrets or anything.” He shrugged a shoulder as we made our way toward the restaurant’s entrance. “It was easy work and somethin’ a bit different from the norm, and cash is always nice.”

I huffed out a laugh as I shook my head. “Whatever, brother. You do you, man.” As we entered the room, I scanned around, spotting Animal easily where he stood with his back tous, surrounded by women, young and old, fawning over him like he was some sort of rock star.

“You think he’s high again? Is he gonna cause a scene?”

Stone winced as he rubbed a palm over the back of his neck. “Of course he’s fucking high. Always is these days. He’s definitely getting worse. But from what I’ve seen and heard, he’s never caused any issues at shoots or events, so hopefully he’ll keep his shit tight here. If not, well, that’s the main reason I’m here, ain’t it?”

“And me? I’m your backup for that? Because you better not have brought me here just so I can be mauled by a bunch of horny women. Or so you could trick me somehow into allowing some random snap photos of me.”

He gave me a smirk that didn’t reassure me in the least, and if a few ladies hadn’t come over to chat with us at precisely that moment, I might have taken a swing at him for this stunt.

Asshole. He’d pay for this bullshit later, that was for sure.

“Well, hello there, ladies. How y’all doing this fine evening?”

Damn, Stone sure could turn on the charm when he wanted to. Allowing him to be the focus, I hung back, doing my best to look mean enough that no one would want to talk to me. It was working well and I was starting to relax when the hairs rose on the back of my neck. Instantly on full alert, I scanned the room, searching carefully for any threats I might have missed earlier.

When I spotted her standing with a couple of other Charon MC ladies, I cursed under my breath.

My runaway had come to me. Fucking perfect.

---