Ruthless Hold (Back Down Devil MC #9)(35)

“Yeah.”

“You the one who keeps leaving bullets on the grave?”

“You the one who keeps taking them?” Trev asked.

“I have to. It’s dangerous. We get kids in here, you know? Visiting. Fucking around.”

“Let me ask you,” Trev said, “what do you do with the bullets?”

“I keep ‘em,” Pete said. He patted his pocket. “I collect ‘em up and walk to the grave everyday to check for another. Stupid, right? But it gives me something to look forward to.”

Trev sidestepped and pointed to the bullet he just put on the gravestone. “Well, there you go, Pete. Another one.”

“Hey, why do you do it?”

“Do what? This life?”

“No. The bullet.”

“I have no good reason,” Trev said. “Stupid, right?” Trev grinned.

Pete laughed and leaned against the Ashburne’s headstone. He put the cigarette on the stone and crossed his arms.

“I thought you would have more respect,” Trev said.

Pete nodded. “My name… Pete Ashburne. These are my parents.”

“Ah, f*ck, man,” Trev said. “I’m sorry.”

“No, no. It’s okay. You didn’t know.”

“What the hell makes you want this kind of job?” Trev asked. “Just curious.”

“Freedom,” Pete said. “Quietness.”

“Freedom…”

“Look at this. Nobody is breathing down my neck. All the people here are already dead. They can’t complain. I just keep things in order, keep it clean, get to be outside all day. Not a bad job at all.”

“When you put it like that…”

Pete pointed at Trev’s leather cut. “What about you? Your job.”

“Freedom,” Trev said. “Not quite as quiet though.” He laughed. “But it’s always about freedom. Live for it. Fight for it. Die for it.”

“Amen to that.”

Pete then blessed himself.

“Let me ask you,” Trev said. “Do you believe in the heaven and hell stuff? You watch souls rise up out of the ground and float away?”

“Belief comes from within here,” Pete said as he touched his chest. “It’s not about sight. That’s what makes it even more powerful. That you have holds such belief inside your heart that your sight doesn’t matter.”

“Sounds like a load of bullshit to me,” Trev said.

“Life is a load of bullshit. And we all end up in the same place.”

Trev laughed.

His cell started to beep.

It was a text message from Gaige.

Conference room, ASAP. Death in the family.

*

Miller poured another shot and slid it down the table. Trev grabbed it and placed it in front of him. Miller poured two more shots and made sure everyone had one. When he nodded, they all lifted their glasses. His face was stone like, hurt and worried. He looked around the table.

Trev knew the look. As President your table is all you really have in life. Without a strong, full table, you weren’t going to accomplish shit. Losing someone was like losing family. It was losing family. They were all so close, exchanging punches, hugs, tears, drinks, and even *.

“I got the call about an hour ago,” Miller said. “We’ll share details in a second. First, we honor a fallen brother. A man who put on the cut, wore the patch, went out on the road, and did the work for this club. Not this charter, but this club. We’re all close. We’re all family. Ripper called when he wanted to patch in Giovanni. Said he was a tough as nails Italian boxer who served as a prospect for two years, made the charter tons of money by fighting, and took a bullet for Ripper once during a botched gun run. He earned his cut. He died wearing his cut. Lift your glasses, men. The reaper got one of our own. The reaper will get all of us someday. But today we remember Giovanni.”

“Aye!” Shay yelled and slammed his fist to the table.

Jace, Erik, and Landon started to hit their fists. Down around the table, all the way to Trev, they all started to pound their fists. Trev did the same and when Miller took his shot, the rest of the table did the same at the exact same time. They all then flipped their shot glasses upside down and pushed them to the middle of the table.

Miller slowly took a seat and gave everyone a second to collect themselves.

“Ripper was out on a run,” Miller said. “We knew that already. Any communication about Griffin’s daughter is dead right now. Pardon the pun. We need to focus and help our brothers up north get through this bullshit.”

“What happened?” Trev asked.

“Ripper said they were ambushed. It was just he and Giovanni on a run.”

“For what?” Blaine asked.

“Some kind of deal,” Miller said. “His charter, his problem.”

“Point is,” Gaige cut in, “we lost a brother and we need to go and honor him. We’ll attend the funeral up in Daurian. Just the table though. The rest of the guys are going to stay here just in case.”

“We have to find out what happened,” Trev said. “Could someone be attacking us through other places?”

“How so?” Nate asked.

“Look what happened with Eden,” Trev said. “A blatant attack and murder. Whoever did that knew what they were doing and wanted her. Now someone up in Ripper’s crew gets hit? Maybe someone is trying to move us, keep us distracted…”