Filthy Devil (Dark Horse MC #6)

Chapter 31

CHAPTER

THIRTY-ONE

NASH

“What kind of deal does he want?” King asks.

I almost laugh because I can’t even tell him. A deal isn’t going to fucking happen. I don’t care what that suited motherfucker is trying to pull.

“Don’t know, but he said that James was going to be in danger even if we eradicated them.”

My son growls. “It’s not even the fact that she’s on their list. It’s the blatant fucking threats. I am sick of their shit.”

“Agreed,” I state.

I want to tell him so badly that I’m going nomad after the clubhouse here is up and running, but I don’t want anyone to know yet. Right now, it’s just me and James who know, and I want to keep it that way. Not that I think Elvis would say anything, but it’s better to keep it close to the vest anyway, for now.

“How hard have you been hitting them?” I ask.

There is a moment of silence before he speaks. “Hard. So hard that if there are any left, it’s not many.”

“So this is a way to get that to stop and to get something else out of it, but I’m all out of fucks to give.”

Elvis snorts. “No fucking shit.”

I’m not sure what to say at this point. Having a bounty on my woman’s head is not something I can just ignore. Going into hiding isn’t something we can do either. James deserves to be able to live her fucking life the way she wants.

“Meet with him,” Elvis says. “Meet with him, but there’s no deal.”

“I don’t think that’s going to work for them,” I say with a chuckle.

He snorts. “Yeah, but that’s the way it fucking goes. Because we are not going to give in to any of their demands. Atomic tried that shit, and all it did was fuck us over because they can’t be trusted.”

He’s right. They absolutely cannot, and I’m not fucking with them at all whatsoever. They have a goddamn price on my woman’s head, and they have to go. Every single one of them. She is not for sale. She is not for kidnap. She is not for anyone but me because she is mine.

“What are you going to do?” he asks.

“I have no fucking clue.”

And I don’t.

Not a single one.

“When will they be done?” I ask.

He doesn’t answer immediately. There is a moment of silence. Then he clears his throat. “I don’t know,” he confesses. “There is a group underground.”

“How many?” I ask. “How many groups, how many men?”

My words come out as a demand, and I want to fucking know. Because that determines what is going to happen with this meeting tomorrow. Elvis doesn’t say anything right away, but I hear him let out a heavy exhale.

“Just come home, Dad. Bring James, buy a place here, and enjoy your fucking life with your grandkids and whatever kids you have with her.”

He doesn’t sound pissed or concerned by the fact that James and I might have kids together anymore, whatever the fuck he was before he left here. I’m not sure how I would have felt if my dad was my age and got a new young woman to have a whole family with.

“Us coming there doesn’t fix any of this shit, Elvis.”

“It doesn’t, but it protects you both and keeps you safe.”

He’s right. It could do that. But I’m not a pussy who hides underground because some fuck decides he’s going to do fucked-up shit.

“I’m going to fight, Elvis. Not for any other reason than it’s who I am.”

Elvis chuckles. “I know you are, Dad. Because it’s who I am, too, and that’s who you raised me to be. But I want you to be safe. I can’t lose you.”

Pressing my lips together, I think about his words. I don’t want to be lost to him, my grandkids, or James. I have to think about them all. I have to be here for them all for a long fucking time.

“You won’t, and certainly not at the fucking Southern Mafia’s hands.”

The silence stretches between us, and that’s when Elvis’s voice comes out in a low, rough tone. “I’m worried, Dad. Whoever this small group of them are, they have been underground for a long goddamn time.”

“Waiting to take over,” I say.

“That’s what I think.”

“Then I’ll meet with this suited asshole because I have a feeling he’s connected to them.”

Elvis clears his throat. “Must be. The rest are dead.”

“And the Demon Guns?” I ask.

“Dead.”

The confirmation is what I need to be able to move forward. I can’t believe that such a large group was easy to take out, but at the same time, they had already started taking each other out before we began coming after them. It was the easiest thing we’ve ever done as a club.

“Good.”

“Dad, be careful,” Elvis murmurs before we end the call.

Shoving my phone in my back pocket, I turn my head to watch James. She’s standing in the kitchen, a glass of water in her hand, her eyes on me. She doesn’t say anything, likely because she heard everything Elvis and I talked about and got the gist of what’s going on.

“Nashville,” she calls out softly.

Smiling, I jerk my chin in her direction and close the distance between us. I reach out and wrap my fingers around the side of her neck, feeling her pulse beneath my thumb. It’s beating a million miles a minute. She’s either nervous or excited, maybe both.

“James,” I respond.

“Should I be scared?”

I should tell her the truth, but I don’t. “No, sweetheart. There’s no reason to be scared.”

JAMES

Nash assures me that there is no reason for me to be scared, but I don’t believe him. I can see it behind his eyes. He is not entirely confident, even though he’s saying the words. Lifting my hand, I cup his cheek, my eyes searching his worried ones for a moment.

Without a word, he lowers his head, and his lips brush across mine, then he lifts his head and takes me in again.

“I’m taking that meeting with the suit tomorrow, but only one of us is walking out of it alive, and it won’t be him.”

My heart races even more, pounding harder against my chest. I don’t want him to take that meeting, not in the slightest, but I know that we can’t move forward if he doesn’t. Because if they’re hiding underground, then we’ll never be able to find them. And I want that whole group gone.

I want them to disappear so that they can’t take any more women. So that they can’t manipulate anyone into the life I was almost sold into. So that they can’t sell another soul into a life of sexual slavery because that’s what they’re doing. As much as I don’t want to believe it, that’s what it is.

“Take the meeting. But, Nashville?”

He tilts his head, his eyes focused on mine. “Yeah?” he asks when I don’t continue.

“I want them all gone. Every single one of them. I don’t want them to be able to hurt anyone else, ever.”

Nash’s lips curve up into a grin. “Your wish is my command, sweetheart.”

And that is that.

Fuck them all, wholly and completely. I don’t tell him that I don’t just want them gone, but I want them to suffer, too. I don’t say that because not only is it not necessary, it’s also not very nice. And at the end of the day, I’m a firm believer in karma.

So, I want them to be gone in a way they deserve.

“Let’s go out to dinner, sweetheart,” he offers.

I almost tell him no, but when my stomach growls, I know I can’t say anything except yes. My hand drops, releasing his wrist from my grasp. He takes a step backward, his eyes searching mine.

When he clears his throat, he gives me a smile. “Do you need to change?”

I look down at my outfit then bring my gaze back up to meet his. “Do I need to dress up?” I ask.

I’m wearing a pair of wide-leg jeans with holes in the knees and fraying at the ends. My T-shirt is a bit oversized, but I’ve got the front tucked in, and on my feet is a pair of white Adidas tennis shoes.

I’m dressed comfortably because my day wasn’t anything exciting. I hung around the house, and I made dessert for after dinner. Even though at the time, I had no idea what we were going to have for said dinner.

“You don’t need to dress up. You look perfect just as you are,” he murmurs.

But I can tell that he wants me to dress up. Rising to my toes, I touch my lips to his. “Then I’ll get dressed. Stay here. Give me five minutes.”

I spin around and run toward the bedroom, closing the door behind me, and then I strip out of my clothes. A few moments later, I’m wearing a brand-new black dress that I bought a few days ago.

It’s nothing special, just a thick-shoulder-strapped, scoop-neck, tight dress that ends right at midthigh. Then I slip my feet into a new pair of strappy sandals that are metallic gold. I don’t know why I bought them, other than they made me feel leggy and beautiful.

I don’t bother with makeup or even brushing my hair because I know he’ll want to go on the bike, so hair brushing is worthless. I make my way back into the living area but stop when I hear Nash on the phone.

Initially, I don’t know who he’s talking to, but then I realize that it’s Bugsy and Rev. I can hear their voices through the speaker of his phone. Stopping at the entry of the living room, I lean against the jamb and listen. I know I shouldn’t, but I do.

“So you’re going to meet with the fucking Southern Mafia tomorrow?” one of them asks.

I can’t differentiate between them, but I know it’s Bugsy and Rev when they’re on the phone like this, and I can’t see their faces. But just by their voices, I have no idea which one is which. So I just listen.

“I am,” Nash announces. “I’m going to hear him out, and then I’m going to find out where they hide underground and eradicate them all. Every single fucking one of them. I am done with this shit. I was done with it months ago, but I’m really done with it now.”

“Because of your woman?” one of them asks.

Nash snorts. “Because of my woman, because they burned down my clubhouse, because they’re dirty motherfuckers I’ve been tired of dealing with for the past three fucking decades.”

“Do you need backup?” one voice asks.

Nash must sense my presence. He looks over his shoulder at me, his eyes scanning down my body before he lifts them to meet my own, and I watch as his lips curve up into a smile at the same time his brows rise.

“Ready for dinner?” I call out.

“I’ll talk to you tomorrow,” Nash announces before touching the screen of his phone and shoving the device in his pocket.

He turns to face me wholly and moves toward me, then stops directly in front of me. “Fuck me, sweetheart,” he murmurs. “Guess I can’t take you to a bar tonight, can I? Not fucking dressed like that.”

Sinking my teeth into my bottom lip, I try to hide my smile. Obviously, I’ve done something right when it comes to my outfit because I can tell he likes it. “I honestly don’t care where we go,” I whisper. “We can stay home for all I care.”

His smile is big, his eyes searching mine for a long moment. “Oh, we’re going somewhere,” he rasps. “And I’ll be fucking you before I can make it home.”

A shiver of desire slides up my spine at his words. Holy fucking shit. I want that. He could fuck me every second of every day, and it wouldn’t be enough. Everything about this man makes me want him—every single minute of every fucking day.

“Want to take care of that right now?” I ask, my voice super breathy.

“You know I do,” he murmurs. “But I’m going to fuck you somewhere along the way, then I’m going to fuck you somewhere along the way home.”

My entire body jerks thinking about him fucking me… anywhere, let alone somewhere along the way to dinner and on the way home. I can’t wait. I’m ready to leave right this second. Right this damn second. I can’t wait to feel him inside of me.