Being Us (Next Generation Book 4) Read online

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  (Tanner)

  All thought control left me as I charged for the bastard who stabbed my dog, but I never got very far when I was jumped from behind. We fell to the ground but no matter how heavy the fucker was, it didn’t stop me from kicking and punching. I knew how to fight but it was like as soon as I saw that knife slide into Trigger’s side repeatedly, my body did its own thing while my mind was trying to catch up.

  My fists landed against bone, my vision clouding.

  The bastard released Trigger only for him to fall to the ground and roll to his side. A yell forced its way from my lips as I tried rushing for him.

  “We’ll tell Tommy you said hi.”

  A sharp slice of agony erupted through my shoulder, but the pain didn’t stop me. I jumped the guy closest to me and forced him to the ground. Landing blow after blow, blood splattered my hoodie and face, the skin on my knuckles cracking the harder I hit.

  Heavy arms pulled me off the guy.

  “You should quit while you’re ahead, Tanner.” The man who stabbed Trigger towered over me, pressing a finger into the wound in my shoulder.

  I winced, struggling beneath him.

  He pushed off of me. The men laughed, their chuckles sliding over every inch of me and grating on my last nerve.

  They grabbed their friend I had beaten and, much to my surprise, left the alley. I wasn’t sure why they wouldn’t finish the job, nor did I care. I would find out who they were and they would be the first I would kill.

  I started crawling toward Trigger, sending up a silent prayer to whomever would listen that they would save him. But I wasn’t a good man. I had never been a good man. Not even when I was a kid and stabbed a boy in the hand for hitting a girl. I had always done my best to protect those who couldn’t protect themselves. But this time, I couldn’t.

  When I reached Trigger, a sob lodged its way in my throat.

  It had always been him and I. Even though we had only known each other for a short time, he was the only thing I needed while I lived out the rest of my days in hiding. I didn’t need a woman. I could pay for sex if I really wanted it. But I didn’t care much about the physical contact of another person. Sure, it felt good, most of the time, but it wasn’t something I had actively gone out of my way for.

  But now, knowing that I would lose Trigger, it would force me to reveal myself. To come out of hiding. To start another damn war. One that I would be sure to win or, at least, die trying.

  Even though I had visited Rowan every so often to see if he had any news on my club, a part of me just didn’t care. I wasn’t sure why. But I did know that the only thing that mattered at the moment was watching my dog struggle to stay alive.

  “I’m so sorry, Trigger.” I ran my fingers through the fur at his neck and down his side.

  His breathing became labored, a soft whimper escaping him.

  “I’m so fucking sorry.” I leaned my forehead against his. “I’ll find out who set this up. I’ll avenge you. I promise.”

  He grunted.

  “I’ll be careful.”

  He grunted again in response.

  “Okay, not too careful.”

  He licked my face one last time before the life left his eyes. When he took his final breath, tears rolled down my cheeks. My nose burned, my throat working over the hard lump suddenly lodged in it.

  I never wanted this to happen. I had tried so damn hard to give him a good life and then we got attacked.

  I didn’t know who all was involved but I knew that there was no way Tommy thought this up on his own.

  Even though we had worked together and known each other for years, I still never trusted him. Not completely. I was all about keeping my friends close and my enemies even closer. He was the one who had been with Sunny’s ex. I never pulled the trigger, but I was still there. I knew I had been set up. I just needed to figure out a way to prove it.

  Pushing myself to my knees, I reached under Trigger’s big body and lifted him into my arms. The weight of him enhanced the pain in my shoulder but I breathed through it. There was no way that I was leaving him in the alley.

  Thankfully it was a little past ten at night and no one would notice me walking out of an alley with a dead dog in my arms. But I needed help and somewhere safe to keep him.

  Taking as many of the back alleys as I could, I ended up at Rowan’s again. Once I reached the back of the shop, I kicked the door. Knowing he was watching me through the security camera, I waited for him.

  The inside door suddenly unlocked, followed by the second and third door. Most would call him paranoid, but I called him smart. You could never be too safe.

  When he appeared in the doorway, his eyes dropped to my arms. “What do you need?”

  “Burn him.”

  “What happened?” Rowan nodded, taking Trigger from me.

  “They stabbed him and left me alive. I need to know why.”

  “I’m on it.” Rowan took a step back. “Where am I delivering him?”

  “Nowhere yet.” I turned around and went to leave when his next words stopped me.

  “You don’t need to do this on your own.”

  I looked at him over my shoulder. “Yeah, I do. I also don’t need your mom kicking my ass for putting her son in danger.” His parents had already been through enough. I didn’t know their story, I probably never would, but I did know by the little bits Rowan had revealed, that they didn’t have an easy start. Especially his father.

  “I put myself in danger.” Rowan winked, pulling me from my thoughts.

  “That’s on you.” I glanced at Trigger, who only looked like he was sleeping. Walking back up to them, I petted a hand down the length of his body. “Send me the bill for getting your clothes cleaned and for putting his ashes in whatever you can find.”

  “I’ll find something special. Just for him.”

  I nodded, swallowing past the lump. “Thank you.”

  “You’re bleeding.” Rowan nodded toward me.

  I looked down at my hand, noticing for the first time, the blood dripping off the tips of my fingers. “Oh, I guess I am.” Before Rowan could say anymore, I made my way back down the alley.

  I’ll avenge you, Trigger. I’ll avenge you and make those fuckers pay for what they did.

  Tanner

  WHEN I ARRIVED AT my apartment, a laugh escaped me. It looked like a tornado had ripped right through it, leaving mass destruction in its path. The couch was torn to shreds, bits of stuffing spread out all over the living room.

  Kicking the door closed, I headed to the kitchen and grabbed the first aid kit from under the sink. I didn’t have time to stitch myself up, so I lifted my shirt and placed a bandage on my shoulder.

  Satisfied that I wouldn’t bleed out, I opened the top cupboard and pulled out a metal bin that once had cookies in it that Rowan’s sister had baked for me. Even though I had never met her, I felt like I knew her. Rowan kept me from his family, understandably so, but he told me about them often. He also liked to remind me on more than one occasion how his sister was married and happy. Good for her.

  Ripping the lid off the tin, I grabbed the wadded-up bills. Doing a quick count, I let out a sigh of relief that the amount hadn’t changed. The fuckers who trashed my apartment at least didn’t find this money. I could use it to hole up somewhere else.

  A sharp pain suddenly erupted through me, reminding me that I had been stabbed. Fuck. I didn’t even see it coming. Hell, I hardly felt it when the knife slid into my shoulder. I was too focused on Trigger.

  My breath wavered. “Shit, Buddy. I’m so fucking sorry,” I said to no one. I shook my head. As much as I knew I needed time to mourn, I couldn’t. Not yet. I grabbed the money and quickly headed to my bed. The bachelor apartment didn’t have an actual bedroom in it, but I was lucky enough to get this place when I did. I tried making it a home as much as I could for both Trigger and I but there were times that it did nothing.

  Reaching beneath the mattress, I smiled when my fingers came into contact with my pistol. Looks like whoever raided my place, didn’t actually look everywhere. I wasn’t sure what they wanted. It wasn’t like I had anything that could even be remotely considered important. The two most important things to me, were already taken away.

  My club and my dog.

  Suddenly, my phone started buzzing. Fishing it out of my pocket, I frowned when I saw Mr. Awesome flashing across the screen. Rowan was a funny one.

  “Yeah,” I said, answering the phone.

  “You at your apartment?”

  “I am.” I shoved the pistol into the waist of my pants at the tail of my back. “Why?”

  “You need to get the fuck out of there.”

  “I know that.”

  “No, Tanner. I don’t think you do.” Rowan paused which set my nerves on edge.

  “What?”

  “I couldn’t sleep, so I did some more digging. Did you know there’s a hit out on you? You’re worth quite a lot of money dead.”

  “How much?” I asked, like we were talking about the weather and not the fact that my life was on the line.

  “Five. Hundred.”

  “Aww.” I pouted. “I was hoping for at least a mil.”

  “Tanner, you can’t…fuck me. These people are willing to pay.”

  “Yeah, well, if they were willing to pay, they would have killed me in the alley. This shit doesn’t make sense. Or someone’s been watching John Wick too many times,” I mumbled. “I’m not worth that kind of money, Rowan. It’s not like I have any skills.” I knew my way around a gun and was a dirty fighter. I wasn’t sure those would be considered skills that you would kill someone for though.

  “Right.” Rowan said slowly. “Listen, I don’t know why they didn’t kill you. I know it doesn’t make sense. They’re probably just messing with you.”

  “That definitely doesn’t make sense. Money is money, Rowan. You and I both know that.”

  “I’ll keep searching.”

  “Good.” I gathered my things and headed to the door. Stopping suddenly, I gave my apartment one last look before I stepped out into the hall. “I’m paying this month’s rent and next and then I’m gone.”

  “Where are you going to go?” Rowan asked, concern evident in his voice.

  “I’ll find something.” It wasn’t like I had a lot of friends, if any at all. I did know some people, but most wanted me dead. Rowan was the only person I even considered more than just an acquaintance. Which wasn’t saying much when half the time, I only contacted him because I needed something.

  “Be safe, Tanner, but get the fuck out of there. Whatever you do.”

  “I’m on it.” I disconnected the call.

  Stopping in front of the super’s door, I slipped some cash underneath it, along with my set of keys. The hundreds I left him should help him a bit.

  Standing up straight, I couldn’t help but feel…off. Trigger and I had traveled these halls so many times these past few months. I knew he would die. It was a given with his age and all but the way he went, was uncalled for. There was no reason for it. The guys could have come after me, but they didn’t have to bring my damn dog into it.

  Trigger was a part of me. He was the piece I had been missing from my life. A piece I never knew I needed. He kept me sane and calm, and prevented me from committing murder. Now that he was taken from me, I wasn’t sure what I would do. I feared that I would fall back into myself or worse. That darkness would consume me. It had threatened to destroy me once before. I couldn’t go back to that. But I had a feeling that I would meet that darkness long before I found the light I had been searching for, ever since I was a kid.

  When I reached the bottom floor, the homeless man was still sitting by the door. I didn’t know how old he was. Whether he was young or well into his elderly years. Either way, it didn’t matter. I gave him a few hundred-dollar bills, hoping it would help him.

  “Thank you,” he murmured.

  Those two words forced me to a stop. I glanced down at him. He had never thanked me before. Why now? But as much as I wanted to find out, I had to leave and find somewhere to lay low. I just wasn’t sure where that would be.

  Taking the back alleys once again, I eventually ended up in a suburban part of the city. I wasn’t sure how I got there. The pain in my shoulder and the anxiety rushing through me, must have forced me to black out once or twice because the next thing I knew, I was standing at the backyard of a small bungalow. The yard was huge, with a swing set off to the side. It looked homey and inviting. Nothing I had ever experienced before, even as a kid.

  The lights were on in the house but I couldn’t see anyone moving around in it. Maybe they were in another part of the home. Or maybe they weren’t actually there at all. But it didn’t matter. It wasn’t like I had a lot of options.

  I looked behind me, tempted to run back into the forest I had just come from. Glancing down at myself, I noticed the tear in my shirt. The fabric must have torn on the fence I had jumped. I shook my head, trying to gather my thoughts, but was overwhelmed with everything that had happened tonight. The events of the night were all jumbled together.

  The fact I needed to get the wound in my shoulder sewn up, pulled me forward when a woman came into view. Just the mere sight of her had me stopping in my tracks. My breath caught in my throat. Something foreign inside of me stirred. Something that had been dormant for so long, I thought it had disappeared for good, slid to the surface. I wasn’t even sure it had ever been there in the first place. It wasn’t like I was a stranger when it came to sex but I never went out of my way for it. But this woman made me want to drop to my knees just to have her smile.

  The woman, whoever she was, brought a glass of red wine up to her lips. Her hips moved back and forth, like she was dancing to a tune that only she could hear. She placed the glass on a table before reaching up to her dark hair and pulling out the elastic. Her hair fell down her back in curls. It was so long; the ends almost reached her ass.

  I licked my lips, letting my eyes linger down the length of her when I knew they shouldn’t.

  She bent over, showing me that full round ass of hers.

  My dick throbbed.

  I took another step forward when the wound in my shoulder reminded me what happened earlier tonight. Agony sliced through me, forcing my vision to fade in and out. The knife must have gone deeper than I thought.

  “Fuck,” I breathed, grabbing onto the nearest item to keep me from falling to the ground.

  I wasn’t sure how deep the knife had gone but I knew that I had lost a lot of blood. I wasn’t a big guy, tall yes, but I had lost weight over the past few months.

  I should have gone to the hospital, but they would ask questions. Questions I wasn’t ready to answer. Not like I had the answers anyway. Just that Tommy fucking West took over my club, stole a rival club member’s Old Lady and who the hell knew what else. I also couldn’t risk getting the police involved. I would rather die on the street than get locked up.

  But as much as I wanted to deal with this on my own, I knew when I needed help. I just hoped the woman wouldn’t call the police before I died on her back step.

  Bee

  CYRUS AND SAMMY CAME TO check on me. Again. I had a feeling they would just to make sure that I actually stayed home. I rolled my eyes at the thought. Yeah, I was home and bored. I put music on just to liven things up a bit because I was wired. While Slipknot played in the background, I drank my wine and stewed. I wanted to do something fun, exciting, but my cousins liked to be downers and ruin what little fun I was allowed to have. I sounded like an ungrateful brat but at the moment, I didn’t care. I did notice how Sammy had been grumpier than normal when I saw him earlier in the evening. I went to ask why but Cyrus had shaken his head, silently warning me not to. I had no idea what that was about but was curious just the same.

  Bringing the glass of red wine to my lips, I was about to sit at the dining room table when the hairs on the back of my neck tingled. My eyes lifted, a soft gasp lodging its way in my throat.

  A large shadow stood in our backyard. I couldn’t make out what he looked like, but I knew that it was a man. A very tall one at that. The fact that I was by myself and there was a stranger standing in our yard, made me wish Sammy and Cyrus had never left.

  My eyes flicked to my bag on the coffee table. I could call them or the police, but I had watched enough movies to know that the man might not actually be alone. One wrong move and it could be the end of me.

  The large shadow stumbled.

  My heart jumped to my throat. Something was wrong with him.

  When he reached the doors, he knocked on the glass. He mumbled something I couldn’t quite hear. Should I call the cops? My dad? Cousins? The man wouldn’t know that I was home alone. My parents’ vehicle sat in the driveway while my dad had taken my mom on a little getaway with just his bike and the clothes on their back. It was their anniversary, so my father was spoiling my mother and gave me the house to myself for the weekend.

  The man knocked again, muttered something else but I still couldn’t understand what he was trying to tell me.

  Taking a chance, I closed the distance between us and flicked on the light leading to the backyard.

  He was pressing one hand against his opposite shoulder, his face pale.

  I glanced up, finding him staring down at me. I swallowed hard. “Who are you?”

  “I need…” A deep crimson liquid seeped between his fingers. “I need help. I’ve been stabbed.”

  My eyes widened. I went to unlock the door when a thought came to mind. “Are you armed?”

  He hesitated, finally nodding after a couple of seconds had passed.

  “Show me.”

  A mumbled curse left him, but he reached behind him and pulled out a small pistol.

  “Throw it. Behind you,” I instructed.

  He looked over his shoulder, then back at me.