Page 55 of Barron

Deacon arched an eyebrow. “Are you always so possessive?”

“With the important stuff? Fuck, yes.”

“Does that include your woman too?” Deacon smirked.

“Uh-huh.” Barron didn’t buckle under any kind of intimidation, hinted or otherwise, and the Dalton prez didn’t impress him much. He continued in a gentler tone. “My bike, my phone, and most definitely my woman. Touch her and be prepared for the consequences.”

Barron was over the appeasing bullshit. He was in a“push me and you’ll find me”kind of mood. No one spoke as he loaded the images into a text and sent it.

Blade’s phone dinged. Scratching his two-day beard, he scrolled through the images and lifted his eyes. “Are we finished with the pissing contest?” He smiled at the group. “You should take a look at this, Deacon.”

Deacon walked between the brothers, then moved around Blade’s desk to stand behind his friend. He glanced at the phone screen over his shoulder.

“That one,” Deacon blurted.

“Let me open the image,” Blade said.

“Yeah. That’s him,” Deacon said.

Barron and Johnny Gun eyed each other.

“Hey, guys. Can you clue the rest of us in?” Little Billy asked. “Not everyone here knows your history.”

Deacon straightened. Staring at the brothers in the room, he ran his fingers through his salt-and-pepper hair.

“This guy in the photo is Rover, the Wolves’ president, and we go way back. When Warden started the Devils’ Spawn, Rover was one of us.” He sat at the edge of Blade’s desk.

“Warden, Rover, and I did everything together. We were close, and riding was our life. Then Gunner, his current vice president, joined the MC with a different agenda. Transporting the Spawn’s contraband tobacco and other petty shit didn’t do it for him. Gunner presented his plan to smuggle weapons across state lines. Warden and I rejected it outright, but Rover liked the potential profits and the action. Warden and Rover argued, accusations flew, and nasty things were said. Rover and Gunner broke ties to start their own club, the Pistons.”

Johnny Gun laughed. “That’s some fucked-up name.”

“That shit happens all the time,” Turbo said.

“Settle down, guys,” Blade intervened.

“Things were quiet for a while.” Deacon stood. Folding his arms, he stared at the group. “Months later, Warden and I heard Rover and his MC were involved in a gunfight. Some of his guys got hurt and Rover barely escaped with his life. Later, we learned a rival MC had ambushed the Pistons at a weapons pickup point. But we didn’t know the Spawn, specifically Warden, was blamed for the ambush.”

“Is that how it happened?” Shifter asked. The guys around him turned his way. Smirking, he lifted a shoulder. “Hey, I’m older. I know things.”

“Yeah,” Deacon said. “That’s the background. Rover decided to pay Warden back for his supposed deceit. We had a truck full of hot items coming from up north…”

“Fuck,” Turbo exclaimed.

Deacon nodded. “Similar setup. The Sentinels MC showed up claiming their merch. Tempers flared, someone pulled a gun, and a fight broke out.” He sat on the corner of the desk again. Suddenly, he’d aged ten years.

“After Warden died of his wounds, I did my best to hold the Spawn together. But I couldn’t hack it. I needed space and a change of location. Even though he was newly patched, Blade had the cojones to lead the club. We elected him president in an emergency vote. I told him I wanted to open a chapter in Dalton, where it’s quiet and things rarely happen, and he gave me his blessing. I took my ol’ lady and young daughter and Warden’s child and moved north.”

“Warden had a child?” Little Billy asked.

Deacon nodded. “Opal was born after Isolde. It was a sad situation. Julia, Opal’s mother, overdosed on sleeping pills after Warden’s death. Elaine and I took her with us.”

“There’s more, right?” Barron asked.

“Yes. I was under the impression the Pistons had disbanded,” Deacon said. “I was wrong. Several years later, I heard Rover had changed the MC’s name and moved over the state line to Alabama.”

“The Steel Wolves,” Johnny Gun said.

Deacon sighed. “By the time I found this out, Warden was gone, years had passed, and the Spawn was thriving under Blade’s leadership. I didn’t want to stir up the old shit. But imagine my surprise when I got here and Bladefilled me in about the Steel Wolves and their association with a drug cartel. He showed me the photos and told me Barron almost had a run-in with a Wolf at Nightshade.”

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