Page 20 of Creed

I was fuming. “I’ll show you adorable!” I went stomping toward Drakos, but Patrick grabbed me around the waist from behind and picked me up. As I kicked my feet he carried me to the truck. “There is nothing funny about him treating her like a punching bag! It’s gone too far, and I need them to come home! I’ve failed them!” I sobbed as Patrick threw me in the truck.

“What the hell is going on out here?” I looked over and saw Tristan before Patrick shut my door.

“Mind your business.” Creed said.

Tristan pointed at me. “She is my business!” He stormed toward me. “Patrick, what the hell is going on?” My first love was pissed.

I spoke up. “Its Callie and Addie. He’s abusing them and now he won’t let anyone see them. I failed them, Tristan.” I was sobbing.

“So, you think pissing off a biker gang is the smart thing to do? I just saw you kick Shane. What the hell is going through that head of yours?” Tristan wrapped his arms around me.

“I just want them to be safe.” I sobbed into his neck. “I should have come home sooner.”

I looked up when I heard Creed and saw him lift Shane up by the neck with one hand. “Are you going to fuck with her?”

“Not if she stops snooping around. Prez isn’t happy about the alert, and I was sent to straighten this shit out.” Shane’s face was covered in blood and looked like a rag doll as Creed held him up.

“Morgan is off fucking limits, do not approach her and you’ll bring the girls home. If you do that we won’t have a problem. Understand?”

“Y…y…yes.” Shane stuttered.

Creed looked at me then at Shane. “You have forty eight hours to bring me the girls. I’ll meet you at the old sawmill. If they are not brought safely to me, hellfire is going to rain downon that fucking compound.” Creed looked up at Patrick. “Get her the hell out of here. My men will escort you home.”

“I’m going with you.” Tristan pushed me in the truck a little further and hopped in with us. Six motorcycles drove up behind us as I watched Creed hold Shane up by his throat and make a call with his phone in the other.

“I should have come home a long time ago. I’ve failed my best friend and goddaughter.” I sobbed as Tristan held on to me.

“You didn’t fail them. Callie made the choices that led her to where she is now. I talked to her myself and she told me everything you ever offered her. You made sure she had every opportunity to leave him, but she still chose him.” Tristan tried to calm me down.

“I have the resources most women don’t have, and I could have kept her safe.” My hands were shaking, and I couldn’t remember being so scared. It wasn’t just the bikers that scared me, it was Creed and the way he looked at me when Tristan had me wrapped in his arms.

Tristan lifted my chin to make me look at him as Patrick quietly drove us toward home. “You have done all you can do. None of those men back there are safe for you, and it's time to let go. Callie wants this life, and it’s not your job to dictate how she lives.”

I reached up and wiped a tear away. “Creed isn’t a bad man.”

“He runs with a rough crowd. You need to stay away from all of them.” Tristan reached up and wiped one of my tears away.

“Hey now, Creed is a decent man, and his men are just some sort of special ops retirees. They don’t mean any harm to anyone in this town.” Patrick spoke up.

“My Uncle trusts them.” I sniffled.

“Judging by the way they handled those bikers, those men are no strangers to violence. Do you really want the world to think you condone such a thing?” Tristan was speaking softly and looking into my eyes like I was the most precious thing on earth.

“But I do condone such a thing. Shane has a face that just begs to be punched.” I sniffled again and both men chuckled.

“She got you there, Tristan.” Patrick laughed.

“You’re a movie star, Morgan. You wouldn’t want the world to know you’re involved with people like that any more than you’d want the world to know you used to sleep with a garbage man.” He gave me a soft smile and Patrick was way too dramatic with his gag.

“Why wouldn’t I want anyone to know that? Tristan, I loved you and I never would have cared how you made a living. You broke me when you pushed me away. We might be different people now, but I will never hide the fact that I once loved you. I’m offended that you think that low of me.” He was being ridiculous.

As soon as Patrick pulled down the driveway I saw Uncle Darren’s car. That was when I realized it was probably him Creed called as we were leaving. My best guess was that I’d be greeted by Hans and Franz with disapproving looks on their faces.

Encounter

Morgan

Patrick took Tristan home after he watched Hans and Franz scold me for approaching Shane. At least I finally got to make Shane bleed, I waited years for that chance. All he had to do was let Callie and Addie come to me and we would leave town. I would take them as far away from Indiana as I could and try to give both of them better lives. Unless we got lucky, Shane somehow crashed that stupid bike and was at least paralyzed or dead. I knew without a doubt he would never allow Callie to leave. She was his meal ticket. She worked night and day to support them, and he never cared one ounce about her working herself to the grave. Even if he took my money he wouldn’t let her go, he loved having power over her. Hell, he would blow through the money in a matter of months then go looking for her.

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