Page 35 of Demon's Angel

Something flares in his eyes.Doubt?If it is, it means my sacrifice of taking a wife who I want to fuck but will have to live with those feelings being unreciprocated might be worth it. Maybe it means he’ll finally leave Violet alone. I push my advantage. “Why you are tormenting my ol’ lady, I have no idea. I suggest you drop it. You won’t succeed, Angel. Theo is my child, not yours. I am his father.” There, I’ve said it. I’ve claimed them. Now I’ve just got to find a way to tell Violet and manage the fallout.

Lucio puts his hand on his son’s arm, his fingers digging in tight. “Not now, Angelino,” he warns him again, presumably not wanting blood on his expensive carpet. Then, to me, in a tone with all pretence at politeness gone, “Whatever game you are playing won’t succeed. My son is seeking his proper parental rights in the courts. I don’t know how you think you are going to beat us. What you’re saying is pure fabrication. Marry her, have the bitch. But the child is ours.”

I feel Hellfire’s presence at my left side, but it doesn’t stop me. I spit out at Angel, “You raped her and now think you’re entitled to her child? A child that is mine?” I’m really getting into this lie, but if I can’t convince myself, I won’t be able to pull the wool over anyone else’s eyes.

Angel steps closer, one arm behind him as Lucio won’t let go. “She willingly came to my bed, then tried to accuse me of rape. But with a reputation like hers, of course the court believed what I had to say, and I was cleared. There is nothing to stop me getting custody of my son.” He sneers. “You, however, seem to lay claim through some immaculate conception. When did you come on the scene? And why have you so recently laid claimed to my child?”

I don’t back down, using his own words against him. “Like you said in court, she has a reputation, the same reputation that cleared you of rape. I, too, took advantage of a young woman’s healthy appetite for sex. She didn’t tell anyone she had a child. When I found out, I claimed her. Theo is mine.” There. I have a child without all the messy sex that goes along with it. Unfortunately.

“Angelino! He’s lying through his fucking teeth.” Now I have Lucio swearing; he must be riled. “A DNA test will sort this out.”

Yeah, I’m fucking worried a court could order that. But I never roll over and submit. I’m going to fight this all the fucking way. We have to be taken to court first. As soon as I’m back at the compound, I have a list of things I need to be doing. Get a good lawyer for a start, get the court case postponed rather than my original plan for Violet just to not turn up. That won’t work now Angel knows where she’s hiding. Then see if we can stop this before we’re in front of a judge. Find the fucker who gave Violet’s presence at the compound away, and if all else fails, kill Angel before he can swab his mouth.

“Come, Demon. There’s nothing more to discuss here.” Hellfire’s hand is on my arm, an unconscious imitation of Lucio, pulling me, his son,back. Thunder’s stepped to my other side.

“You’ll be hearing from my lawyers!” Angel’s parting comment reaches me as I’m hustled through the door.

“Say nothing,” Hell hisses to me and Thunder, in warning.

Quickly reclaiming our weapons on the way out, we make it out of the house. We’re on our bikes and moving before they decide using guns instead of words might resolve the problem faster. Once we’re a good mile away, I hold out my left arm, then bend and swing it toward my shoulder, the signal they understand means I intend to pull up.

Once we do, I’ve kicked down the stand and am off the bike, bandana ripped off my head.

Thunder’s looking, well, thunderstruck as he follows me. “What the fuck was that, Prez? Thought you tossed that idea about claimin’ her on its head when Hell suggested it. You really going to step up and marry her?”

I throw my best president’s glare at him, then turn to Hell. “What are they up to?”

“That was them fuckin’ with us,” Hell replies.

I kick some scrub; a disturbed lizard runs off, his tiny feet leaving a trail in the sand. Bending, I place my hands on my knees and breathe deeply. Leaving aside probably the most disastrous decision I’ve ever made in my life, I have another ginormous fucking problem.

“How the fuck do they know where she is, Hell? Who the fuck told them? Who’s the fuckin’ traitor in the club?”

“That’s right, Prez. Let it out here.” Thunder’s in front of me. “You go throwing those accusations around in the compound? You know what you’d fuckin’ do? Lose the trust of the motherfuckin’ lot.”

Still bent, I raise my eyes. “We hadn’t seen Taser’s betrayal coming.”

“One fuckin’ man, Prez. No one has the motive he had. Motive, that’s what you need to think on. Who’d have fuck-all to gain from doing a favour for the Silvestri?”

“He has a point, Demon.”

That’s why Thunder would make a good VP, even if he doesn’t know it. Slowly I stand, but turn my gaze to the barren desert in front of me. Motive. Well it wouldn’t be the same one driving Taser. He’d seen himself with an officer patch, murdered to make sure there was a vacancy, went off the rails when he wasn’t selected to fill it. Now there’s an empty top spot, and none of the remaining members wants to step into it. But what other fuckin’ motivation could be driving anyone?

“Could be a mole. Someone working with the Silvestri. In their pocket perhaps? Money they’re offering, too much to be turned down?”

“You got anyone in mind, Hell?”

“Can’t see anyone going after that. Can’t say any of us can afford antiques and fancy ornaments, but we do alright.” Interesting, Hell had also noticed the flagrant display of wealth. It shouldn’t surprise me. He wasn’t the prez for twenty years by not being observant.

“The girls?” Thunder puts in. “They think Demon’s off the market?”

“Huh!” A startled laugh leaves my lips. “My cock that important?”

“Not sure I want to know what you do with your dick, son,but unless you have some magic technique…”

I shake my head. “Even if the whores want me to remain single, they couldn’t have known I was going to claim Violet.”

“And that there’s the next problem, you have.” Hell shakes his head. “Fuck, man, I know I suggested it, but didn’t expect it like this. Thought you’d approach it different.”

---