Page 59 of Loving Trent (Love in the Bootheel #5)

Thirty-Seven

TRENT

The plan is simple but leaves no room for error.

Demon has been watching Steven and Nathan since early this morning after Uncle Joey called him to inform him that the family knew and was hatching a plan.

Before we left town, Shawn called Nathan and told him that he needed to meet Shawn at the restaurant.

The reason? Easy, Shawn was having second thoughts about selling it and wanted to get his opinion.

Shawn might have mentioned that he needed a friend to lean on because he was also unsure about his new relationship.

He thought that would entice Nathan more, and it worked.

The restaurant just happens to be closed for repairs, but with one phone call, the construction company was all too happy to take the day off with pay.

Uncle Joey and Ryan drive Shawn’s car to the restaurant while the rest of us head to the gym and walk the seven blocks.

We only have a few minutes to set everything up when we get there before Demon texts us.

Demon

Heads up, he’s heading your way, but something doesn’t feel right.

Me

What makes you say that?

Demon

Right after Nathan left the apartment, so did Steven.

He hasn’t left the apartment since Shawn was up here in November.

He had a black bag with him, and I didn’t like the glint in his eyes.

Nathan just turned onto Sprigg Street and is heading your way.

I’m going to follow Steven and find out where he’s going.

He might be trying to make a run for it.

Me

Keep me updated.

I shove my phone back into my pocket and press my back against the stone wall of the basement.

Thank fuck for Missouri weather. When Shawn bought the building, he had a basement dug out and built up, just in case.

It cost an arm and a leg, as Sonny told all of us when Zak asked how it was possible.

Spring, Summer, and Fall weather can sometimes be dangerous for the people living here.

Depending on the weather, tornadoes have been known to hit and cause significant damage.

Most people have basements or storm shelters around their houses, but not at businesses.

However, Shawn wanted to make sure that he had a place to protect his employees and customers if the need arose.

I bet he never thought his family would use it how we are about to.

“He’s here,” Adam says as he comes down the stairs that lead straight outside. He was waiting outside because, out of all of us, he seemed the calmest.

Shawn and Nathan’s voices are muffled, and I hate that.

I need to know what is being said, but I promised Sonny I would stick to his plan to get Nathan down here.

After that, I’m doing what I want to do.

The basement door opens, light spilling down the stairs, and Nathan’s voice is clear.

“Shawn, you deserve better than this, Trent fucker. Say the word and I’ll handle him. ”

Fuck you, I’d like to see you try. I think as I smirk at the thought of this fucker thinking he could ‘handle’ me.

“I know you would,” Shawn says, and I don’t know how Nathan doesn’t hear the sarcasm dripping from his words.

Counting their footsteps as they descend the stairs, I raise my gun when I hear Nathan step off the last stair. “Shawn?—”

Nathan’s sentence dies as he steps into the open room, and I move forward, pressing the barrel of my gun against his temple. “You got one thing right. Shawn deserves better than me, but I won’t let him go.” The basement door slams shut, the sound echoing around us.

Shawn walks around a frozen Nathan, Sonny following closely behind him. The rest of our family emerges from the shadows with their weapons drawn but not pointing at him. “What… What is going on?”

Before anyone has a chance to answer him, the door leading to the outside flies open, and a body is thrown down the stairs.

A scream, one that I’ve heard before, fills the room, and I smile.

“Oh, shut the fuck up. That didn’t hurt,” A low, gravelly, smokes a pack a day voice comes before a man walks down the stairs.

“Move,” I order, and push the barrel harder into Nathan’s head. Luckily, he listens and walks forward toward Shawn. I look sideways and see Demon hauling a crying and blubbering Steven to his feet. “Nice of you to join us.” Steven’s head snaps toward me, and we all hear the pop of his neck.

“What—”

“Don’t,” Parker says, his voice sounding just as dark as Demon's did moments ago. He brings another chair into the middle of the room and places it beside the one Levi is currently tying Nathan to. “None of us wants to hear you speak.”

Uncle Joey and Ryan come from the storage room on the left, carrying a small black folding table.

“You’re going to listen to what we have to say, and if you try to talk…

well, I might just remove your ability to speak for the rest of your lives,” Sammy says, coming to stand behind Steven, looking like a badass warrior with her shotgun thrown over her shoulders.

Once Steven and Nathan are secured to the chairs, Shawn starts laying out their misdeeds while the rest of us surround him.

I don’t watch the cowards like the others.

No, my eyes are glued to Shawn. I’m in awe of his strength.

His voice never falters or breaks while discussing their plans for him.

His body never trembles, nor does it relax.

The only emotion in his smooth voice is anger.

Everything about him is turning me into a molten pot of lust.

“Before we give you a chance to try to explain all of this,” Shawn says, waving his hands at the papers on the table before him. “I want to thank the two of you.”

Everyone gasps, and I step closer to him.

Pressing my body against his back, I wrap my arm around his waist and slide my hand up until it rests over his heart.

It’s pounding and I press harder as if I could reach inside and hold it until it calms down.

Shawn presses his ass back against my erection, and I lean down and whisper in his ear, “Easy, Baby Boy.”

“Thank them?” Levi asks.

“Yes, thank them. Sammy, you were right. There has been something that I’ve been keeping from you guys, and it’s because of this fucker here.

” Shawn pushes the table out of the way, steps out of my arms, and pulls his fist back.

When he snaps it forward, it connects with Steven’s temple.

“That I finally found the courage to stop the unhealthy cycle. Every single relationship I’ve been in has eventually turned abusive.

There was always verbal abuse, but Steven here and the two before him took the abuse to another level. They tuned it to physically abuse.”

Sonny growls low in his chest and steps closer to Steven, but I grab his arm and barely shake my head.

“What the fuck?” Sammy yells and goes to launch herself at Steven, but Zak grabs her first. “I’m going to kill you.

You hurt my brother, and now it’s going to be my pleasure to hurt you.

” Spit flies from her mouth, landing on the back of Steven’s head.

“Why didn’t you tell us?” Parker asks Shawn. The deadly tone of his voice sends a shiver down my back. He’s glaring at Steven like he’s holding back, and I have no doubt that he is. Adam and Levi look seconds away from their control snapping as well.

All of their rage is building tension in the air and my beast inside is eating it up.

Uncle Joey steps up beside me and whispers, “Did you know?” I nod but refuse to answer because I don’t want to miss a single word that is about to come out of Shawn’s mouth. He needs to let this weight go and finally be free.

“Because I was embarrassed that I allowed it to come to that. I’m the first to step up and protect anyone I love, but I couldn’t protect myself for some reason.

I’m not proud to say that I never got out of my other relationships.

It was the other guy who eventually left me, but not when it came to Steven.

I don’t know what came over me that night, but I had had enough and finally stood up for myself.

” Shawn bends forward, grabs Steven’s hair, and raises his head.

“That’s why I’m thanking you. You showed me how I shouldn’t be treated and made me appreciate the little things Trent does for me.

Plus, your little stunt with the fire might have been meant to harm me but it didn’t.

Instead, it brought the love of my life back. ”

Shawn drops his hold on Steven, turns around, and walks straight to me. I wrap my arms around him and hold him to me. He doesn’t break down, but I can tell he’s close because his body is starting to tremble. I kiss his shoulder and whisper, “I’ve got you, Baby Boy.”

Nathan’s eyes darken and narrow, giving away that whatever comes next is going to piss me off. He doesn’t like how things are playing out, so he’s going to try to piss all of us off. Trying to make us slip up, but it won’t work.

“You stopped the unhealthy cycle?” Nathan throws his head back and laughs.

The butt of one of Adam’s guns comes out of nowhere and connects with Nathan’s nose.

His laugh gets cut off, but he doesn’t scream, no, he groans, but looks right at me with blood running over his lips. “That cycle will never be broken.”

“What the fuck did you just say?” I let go of Shawn, walk around him, and head straight for the fucker. No one stops me, but then again, I didn’t think they would.

“He,” Nathan’s eyes glance over my shoulder, and I swear I’m going to rip them out of his head before I’m done with him. “Knows that the cycle will never be broken because he de?—”