Sons of Trouble: A Biker Erotic Romance by Tamara Knowles Page A

any consideration for their fellow patrons. The regular customers finished their meals and asked for the bill as quickly as they could. Bianca flitted back and forth between the tables, collecting payments, serving food, and refilling coffee cups. At the same time, she kept an anxious eye on the Merrick crew. She fervently hoped that no one would pick a fight with them and that they’d pay up and get lost sooner rather than later.
     
    One customer, evidently with no experience of the gang and their antics, finally became tired of their loud conversation. As he got up to confront them, Bianca’s heart sank. She watched, as a sixty-something year old man approached the young men and demanded that they keep the volume down. Then, Chad Merrick got out of his seat and squared off against him, with his lackeys backing him up.
     
    “There a problem, old man?” Chad demanded menacingly of the elderly patron.
     
    “I just want you to keep it down, that’s all,” the man replied.
     
    “And why the fuck should we do that?” The Merrick boys were grinning with gleeful anticipation, as they balled their fists. They were eager for a fight to liven up their day, even though it was six of them against one senior citizen.
     
    “I’ll…I’ll call the cops,” the old man threatened. That ultimatum elicited a roar of laughter from the Merrick crew.
     
    “Oh no, please don’t call the cops!” Chad Merrick said, mocking him. “We’ll be as quiet as church mice, we promise.”
     
    Chad followed up his sarcastic plea by giving the old man a rough shove into the stools behind him. Bianca watched helplessly, as the old man got up and swung his fist at the young hooligan, who easily sidestepped him and threw him to the floor again.
     
    “Stupid prick,” Chad Merrick snarled. “We own the whole fucking place and that means we can talk as loudly as we damn well want.”
     
    With the other customers looking on in shock and dismay, the Merrick boys got up to leave. Each took their turn to spit on the old man on the way out. Simply because he could, the last of the thugs swept the coffee cups off the table and onto the floor.
     
    Bianca winced as the cups shattered on the ground, spilling their contents onto the carefully mopped floor. Before heading out the door, Chad reached into his pocket and pulled out a wad of cash. “Catch, bitch,” he said contemptuously, as he threw the money at her.
     
    She caught the money and began counting it bitterly, as Chad swaggered out of the diner. She loathed the Merrick boys. Everyone in the town loathed them. She hated their obnoxious and abusive behavior towards her and her customers. She hated their arrogance, doing as they pleased wherever they went and acting as if they owned the town. She hated replacing newly damaged items nearly every week. But above all, she hated the humiliation of taking their money after insults and broken cups. The cash helped her get by and it usually covered whatever damage they’d caused, plus a little extra.
     
    As much as she hated that she was bribed into silence, she couldn’t afford not to take it. It was much better to just take the money and stay on the Merrick gang’s good side than risk their vandalistic wrath. Plus, she feared the potentially bankrupting destruction they might unleash on her precious diner if she didn’t play along.
     
    Once she’d pocketed the cash, Bianca went to help the old man to his feet. The roar of the 4x4 engine erupted in the parking lot, as the Merrick boys clambered on and sped away. Once again, whooping and cheering could be heard in the distance. At least the damage wasn’t too bad this time.
     
    ***
     
    The sun was just over the horizon, its rays just starting to peak between the buildings in town, slowly warming up the landscape. Something was different this Saturday morning. Instead of the usual dawn silence, a faint droning could be heard on the road heading into town. As the sun rose higher in the