Gaige stood frozen. Mr. Strokner nodded and then turned his head. The SUV started to creep forward as the window rolled up. It made a full turn and then the back passenger window opened and gunshots rang out. Gaige dropped down and watched the SUV speed away as the gun pointed out the window shot toward him.
“Fuck,” Gaige growled as he stood back up.
He looked at the piece of paper and shook his head.
What a fucking mess.
sixteen.
Emily was back to work, but still hadn’t recovered from everything. The day before, Rachel was buried. There was no way Emily would ever miss the funeral of her best friend, even if it meant standing there like an outcast amongst family and close friends of Mr. Strokner. Back Down Devil MC were present, but they hid far back in the cemetery. Gaige and Miller came forward to pay their respects and even shook hands with Mr. Strokner.
Emily kept checking over her shoulder, looking for Max. When she heard what happened at the hotel, it made her sick. Max was fucking with her and probably would continue to do so until he was caught and killed.
Caught and killed.
The words came so easily to Emily’s mind now. It was as if she thought like one of the guys in Back Down Devil. She’d seen so much already, from the wild parties, the raunchy sex, and the ideals of murder to know that they truly did live by their own laws. It was a scary concept but in reality, it made perfect sense. No police would ever be able to help Emily with Max. Their process wasn’t good enough. Emily would wind up dead. But with the MC, with Gaige, Emily would stay alive.
Emily was walking down the hall when she saw Belle approaching. Dressed in all black, her hair pulled back, and light makeup on her face, she looked like she belonged in a clothing catalogue. She was naturally gorgeous.
“Hey,” Belle said.
She never talked to Emily.
“Hey,” Emily said.
“Uh, listen, about the other day…”
“No,” Emily said. “I’m so sorry about that. I’ll take the blame.”
“It’s okay. I explained everything and it’s cool. I know you ride with one of them. But he wasn’t the one that stayed. Just so you know.”
“I know,” Emily said.
“That guy was crazy though.”
“Blaine? Yeah. He’s… different.”
“Is it wrong that I hope he calls for more business?”
Emily laughed. “I don’t know what’s right or wrong anymore. But he won’t be calling. He has his own way of finding what he wants. He kind of stumbles into situations.”
Belle smiled and shrugged her shoulders. “Well, I’m off. Business meeting.”
Emily watched Belle walk away.
She couldn’t believe how suddenly her life became involved with the MC. No matter what she did, it was all connected to Gaige and Back Down Devil MC.
Yet Emily wouldn’t trade it for anything else.
When she returned to her desk, she saw one of the lines was on hold. She picked up the phone and pressed the button, thinking nothing of it.
“Hey, you sweet girl,” a voice said.
Emily almost dropped the phone.
It was Max.
“What do you want?” Emily asked.
“I’m calling for another meeting. The first one didn’t quite go to plan.”
“Stay away, Max,” Emily said. “You have no idea…”
“Oh, I think I got the idea. You took off with my baby.”
“No, I lied,” Emily blurted out. “I said I was pregnant so you would stop hitting me.”
“I don’t believe it,” Max said. “I felt it. I touched you, sweet girl. There was something there. I know it. Now I want it. I want it to be mine.”
“Just go away,” Emily said. “You don’t understand what’s going to happen to you.”
“Same for you, sweet girl. I’m going to gut you and then take our baby.”
“There is no baby,” Emily said. “I swear, Max. I’m trying to help you.”
Max laughed. “Help me? My sweet girl runs out on me. Takes our child with her. Now you’ve got someone else, huh? Another guy on a bike. Just can’t help yourself, can you?”
“It’s not like that.”
Emily had her cell phone in her hand, sending a text to Gaige to come get her.
“What’s it like, sweet girl?” Max asked. “To be running this long, waiting for me to come save you. You don’t have to live like this anymore.”
“Because you’re going to love me again?”
“Never,” Max said with a growl. “You’ll never be loved. You’ll be bleeding on a floor. The last image you’ll ever have is of me walking away with our baby. Just tell me, is it a boy or girl?”
“Max…”
“Just fucking tell me,” Max yelled. “Boy or girl?”
“It’s nothing,” Emily said. “You need to realize that.”
“It’s a boy then,” Max concluded. “That’s the only reason you’d hide like this. Because you know what having a boy would mean to me. If it was some little slut like you, you wouldn’t care. I’m coming to get my son, sweet girl.”
“You can’t,” Emily said. “You can’t get through the MC. It’s suicide.”
“Not unless I’m smarter than you realize.”
The line went dead and Emily held the phone to her ear. She just stared straight ahead. She trusted in Gaige and she believed he would protect her. But this was Max, and he really believed that Emily had left pregnant. He was looking for a child.
“Are you okay?”
Emily blinked and saw Janine standing at her desk.
“Fine. Strange phone call. I think I have to leave now.”
“Oh, look at you,” Janine said. “You should have taken the week off. Let me walk you out.”
Emily stood and grabbed her stuff. “No. I’m fine.”
She stormed by Janine and out of the building.
Within minutes Emily heard the rumble of the motorcycle. Then she saw Gaige barreling up the road, another motorcycle behind him. Judging by the size of the rider, she was sure it was Nate.
Emily let out a breath and felt somewhat relieved.
Somewhat relieved, however, wouldn’t keep Emily safe or alive.
seventeen.
Gaige sat at the table. He took the last drag of a smoke and put it out. He drank from his beer and looked at the few guys at the meeting.
Miller was at the head of the table. Then there was Blaine, Shay, Nate, and Griffin.
“How can he threaten this?” Shay asked. “I thought we had everything secured.”
“It’s just words,” Miller said. He swatted at the piece of the paper.
“But they’re serious words,” Gaige said.
“He might just go up there and dig to be a prick,” Griffin said.
“Then we go after him,” Shay said.
“It’ll be too late then,” Nate said. “He’ll get a slap on the wrist and we’ll be fucked.”
“Smart man,” Miller said.
Gaige put his hand on the piece of paper and slid it back to Miller. “I’m just sharing what I know. Mind you, he also had someone shoot at me about eight times.”
“Christ,” Griffin said.
Miller grabbed Gaige’s shoulder. “Must have been a terrible shot, huh?”
“He wasn’t aiming to hurt or kill,” Gaige said.
“He did it to send a message,” Nate said. “And to piss you off so you’ll do something stupid.”
“Not me,” Gaige said. “It’s time we settle all this shit. I know what I can do to make Strokner happy. We need to just deal with his bullshit right now.”
“I’d say we are,” Miller said. “I shook his hand at his daughter’s funeral. So did you.”
“Then we keep that up for now,” Gaige said. “He wants exactly what we want. The person who killed his daughter dead.”
“Whoa, whoa,” Shay said. “You can’t be serious. You’re going to pull him in on this?”
“What’s that mean?” Shay asked.
“It means we need to let these pieces fall into place,” Miller said. “I’ve arranged a meeting with our friends in Coast Road MC.”
“For what?” Nate asked.
The fire burned in his eyes. Nate had a long, brutal history with Coast Road MC. Gaige looked at Nate and nodded, hoping to keep him calm.
“Relax,” Miller said. “We have common ground here. For the moment. Eight Under swung their little dicks near Coast Road a couple months back. One of the guys in Eight Under fucked an woman in Coast Road territory. They’ve been waiting for a chance to strike back.”
“Christ,” Shay said. “We’re going to deal with those assholes over pussy?”
“Nothing wrong with pussy,” Blaine said.
“Come on,” Gaige said. “We need to focus on Eight Under. If this gets us anything… it’s worth it.”
Miller nodded. “They might know something we don’t. Plus, we know they don’t like to get their nails dirty, right?”
Everyone laughed. Coast Road preferred to look tough and spend their days on the beach getting tans. It was odd to have a beach club, but they did have big guys and a way of earning cash.
“We tell them what happened at the fights,” Miller said. “They’ll spread it around. It’s no secret that Eight Under did what they did, but maybe the more they hear, the more they’ll get pissed off. We tell Coast Road to keep their eyes open and then we do our own research on the side.” Miller made a fist and slammed it against the table. “We will find these assholes and make sure they know not to fuck with us again.”
“Alive,” Gaige said. “I want the guy who did this alive.”
“Gaige,” Blaine said. “You can’t put that on us.”
“The best we fucking can,” Gaige said. “I made a promise to someone…”
“Pussy stays in the bedroom,” Shay said.
Gaige pointed to Shay. “If it wasn’t for that girl who took those bullets we would have been burying Blaine.” Gaige let that sink in and then slowly turned his head and looked at Blaine. “Get it?”
“Yeah, bro, yeah,” Blaine said. “Gaige is right. Those assholes had us pegged. Right in the middle of the fight like that. He shot that poor girl. Before I could even get to her and show her what it’s like to be with a real man.”
“Okay,” Miller said. “We approach the situation with a plan to kidnap. I don’t care right now how much blood we spill of others in Eight Under. But the shooters, take them alive.”
Miller looked around the table and then stood up.
The meeting was over.
The table cleared out and Gaige went to the bar for a drink. He had a shot and then took out a smoke. Down the hall Emily was tucked into his bed. She was safe there. Inside, Gaige had no real idea how he was going to find this Max guy and take him out. He couldn’t allow Emily to live in fear and look over her shoulder all the time. She wasn’t even safe at work anymore.
“You are deep in thought,” Nate said as he sat next to Gaige.
“Fucking deep,” Gaige said. “Too fucking deep, maybe.”
“Women will do that to you, man.”
“Yeah. I keep telling myself that Blaine has the right idea in life.”
“No. Blaine is a fucked up guy with a big heart. You don’t want to be Blaine.”
Gaige laughed. “Good point. You good with what we talked about in the meeting?”
“Maybe I won’t go,” Nate said.
“Like fuck,” Gaige said. “We need you there man. You’re the one who could really rattle their chains, right? They take one look at you and it means business.”
“Or bullets,” Nate said.
“They won’t draw on us,” Gaige said. “You have to be there.”
Nate slowly nodded. “Yeah, okay. I’ll be there.”
Miller approached Gaige and Nate and put his arms around both of them. “We’re suiting up within the hour. I want to do this today. I’m sick of waiting.”
“Got it,” Gaige said.
Miller walked away and Gaige stood.
“I hope this fucking works,” Nate said. “Too much going on right now. I like it calm and quiet.”
“Don’t worry. We’ll get it. I’m going to get Emily. She’s coming with us.”
“The girl? Seriously?”
“Yes,” Gaige said. “Let them see the look on Emily’s face when we say what Eight Under did. Plus, I don’t want her alone if I can help it.”
“Bigger problems?” Nate asked.
“She has an ex threatening to kill her. Some fucking biker. You heard what happened with the hotel and Blaine, right?”
“Yeah. That poor woman.”
Gaige laughed. “This Max guy is fucked in the head. He needs a bullet to even things out.”
Gaige walked to his room and the second he saw Emily, his heart swelled. She was the peace in the middle of the hell all around him.
“Hey, beautiful,” Gaige said.
“How did your meeting go?”
“We have business to take care of,” Gaige said.
“Are you leaving?”
Gaige nodded. “You’re coming with us though.”
“I’m… what?”
“I need you to meet these guys.”
“What guys?”
“Another crew. Bunch of pussies if you ask me, but they have dealings with the Eight Under MC. They can help us find the guy who shot your friend. But I need you there, for sympathy.”
Emily moved toward Gaige, her face pale. “What if something happens?”
“Nothing is going to happen,” Gaige said. “I’ll protect you. You know that.”
“I know. I trust you.”
“That’s right. You fucking trust me. Now trust that we’re going to meet these assholes and they’ll help us find the other assholes.”
“Okay,” Emily said.
Gaige gently touched Emily’s face. His fingers caressed her cheeks. “Just so fucking perfect.”
Gaige kissed Emily. He meant to kiss her once, but that was impossible to do. Emily’s lips were divine and her tongue was slippery and sultry. As they kissed, Gaige pressed himself against Emily, showing her what she was doing to him.
A knock at the door ended the kiss.
“Bro, time to fly,” Blaine called.
“Got it,” Gaige yelled back. He looked at Emily. “Fuck.”
“Fuck.”
Outside, Gaige gave Emily his helmet and they got on the motorcycle together. Miller rode first, Blaine next to him. Gaige was in the middle as Nate, Griffin, and Shay rode in a trio behind Gaige.
The six motorcycles growled through the streets, calling attention. Gaige knew it made a lot of people uneasy to see so many motorcycles at once. In the past, problems within the MC’s have spilled onto Main Street, but Back Down Devil had done their best to ensure those kinds of situations were rare.
At the end of a pier, the motorcycles all pulled up into a line. Standing just a few yards away was a small group of guys. Three weren’t wearing shirts, two were loose muscle shirts, all for the purpose of showing off the steroid aided muscles the crew of Coast Road MC possessed.
Gaige hated these fucking guys. They preyed on drugs and women on the beach.
Miller took the lead and shook hands with the leader of the other crew.
“Lenny, good to see you,” Miller said.
Lenny’s aged, but still large, muscles flexed as he shook Miller’s hand. “Are we going to keep this quiet?”
“My guys are fine,” Miller said. “I think we share common ground.”
Gaige stepped next to Miller, holding Emily’s hand. She stayed close to Gaige. On Miller’s left, Nate stepped up, his hands balled into fists. He eyed down Mutty, the second in charge of the crew. He had no shirt on and was ripped with muscle.
“Looking at something?” Mutty asked.
“Nice tits,” Nate said. “I bet your
boyfriend loves sliding his cock between them.”
Mutty charged at Nate, head butting him.
“Oh, fuck,” Gaige said.
This was their way of proving respect. There was only one true way to work things out.
Nate touched his face and his bloody lip. Mutty flexed his massive biceps and smiled.
“Want to do this?” he asked.
Nate made a fist and walked toward Mutty. Mutty threw a fist, but Nate saw it coming. He ducked and punched Mutty in the gut. He cried out and hunched over, reaching for Nate. Nate took a handful of Mutty’s hair and came across with another fist. Blood sprayed from Mutty’s face as he spun around and went down to one knee.
Gaige whistled and Emily gripped his hand tighter. He looked at her and nodded. “It’s okay, beautiful. They’re just working some things out.”
Mutty got back to his feet and jumped at Nate. Mutty’s two hands went around Nate’s throat.
“Roid rage,” Gaige called out. “Be careful.”
Miller, Blaine, Shay, and Griffin laughed.
Nate slammed his head forward and smashed Mutty’s nose. Mutty stumbled back but threw a quick fist, connecting with Nate’s face. Nate’s nose opened, but it still didn’t deter Nate. He was right back with two more heavy fists, sending Mutty back. Nate then wound up a big punch and hit Mutty in the chest. When Mutty spun and went down to one knee this time, the fight was over.
“Okay, okay,” Miller said. “I think we’ve made our points.”
Nate shook his hand and backed up. When Mutty stood there were deep red imprints of Nate’s rings on his chest.
“Aw, come on,” Blaine said, “I want to fight someone.”
Another big guy stepped forward and cracked his knuckles.
Lenny put a hand out and stopped it from happening. “Cool it, Cres. No more fists. We need to talk.”
Miller took off his sunglasses. “We need to find Eight Under. Your guys have a problem with them, so do we.”
“Why would we want to help you?” Lenny asked.
“Because we have the balls to do what you can’t,” Gaige said. “I need to find them. I need them alive.”
“Which one?” Lenny asked.
“There was a shooting meant for us,” Miller said. “Killed the best friend of our girl over there. Tragic. Her father is Mr. Strokner. Know that name?”
“Fuck,” Lenny said. He looked at Emily. “I’m sorry about your friend.”
SAVAGE LOVE (A Back Down Devil MC Romance Novel) Page 29
