SAVAGE HEART (Layne & Shelby Book Two) (A Devil Call MC Book)

by Fawkes, Ana W.

  Ana is the author of the bestselling motorcycle romance serial series, DEVIL CALL MC. Other projects have included BY HIS COMMAND, FULL MOON MERCY, & RAW RIVER WILD.

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  *** Don’t miss to upcoming collaboration between Karolyn & Ana under the pen name – ANA JAMES – and their debut launch in the shifter world with the Pacific Bear Clan and the Fated Mates series! ***

  SAVAGE HEART (Layne & Shelby Book Two) (A Devil Call MC Book)

  He has the President’s patch, but the honor comes with bloodshed… he definitely has no time for falling in love.

  Layne – The town all around is falling apart. The club is under stress. Violence at every corner. Yet my focus keeps shifting to her. Wanting to protect her. Wanting to help her. Wanting to keep her hidden from the truth I know… the truth she wants to know… the truth that will kill her.

  Shelby – He knows my secrets. I’m exposed to him, and only him. Now I’m the one on the run, desperate to survive. Desperate to be in the strong arms of my biker. I trust him more than I should… but what choice do I have? He would never lie to me… he would never hurt me…

  *PART ONE*

  1.

  (Layne)

  I walked to the door and sighed. I had four guys outside in the hallway, not protecting, but just showing some goddamn respect.

  One of the prospects shut his eyes and his head bobbed down.

  “Hey!” I growled. “Get some coffee and wake the fuck up.”

  He jumped and apologized.

  “Sorry, sir.”

  Again, with the sir shit. Just because my leather cut had the President’s patch on it didn’t mean I needed or deserved to be called sir. In fact, I was starting to think I was far from that.

  Bottom line, ever since I came to Oakville, things had turned to shit.

  I opened the door to the hospital room, hearing the machines beeping. They were keeping Pep alive. The son of a bitch took a bullet to the neck and lived. For now at least.

  At the bed, I reached into my back pocket. I took out Pep’s gun and put it next to him.

  No biker should go without a weapon to defend himself… or kill himself.

  2.

  (Shelby)

  I had a guy on my left, a guy on my right. At all times. They stood with guns, watching the clubhouse. I felt like a prisoner at my job, but I got it. Layne was terrified for me. Someone had shot up Pep’s bar. Dead bodies, busted windows, a bullet that almost took Pep’s life. All of it was probably meant for Layne.

  He wouldn’t talk about it though. Christ, he hadn’t talked to me in days now. I was starting to believe that Layne blamed me for it. Which made no sense. I would never do anything to hurt Layne or Devil Call MC. Then again… what if Daddy set it up?

  I couldn’t think those thoughts. I had to keep a clear mind and focus.

  My focus was serving shots of whiskey and beers to the rest of the guys.

  Finn brooded in a corner, some woman dancing all around and on him.

  Brett and Rylan were eyeing each other up and down for most of the night. They started with a pool game. Then they switched to darts. Now they were engaged in an arm wrestling match.

  “Come on,” Brett yelled. “Give it to me, you little fuck.”

  “I’ll slit your throat,” Rylan spat at him.

  Their arms shook with fury, trying to overpower one another. I just stood behind the bar, watching it all happen. Some of the things these guys did to feel powerful or relaxed or whatever was kind of sad.

  Brett grabbed the pool table with his other hand. He let out a groan and pushed. Rylan’s arm started to go down. I already knew the arm wrestling match was not going to end fairly. That’s not how this stuff worked in the clubhouse. It was win, live, survive by any and all means necessary. So when Rylan grabbed a beer and tossed it in Brett’s faced, I wasn’t surprised.

  The rest of the clubhouse erupted in oohh’s and aahh’s and laughter. Rylan easily took Brett’s arm down and declared a cheating victory. Now Brett could have just taken it and let it go. But that wasn’t their style. Especially when they were drunk. After all, their fucking President wasn’t here, was he? No. He was gone, out, riding, trying to fix the world, leaving his club behind.

  Brett wiped the beer off his face and then threw a right fist. He hit Rylan in the side of the head. Rylan swung and Brett jumped back, dodging it. They then both jumped at each other, wrestling on the pool table, rolling off to the floor with a thud.

  Everyone cheered.

  Finn nodded.

  Ax then walked toward them. He grabbed both by the hair and lifted them up, keeping them apart.

  “Cut the shit,” Ax growled.

  “Put them down,” I called out. “Let them cool off.”

  “Hey, sweet thing,” Finn said. “Shut your fucking mouth.”

  The two prospects inched closer to me.

  “Ax, come on,” I said.

  Ax turned, holding Brett and Rylan. “Listen to Finn. Do your job before you get hurt.”

  “Was that a threat?” I asked.

  “I’ll show you a threat,” Ax growled.

  He dropped Brett and Rylan. He took one step and one of the prospects shot. The gunshot boomed through the clubhouse. Ax stumbled back, blood pouring through his shoulder. It was just his shoulder. It looked like a deep cut, maybe just a graze from the bullet.

  “Holy fuck,” Jet said.

  The clubhouse stood in silence.

  “I… we were told…”

  The prospect dropped his gun.

  Ax lumbered forward. With his good arm and hand, he brought back a fist and threw it forward. The prospect would have been wise to get out of the way, then run from the clubhouse. Come back a different time when Layne was there to explain what happened. But the prospect was frozen. Ax’s fist crashed to the prospect’s face. I heard everything crunch and break. The prospect left his feet and slammed against the wall. It happened so fast, yet I swore I could see it in slow motion. I think the guy was knocked out before he hit the wall, whether that mattered or not.

  When Ax looked at me again, I was terrified. “I got shot because of you.”

  “I didn’t pull any trigger,” I said.

  “I don’t know what he has you around for,” Ax said. “Useless. Everything in this place is. Goddammit.”

  Ax walked away, his massive feet hitting the floor like cracks of thunder. Blood ran down his arm and dripped from his fingers. It was like he didn’t feel pain or he really just didn’t care at all.

  I looked down at the prospect, out cold. For all I knew, his neck was broken and he was dead. I slowly turned my head to the other prospect. The guy stared at me, wide eyes, as though he regretted everything in his life that led him to this moment.

  “Keep the night going,” Finn bellowed. “You want to fight? Fight. You want to drink? Drink. You want to fuck? Fuck. Keep the night alive. It doesn’t matter.”

  With that said, the clubhouse came back to life. Drinking, talking, arguing, the allure of sex and the tension so high that I waited for another fight to break out.

  “Check on your friend,” I told the prospect. “I’m fine right here.”

  I then stood defiantly at the bar, my eyes locked to Finn. He stared back at me. The woman near him danced with the music, her hips moving left to right. Finn grabbed her by the waist and sat her down on his lap. His hands slipped up her back and tore at her skim
py top, taking it off. No surprise she wasn’t wearing a bra. His hands spread wide to her back and he moved her chest in front of his face. Her head fell back as Finn did whatever he was doing.

  I couldn’t look away and didn’t know why.

  Part of me wanted all this to become organized. My life was on the line too. I had the Mountain Killers MC after me. Daddy was pissed off, drinking more than ever, all because of what was happening with the mafia. Not to mention the mafia had already kidnapped Layne and said something to him. Or did something. I wasn’t sure. Of course, none of this was my business.

  Finn stood up, his hands grabbed the woman by the ass. He then pulled her down to her feet and shoved her aside. She turned, her large breasts flopping and bouncing. He pointed to her and she sat down.

  He came to the bar and grabbed the edge. “What?”

  “Nothing,” I said.

  “I’m sure you have plenty to say, Shelby.”

  “Would you like a drink?”

  “Don’t fucking joke with me,” Finn growled. “You know what this place is up against?”

  “Actually, I do.”

  “Yeah, that’s right. You fucked the President a few times. Your old man tells you old war stories. So now you think you’re part of this club?”

  “I never said that, Finn,” I said. “I’m just trying to help. Having everyone get drunk and fight each other is not going to help.”

  “Do yourself a fucking favor,” Finn said. “Find a way out of here. Your time is up. You’re nothing but a distraction. So unless you want to get naked with me - like we did that one time - then fucking go.”

  “Fuck off,” I spat.

  Finn’s hands shot forward and he grabbed my wrists. He pulled at me, my belly pulling hard to the bar. I tried to pull away, but Finn was too strong. His eyes were dark and evil. His showed his teeth to me like a hungry animal.

  “Stop that,” a voice said. It was the damn prospect. “I’ll hurt you.”

  “Fuck off, prospect,” Finn said. “You won’t do that.”

  “But I will.”

  I turned my head and Layne stood there. I hadn’t seen or heard him come in.

  He had a gun in his hand.

  He put the gun to the side of Finn’s head.

  3.

  (Layne)

  “Get your fucking hands off her,” I said.

  I had the gun pressed to Finn’s temple. I wanted to pull the trigger. In my mind I couldn’t stop seeing the sight of the Devil Call MC logo on a leather cut as someone walked away from Pep’s bar after shooting it up. Could it have been a copycat? Hell yeah. Could it have been Finn? Yeah. The level trust in the clubhouse was lower than the bodies buried in the ground all around Oakville.

  “So he returns,” Finn said.

  “You heard my command.”

  “Your command,” Finn said.

  “I’m the fucking President and I gave you an order.”

  Finn opened his hands and took them away from Shelby. My eyes moved to her for a split second, just to see her reaction, and of course Finn had to try a fucking move on me.

  He knocked my hand up, making my gun point at the ceiling. He rammed his side of his fist to my gut and then put his nose to mine.

  “If that was a knife, you’d be fucking dead,” he said.

  “But you don’t have a knife,” I said. “And I have a gun.”

  I brought the gun back to Finn’s temple.

  His eyes were so goddamn dark. So goddamn evil. It made me think of everything happening in Oakville. The attacks from the Mountain Killers MC. The mafia taking out a prospect and then attacking me. One of our own backstabbing us. And then Pep’s bar getting lit up.

  Finn and I were in a dead lock. Just standing there. The rest of the MC was unsure what to do. Our of respect for the patch, they needed to protect me. Their President. The man who would figure out how make all this shit right. Then again, they knew Finn longer. They shared whiskey, women, and bullets with him.

  “Ax was shot,” Shelby said. “By a prospect. I think he’s dead.”

  I took the gun from Finn’s head. “What? Ax is dead?”

  “Fuck no,” Finn said. “She meant the prospect.”

  “Sir, I think he’s dead,” the second prospect said as he stood there.

  No gun. Fear in his eyes.

  I put my gun away and walked behind the bar. I had put two prospects on Shelby just for protection in the clubhouse. I should have had patched in members. Truthfully, I didn’t trust anyone that wore the cut. Fuck, I wasn’t even sure if I trusted myself. Not with what hung over my head.

  I had to kill Shelby’s mother. The woman she was desperately trying to find. The woman she held in high regard as though she could make everything wrong with Shelby’s life magically right.

  There wasn’t a chance of that though. Because if I didn’t kill Shelby’s mother, the mafia would come after Devil Call MC. They’d come hard. Could we fight? Yeah. But for what? Because of a woman who worked the bar? What kind of message would I be sending to the rest of the MC then? It would be proof that I was thinking with the wrong head, something I’d done before in life.

  Ax thumped to the bar, holding a towel to his shoulder.

  “You okay?” I asked.

  “Fucking great,” he bellowed. “Prospect shot me. Because I got too close to your girl.”

  “Fuck,” I said. “I’m just trying to keep everyone safe here, okay? After what happened…”

  I scanned the entire clubhouse. The excess of booze and pussy lingered in the air.

  “I want a meeting first thing in the morning,” I commanded. “I want everyone at the table, sober, ready to figure this out. There’s shit we have to take care of. We’re not going to bow to anyone around us.” I pointed to one of the women hanging near a pool table. “You. Go with Ax. Make sure his shoulder is okay.”

  She hustled over to Ax. I knew the damn game. The women would hang around, hoping to be picked for the night. I played the game for a long time.

  I turned and looked at Shelby. “Close this down. We’re done here. Go somewhere right now.”

  “Layne…”

  “I said now.”

  Shelby threw a towel on the bar. “Fine.”

  She moved from behind the bar and looked like she was going to bolt for the door.

  Like hell.

  I jumped back and grabbed her arm. “You’re not fucking leaving. Don’t even try it.”

  She looked at me. “I’m not going anywhere. I have nowhere to go, right? I’m trapped here.”

  “You’re protected here,” I said through gritted teeth. “Don’t forget that.”

  “I feel so safe,” Shelby said. “Ax and Finn threatening me. Prospects too afraid to do anything. One of them is dead. Yeah, Layne, we’re all so safe.”

  “Don’t get smart with me,” I said. “Just fucking move.”

  I watched Shelby walk away. Her damn ass hugged her jeans so perfectly tight. Her hips cut left to right, slicing through the air. She was so goddamn beautiful and she didn’t even know it.

  But I had to let her go for right now. Until I could catch my breath, clear my head, and figure something out.

  The clubhouse started to shut down and I stood there for a few minutes to make sure everyone knew how serious I was. Yeah, the nights were meant for living the dark life, I got that. The nights were made to drink it up, chase away the demons, and find a little comfort in any way you could.

  But not tonight.

  Not after I saw Pep in that hospital bed like I did. Not with his bar shot up. Dried blood probably still on the floor from the attack. Our enemies everywhere, getting aggressive, wanting to really hurt the MC. All of it on my back now because of the patch.

  I grabbed two beers from behind the bar and left the main floor of the clubhouse behind. The prospects would clean everything else up soon enough. Then another set of guys would take care of the gates, along with a set rotation of members. I couldn’t trust non-pat
ched members right now to really protect the clubhouse.

  I stopped walking and looked over my shoulder.

  Hell, could I even trust patched in members?

  At the end of the hall, I turned and saw Ax standing there, the tallest and widest guy I’d ever seen in my life. The woman I sent to take care of him had her skirt and panties down to her ankles. She was bent over, her hands on the wall. Ax had a hand to the back of her neck, holding her that way. His jeans were down to his knees and he stood there, pumping at her, fucking her brains out.

  Good for him.

  I turned and went toward my room, which would be empty. My comfort at night had been reduced to a gun on my chest and another behind my pillow. Just in case. The other side of the bed was empty and I hated it. There were plenty of women to fuck though. Plenty that I could just make a quick call and take what I needed. No talking. No bullshit. Just take your pants off and bend over.

  I made fists at my door.

  Pushing Shelby away was a dumb move, but I had no choice right now. Bad enough she fucking hid from me that her father was the goddamn Sheriff in Oakville. I really felt like I couldn’t trust anyone right now.

  I opened the door to my bedroom and paused. There was a woman sitting there. Her hands gripped at the edge of the bed. Drunk eyes. Blonde hair. Her shirt was too tight for her body, done on purpose. She wore jean shorts that were more like denim panties.

  “What the fuck do you want?” I asked.

  “Shut the door,” she said.

  “Excuse me? This is my fucking room. In my fucking clubhouse. For my fucking motorcycle club.”

  The woman stood from the bed. She flicked at the button on her shorts, opening them. A quick little push at them showed me that she wasn’t wearing any panties under the shorts and that her body was smooth shaven. Her middle finger slipped between her legs for a second and she bit her lip.

  I held my composure, but I was burning bad on the inside. With all the bloodshed, death, tension, and worry all around, there was one thing better than booze and definitely better than drugs. And I was staring right at it.