OWNED THREE: BLAZING DEVILS MC

by Alexa Rynn

  Danger Ford’s eyes traveled around the restaurant, taking in the blood stained walls and floor, the pots and pans all over the floor, a dead body, and me. Me: who was nervous and a complete mess, especially with the two of them being here. His eyes stopped when he spotted me, annoyance immediately creeping into his expression. “What the fuck is she still doing here?” He turned his gaze on Link now, angry with him.

  Link’s eyes turned toward me. “What was I supposed to do? Send her off on her own after she had just stabbed someone to death?”

  Trigger Ford nodded. “True. We don’t need her running to the cops or anything. Better to deep an eye on her.” He was the youngest of the Ford brothers, barely just out of high school if I remembered correctly. And it kind of showed he seemed more innocent in a way, calmer than the other two. Like maybe he hadn’t figured it all out yet.

  “Yes,” Danger said, between gritted teeth. “It is better to keep an eye on her but it’s not better to let her see us cleaning up the crime scene and taking care of the body. All we’re doing is giving her shit to use against us.”

  “She’s not going to tell anyone,” Link said. Not in an aggressive way but more in a matter of fact way.

  “Yeah?” Danger challenged. “How can you be sure? You know her like that?”

  He was challenging Link, trying to call him out on what exactly I was to him. He didn’t know anything, but he suspected. He thought there was more to the story than he was being told, more than what just appeared on the surface.

  And he was right but I sure as hell wasn’t going to be the one to tell him.

  Link sighed, looking tired for the first time since he walked in the restaurant earlier that night. “I only met her a few days ago but I know when someone’s up to no good and she’s not. She’s just scared, someone she doesn’t even know tried to kill her tonight.”

  They were talking about me like I wasn’t even here and it was starting to piss me off. If anyone else had talked to Link that way they would probably be passed out on the floor right now from where Link beat the shit out of them. But it wasn’t anyone else; it was his brothers. I could immediately tell the difference between the situations. Link was in charge but only to an extent. He wasn’t going to tell them what they could or couldn’t say. He wasn’t going to challenge their tone. They were a team. They ran things together. Which meant everyone’s input was taken into consideration.

  “Wait a minute,” Danger said, suspicion creeping into his eyes. “This is the bitch you found hiding in the closet? The one who got Jay hit in the head? Oh, that’s just fucking great, Link. Why don’t you just give her a fucking little black book to all of our crime activity?”

  “Hey,” I snapped before I had a chance to think about who it was I was talking to. “I’m right here so you can stop talking about me like I’m not. And, I didn’t get Jay hit, he got himself hit. And for your information, I’m good at keeping my mouth shut. Besides,” I grumbled, “it wouldn’t surprise me if Jay had something to do with what the hell happened here tonight.”

  Danger looked at me like I had lost my mind for a second then he turned to look at Link, expecting him to say something but Link just looked at him with amusement in his eyes. Kind of like ‘see, you try to control this bitch’.

  “Oh, great. We have another fucking Kat on our hands,” Danger huffed. “You need to watch how you talk to me. That’s the only warning I’m going to be giving you.” He held my gaze for a few seconds, letting me know he wasn’t playing around with me.

  I knew Link would never let him do anything to me but I couldn’t help but feel nervous anyway. Danger Ford was fucking scary. I heard he hung a bitch upside down off a building once until she told him where she had some money hidden to pay off what she owed him. These brothers didn’t mess around and being on their bad side was something I would regret later on.

  Danger’s phone rang and he broke my gaze to take it. “It’s Silk,” he said, picking up the phone and turning his attention away from us.

  Link’s eyes drifted over to where his crew was working on getting the blood stains out of the floor and he sighed. “What the fuck is this asshole using? Bleach? I swear to God if I want to get anything done right I have to do it myself.” He rolled his eyes, annoyed, and started to stomp over to the other side of the kitchen, leaving me alone with Trigger.

  “Don’t mind Danger,” Trigger said, moving his big frame closer to me. “He can have a bit of a hot head sometimes but he’s actually a really great guy once you get to know him.”

  I shrugged. “I’ll just have to take your word for it.”

  Trigger shot me a half smile and moved a little closer to me. “So you’ve never seen this guy before? Anywhere?”

  I shook my head, remembering the guy’s scary and intense face coming at me now in my mind. “No, I’ve never seen him.”

  Trigger nodded, not pushing me on if I could be lying to him or not. “Any reason you think anyone would want to hurt you? Anyone you’ve pissed off or anything recently?”

  I sighed, shaking my head. “My life is work and my little brother and sister. I don’t do anything else. I don’t have time to do anything else. I keep to myself… no one would… I mean I don’t even talk to anyone.” I turned to meet Trigger’s dark brown eyes and found comfort there. I could see it, he was scary but he wasn’t like his brothers, not fully. Somehow he understood that this life was more complicated than anyone else wanted to admit, especially his brothers. “Everything just seemed so simple a few days ago compared to what it is now.”

  Trigger sighed like he somehow knew just what I meant. Pity crept into his eyes. “Hey, it’s going to be okay. You know that. right?”

  And for a second I actually believed him.

  Trigger and Danger disappeared outside a few seconds later to get Silk. They didn’t come back for a few minutes and when they did Danger ended up taking off down the street to get us all coffee and breakfast. I almost pointed out that were in a restaurant and we could just make coffee and food here but at the last minute decided to keep my mouth shut. Any excuse to get Danger and the nasty looks he was shooting me out of here for any period of time was something I was okay with.

  A half hour later Link was really starting to get worked up, pacing back and forth in the kitchen. He kept taking his phone out and calling Danger but it kept going to voicemail.

  “Where the fuck is this douche?” he asked, his phone still up to his ear. “It should take two fucking seconds to grab a few coffees.”

  Trigger looked down at his phone, frowning at the caller ID. It had been vibrating nonstop for the last few minutes. He slid his finger back and forth over the screen like he was considering answering it, but then he glanced at Link’s annoyed face and hit the red reject button on whoever kept calling, shoving his phone back into his pocket.

  Trigger walked closer to Link and they started talking in hushed tones so no one else around them could hear what they were talking about. Silk stepped back to give them some space, knowing his place. Silk was definitely the Ford brother’s right-hand man but there were some conversations even he wasn’t meant to be a part of.

  “You just keep stirring up trouble, don’t you?” he asked me, but his tone was teasing, letting me know he wasn’t really mad at me.

  I groaned. “The past few days have been too much to handle.”

  Silk laughed, his dark features vibrating back and forth in the light of the kitchen. “Try doing it every day for years and then come talk to me.”

  He grinned and I saw a different side of him; a human side.

  “Sounds like a lot.”

  “It can be,” he paused. “But it’s worth it. I never really had a family and now I do.” His eyes traveled to where Link and Trigger were standing on the other side of the kitchen.

  “They mean a lot to you, huh?” I asked him. I didn’t want to push him too hard because I know everyone who was close to the Ford brothers didn’t say much about them or their relations
hip but I was still interested, fascinated almost at the world they lived in. The world that was so different from my own.

  He stopped, turning to look me in the eye. “I always wanted a brother and now I have three, so yeah I guess you could say they mean a lot. Not to mention a sister.”

  “A sister?”

  Silk nodded. “Kat. She’s like my little sister. That’s why I look out for her, no matter how much she thinks she doesn’t need it.”

  A flash of a little girl with long dark hair and light pretty eyes flashed through my mind and I remembered for the first time that the Ford brothers had a little sister, she was a freshman when I was a senior so I still had this image in my mind of a little girl but it was there just the same. It was weird imagining them looking out for this girl, protecting her from the crazy world they all lived in.

  “Do you really think Jay had something to do with this?” Silk said now, his eyes raised. “Did he do something to you?”

  I hesitated, not really wanting to get into what happened earlier in the hall.

  “Lacey?” Silk asked.

  “Kind of, not really. I mean he was kind of talking shit earlier in the hallway but nothing that would make me think he did this. It was more of just… a feeling, I guess.”

  Silk bit his lip. “You got your phone on you?”

  I nodded and pulled it out of the pocket of the sweatshirt Link had given me. Silk took it, putting his number in it. “If anything else happens, anything at all. Even if it could be nothing, do me a favor and give me or Link a heads up. Sound good?”

  “Why do you care so much?” I found myself asking.

  Silk handed my phone back to me. “Because if he is up to something that means he’s un-loyal to Link, and that’s a problem for me. A big one.”

  I saw in his eyes how much he really meant it, how loyal he was to Link. How much he wanted to handle anyone or anything that got in his way, I found myself wondering if I would ever find someone who felt that way about me, even as just a friend.

  “Ugh, I wish I had never been in that supply closet when you guys were! That I would have entered just a few minutes later, seen you guys and then turned around. Back to my normal life.”

  Silk shot me a half smile. “Do you really, though?” His eyes traveled to where Link was still standing on the other side of the room with Trigger. I followed his gaze and felt myself drop the phone that Silk just handed back to me seconds before.

  Silk smirked, grabbing it right before it hit the ground. “Yeah, I didn’t think so.”

  ***

  Link traced his finger over my kneecap back and forth slowly. “How are you holding up?”

  I shrugged, positioning myself up higher on the counter I was sitting on in the hallway. “I’m kind of tired. Other than that I’m okay, I guess.”

  Link scoffed. “Yeah, a coffee would be good right about now if my pussy of a brother hadn’t disappeared for hours to god knows where.”

  I smiled, tugging on his shirt and pulling him closer to me. “I don’t know if you know this or not but this is a restaurant. And I do work here. So I kind of know my way around, so I can kind of make you coffee anytime you want.”

  Link grinned, bringing his hands around to the back of me and grabbing my ass hard. I jumped a little, squealing at the contact. “I’ll take that as a yes.”

  I jumped up off the counter and started to head toward the coffee machine down the hall. Link slapped my ass hard as I walked away and I giggled. He did it again and I sped up down the hall, trying to get away from him.

  As we got further away we heard a male voice muffled through one of the walls. Link looked at me, frowning. “That’s Trigger. Who is talking to all soft like a little bitch?”

  I shoved him and his muscular body slumped a little to the other side of the hall. “Hey! There’s nothing wrong with talking softly to someone! You should try it sometime!”

  Link grinned. “Oh, I can be soft alright.” He slapped my butt again and I giggled. We heard Trigger’s voice through the wall again, louder this time. Link looked annoyed again and he sighed. “I better see what he’s doing. Give me a second and I’ll meet you back in the kitchen.”

  I nodded and took off in the other direction toward where the coffee pot was. I went through the motions fast, a pro at how to make coffee in this restaurant by now. I had done it so many times that I could probably do it in my sleep by now.

  When I was done I headed back toward the kitchen and I could hear Link standing outside the back door bitching at Danger about how long he was taking to get back here. He was complaining about how Trigger had to take off, too. Yikes, seemed like the Ford brothers are all out of sorts tonight.

  Link and Danger burst back inside a few seconds later and headed over toward the body. Link paused, looking over at me. He left the body and headed over to where I was standing and I could hear Danger sighing loudly like he couldn’t’ believe he had to wait for Link to say two words to me even though he had just kept him waiting for over an hour.

  “I need to take care of this with my brother. I’m going have a few of my men stay here with you and then when I get back I’ll take you home.” He didn’t say it in a way that made me feel like he was asking me so I just nodded.

  “Good,” he said. He looked behind him again where to Danger was standing with his hands folded across his chest, growing impatient. “Why don’t you go out front and relax? Maybe you can rest your eyes at one of the tables or something.”

  I knew it was just a polite way of telling me he didn’t want me to see what they were about to do with the body but I played along anyway and headed for the front of the restaurant, a few of Link’s brothers trailed me, watching over me.

  I tried to sleep for a few minutes but just ended up tossing and turning.

  I glanced out the window of the booth, taking in the streets around me. I saw a couple on the other side of the street. It looked like they might be having a drunken fight, probably arguing over something pointless.

  I was about to try and fall asleep again when I caught a glimpse of the girls face. I saw a flash of the same small girl in my mind that I had thought about earlier and squinted my eyes to get a better look at her.

  It was definitely her.

  A little older but the same girl for sure.

  Kat.

  And she looked upset, really upset.

  I couldn’t make out who the guy is but he grabbed her by the arm, dragging her off after him down the street. I dug around and pulled my phone out of my sweatshirt. I hit Silk’s name in my phone book and let it ring a few times until his voicemail came on over the other end. “Silk, it’s Lacey. You know how you told me to call even if it could be nothing…” I glanced out the window to where Kat’s body is being dragged along. “Well, I think it’s something. Call me back.”

  PART FOUR

  KATHRYN

  I bit the hand that was around my mouth as hard as I could. Jay let out a small yelp and jumped back from me, yanking me by the arm further behind the dumpster with him. I practically fell over him and landed on my ass with a huge thud. I untangled myself from him and shot him a death glare.

  “What the fuck,” Jay spit out at me like he was full of venom and I was his enemy that he needed to kill to protect himself and his domain.

  “What the fuck you!” I yelled at him.

  He glanced past me toward the back of the restaurant and then he clamped his big hand over my mouth again. “Will you shut your big mouth? Damn, Kat, you trying to get yourself caught snooping around?”

  The statement made me check myself and I glanced back around the dumpster to make sure that Danger and Link hadn’t heard anything out of the ordinary. They were still poking around inside of the van like nothing was wrong. I sighed in relief to myself, if Danger knew I was here he would flip the fuck out and I didn’t really want to deal with that right now. Especially, not after what I had just seen him do. Who’s fucking body was that? And where was Danger taking him
? Had Danger killed him? The questions racing through my mind were almost too much to process. What the fuck was going on inside that restaurant?

  “What are you doing here?” I demanded, turning my attention back to Jay. He definitely looked like he was up to no good. He was dressed all in black, a dark cap pulled over his head that practically covered his eyes. He was definitely trying to blend in with his nightlife surroundings.

  “No,” he said slowly, digging his intense and creepy eyes into me. “What are you doing here?”

  For the first time since I first saw him, a feeling of dread came over me. I didn’t have a reasonable excuse as to why I was here. I was clearly snooping on my stepbrothers. I mean how else could I explain being behind the restaurant they owned in the middle of the night while they carried around a dead body? Danger would never tell me anything about his business and Jay was smart enough to know that.

  I met his eyes and I knew he knew that I wasn’t supposed to be there.

  He smirked and shook his head back and forth.

  “Are you going to tell on me?”

  Jay shrugged and crossed his arms over his chest. “I haven’t decided yet. The brothers would be pretty pissed off if they knew you were poking around in the dark while they handled their business.”

  Yeah: no kidding. He didn’t have to tell me how out of control they would get if they knew I had seen what I had. Danger would be the worst by far but my other stepbrothers wouldn’t be a picnic to deal with either. And if they found out when they were all together it would be way worse than if they found out when they were alone. The three of my stepbrothers together was the fucking worst. They would vibe off one another and egg each other on in the worst way possible. No, dealing with all my stepbrothers at once wasn’t an option for me.

  “Please, don’t tell them,” I whispered. I hated that I was sitting here, begging him to keep anything from anyone in my family, especially if it was Danger. But what other choice did I have? Danger hearing it from Jay would be way worse than if he had just found me out here himself. I searched Jay’s eyes for any sense of what he may be feeling but I saw nothing there, no type of emotion or desire to help me.