by London Casey
That was now my only saving grace.
Max and the club would come looking for me at my apartment. There was no way in hell I’d be forced into their arms and given up to Johnny. I wasn’t going to be a pawn anymore. And I sure as hell wasn’t going to be used like a chip in some kind of deal or negotiation. I could lay low, hide, and get away when it was clear.
I glanced to the floor and saw the pharmacy shopping bag. There was a pregnancy test in there. That was going to be a deciding factor in all of this. It was the reason why I wasn’t already trying to drive out of town. If I was pregnant, with Max’s baby …
I didn’t have a second to spare.
I grabbed the key to the apartment and the shopping bag.
I gathered up some more clothes and a few mementos from the apartment and I was gone. The sad thing, most people would be heartbroken to leave with next to nothing from their life. But that’s all I’ve ever had. Next to nothing. And the only half decent memories were built around Max. From my first kiss to the outlaw who saved my life and gave me pleasure I only thought existed in wet dreams.
I threw the pregnancy test to the passenger seat.
And maybe Max had given me even more than I originally thought.
30
(max)
“And for the record, Cade, you can go fuck yourself if you ever bring this up again,” I said. I felt the anger boiling inside me. If the MC wasn’t under such stress to begin with I would have slammed Cade’s pretty bad boy face right through a computer screen. But I held back.
“I’m just feeling you out,” Cade said. “This is serious shit.”
“Want to know what else is serious shit?” I spat at him. “How I feel about Jade. Yeah, she fucked up by not giving me the beginning of her story, but it didn’t matter at all. It didn’t change a thing. Look what she has gave to the club so far. I hate that she’s hidden in that damn room right now. But I can’t control it. So let’s get these explosives figured out and send a crystal-clear message to Johnny.”
“I’m already ten steps ahead,” Cade said. “I have the prospects out scouting the scene. That way if something goes wrong it’s their ass that goes boom.”
“So you brought me here—”
“To fuck with you,” Cade said with a grin. “The big bad wolf outlaw is in love. After all the ragging you did on other people who fell hard. Your knees are all scuffed up.”
“Fuck off,” I said. “When do we hear the boom?”
Cade pressed a few buttons on his laptop. The screen came to life. He picked it up and motioned to the door. “Let’s get the guys and sit around the table. Shit is about to get crazy.”
Shit had been crazy for a while now. Ever since the night in that bar when Jade grabbed me and said she knew me.
We left the room and I took a few steps away from Cade. I wanted to go to Jade really quick. Scoop her up and kiss her like she had never been kissed before. Tell her that I had her back no matter what.
“No time,” Cade said, sensing my move. “Work now, play later. Pussy will be there waiting.”
I looked down the hallway again and nodded.
I’ll be there soon, Jade … just wait for me.
“What are we looking at?” Prez asked.
“The little dot is Johnny’s car,” Cade said.
“Is he in it?” Cash asked.
“No,” I said. “That’s too risky. This is a message. That car is his favorite. Cost over two hundred grand. It’s going to get lit up and he’ll know it was us. Between that and freezing some of his precious cash, it’s going to bring him right to the clubhouse’s door.”
“Like a fucking moth to a bulb,” Austin said.
“And then we calmly negotiate,” Prez said. “We get the identity of this Mr. Y and we all move on.”
“Still risky,” Duke said. “Johnny is going to want restitution for his stuff.”
“We unfreeze the cash,” VP said. “We have a sit down with his family and make sure the air is clear. A car is nothing to what they’re worth. Christ, Johnny single-handedly tried to come after a patched in member and set up a prospect to be murdered.”
“I think when we lay the cards on the table, it’ll work out,” I said. “If not, then we talk to the Dorlio family and find out how we can make it right.”
“Johnny is the pimple on his family’s ass that they can’t get to,” Jasper said. “So in some ways we’re doing them a service by showing them what this dickhead is doing.”
“And the risk of the family being involved in everything,” Xavier said.
“It’s a big risk,” Prez said. “But look at it this way—if the family is involved, we’re going to get dragged through a bloody war. If the family isn’t involved, and we don’t try to fight back, then we’ll end up bloody.”
“Either way,” VP said as he shrugged his shoulders.
Cade’s cell beeped. He checked it. “We’re all set. Prospects are leaving now. Things are clear.”
“Where’s Johnny right now?” Cash asked.
“In his luxury apartment,” VP said.
“When do we flip the switch?” Hudson asked.
“Whenever we want,” Prez said. “Let’s just double-check on our end that things are secure.”
“Fuck that,” I said. “Hit that fucking thing right now. End this. I’m done.”
I looked around the table. Everyone was nodding. We all agreed without needing a vote or the gavel. One by one we started to hit our fists on the table. The sound became like thunder in seconds. Cade slid the laptop to Prez and explained what button to press to make Johnny’s car explode.
Prez eyed us all. We kept pounding our fists.
He pressed the button and we all stopped.
It was as though we expected to hear a sound.
“It’s done,” Prez said.
“Now we wait,” Jasper said.
I knew where I wanted to wait. With Jade in my arms. Until it was time to fight again.
I walked to the room and thought about everything I needed to say to her.
I was going to rip my own damn heart open for her. Something I’d never done for any other person.
I opened the door and expected to see her sitting on the edge of the bed, waiting for me.
But Jade wasn’t there.
The bed was empty.
Her bag was missing.
She was missing.
She was gone.
I stepped back out of the room and saw Cade at the other end of the hallway.
He gave me a wave but I didn’t wave back.
Had Jade heard Cade and I talking? Had she been spying on us? Or was this part of a plan that she and Johnny had worked out?
I shook my head.
I slammed the door shut and was on the move.
No more questions.
I needed to find Jade, or at least die trying.
31
(jade)
I should have taken the pregnancy test right away but I was afraid. The truth had never been a friend of mine. Ever. So why would this be any different for me? No matter the answer, my life was going to change.
I left the pregnancy test on the small table and went for my laptop. It was a risk to even consider opening the damn thing in the apartment, but I felt secure enough to keep my footprints invisible.
It was time to work.
Find out who Mr. Y was and get that information to Back Down Devil MC.
Then I could leave for good.
Considering it me blowing a last kiss to Max and MC, a way to ask for them to leave me the hell alone.
I sat on the floor with my legs crossed and stared down at the glowing screen. It reminded me of so much of my life. Computer had pulled me in from the time I touched one. It kept me busy, allowed me to be someone else. The good old days of flirting in chat rooms led to serious conversations with people I never met, but turned me on to a world where with the right click of a few keys could give you access to anything you wanted.
/> It started out as fun for me. Getting into the school’s computer system. Checking grades. Reading emails. Then I stepped my game up. It was an addiction to me. Like the pretty cheerleaders who demanded they master all the right moves to win some kind of cheap plastic trophy or sleep with the star quarterback, I was the so-called ugly duckling, braces and glasses, trying to understand how far I could go.
Now I knew the answer.
This was as far as I went.
Sitting in a cheap hideout apartment, potentially pregnant by an outlaw biker, trying to hack into the emails of a man who killed my father and treated me like a slave. And the crazy part was there was nothing for me to gain. It seemed like everyone wanted me dead anyway.
It took me a couple hours and they were the best, most distracting hours I had in a long time. My eyes were hurting and back was sore. My legs were cramped. I looked up from the screen and saw the pregnancy test on the table.
There was one single email exchange between Johnny and the mysterious man called Mr. Y. It was a bit of time, the text was coded so that it looked normal, but I knew the way Johnny operated. When he was purchasing a luxury car, he went through a specific broker. So the fact that he was discussing a car with this Mr. Y person, it was as red of a flag as a stop sign.
It took me a few more minutes of digging in through the IP address of the sender’s email and voila, I had the name.
Yury.
To me, it meant nothing.
To the club—to Johnny—it meant something.
I left the laptop on the floor and knew there was no more time to waste.
I had to take the pregnancy test.
I had to see what my fate was going to be.
I sat on the toilet and drank water, trying to conjure up the effort to pee. Talk about stage fright in a bad setting.
I shut my eyes and instantly thought about Max.
He was such a badass in our old town. Everything was his fault. Like, literally. He was just that kind of guy. Even though he was only a few years older than me, when I was a teenager he was already a man. Almost a god-like man.
That night I was on the porch, I wasn’t just praying for someone to come save me. I was praying for something greater in my life. And Max came from nowhere to make that happen. He just parked his motorcycle and looked at me, instantly stealing my heart away. I watched him beat up that guy and chase him away. It turned out that guy was a drug dealer. Max had tried to help save my street a little. Too bad he wasn’t able to beat up the guys who kept selling my father booze throughout the years.
What are you doing, Jade? Why’d you run? Are you really that afraid of life?
Yeah, I was.
I could handle a lot of stuff, but I hated to be cornered.
Max cornered me.
When he was naked, it was one thing.
But his words with Cade kept replaying in my head. And they sounded more and more vile each time.
I finished chugging my third glass of water.
Five minutes later I was finally able to go pee.
Now the truth was just minutes away.
32
(max)
I trashed my room. I trashed Cade’s room. I got behind the bar and started dumping shit everywhere, as though Jade was going to pop out of a small box of towels.
It took Jasper grabbing me to get me outside. Even then—I was hell on wheels.
He slammed me against the clubhouse and wanted to know what the fuck was wrong with me. I put my hands to his chest and shoved, sending him flying back.
I lunged at him without thinking.
There I was, swinging at the VP of Back Down Devil MC.
I connected with a right hook to his jaw.
I brought my left hand back, rage surging through me like a storm.
Cash was suddenly there, hooking his arm into mine and spinning me around. For a split second it must have looked like we were doing some redneck country dance or some shit.
When I spun, I saw Prez.
His lip curled and he threw forward a hammer of a fist, cracking me in the mouth. I think I tasted blood before I felt the hot pain. Prez drew another fist back and hit me again. This time in the gut. I dropped down to my knees and reached for him.
“Are we done here?” Prez growled.
“Jesus Christ,” Jasper said.
“She’s fucking gone, Prez,” I yelled.
Cash grabbed for my arm and I shook him away. I got to my feet and stumbled back, hitting a metal railing. I rolled and before I caught myself. Christ, I felt like I was going insane.
That’s what this woman did to me.
“What the fuck is going on here?” Prez yelled.
“Jade is missing,” I said.
“Her car is gone, brother,” Cash said.
I looked and saw that Cash was right.
I looked to the front of the lot and saw the two new prospects standing there. They looked fresh out of high school, maybe even right out of some fucking math class you’d never need in life.
I was going to kill them.
I started to run, knowing my brothers were coming after me.
I had to choose who to get first. Left or right.
I grabbed the guy on the right and slammed him against the gate.
“You let her out?” I screamed.
“Holy shit,” the other prospect yelled.
I turned my head and saw Jasper take out his gun and put it to the prospect’s temple. Like a pipe suddenly bursting, the prospect started to piss himself.
“You let Jade out of here?” Jasper asked.
“She said it was okay,” the prospect said. “Oh, fuck. She said it was okay.”
“I swear,” the other prospect said. “I swear.”
I broke away and ran my hands through my hair. “Fuck.”
“Why’d she take off?” Prez growled.
I looked at Cade.
I knew why.
“We can figure this out,” Cade said. “Find out where she is and keep her safe.”
I started to walk, pushing right by Cade. “I’ll kill you if she gets hurts, brother.”
That wasn’t a threat.
That was a goddamn promise.
I went to my new ride. I put my helmet on and I lit up a fresh smoke. I needed something to ease my nerves a little.
“Where the fuck are you going?” Prez asked, standing in front of my motorcycle.
I took my smoke from my mouth and exhaled. A deadly cloud danced in front of my face. “I’m going to get her, Prez. Hell or high water. It’s what I need to do.”
“Not on my watch.”
“I’ll take my fucking cut off if I have to.”
“She’s worth this? We just set off a bomb, Max. Literally. You think this is going to be—”
“I’m going with him,” Jasper said.
I looked at VP. His jaw was red and swollen from where I clocked him.
I started my motorcycle and put my cigarette back between my lips.
I throttled my ride, even as Trev stood there.
It took serious balls to challenge Prez.
I had serious balls. Big balls.
He crossed his arms.
I thought we were going to have a serious problem.
But then Prez stepped aside and gave me a lane.
I took it.
Leaving the lot, I didn’t look behind to say goodbye.
That was a mistake.
I should have said goodbye to all my brothers.
Going to her apartment was too obvious of a move, but I went there anyway.
She wasn’t there.
I had VP right behind me the entire time, not speaking a word that would have shaken me down. Instead, he was there to support me, as pissed as I was. We were back on our rides and cruising toward the even more outer edge of Daurian when I saw Jasper drop off. I hurried to pull over and saw him on his cell. I climbed off my motorcycle and ran toward him.
We were nothing but moving targets outside
the clubhouse gates. That was bone-chilling. We had no idea who Mr. Y was. We had no idea if Johnny’s actions were supported by his mob family. We had no idea what Johnny was going to do, either. Or if he had something in the works. For all we knew, he could have a crew of guys ready to strike.
Some crews and clubs would see Jasper and understand the impact of hurting him. Taking out the VP of a MC was a big deal. But for a guy like Johnny, he wouldn’t give a shit. He would just blast his out and not think twice.
Jasper ended the call.
“What is it?”
“Cade found her,” Jasper said. “She kept the cell we gave her.”
“She didn’t toss it?”
“No.”
That was a stupid move. Or perhaps she made that move on purpose.
“Where is she?”
“That fucking dump over near West,” Jasper said.
“That’s a hideout,” I said. “Christ—she’s in Johnny’s hideout. Unless it’s hers.”
“What’s the call, Max?”
I looked at Jasper. “You’re the fucking VP, brother.”
“For the club? Yeah. But this is for your heart, man. You’re the judge, jury, Prez, VP, everything here. So tell me what we do.”
“We go get her. No matter what the truth is.”
We rolled up on the apartment building and parked a street over. We tried to hide our motorcycles between two cars the best we could.
I stopped Jasper and put my hand to his chest. “VP, don’t do this. You don’t owe me shit.”
“We’re brothers,” Jasper said. “You’d go in there alone. Because you’re that fucking crazy. Fuck this VP patch and this sense of protection that comes with it. I’m like you. We bleed outlaw blood, brother. So let’s figure this out. Together.”
I had nothing to say to him then.
I turned and led the charge.
We had the exact apartment and of course the fucking door was locked. I had no time to waste. Pounding on the door was a huge risk. Someone could have been standing behind the door with a powerful enough shotgun to blast through the cheap wood and fill my chest and gut with pellets.
That was a risk I had to take.
I pounded my fists on the door.
There was no response—big shocker.
So I pounded again.
“Let us the fuck in, Jade!” I yelled. “I don’t have time for this! You have to hear this out!”
