SAVAGE LOVE (A Back Down Devil MC Romance Novel) (40 page)

“
I
’
m not in your line of business,
”
Gaige said.

“
I
beg to differ,
”
Mr.
Strokner said.

He held out the piece of paper.
Gaige looked at it and swallowed hard. The land was where Back Down Devil did a
lot of business. And by business, it was where a lot of bodies had been buried.
As far as Gaige knew, the land belonged to the club, but he knew Mr. Strokner
was powerful enough to get what he wanted.

“
My
daughter is dead,
”
Mr.
Strokner said.
“
And it
’
s funny how her best friend was
seen on the back of your motorcycle. Now, I can obsess about this. I can get
lost in grief. Or maybe I can just continue my life. In honor of my slain
daughter.
”

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

Mr. Strokner
’
s lip curled.
“
I
want to know who did this. Who pulled that fucking trigger
…
over and over
…
bullet after fucking bullet
…
and why was my daughter messing
around with scum fucks like you.
”

“
Hey,
fuck you,
”
Gaige said.

He took a step and then a gun was
pointed at him. A man sitting next to Mr. Strokner leaned across and stared at
Gaige.

“
Everyone
needs protection it seems,
”
Mr. Strokner said.
“
It
’
s a shame the world has come to
this.
”

“
I
can
’
t help you,
”
Gaige said.
“
The police are investigating.
What more do you want?
”

“
The
truth,
”
Mr. Strokner said.
“
I want to look into the eyes of
the person who killed my daughter. If you happen to stumble across the truth, I
’
m sure you
’
ll be in contact with me. I
’
ll be busy plotting out that
land
…
you know, it
’
s kind of funny how all men
think they can bury their secrets. Yet all it takes is a little bit of money to
bring them to light.
”

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?
”

“
Like
fuck I will,
”
Gaige said.

“
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?
”