DARK FALL (A Back Down Devil MC Romance Novel) (20 page)

twenty-three.

They probably should have dressed
like businessmen and drove cars to this fight to play the role better, but they
all rode their bikes up to an old warehouse ten miles south of Frelen. Erik
wasn
’
t sure what crew ran
this territory and that bothered him. It generally was disrespectful to enter
another territory and start firing bullets.

But this needed to be done.

The fighting setup resembled the
fights the MC had gone to. The main difference was that the cars were
expensive. Big, small, even some custom motorcycles. There were three small
private jets and six helicopters. This was definitely serious. Erik rode with
Kaity on the back, her hands tight around him. He hoped she could pull this
off. It bothered him to imagine her getting hurt, or getting spooked. He wanted
to trust in her and believe in what she said. But the image of her working
undercover bothered the hell out of him.

Figures he would fall for a woman
and she would be a rat.

Falling for her
…

Good fucking hell.

They rode to the back corner of the
large lot and found Strokner sitting in the back of his SUV with the window
down, waiting.

The crew included only Miller,
Gaige, Blaine, Shay, Landon, and Erik. They didn
’
t
need to show up with thirty guys. No need to draw more attention to the scene
here.

Erik looked around and saw that
most of the businessmen walking around weren
’
t
in fancy suits and ties. A lot of them were dressed in their version of casual.
It would help the MC not stick out like a sore thumb as much.

“
Ready
for this?
”
Strokner asked.

“
Ready
as ever,
”
Miller said.
“
Where
’
s our guy?
”

Strokner stroked his chin and
looked at Erik.
“
That your
woman going in there?
”

“
Does
it matter?
”
Erik asked.

“
Should
have just grabbed some random person,
”
Strokner said.

Erik reached for Kaity
’
s hand and held it tight.
“
What does that matter?
”

Strokner smiled. He produced his
cell and handed it to Miller.
“
This
is one of your guys. He
’
s
in there right now.
”

“
Fuck,
”
Gaige said.

Erik inched forward and looked.

Sure enough, it was a bad looking
guy. A sly smile on his face and a noticeable scar on his cheek. It wasn
’
t the guy with the scar on his
neck, but this one had something to do with it too.

“
He
goes by Mr. Arengson,
”
Strokner said.
“
Very
powerful man. He makes a ton of money and he won't let anyone get in his way of
that.
”

“
Is
he alone?
”
Gaige asked.

“
Nobody
is alone. You have to figure the rest out. I
’
ve
gotten the approval to get you guys in there. You walk in, hang to the left.
”
Strokner looked at Kaity.
“
Sweetheart, you go straight down
to the floor. You
’
re
fighting first.
”

“
Wait,
what?
”
Erik asked.

“
We
can
’
t have that,
”
Miller said.

“
Can
’
t help it. New person fights
first.
”

“
Oh
fuck,
”
Nate whispered.

“
Then
we spread out and move fast,
”
Miller said.

Strokner took his cell back and the
SUV started to move. Miller leaned against his motorcycle. He looked around the
lot. Erik scanned the lot too, trying to come up with a plan.

“
We
should move the motorcycles out of here. Then when we make the kill, we flee. I
don
’
t know if they would
try to lock this place down. Or if they ever had problems before.
”
Erik pointed to a spot that
seemed hidden.
“
Right there
nobody will see the rides. When we run, we hop on and fucking roll.
”

“
I
like that,
”
Shay said.
“
Doesn
’
t help us once we
’
re
in there.
”

“
Once
we
’
re in there, I can
’
t be held responsible for anything,
”
Miller said.
“
We just have to move fast.
Everyone has a weapon. Make the kill and keep moving. We have until the end of
the fight to get out of there.
”

“
With
Kaity,
”
Erik said.

Erik saw the look in Miller
’
s eyes. Kaity had now become sacrificial.
Erik shook his head. There was no way he was going to leave without Kaity. The
silence that followed was uncomfortable. Miller adverted his eyes to look at
the building.

Erik understood it. This was about
the MC. This was about revenge. What it wasn
’
t
about was falling in love or playing the tough, romantic guy. This wasn
’
t some dumb chick flick. This
was real life. The men inside this building were rich and powerful. One of the
men had a direct hand in the bombing that almost took Erik
’
s life.

“
Let
’
s move,
”
Erik finally said.
“
I
can
’
t wait around. Maybe we
can get in there and get lucky.
”

They walked across the lot to the
side door of the warehouse. Two men stood with their arms folded, another with
a notebook. Before the man could speak a word, Strokner appeared from nowhere
and explained they were all there for the fight. The man wrote down Kaity
’
s name and Miller gave the man a
wad of cash.

Then they were let inside.

The warehouse was massive and everyone's
voices bounced off the tall walls and high ceilings. There were small platforms
built around the center of the floor, which was nothing but hard concrete. One
good punch or one hard fall could end a fight in a matter of seconds.

Erik roughly estimated there to be
about a hundred men. In the middle of the floor he counted eight women. Some
were tall and dark. Some were short. The women for the most part were simply
beautiful. They were just like the relievers back at the clubhouse, just trying
to earn their way into the comfort of protection and money. The difference was
that these businessmen had to pay for protection while the MC
was
the
protection.

“
Split
this up,
”
Gaige said.

He started to spout off orders as
to who went where. Erik held Kaity
’
s
hand tight. He thought about calling this off. It suddenly didn
’
t seem right to do to her. She
had proven enough already, right?

Erik looked down at Kaity and she
looked scared to death.

“
Fuck,
”
he whispered.

“
Gentlemen!
”
a voice yelled.

Strokner stood just a few feet away
with a cigar in his mouth.

“
We
’
re busy here,
”
Miller said.

Strokner lit the cigar, puffed on
it, and stepped close to the group.
“
I
have some information for you.
”

“
What
’
s that?
”
Erik asked.

“
Your
friend, Mr. Arengson is right on the other side of the warehouse. And he
’
s not alone
…”

Strokner smiled.

Erik broke his hold on Kaity
’
s hand and went forward, pushing
into the crowd to get a look across the warehouse. Right there on the other
side stood two men. Even from the distance it was easy to see the scar on his
cheek. When the other man turned his head, he revealed a scar on his neck.

These were the guys
…
the guys who almost killed me
…
the motherfuckers that started
this war
…
the guys
who made death feel so easy to me
…
the guys who left me scarred and wanting to swallow a bullet
…

Erik turned and his body was on
fire. He looked at Kaity and simply pointed.

“
Go,
”
he said.
“
Fight. Now.
”

Kaity nodded and rushed to him. She
went up on her toes and kissed his cheek.
“
I
want to tell you
…
just in
case
…
I
’
m falling in love with you
…”

Kaity slipped away and Erik didn't
know what to do.

Stuck between heaven and hell,
living and dying, romance and pain.

It would all end soon.

Very soon.

twenty-four.

Kaity walked down to the floor and
looked around. It was a crazy sight. So many men. Talking, laughing, drinking,
smoking. Powerful men with a lot of money and the urge to watch two women fight
each other. To the left was a small area where it seemed most of the women were
gathering. Kaity made her way in that general direction. As she walked, men
catcalled and whistled, and some even grabbed at her.

Hey pretty thing!

Shake that ass!

Look at those tits
…
fuck
…

By the time Kaity made it to the
group of women, she was shaking and thought about leaving. She could go out to
the lot and steal a car. Hightail it the fuck out of the state. But she couldn
’
t leave Erik. She loved him. She
wanted him like she never wanted anything else in her life.

Kaity stopped walking and looked at
the other women. Tall, short, skinny, thick. Some where in cut off shirts
showcasing their amazing stomachs. Others seemed to be dressed up, like they
were part of some crazy fantasy. Kaity felt too plain in her jeans and t-shirt.

A tall woman looked at Kaity.

“
Hey,
”
Kaity said.

“
Hey
yourself, bitch.
”

“
What?
”

The woman slapped Kaity across the
face without hesitation. Kaity stumbled back and touched her swollen cheek. The
woman came at her again, staring down at her. A small group of men who saw the
incident started to cheer.

“
You
want to fucking do this now?
”
the woman asked.
“
Little cunt.
”

“
Shit,
”
Kaity whispered.

The woman backed away.

Kaity held her face. Her teeth
throbbed. Her cheek stung. She licked the corner of her mouth and tasted blood.

After a few more minutes, a short man
in a suit holding a notebook walked out to the middle of the floor. He let out
a long whistle. That
’
s when
the place erupted in cheers. Kaity stayed by herself, afraid to go near anyone.
She looked around the crowd and tried to find someone from Back Down Devil.
They
are still here.
Kaity kept telling herself that.
They won
’
t leave without me.
That
part Kaity wasn
’
t sure of.
She had seen the look in Miller
’
s
eyes. Whatever they were planning on doing would be done fast. Then they would
need to leave.

The man in the middle of the floor
had a booming voice as he kept getting the crowd of rich men fired up. He
teased them with promises of catfights. Of punches and kicks. Of beautiful
women tearing each other to shreds. Oh, and that getting naked is allowed and
encouraged.

That part caught Kaity
’
s attention.

Naked?

It made sense that some of these
women would win by any means necessary. Hell, maybe Kaity would find herself
doing the same.

It became very clear she was not
prepared for this at all.

The man then asked a question
…
“
Is everyone ready for some action?
”

The crowd cheered and it was time
to fight. It was time for Kaity to fight. Her name was called first. She was
labeled a newcomer and as Kaity stepped out into the eyes of the crowd, she was
nervous. Crazy nervous. To the point where she started to shake again.

Her opponent?

A woman named
Sasha
.

When Kaity looked over her
shoulder, she swallowed hard.

It was the woman who had slapped
her across the face.

Tall, muscular, thick black curly
hair and dark eyes that were almost as scary as Blaine
’
s eyes. Hell, the only difference between this
woman -
Sasha
- and Blaine was that when Kaity looked at Blaine, he was
thinking of sex. With Sasha, she looked ready to kill.

Kaity didn
’
t know what to do so she put her fists up. She
thought about what Gaige said to her.
Keep your fists up. Watch the
shoulders.
Kaity had been in fights before. But those fights were bullshit.
A slap. A punch. Hair pulling. Usually only lasting a minute or two before
someone pulled them apart.

But this was going to be a real
fight. A fight until someone was down, hurt, knocked out, or tapping out.
Something big would have to happen to end it.

The man waved a hand and gave a
thumbs up.

The fight was on.

Kaity stepped with Sasha. She kept
her hands up, watching Sasha
’
s
shoulders. The woman was just so big and looked so strong. After a few seconds,
some of the men started to call out at them. They wanted action. That prompted
Sasha to take action. She came at Kaity, both hands swinging. Kaity saw the
punches and they both connected to her face. They fucking hurt like hell and
one good slap sent Kaity to her ass. She landed hard and stared up at Sasha.
Kaity had tears in her eyes. The crowd cheered and then booed. They wanted
more. A lot more.

Kaity knew she couldn
’
t give up this easily. She
forced herself to stand and took a few seconds to gather her courage. Sasha
looked cocky and Kaity took advantage of it. She ran at the woman and threw a
hard right. Kaity
’
s fist
hit Sasha in the arm. She screamed and Kaity stayed with the tall woman. Fist
after fist, Kaity soon found herself backing Sasha up. Then Sasha kicked Kaity
in the stomach. It knocked the wind out of her body - and her fight. Kaity
hunched over and Sasha grabbed Kaity
’
s
hair. Sasha pulled as her fist came down on Kaity
’
s
back like a hammer over and over again.

Quickly, Kaity fell to her knees,
trying to catch her breath. But Sasha wasn
’
t
giving up. She wanted to hurt Kaity. Kaity clawed at Sasha, trying to get at
anything. At one point she grabbed Sasha
’
s
left breast and pulled. Sasha screamed and the crowd cheered. Sasha pushed
Kaity to her back and tried to get on top of her. Kaity saw a small opportunity
and took it. She kicked with her right foot, her heel connecting with Sasha
’
s chin. The woman
’
s head snapped back and she fell
away.

The crowd let out a long
oooohhh
as Kaity hurried to her feet. She moved her hair out of her face. She wiped her
mouth. When Sasha stood again, her mouth gushed blood. Kaity lunged right at
her. This was a fucking fight and Kaity was going to win it.

Kaity grabbed Sasha
’
s hair as Sasha grabbed Kaity
’
s shirt. Kaity pulled. Sasha
pulled. Sasha screamed and Kaity
’
s
shirt started to give way. Kaity then jumped and kicked, knocking Sasha back.
Kaity took a few steps back and looked to her arm. Her shirt was ripped, her
bra showing. That caught the attention of a lot of men who started to cheer.
Kaity went right back in for more. She punched Sasha in the face, then clawed
at her eyes. Sasha stumbled back and fell. Kaity jumped on top of her.
Swinging, clawing, grunting and screaming. Sasha tried to fight back, but Kaity
had her down. Suddenly, Sasha landed one good punch to Kaity
’
s left side, knocking the wind
out of her again. Kaity thought she heard a
pop
sound, so she scrambled
off Sasha and stood, holding her side.

“
Finish
the fight!
”
someone yelled.

Sasha was down but nobody had
stopped the fight. Kaity looked around. The warehouse full of men wanted more.
Kaity
’
s body hurt. Her face
throbbed. Her heart raced. She tried to look for someone from the club but
couldn
’
t see anyone. Sasha
started to get up. Kaity knew what she had to do to end the fight. There was no
more time. If Sasha got a second wind she would win.

Kaity walked to Sasha and kicked
her in the stomach. Sasha cried out. Her black curly hair touched the ground.
Kaity reached down and pulled Sasha
’
s
hair back. She showed everyone her face and then made a fist. The crowd cheered
and cheered. It made Kaity sick that these men wanted this. But it was about
survival. That was something Kaity knew all too well. Sometimes survival meant
sacrifice. Sometimes it meant cutting corners. Sometimes it was about a means
to an end, no matter what happened.

“
I
’
m sorry,
”
Kaity said.

Sasha looked at her and closed her
eyes.

Kaity brought her fist down and hit
Sasha in the face. Sasha fell down, out. Kaity fell back to her ass, holding
her hand, crying out.

The short man ran onto the floor,
waving his hands.

The fight was over.

Kaity won.

The crowd cheered.

But Kaity didn
’
t feel like a winner at all. She
struggled to her feet and backed up. She needed a way out of the warehouse. She
needed to get into Erik's comforting arms. Tears filled Kaity
’
s eyes as she turned to get off
the floor. She made it two steps before she felt arms around her.

She screamed but nobody heard her.
She fought and thrashed, but she had next to nothing when it came to strength.
She looked up and it was obvious the man holding her wasn
’
t Erik, or someone else from
Back Down Devil.

One thing did stand out for Kaity
…

Scar on the neck
…