OWNED & UNTAMED (A Back Down Devil MC Romance Novel) (13 page)

“Tell her to stay on your side of the damn house.”

I pointed to the kitchen. “My house is clean, Jim. Yours is disgusting. What did you want me to do? I’m not cleaning your house.”

Jim showed his teeth. “This is a setup.”

“Yes, it is. I set up for Maggie to clean your house.”

“I didn’t ask for help.”

“I know that, Jim,” I said. “But the house is disgusting. And you could do me a favor here.”

“What’s that?”

“Maggie’s coming off a bad break up. She keeps going back to the guy. Well, the guy keeps bothering her. One of those. He calls. She lets him over. They fuck…”

I saw the color on Jim’s face. He definitely had a thing for Maggie and the look of jealousy was awesome.

“Stop,” Jim said. “Just stop, Belle.”

“She’s here. She’
s going to keep coming here. My advice? Take a shower. Clean up a little. Talk to her. Maybe you could be her saving grace.
”

“The one legged wonder?” Jim asked.

“You know, you’re the only one who seems to give a shit that you have one leg,” I said. “And it’s not like you did something stupid to get hurt. You’re a hero, Jim. Whether you feel that way or not, or like it or not, it’s the truth.”

I walked away, feeling good that I actually got the last word for once.

I went outside and saw Maggie at her car having a smoke break. One habit all the cool kids picked up in school but I was able to give it up. Maggie swore she only smoked when she was stressed out.

I didn’t even bother asking what was stressing her out that day.

“So… your brother…”

“He didn’t know you were coming,” I said. “Sorry.”

“I don’t care. He’s grumpy.”

“Welcome to the world of Jim.”

“Enough about him. Tell me about Duke. Where did that come from?”

Maggie had a sly smile on her face. I thought about bringing up the story Duke told me but I let it slide.

“I called him for help,” I said. “Jim was in a bad spot. Still is. I just…”

“Look at you all flustered. Wait, you called him this morning?”

“No. Last night.”

The words slipped out of my mouth a second before I realized what Maggie was doing to me.

I then felt my cheeks turn red.

“Right,” she said. “Do you need me to change your sheets?” She giggled. “Or do you want to savor that amazing sex smell?”

I opened my mouth to lie and say I didn't sleep with Duke.

But what use was that?

I just grinned.

At least I got to sleep with him, Maggie.

“Look at that grin,” she said. She took one more deep drag and put her smoke out. “Just don’t go getting yourself into trouble with him. Believe me. There is nothing good about those guys. Other than their bedside manner, I’m sure.”

Maggie shut her car door and walked away, bouncing her hip off mine.

I stood there alone, thinking.

Duke had always been a wild fantasy of mine. The ultimate bad boy now turned outlaw.

There is nothing good about those guys.

I shook my head. They were rough and tough guys, yeah. But if they were that bad they’d all be in jail, right?

I turned to go back inside and my mind asked itself one last thing:
Is Duke really that bad of a guy?

chapter fifteen.

(duke)

I cruised down the back roads for a little bit, letting the night really sink in. I tried to ignore the lashing I took from Jim but I could only hope it would help the son of a bitch. Sadly, there was only so much you could do for a person before they either took control, or just went off the rails completely.

I wasn’t all that far from the house when I realized I had to take a piss. I thought about going back to see Belle again but I knew where that would end up. Shit, I had club business to take care of. I couldn't disappear for days at a time. Not with the delicate situation we were in.

Pulling over to the side of the road, I climbed off my ride and stepped into the woods. It was thick as fuck as I stood there, taking my dick out, picking out what plants to piss on. As I pissed, I heard a voice straight ahead. Not an animal, but a voice. I finished up, zipped up, and stepped deep into the thick brush. It only lasted a few more feet before opening up to a large piece of open land. Gathering up my sense of direction, I could figure out right where the land began and ended.

That wasn’t the concern to me though. The concern was what I saw.

Hell Five.

I picked up on Durango and Jop standing there with two men in suits. Behind them were another two guys. I could easily tell those two pricks were prospects.

What the fuck was the Hell Five doing out here?

My mind raced and my fingers were aching to pull out my gun and start going wild. But I knew better. I was outnumbered and I couldn’t fuck anything up to give the Hell Five leverage over Back Down Devil MC.

So I had to hold back and wait.

I didn’t do the waiting thing. I was an action guy.

I saw Durango shake hands with one of the guys in a suit. Then the guy opened his arms and did a little turn. It was like he was welcoming Durango to the land.

Something big was happening. And it was right outside of town. A perfect spot to hideout and cause some serious trouble.

Too close to Belle.

The land probably ended right where her land began. It was all vast up there and houses were few and far between.

The men in suits walked away.

Durango and Jop then faced each other. They slapped their hands together and pulled each other in for a hug. The prospects did the same thing only to have Jop turn and grab one by the shirt. He shouted something -
by the time it hit me it was all muffled
- and then pointed. Durango handed a phone to the other prospect and pointed in a different direction.

They were splitting up.

That was good.

If they were coming back into town, they’d have to take the road I was pulled over at.

I rushed back to my ride and opened the case on the back. I always traveled well prepared for anything. That meant I had everything I would need to do a little hunting.

Well, better put: a little catching.

**

I had my motorcycle on its side in the middle of the road. Shit, if a car or truck came by, I was in big trouble. If the Hell Five ended up sticking together and coming my way, I was in even bigger trouble. This was a one chance thing.

Funny how crazy my day changed in just a few minutes. I had been making out with Belle on her porch and a short time later I was getting ready to cause some serious trouble. I stood with my gun in my hand, dropped back into the brush, hidden.

When I heard the sound of the motorcycle engine in the distance, I tensed up. I loved the thrill of it all. Even if it did bring back some bad shit. My memory tried to churn and normally I could control it, but after seeing Jim…

I heard the sound of the tires crunching the rocks. The bouncing feeling. Looking at the other soldiers I was riding with. Wires dangling from up front, swaying back and forth. Riding through another small town, trying to find out who the fuck was killing people. Looking down at my weapon, knowing that in any given second, all hell could break loose.

Then it did.

The explosion… turning my head to see Jim’s convoy…

The motorcycle engine got louder. I caught myself shaking when I caught sight of the motorcycle.

It was the fucking prospect and nobody else.

He quickly slowed at the sight of my motorcycle on its side. He came to an almost complete stop and looked around. When he turned his head to the left again, I ran out from the woods.

The fucking guy had no chance.

I was there a second later, my arm around his throat, pulling him from the ride. I killed the engine on the motorcycle and let it fall to the road. He tried to scream but my hold was tight. Any tighter and he would have been choked out and died.

I dragged him into the woods where I had the rope waiting. I had a tree already picked out and threw him into it. The son of a bitch quickly turned and tried to punch me. I cracked with a hard right to the jaw and that dropped him for good. I fought with him to sit him up as I tied him to the tree. I then wrapped a few pieces of tape around his mouth and then around his mouth and the tree.

He was secured. Nothing would hear him or see him.

Unless a hungry animal got to him before I could come back with some of the guys.

I dumped his motorcycle off the side of the road and then called Jasper.

“Bro, I have something big,” I said to him.

“Like what?”

“One of the Hell Five prospects. Tied to a tree.”

“Say what?”

“Something big is happening up here. Get up here now. Bring Trev. We can break this guy down and figure out what’s up.”

“Where are you?”

When I told him, he was obviously surprised. When guys like me disappeared for a day or two it was usually on a wicked bender to a few strip clubs or holed up in a hotel with lots of booze and some women. Being up in the mountains really wasn’t our style unless we were all together on a ride or something.

I knew it was only a matter of time before the rest of the Hell Five guys came through the area. And the same could be said for when they got back to their clubhouse to find a prospect missing.

It took all of thirty minutes to meet up with Jasper, Trev, and Kye. I then led the way to the captured prospect up in the woods. We all pulled off the road and walked our motorcycles into the brush to keep ourselves hidden.

Trev took off his sunglasses and looked at the prospect tied to the tree. Then he looked back at me. “Nice work.”

“Very nice work,” Kye said. He patted me on the back. “What were you doing up here?”

“None of your fucking business,” I said. “Focus on the situation.” I pointed to the clearing of land. “They were all up there talking. Hell Five. Guys in suits. Something went down.”

“Let’s find out,” Jasper said.

He wasted no time in taking out his gun. He pointed it right at the prospect. This was a risky move but it paid off because it showed the true colors of the prospect. If that were me - or any of my brothers - we wouldn’t have flinched. The reason? If we knew something someone else wanted to know, what would killing us do?

This prospect started to kick and thrash like a damn fool. He screamed so hard the veins in his neck pulsed and looked as thick as the branches of the trees above my head.

He knew something and he would crack.

Jasper put the gun to the prospect’s forehead.

Trev came forward to the play
good cop
role. He crouched and pushed Jasper’s hand away.

“Listen to me,” Trev said. “You know why we have you. I’m not here to kill you. I just need to ask you a few questions. Okay?”

The guy shook his head.

“The thing is,” Trev said, “if you don’t talk to me, I will kill you.”

With that said, Trev took his gun out.

The prospect flipped shit again.

We all circled around him. Trev stood up. I crouched down.

I grabbed at the tape on his mouth and started to pull. I got halfway and stopped. “If you scream, I will shoot you.”

I ripped the tape all the way. Everyone winced except the prospect. He sat stone like, his eyes dripping with tears. His lips quivered, wanting to scream from the stinging pain of the tape being ripped off his face.

“So let’s talk,” I said.

“I don’t know anything.”

“Yes you do. I saw you. Don’t fuck with me.”

“Answers,” Kye said. “Right fucking now.”

“They’ll know I’m gone,” the prospect said. “They’ll come…”

“No they won’t,” I said. “You’re a useless prospect. So now you get to choose your fate. How you want to go out.”

“Fuck this,” Kye said. He took his gun out and put it to the top of the prospect’s head. “What the fuck were they doing?!”

Kye’s voice boomed through the woods.

“Holy fucking shit,” the prospect yelled. “They were talking a new deal!”

“There you go,” Kye said.

“What kind of deal?” I asked.

“Real estate,” the prospect said. “I know nothing else.”

Kye crouched down and swung his gun, hitting the prospect in the face. His head swiveled and I thought his neck had broken.

I grabbed Kye and wanted to punch him.

Kye nodded to me.

The prospect started to cry. “Land… land…”

“Land?” I asked. “They’re buying land?”

“Yes.”

I stood up. So did Kye.

Jasper kept his gun handy, just in case. “What are they using it for?”