Twisted Asphalt (Asphalt Outlaw Series Book 1) (15 page)

Follow through. Jab to the kidney’s with the left, dodge a
fist.

Mace felt the tension around him, knowing the brothers
wouldn’t interfere. They were nothing more than a blur in his vision. He
launched once more toward Demon, but was stopped short by a boot to the ribs.
Flying back, his hips slammed into a picnic table.

That was going to leave a bruise.

Trying to breathe was next to impossible. That ass hat
broke, or cracked, a couple of his ribs. Fucker was going down. Mace was done
playing. Stalking toward Demon, fists were clenched and hanging at his sides.
His face must have had a look on it that resembled death, because Mace swore
Demon paled.

“Mace!”

He heard someone calling his name, but he wanted more than
just Demon’s blood on his hands. He wanted his life.

“Mace! Enough!”

His right arm lifted and swung forward. Keeping his arm
level, the inner bone of forearm slammed into Demon’s neck, just under his jaw,
right at the brachial nerve.

Stunned, Demon hit his knees, gasping for air.

Mace felt two or three people grabbing his arms, pulling him
back from Demon, throwing him to the side. Stumbling, Mace blinked several
times, looking around him. Romeo was next to him, actual concern on his face, a
red faced Stone was yelling at Demon to get the fuck out of there, he didn’t
want to see him until Church. Saber and Talon were to Mace’s left and right.

“I don’t need them to protect me. I’m not a bitch.” Mace
growled, unhappy at being pulled off Demon.

Romeo shook his head, crossing his arms over his chest, his
voice flat. “They’re protecting Demon from you.”

CHAPTER 20

Saber confirmed what Mace suspected. Two cracked ribs.

That shit hurt.

Mace allowed Saber to wrap him up before he left the
barbeque. He wasn’t in the mood to stay and be all cheerful. He was pretty
surprised they felt the need to protect Demon from him though. It made him feel
a little bit better about beating that ass. Demon would retaliate. He didn’t
earn that road name being all warm and fuzzy. As he left the barbeque, Stone
stopped him and told him they had scheduled Church the next day at one o’clock
sharp.

Avoiding Amy was easy enough. He locked himself in his room
and stayed there. She had avoided him like the plague today, and he was a bit
upset by it. What was good for the goose was just as good for the gander. Mace
was sure Stone and Romeo would fill her in on the fight, if the distraught
Maggie didn’t first. He had seen her glares when he left, though he didn’t
understand why. When Demon fled the scene, he literally threw Maggie away from
him, tossed her helmet at her and told her to find her own way home.

That’s a real winner for you.

Mace was being a spoiled rotten baby and he knew it. Amy
struggled with her feelings; he watched that war play out on her face when she
didn’t think he was looking. He wasn’t stupid. Maybe a day or two of space
between them would solve the problem.

Absence made the heart grow fonder, right?

He arrived at the clubhouse, parking his bike at the end of
the line. It was a damn dreary day, overcast and threatening to rain. He hated
riding in that sort of weather, but bylaws dictated you had to ride your bike
to every club event, including Church. Cut was over his leather jacket, a cool
fifty degrees with moisture wasn’t exactly t-shirt weather.

Pulling off his helmet, he set it to the seat, nod given to
Saber when he pulled up and swung his bike around, walking it back into the
next parking spot. Once the motor was cut, he leaned back against his bike.
“Waddup?”

“Nadda, man. How’s your ribs, slugger?” Saber pulled off his
helmet, shaking the golden mane free. “Better yet, how’s your arm?”

“I took the gauze off the other day and started letting it
breathe. Seems to be doing good.” Mace pushed off the bike, falling into step
beside the medic. “How the fuck do you fit in a wagon with your big ass?”

Saber’s laughter was deep and rich like his voice. He pulled
back his hair and tied it off. “Me and Thorne, my partner, aren’t exactly tiny,
so we have the bigger wagon to drive.”

“I’d say so. How fucking tall are you?” Mace was a measly
six foot and Saber stood a good half foot taller than him.

“Last we checked, I was six seven.”

Yeah, Mace would shit if he tangled with Saber. The man
wasn’t a tiny six seven either. Fucker looked like he could bench press a damn
car, and his hands were meat cleavers. It was hard to imagine him as a medic,
but he was the best in the county. Mace had firsthand knowledge and Saber was
an amazingly gentle giant.

“Damnit son. And how tall is … Thorne, you said?”

“She’s six one and built like a brick shithouse. She’s my
gym partner too, and at times, I swear she lifts more than I do.” Saber
snorted, yanking the door. Before they went through, Saber shouted at his baby
brother, Dalton, who was just as star studded glamorous in the looks department
as his brother. “Yo, Dalton! Get ta pourin’ that Jack!”

Whoa, okay. Interesting. He had never known a female to be
called that. “Thorne is a girl?” He hated to sound ignorant, but it was a
first. “Are you sure? She could be like Antonia.”

Saber barked in laughter, patting the top of the bar,
waiting for Dalton to pour two Jacks. “Her real name is Espina Lopez. She’s
Maggie’s baby sister, and she doesn’t take after Maggie either. I called her
Thorne because she is a thorn in my ass half the time. Even her badge says
Thorne.”

Mace was curious how she wasn’t like Maggie. One obvious
clue was she enjoyed the gym. Maggie was the goddess of curves that looked damn
good on some women, and she was definitely not that tall.

The Chapel Room’s doors swung open, Romeo whistled for all
patch holders to come to congregation. All phones were turned off and placed in
the center of the round table; all guns unloaded and left lying on the table as
well. Taking his seat, along with everyone else, it didn’t go unnoticed they
were short a member. Demon hadn’t arrived. Quirking a brow, Mace glanced to
Saber, who just shrugged and shook his head.

“Where is Demon?” Stone frowned, looking to each member
sitting at the table.

No one could answer the question.

“Someone try and get him on the phone. Now.”

Romeo scooped his phone out of the pile and turned it on.
Pressing a few buttons, he put the phone on speaker. Directly to voice mail.
Romeo quirked a brow and glanced at Stone as he ended the call, then turned off
his phone and tossed it back to the pile.

Stone sighed, hand rubbing his beard. “Talon, mark Demon
absent and a fifty dollar fine.”

Talon was the Secretary of the chapter, always taking notes
and reading them back. A mohawked head nodded as he scribbled in his ledger.

Stone picked up his gavel and banged it to the coaster on
the table. “I call the meeting to order. Everyone is present but Demon.”

“Noted,” Talon looked up from his notebook.

“Go ahead and review last week’s notes.”

Talon offered a lopsided grin and leaned back in his chair.
“We tried to scare the shit out of Mace. Demon tried to make him scream like a
bitch. Didn’t work. Inducted new club brother, Maverick.”

Everyone banged on the table, catcalling at the fact Mace
was now a full-fledged club member. Stone held up his hand to quiet everyone
down.

“What needs to be brought to the table before I start?”
Stone looked around the table, stopping at Saber.

The medic held his hand up.

“Saber?”

“I’d like to sponsor Dalton as a prospect. He’s been hanging
around for quite some time, he’s watched me enough. I think he’d make a good
club brother.”

Stone nodded, “Do I hear a second?”

Mace cleared his throat and raised his hand. “I second
that.”

Romeo chuckled and pointed his finger at Mace. “You just
want to make someone your bitch.”

“My bike needs washing.” Mace snickered. Picking up the
tumbler that had his Jack in it, he took a rather big swallow.

“Do I hear any nays?” Stone looked around the room. No one
protested the motion, the gavel banged down. “Dalton is our new prospect.
Saber, make sure the cut will fit him. We may need a bigger one.” Stone paused,
then looked to Mace. “You have something to bring to the table?”

Mace’s mouth dropped, then snapped shut when he looked at
Romeo, who shrugged. Motherfucker. He was going to have to play this one cool.
“I’m not sure what the fuck crawled up Demon’s ass yesterday, but he wanted to
know who I was on the phone with, after I took a call.” He was about to cross a
very fine line, but Mace had to. There had to be some sort of privacy of one’s
life, outside the club. “I really didn’t think it was anyone’s business who I
was talking to or what I was discussing. He’s not my bitch, I don’t owe him
shit, especially as a patch holder now. He didn’t like me telling him it was
none of his business and he picked a fight.”

Stone interlaced his fingers together as he leaned back in
his chair, rocking it slowly back and forth. “You’re right. It’s no one’s
business who you were on the phone with,” Stone paused as he looked directly at
Mace. “Unless it was putting the club in jeopardy.”

Ahh, shit. Drawing in a deep breath, Mace let it out slowly.
Here goes nothing
. Just as he was going to drop the bomb, Romeo cut in.

“He was on the phone with the ATF.”

The room exploded into a mixture of swearing, yelling and
threats. Stone banged the gavel several times, trying to get everyone to calm
down. It quieted down enough for Stone to finally speak. “Excuse me? Did we
hear you correctly?”

Romeo leaned forward on his elbows, shaking his head at Mace,
keeping Mace from saying anything. “When the house exploded, Mace called in
help. He has deep pockets out there and he asked for a favor. The reason he
did, is for us. It’s been confirmed that the sheriff is involved with Temer
Gallo. If that’s the case, they would have swept what happened under the
carpet, and to top it off, the sheriff’s brother is the lead agent for the FBI,
who would have gained jurisdiction over everything.

“I told Mace to keep it between us for now because we don’t
need to start everyone trying to cover their tracks. They’ll suspect we’re up
to something and all we need is the deputies or cops raining shit down on us.”

Mace drew in a breath before he continued, “They confirmed
the target was Amy. It was a remote detonator that set it off. It was a
cellphone number, which was traced back to a burner. They couldn’t have been
too far away from the ranch, but with the chaos, they got away without anyone
thinking anything about it.”

Stone let out a breath, sounding like he had been holding
it. “Fuck me running. That was what the call was about?”

“Yeah, he must have caught the tail end of the conversation.
Whoever this is, Stone, is after you.”

Stone looked dumbfounded at that statement. “How the hell do
you figure that, if they’re going after Amy?”

“What will you do if something happened to Amy?” Mace point
blank asked Stone.

“I don’t know what I’d do.” Stone shrugged, “Probably kill
people.”

“Wouldn’t you quit? You’d have two people you’ve lost while
wearing those patches.” Stone’s face hardened as he stared at Mace. “I’m sorry,
Stone. You asked and I’m not one to pussyfoot around and be all sensitive to
your feelings. If you wanted that, you asked the wrong guy.”

“You’re right, but getting me out of the picture only puts
Romeo in as president. Are you saying my own son is doing this?”

Mace sighed, laying his hands on the table, rolling his
upper lip between his teeth. “No, I’m saying you have a traitor in the club.
Someone wants you gone, they’ll take out their competition and not give a fuck
who they take down in the process.”

The table was silent. A traitor. That was a serious
accusation to make without the required proof, even if it made sense.

Axe cleared his throat before he spoke. “It makes sense,
Stone. The TG have been stepping up a lot lately. What if they turned someone
in the club? It might not be this chapter, it could be a Nomad or another
member.”

“It’s still not an easy thing to hear.” Stoned scratched
behind his ear, then rubbed along his jaw in thought. “Mace, stay on Amy. If
you have to leave her, for any reason, you make sure the prospect is on her or
you get another brother to take over. Understood?”

“Roger.” Why Romeo did what he did was confusing as fuck.
Why throw it out there? Was he actually trying to protect Mace? He liked Romeo;
he had bonded with him and didn’t want to lose that friendship, even though he
knew it was coming.

“Any other business?” Stone glanced around the table before
he spoke. “Wolf is coming back sooner than expected. He got the Reno chapter
settled. The Colangelo’s have accepted the alliance, for now.”

Shit, that was a crimp in the plan. Colin Younger was not
supposed to be back until mid-year, he was months early. Mace posed as Colin’s
cousin; if he came back before the run, Mace’s cover was blown. He would blow
Mace’s deception out of the water. He would have to make sure Colin didn’t make
it back until he was gone.

Without any warning, the doors to the room slammed open,
making everyone jump clean out of their chairs. A frantic looking Dalton busted
in, wide eyed and red faced. “Dude, Mace!” Dalton gasped, trying to catch his
breath. “Demon has lost his fucking mind. You better get outside now.”

That was when they heard the sickening sound of metal
crunching, glass shattering, and yelling. No one needed any urging, all of them
tore out of the room, running for the parking lot. Outside, Demon had a tire
iron and was using Mace’s bike for batting practice.

“What the fuck!” Mace yelled, lurching forward, but was
stopped by two vice-like grips, yanking him clean off of his feet. “Let me go.
I’ll kill that son of a bitch.” Mace felt himself get put into a sleeper hold,
a thick arm wrapped about his throat. “I’ll kill you. Touch my bike again, you
fucking pussy!” Mace scratched at the arm that held him, but it tightened about
his throat, cutting off his air in warning.

Mace stilled and watched Demon trash his bike, laughing
while he swung the tire iron like a baseball bat, breaking his front
windshield. He was going to kill Demon, then he was going to shoot Saber for
stopping him. Mace stiffened when Stone made his way toward Demon, Romeo and
Axe right behind him.

Demon paused, looking up at the trio walking toward him. His
eyes were crazed, wide and unblinking. He pointed the iron at them. “Don’t come
any fucking closer, or your bikes are next. I can’t believe you picked that
douchebag over me.”

“What the hell are you talking about, Demon?” Stone growled
at Demon.

Demon swung at Mace’s engine, a ringing sound echoing
through the area, fluid pouring out from under the bike. “You chose him over
me. He attacks me and you all protect him!”

“Let me go, Saber!” Mace tried jerking out of his hold, only
to have his air cut off once more.

“Settle the fuck down. Now,” was growled in his ear as the
arm loosened up a touch.

“That’s not what happened and you know it.” Stone rebutted,
holding out his hand, palm up. “Give me your cut.”

The whole club went tense at the request, even Mace. Asking
for Demon’s cut was a death sentence, and that much registered on Demon’s face.

“The fuck you say. You can take it off my dead body.” Demon
pulled back the iron, setting it to his shoulder.