EMPTY SECRETS (A Back Down Devil MC Novella) (10 page)

“
I
guess this is better than shooting her,
”
Blaine said.
“
Well, you
still shot her. Just with a different gun. Right, man?
”

“
Fuck
off.
”

“
Can
’
t do that. We
’
re getting ready. We have one
chance to do this and do it right.
”

Jett gritted his teeth. He couldn
’
t pull out because he didn
’
t want Blaine to see everything.
It would make him insanely jealous.

Jealous? I
’
m jealous now? What the
fuck
…

“
So,
yeah,
”
Blaine said,
“
I need you to kind of fucking
hurry up and come talk to me. Miller is looking trigger happy. For anyone.
”

Blaine left the room and Jett eased
his cock from Lena. She jumped from the bed and pulled up her jeans. Jett
watched the way her hands and body shook. He was quick to grab her and pull her
close.

“
It
’
s okay,
”
he whispered.
“
We
’
ll make it all right.
”

“
I
want to believe you,
”
Lena
said.
“
But what do you know
about me? What do I know about you?
”

Jett looked down at her.
“
We
’
re
going to fix that part, too. With time. That
’
s
what we
’
re fighting this
for, beautiful. For time. Got that?
”

Lena swallowed and nodded.

Jett kissed her.
“
Be ready. For anything.
”

It pained Jett a little to just
leave her hanging there. But he had to.

He left the room and found a group
of guys waiting.

Blaine, Jace, two prospects, and
behind them, Miller.

“
Tell
me you like her,
”
Miller
said.

“
What?
”

“
The
woman. Tell me you like her.
”

“
I
just
…”

“
Don
’
t fuck with this,
”
Blaine whispered.
“
Answer him, Jett.
”

“
Fine,
”
Jett said.
“
I like her, Miller, okay? She
makes me feel
…
something,
man. Just something.
”

“
Well,
you better get over that shit, and fast,
”
Miller said.
“
Time to ride.
Time to fucking finish this.
”

ten.

Lena had thought about getting on
the back of a motorcycle a few times. She figured it would be something
dangerous, and also something that came with hot sex implications. Lena had the
hot sex already, now she was just stuck with something dangerous.

And that was sitting on the back of
Jett
’
s motorcycle as they
approached Angelo
’
s
restaurant. One of the guys -
was it Griffin?
- snooped and found out
plenty of truth on Victor. He was connected, but he wasn
’
t a made man. He didn
’
t
have power or authority to do what he had been doing, including going after
Angelo. Victor used to bully Angelo in school and it was Georgie, the head of
the
family
, who stepped in and ended the bullying. At least for a little while.
Now with age and an appearance of power in hand, Victor had been going after
Angelo for a long time.

The restaurant parking lot was
empty, a sign hung up in the window. Some excuse for the restaurant being
closed. Right inside, right beyond the doors, Lena knew Victor was there. The
simple thing would be to just give up Lena and send Victor packing. But Jett,
Miller, and the guys knew how these situations went. They would become violent,
bloody, and plagued with death.

The motorcycles came to a stop. A
second later, the doors to the restaurant opened and out walked the two big
guys from before. They were in tank top shirts, muscles galore, one of them
with a bloody bandage on his shoulder.

“
Stay
here,
”
Jett said to Lena
and he climbed off his motorcycle.

“
Gentlemen,
”
Miller said.
“
Good to see you again.
”

The two guys took out guns.

Miller put his hands up but Jett
kept charging forward.

“
You
don
’
t come into this town,
”
Jett yelled.
“
You don
’
t fucking do this
…”

Lena wasn
’
t sure what Jett
’
s
intentions were, running at the big guys like he was. He didn
’
t stop until he was just a few
inches away. One of the big guys swung his gun and smashed Jett in the mouth.
He spun around. Lena gasped and climbed off the motorcycle.

Blaine grabbed her by the wrist.
“
Take it easy.
”

“
They
want me,
”
Lena said.
“
I
’
ll
go. This isn
’
t
…”

“
It
’
s not only about you. Hang
tight.
”

Jett turned and spit blood at the
guy that just hit him. Both big guys then set their sights on Jett, hitting him
until he dropped to his knees.

Lena didn
’
t know what the fuck was going on.

Was this punishment for Jett? For
helping her?

Her question was answered a second
later when she watched as one of the big guy
’
s
heads exploded. Literally exploded. There was no sound from a gun
…
but it had to have been a
bullet.

Lena lost her stomach and legs and
started to fall. Blaine caught her and held her.

“
It
’
s just us,
”
Blaine whispered.
“
We have someone taking shots.
Relax.
”

The other big guy quickly jumped
away from Jett and let out a scream. Jett picked himself up and took a swing at
the guy. One punch to the face sent the guy stumbling back into the door. He
reached for the handle, fell forward, opened the door to the restaurant, and
then finally collapsed to his knees.

Jett came forward again and lifted
his knee to the guy
’
s face.
He repeated the motion over and over, holding the guy
’
s hair. He kept going until Miller screamed his
name, and then Jett stopped. He backed up and turned, giving Lena a sight that
was kind of familiar to her.

A man with blood on him.

Jett looked right at her. There was
fire in his eyes. An angry, raging fire. Rightfully so. Victor had come into Frelen
to cause hell. And the guys in Back Down Devil MC were going to be the ones
offering a dose of hell.

Miller gave a wave and Lena felt
Blaine tighten his grip around her arm.

“
Come
with us,
”
he said.
“
Time to go inside.
”

“
I
want Jett,
”
Lena said.
“
I
…”

“
You
don
’
t get a fucking say,
”
Blaine said.

Lena made it a couple steps and
then broke away from Blaine and ran toward Jett. Jett waited and wrapped his
arms around her. He smelled of sweat and blood.

“
Are
you okay?
”
Lena asked.

“
You
need to listen to us,
”
Jett
said.

“
Enough
of this shit,
”
Miller said.
“
We have to do this right
now.
”

Jett opened the door to the
restaurant and led the way inside.

Lena trailed him and the rest of
the MC guys followed. To Lena, there didn
’
t
seem to be enough guys to do this. Like they weren
’
t taking Victor completely serious. It scared her.
Unless there were other motives in mind.

The empty restaurant had a horror
movie feel to it. The tables were all in place except for two that were near
the kitchen doors. They were both tipped over, small broken vases on the
ground, a container of salt broken, spilled across the floor like a small pile
of snow.

As they walked toward the kitchen
door, Jett stayed in the lead.
“
Angelo
has his personal office in the back. It
’
s
like a mini-apartment. That
’
s
where he has to be.
”

“
If
he fucking killed him
…
,
”
Miller growled.
“
I
’
m
going to string that fucking punk up by his ankles.
”

Lena flickered a smile. She
’
d love to see Victor hanging by
his ankles.

“
Miller,
you should hang back,
”
Jett
said.
“
You don
’
t need heat over this.
”

“
And
you do? We do?
”
Miller asked.

Jett squeezed Lena
’
s hand tighter.
“
I know what this is like,
Miller. What it means. I
’
ll
take my cut off right now if it
’
s
against
…”

“
Jesus
Christ,
”
Gaige snapped.
“
We
’
re
in this together, bro. Until the end. No matter what happens. Got it?
”

Jett nodded.
“
Then we bust into the off-
”

There was a sound behind the
counter. A utensil hitting the floor.

Lena watched as everyone turned,
lifting their weapons, all ready to blast the hell out of whatever was behind
the counter.

“
Stand
up!
”
Jett bellowed.
“
Right the fuck now!
”

“
Please
…”
a voice said.

“
Stand
up!
”

Lena watched as a woman slowly
stood from behind the counter. She had her hands up, shaking. Her hair was
black, messy, her face looking worn and terrified.

“
Shit,
”
Jett said.
“
That
’
s Stacey. Angelo
’
s
daughter.
”

“
Are
you here to save Papa?
”
Stacey cried out.

They all approached the counter,
guns still out, making sure there wasn
’
t
an ambush in the making.

Jett went to the counter and put
his hands out for Stacey.

A shot of jealousy went through
Lena
’
s body as she watched
Jett lift the woman up and over the counter. He put her down and Stacey kept
her hands to Jett
’
s
shoulders.

“
I
knew you
’
d come,
”
she said.
“
Please save Papa. I can
’
t believe this is happening.
”

“
Is
someone back there with him?
”
Jett asked.

“
Yes.
Victor. He
’
s so
…
angry
…”

Lena saw the calmness in Stacey
’
s voice when she spoke Victor
’
s name.

“
You
know him?
”
Lena asked. She
started to push through.
“
Tell
me
…”

Stacey looked at Lena.
“
Yes. I know Victor. He
’
s my
…
well, my boyfriend.
”

Boyfriend?

All the guys let out a groaning
sound.

Lena looked at Jett. Then she
looked at Stacey.

“
What?
”
Lena asked.

“
Well,
I guess he is
…
he told me
he loves me
…”

Jett put a hand out and touched
Lena
’
s belly. For whatever
reason, that was the trigger for Lena. She knew in her heart any anger should
have been for Victor. But Stacey was closer, she was a woman, and she was as
dumb as Lena to fall for Victor
’
s
bullshit.

Lena dove at Stacey and grabbed her
by the hair. She pulled, twisted, and Stacey let out a cry. Jett was right
there to grab Lena and pull her back. He turned as Blaine grabbed Stacey to
keep her away.

“
Fuck,
”
Jett growled.
“
What is wrong with you?
”

Lena looked at him.
“
I don
’
t know. I knew he had
…
it doesn
’
t matter
…”
Lena looked at Stacey.
“
I
’
m
so sorry. It
’
s not your
fault
…”

“
He
was with you too?
”
Stacey
asked.

“
Lots
of others, honey,
”
Lena
said.

“
What
did he say to you?
”
Jett
asked.

“
That
he was investing in the restaurant,
”
Stacey said.
“
That he was
going to take care of Papa. Take care of me. We were going to move to a big
apartment together. That he had been ring shopping to make me the most
beautiful bride ever.
”

“
Christ,
”
Jett said.
“
And you bought that shit?
”

“
Look
at this place!
”
Stacey
cried out.
“
Papa has ruined
it
…
and Victor
…
he
’
s been the one taking
…”
Stacey lowered her head and started to cry.

Blaine put an arm around her.
“
Come here, sweetie. It
’
s okay. If you get really angry,
you can hold my cock, okay? It
’
s
big and can take a pounding.
”

“
Blaine,
”
Miller said.
“
Time and place, man. Stop.
”

“
What
else happened?
”
Jett asked.
“
Where is Victor right now?
”

“
He
’
s in the office with Papa.
Victor showed up hurt. Said you guys were attacking. That you were going to
take the restaurant down. I
’
m
hurt and confused
…”

“
Hurt?
”
Lena asked.

“
He
slapped me,
”
Stacey said.
She gently touched her cheek.
“
He
called me a whore and slapped me. So I ran. And his guys came after me. I
’
ve been behind the counter for
hours. Waiting. Praying. Wondering
…”

“
We
’
ve got it,
”
Jett said.
“
Okay?
”

“
I
’
ll take her out,
”
Blaine said.
“
Keep her safe.
”

“
Keep
your pants on,
”
Jett said.

“
Can
’
t guarantee that,
”
Blaine said with a grin.

“
What
’
s the plan?
”
Miller asked.

“
I
’
m going to kick in the office
door and kill him,
”
Jett
said.

“
No,
”
Lena said.
“
Let me do it. If he knows it
’
s you
…
let me knock on the door
…”