OWNED & UNTAMED (A Back Down Devil MC Romance Novel) (3 page)

I spotted Jim’s cell and told myself no. I screamed in my mind not to do anything dumb.

But I did.

I found Duke’s name in Jim’s phone.

I put the number in my phone.

It had been years.
Years.

Everything changed when Duke came home.

More than that, he never kept up his part of the brotherhood with Jim.

The whiskey fueled my anger and courage.

I sat up on the couch and looked at my brother on the floor. He was not the man I looked up to. He was not the warrior soldier that left to fight for freedom.

And I was not the woman I had dreamed to be.

It was my turn to pass my feelings along.

So I chose the worst person in the world.

I called Duke… and changed the rest of my life for forever.

three.

(duke)

We walked into the warehouse and looked pretty rough. Ivan and Peter stepped forward out of the shadows of their bodyguards.

Trent had a bloody nose because of me. I had a bloody leg because of the Hell Five. And Trev… he was just in a nasty fucking mood.

He had the bag of cash and slammed it to the ground.

“You said we were protected,” Trev yelled. “That you didn’t want a goddamn convoy showing up here.”

“I don’t follow,” Ivan said with his thick accent.

“You don’t follow?” I asked. “We were ambushed, asshole.”

“Easy,” Trent said and put a hand to my chest.

Coming from the club’s
enforcer
, I knew I was stepping over the line.

“Ambush?” Ivan asked.

“Another crew,” Trev said. “Looking to stir up old trouble with us.”

Ivan turned and looked at Peter. He gave a nod. Peter then slipped away.

“I’m sorry for your trouble,” Ivan said. “But you brought the money.”

Trev walked away.

I pointed to it. “It was on my ride. I kept it safe. They started shooting long before we saw them.” I nodded to my leg. “Luckily that was the only bullet one of us took.”

“Good blessing then,” Ivan said. He grabbed the bag and opened it. Within a second, he said, “There’s money missing.”

The entire scene then changed. Ivan tossed the bag to one of his bodyguards and the guy started counting.

“We did what we could,” Trev said. “We were attacked.”

“It was my fault,” I said. “I was in charge of the bag. I should have done more.”

“No,” Trent said. “Fuck that, Duke.” He looked to Ivan. “Duke took a bullet for that money. He came up with the plan to get out of there alive. They were equipped with guns and grenades. We took one out and sent the others packing. For the sake of the money.”

“There’s money missing,” Ivan repeated.

Peter then returned, another man next to him.

“Who the fuck is this?” I asked.

“Curtis,” Peter said. “Security.”

I stepped forward. All I saw was red. This fucking prick put my brothers in danger. He could have cost Trev his life, and the life he and Eden were meant to live together. Same for fucking Trent. Even if that bitch Harlee had wanted to take me out, she was now Trent’s old lady and I respected that.

I brought my right hand back and Trent hooked his arm into mine and spun me around. For a split second it looked like we were doing some fucking stupid country dance or some shit.

I broke away and pushed at Trent.

“Hey,” Trent said. “Relax.”

“My guy is right, Ivan” Trev said. “Where the fuck was the security?”

“I did my goddamn job,” Curtis said. “I had full surveillance of the area. I made sure the roads were clear. I had full tracking on all enemy threats. Anything that happened had nothing to do with his deal.”

“No shit,” I said. “But the fucking area was supposed to be clear.”

“I can’t help who you piss off,” Curtis said. “I don’t babysit.”

I pushed forward again and both Ivan and Trev started to shout. Their voices carried in the big open warehouse. I was within another second of getting to Curtis when Ivan took out a gun and pulled the trigger.

It was loudest goddamn boom I ever heard out of a handgun. It felt like it was an inch from my ear. Shit, it was louder than the grenade back on the road.

My brain scrambled and I dropped to the ground. I covered my face and reached back, looking for my military weapon. I then panicked, trying to find my radio to call in the roadside bomb.

The entire scene from Iraq played out again.

The fucking truck in front of me exploding.

Knowing my best bud from high school was in there…

“Duke!” a voice boomed. “Come back to us, brother!”

My eyes fluttered and I snapped back into reality.

I was back in the warehouse. It was us - Back Down Devil MC - and the Russians. Ivan had shot his gun. That was it. That was the sound. Nothing else.

Trev and Trent helped me back to my feet. I swallowed hard, collecting myself.

I saw the half grin on Curtis’s face and that was all I could handle.

I jumped forward and managed to get a fist to his face. I plowed into his nose, sending him flying back.

“I will do this again,” Ivan said and waved the massive handgun around. “I will shoot your brains out, Duke.” He grinned at me and I had to suppress all my anger not to attack him.

I took a small step back and showed my hands.

Fine. Fucking fine.

“Let’s all try to stay calm for a second,” Trev said. “Ivan, we were attacked. We put our lives on the line on the run down to Tijuana and back. And then an ambush…”

“You spent quite a bit on my tab down there,” Ivan said.

“In all fairness, most of the pussy was Cash,” Trent said. “He’s got a problem.”

“A problem with pussy,” Ivan said with a chuckle. “I don’t think that’s a bad problem to have.”

“None of us do,” I said. “Now, can we square this up?”

Peter stepped forward. “My associate has counted the money.”

“That fast?” Trev asked.

“Well trained,” Ivan said. “Deals go bad all the time.”

“This isn’t a bad deal,” I said. “This is improper intel.”

Curtis held a rag to his nose. He shook his head at me.

I wanted to kill the fucker. I didn’t even know the guy. Hell, maybe it actually wasn’t his fault. But we were told to come with three guys and everything would be safe and secure.

“We’re short fifty-five thousand dollars,” Peter said.

“Take it out of our cut,” Trev said without hesitation. “This is a club problem, Ivan. We will handle it within our club.”

“No,” Ivan said.

Trev was ruthless but Ivan was bold. And extremely stubborn. He came from a different kind of life and a different country than ours. That was something a lot of guys had a hard time grasping. But I understood it.

Ivan wasn’t going to let this go. Even if it was a measly five thousand bucks missing out of the one-hundred-fifty.

He reached into the bag of cash and took out our cut of the money. He held it out to Trev and nodded. “Your portion.”

“Keep it,” Trev said. “Then I owe you five thousand.”

“No,” Ivan said. “I don’t want that. I want my money back.”

“They stole our fee,” I said. “That’s what it was.”

“No,” Ivan said again and stomped his foot. “You take this. You bring me back sixty-five.”

“What?” Trent asked.

“Interest,” Ivan said and shrugged his shoulders.

“Jesus,” I said. “I want your bank.”

Ivan and Peter laughed.

“I want my money,” Ivan said. “And I want it with blood on it.”

The room changed again.

“If this doesn’t happen,” Peter said, “we will intervene. And if we have to start killing your enemies, then we will just keep going. We will take over your town, your club, and your charters.”

“Do we understand?” Ivan asked.

Trev took the fifty grand from Ivan and nodded. “Got it.”

“I hope we can count on you for future endeavors,” Ivan said.

“Always,” I said. “Just get us better intel or let us do it our way next time.”

“Fuck you,” Curtis spat.

He looked like a fat bully that had gotten punched finally. His eyes glossy. His hands shaking like he wanted to fight me but knew I’d destroy him.

“My apologies,” Ivan said. “I give my sorry in two ways here. One, if anyone ever shows up missing money, they would be killed on the spot.”

“And your second sorry?” I asked.

Ivan looked me dead in the eyes. He lifted his hand and pointed his massive handgun right at Curtis. Before I could even process what was about to happen, Ivan pulled the trigger again.

The same thundering boom went off and Curtis’s brains went scattering out the side of his head and across the warehouse.

“Holy shit!” Trent yelled. He grabbed for Trev and pulled him back, just in case.

“There,” Ivan said. “I don’t deal with a half ass job. I could have lost more money. So you never have to worry about Curtis again.”

“Fuck,” I said.

Ivan tucked his gun into his suit jacket and nodded to me. “And you, Duke. You need to shut your fucking mouth.”

Ivan tapped Peter’s arm.

I felt my phone in my pocket start to vibrate.

Who the fuck would be calling me right now?

I couldn’t fucking focus on the phone call though.

I was too busy watching as Peter took out a gun. A small handgun. I started to reach back for my gun, but I had no time. No chance.

I looked at Ivan.

“For you,” he said with his accent.

By the time he folded his arms and smiled at me, Peter pulled the trigger.

What a fucking night.

four.

(belle)

Bacon popped and a little bit of grease hit my arm.

“Fuck!” I yelled and backed up from the pan.

Right on cue the smoke alarm started to go off, the shrill beep pounding at the insides of my ears. I grabbed a towel and ran out of the kitchen to the hallway and started to wave the towel at it. That did nothing.

Behind me, I could smell the bacon starting to burn.

I ran back to the kitchen and got a chair. I climbed up and twisted the smoke alarm off the wall and popped out the nine-volt battery. I ran back to the stovetop and turned off the burner. I slid the bacon pan back and went for the coffeepot. I poured myself another cup and walked to the table.

Fuck it.

I sat and buried my hands in my face. I felt like a single mother trying to keep things together but unable to do so. The problem was that my “child” was my thirty-three year old brother who couldn't damn well take care of himself. And I had no place to tell him how to take care of himself. There was only one person in the world who could stand up to Jim and push him around.

And that person never called me back…

Then again, to be fair, I never left Duke a message. But I did call more than once.

I tried to savor my coffee, but face it, it was cheap coffee that I bought on sale. The kitchen lingered with the smell of bacon. All I wanted to do was try and make a quick breakfast so Jim could eat something greasy and hopefully feel better.

Jim stumbled into the kitchen a minute later, looking like death. He looked at me, looked at the stove, then looked at me again.

“I fucked up the bacon,” I said. “Sorry.”

He walked to the counter. He opened a cabinet and grabbed a large container of pills. He dumped out three ibuprofen, poured a mug of coffee, and then took out a plate and slapped a few pieces of the bacon on it. He then sat across from me, sipped his coffee, and took a bite of the bacon. It crumbled into black charred pieces on the plate.

When he grabbed the pills, I raised an eyebrow.

“That’s too many,” I said. “You’re going to hurt your stomach.”

Jim didn’t speak. He put all three pills into his mouth and swallowed without even using a drink.

He took another bite of burned bacon and sipped his coffee.

That’s when he finally spoke.

“Bacon is too crispy.”

“You’re an asshole,” I said.

I stood up and walked to the coffeepot and poured more for myself. I spotted the pan in the sink - the one with the fruit flies and dried spaghetti sauce - and grabbed the handle. I tore it out of the sink and spun around.

“Why can’t you even clean this up?” I yelled. “This sits here for days. It’s disgusting, Jim. Of all the things… why not just…”

Jim finished another piece of bacon. He licked black pieces of bacon off his lips and then rubbed some out of the scruff on his face. He then looked at me.