Twisted Pieces (16 page)

“
We
’
re not looking for trouble,
”
Jace said.
“
Just answers. Two bodies were
found down near the backroads. You know where I'm talking about, right?"

“
Good
place to run some shit,
”
Gaige said.

“
You
don
’
t want trouble?
”
Mutty asked.
“
Fuck you.
”
Mutty turned and nodded.
“
Kill them all.
”

Jace saw Gaige take a step back and
brace himself. This was going to be a bloodbath. Blaine was barely standing,
holding his bloody shoulder. Griffin looked ready to explode and Nate just
stood like the towering man of anger he was.

But Jace had the key here. Slowly,
he stepped forward and put his arms out.

“
What
the fuck are you doing?
”
Mutty yelled.

“
You
’
re not going to kill us. Not
right now. You have your own problems to worry about. Us? We just wanted to pay
you a visit and say hello. Watch the waves crash to the shore. Take a breath,
you know?
”

“
I
’
m going to gut you,
”
Mutty said.
“
With a rusted knife.
”

“
Better
yet,
”
Jace said as he
stepped back,
“
you could do
something better with that rusted knife.
”
Jace reached into his pocket and Mutty jumped back.
“
Whoa, whoa,
”
Jace said.
“
I
’
m not pulling a gun. It
’
s all good here.
”
Jace took out the small baggie
he had taken from one of the bodies. He held it up and wiggled it.
“
Look what I found the other
night.
”

The look on Mutty
’
s face was simply priceless. His
eyes went wide and his face turned white. He put his arms out to call off his
guys.

“
What
is this?
”
he tried to ask
in a shaky voice.

“
Fuck
you,
”
Jace said.
“
Like I said, we know.
”
Jace threw the small baggie at
Mutty. Mutty caught it in midair and squeezed his hand tight. Jace smiled.
“
Next time we come, we
’
ll wipe you out, just like we
did to Eight Under.
”

Jace turned and Gaige looked at him
with complete surprise. Jace pointed to the motorcycles. It was time to go.

Nate helped Blaine onto his ride
and Blaine started it. He moved his shoulder and gave a thumbs up. It was such
a badass move to take a bullet and then still get on motorcycle to take off. It
sent a clear message to Coast Road MC and it made damn sure that whatever
anyone thought Back Down Devil had lost in the war with Caius and Eight Under
…
was complete bullshit.

They didn
’
t lose.

They grew stronger.

Jace turned and grabbed his gun.
“
Let
’
s just make sure all of this is clear.
”

Mutty started to take a step, but
Jace was done with talking. He pointed his gun at the man who shot Blaine. The
man put his hands up and Jace smirked. He aimed the gun at the man
’
s knee and shot once.

Now it was definitely time to go.

Back on the road, Jace didn
’
t think about the mess of a
world around him. He could only think about Jordyn.

He hoped she was okay.

sixteen.

Jordyn showered twice and changed.
She sat on the edge of her bed and put her face in her hands. She was an
emotional mess. A call from a nurse informed Jordyn that her grandmother wasn
’
t doing well. Her prognosis was
limited to weeks, maybe even days, instead of years. Jordyn was so upset over
it. And yet, in an ironic twist, she was falling for a man who had the same
fate as her grandmother, or so it seemed.

Jace wasn
’
t promised years. Hell, he wasn't even promised
days. He made that very clear. There was a good chance he
’
d end up dead or back in prison.

It was life. It was Jordyn's life
right now. Jace was lodged in her mind and heart, even after everything Mr.
Strokner had showed her. It was completely out of character for her to learn
something so horrific and then try to justify it so that she didn't have to
give Jace up. Who in their right mind learns that someone they are sleeping
with is a long time murderer, but then continues to want to sleep with them?
What was wrong with her?

Her body longed for Jace. Outside
her apartment building, she heard the echo of a motorcycle. It grew louder and
Jordyn
’
s heart beat faster.
It meant that maybe Jace had survived today. Jordyn went to the window and the
motorcycle was pulling into the lot. He parked and climbed off, and Jordyn
anxiously waited for him to take his helmet and sunglasses off. When he did,
her body reacted in all the right ways.

She had the front door open before
Jace was even in the building. As soon as he saw her, he grabbed her by the
waist and pulled her close. First, a hug. Second, a kiss. A deep and delicious
kiss, one that left Jordyn desperate for air and for more of Jace
’
s mouth.

He was fucking amazing.

Jace put his hands to Jordyn
’
s face and pulled back from her.

“
How
was your day?
”
he asked.

There was sadness in his blue eyes.
Jordyn knew how much it bothered Jace that she was with Mr. Strokner. But she
couldn
’
t walk away now. She
was too close to getting down to the truth.

Of everything.

“
He
’
s insane, Jace,
”
Jordyn whispered. She closed
her eyes.
“
Absolutely
insane. He had a meeting with some big wig guys that want him to take land from
the club. They
’
re adamant
and Mr. Strokner is enjoying messing with them. But at the end of the meeting
…
he told me something...
”

“
Like
what?
”

She stared into his eyes.
“
He told me there
’
s bodies buried all over the land.
And that you guys put them all there."

“
Christ,
”
Jace whispered.
“
I
’
m
sorry. Did he
…
touch you?
”

“
Of
course he did.
”

“
I
fucking hate it,
”
Jace
said.
“
We
’
re ending this. No more.
”

“
I
have to,
”
Jordyn said.
“
I have to know more.
”

“
Why?
”

“
Am
I
…
am I with a murderer? Am
I going to end up losing everyone in my life?
”

Jace swallowed hard and gritted his
teeth to keep from yelling.
“
I
warned you what will happen if you ride with me. Now I can
’
t let you go. I have to protect
you until this is over.
”

“
Then
I need you to do something for me,
”
Jordyn said.

An idea had been in her mind for a
while now. After what happened today and the phone call about her grandmother,
Jordyn needed to take action. Even if Jace was going to hurt her or end up
dead, she couldn
’
t get
enough of him.

Jordyn closed her eyes and buried
her face into Jace
’
s hard
chest. He didn
’
t smell like
soap or cologne. He smelled of sweat, steel, exhaust, and danger. But it was
the hottest smell Jordyn could ever imagine. The attraction she had to Jace was
exactly what she had wished for her life. Now all she needed was her dream job
and forever with Jace.

Unfortunately, there was no blanket
of time with Jace. It was one breath at a time, never knowing whether the next
breath would come.

“
I
don
’
t want to be here,
”
Jordyn said.

“
I
didn
’
t come here to fucking
hang around, babe,
”
Jace
said with a grin.

They kissed again, Jordyn getting
carried away with her passion as she worried that it could end up being their
last one.

Once he assured her that all was
okay, they left on his motorcycle and she let the breeze take the day away.
They arrived at the clubhouse and it was probably the quietest Jordyn had ever
seen it. Just a handful of guys hung around. Jace had her by the hand and
walked around the corner to go down the hall when Miller appeared. He pointed
at Jace.

“
I
have to talk to Miller,
”
Jace said to Jordyn.

“
About
today?
”

“
Business.
”

“
Are
you going to tell him about Mr. Strokner?
”

“
Fuck,
I hate when you say his name like that. He doesn
’
t
deserve respect from anyone.
”

“
Sorry.
”

Jace turned Jordyn to face him.
“
Hey, listen to me. I have to
talk to Miller. The more I tell him the easier this all gets. Soon enough, it
’
ll be over. I
’
m telling you, babe. I
’
ve seen it my entire life in
this club. The storms come and never stop. They get worse by the day -
sometimes by the second - but we
’
re
strong enough to get through them all. And I believe you
’
re strong enough too, Jordyn.
”
Jace kissed her forehead and
then added,
“
Go down to the
room. Wait for me. Hell, get naked and either be under the covers or in the
shower.
”

Jordyn bit her lip as her cheeks
turned red. Jace made no attempt to whisper as he spoke, so when Jordyn turned
and walked away, Miller looked at her and said,
“
Have
fun.
”

That only made her face burn red
even more.

At the end of the hallway, she
looked back once and saw Jace leaning against the wall with one foot up. He
looked so cool. So badass. So sexy. Miller stood with his arms crossed,
listening.

Jordyn couldn
’
t hear what Jace was saying, but
she did hear something. It sounded like a muffled sound. Maybe a scream. Maybe
not. Jordyn moved to the left and listened some more. The sound came again. It
was definitely a muffled scream. She froze and touched her chest. Her heart was
pounding. She told herself it was nothing. To just turn and walk the hell away.
Mind her own business and go to Jace
’
s
room, as she was told to do. But part of her couldn
’
t stop thinking about everything Mr. Strokner had
told her about the land. Match that with the image of Jace shooting that man to
leave him bleed to death
…

Jordyn had to see what the sound
was. Maybe someone from Back Down Devil was in trouble. Or maybe someone from
Back Down Devil was hurting someone else. Jordyn hated having these thoughts
and doubts. When she heard the noise again, she peeked over her shoulder to
make sure nobody was near her.

She was alone in the hallway.

Her mouth ran dry as she took step
after step, creeping closer to the door that held the muffled sound. The closer
she got, the more the noise came. It was a scream, yes. It was muffled, yes.
But it sounded painful.

Jordyn tried to ask herself what
she would do when she opened the door and saw someone getting hurt. Would she
say something? Would she do something? Would she call for Jace?

The questions were rushing as fast
as her heart beat.

Jordyn put her hand the doorknob.
She turned it. The door was unlocked. She pushed the door open and let out a
shaky gasp, readying herself to see something terrifying and bloody.

What she saw was terrifying, but it
was anything but bloody.

It was Blaine
’
s room and he had company in his
bed. There was a naked woman on the bed, her wrists tied to the bedposts. She
was on her knees, bent over, Blaine behind her. She had a rope or something
like it in her mouth with Blaine holding the ends, pulling.

He looked at Jordyn with a big
smile on his face. He kept thrusting at the woman, which was the source of the
sound. The muffled scream wasn
’
t
a painful one at all.

Jordyn couldn
’
t move or look away.

“
Hey,
sweetheart,
”
Blaine called
out. He thrust forward and held there. He pulled on the rope and the woman
’
s head came back.
“
I like to fucking ride, get it?
”

“
I
’
m
…
sorry
…”

“
Don
’
t be. Come on in. I
’
ll put some reins on you next.
”

Blaine let out a laugh and then
pulled himself from the woman
’
s
body. Blaine let the rope go and the woman started to take deep breaths.
Gasping breaths. But she didn
’
t
move. She remained in place, open and exposed. Sweat glistened on Blaine
’
s chest as he laughed again.

“
You
have never seen something like this, huh?
”
Blaine asked.
“
That
’
s okay. I
’
ll be gentle. Fuck, you can watch if you want.
Watch me fuck her. Watch me make her come. Watch me come all over her
…”

“
No,
”
Jordyn said.
“
Fuck, no
…”

Jordyn took a step back and hit
something. She spun around and stared up at Jace as he stood in the doorway.

“
What
the fuck is this?
”
Jace
asked.

“
She
barged in, man,
”
Blaine
said.
“
I was just going for
a ride here.
”

“
Christ,
”
Jace said. He looked at Jordyn.
“
What the fuck
…
?
”

“
I
’
m sorry. I heard a noise. I came
to check.
”

“
You
heard her down the hall?
”
Blaine asked. He gave himself two thumbs up and laughed. He walked back to the
bed and grabbed the rope.
“
Now,
if you don
’
t mind, I have
to finish this
…”

Jace grabbed Jordyn and took her
from the room. He squeezed her arm tight as he pulled her towards his room. He
opened the door and shoved Jordyn inside. She could quickly tell that he was pissed.

“
Why
the fuck were you in Blaine
’
s
room?
”
he asked with fury.

“
I
told you, I heard a noise.
”

“
Why
the fuck does that matter to you?
”

“
I
thought
…
something was
wrong
…”

“
You
thought someone was getting fucking killed, didn
’
t
you?
”

Jordyn stiffened. She backed up to
the bed and slowly sat.
“
Jace
…”

“
No.
Fuck that. Fuck this then. I
’
ve
been drinking myself stupid for days, babe, worrying about you with Strokner.
Today was the first day I didn
’
t
get shit faced. I had to go on a ride and almost got killed by another crew. I
wanted to take them all out, but I held back. Because of you. And then I stand
here and look into your eyes and I see it.
”

“
What
do you see?
”
Jordyn asked.

Jace stepped toward her. He got a
few inches from her but he didn
’
t
touch her. He simply stared down at her as though she were the enemy. Jordyn
hated the feeling.

“
I
see the look,
”
Jace said.
“
You don
’
t know what to think about us. Because of what you
’
ve seen. And what you
’
ve heard. So
…
tell me
…
what is it?
”

“
I
’
m sorry,
”
Jordyn said.
“
Mr.
Str
…
he told me that there
were bodies buried on that piece of land. I saw you shoot someone. You just said
you wanted to kill someone today. You were going to hurt someone
’
s kid
…”