Welcome to world of BACK DOWN DEVIL MOTORCYCLE CLUB
~
A romance novel by London Casey
London Casey is the pen name for bestselling romance author Karolyn James
Sign up for the official Karolyn James newsletter and you’ll never miss a new release!
Sign up here – www.tinyurl.com/KJSignup
Stay social with Karolyn James here…
www.KarolynJames.wordpress.com
On Twitter @KarolynWrites
https://www.facebook.com/KarolynJamesAuthor
SAVAGE LOVE
A Back Down Devil MC Novel
He’s not afraid to be a man… now he has to be a father – to a child that isn’t his.
Wearing the President’s patch for Back Down Devil MC comes with enough danger, but now Miller is waging a war of revenge on one of the most prominent figures in town. A man who wears a badge and who has turned his back on the club. What’s at stake goes far beyond the present and future… this is to settle a damaged past…
Because of one woman.
Ella never understood why Miller left her. Why he just disappeared into the night all those years ago, only to return bigger and meaner than ever. Years stripped them apart as she married Jerry and had his baby. But it’s all a lie. Her heart remains with one man, but how can she get him to accept her now…
All it takes is one moment to change everything. When Ella shows up to the clubhouse with a baby, Miller knows this is his chance to not only protect the one woman he’s ever loved, but to become the man he always knew he could be. While the baby staring at him doesn’t share his blood, Miller vows to share his love with the young life. The only problem… Miller must kill the baby’s father first.
one.
Miller wrapped his hand around the woman’s hair and lifted her away from him. He was done. She wasn’t needed anymore. He sucked on a cigar, took a sip of whiskey from the bottle, and then pointed to the door.
“Out,” he growled.
The woman licked her lips, fixed her hair, and left the conference room.
Normally there wasn’t supposed to be anything but club business at the table, but Miller was the goddamn President of Back Down Devil MC. He could do whatever he wanted.
Zipping his jeans, Miller took another swig of whiskey. He looked across the table - his table - and shook his head. He replayed the entire scene again and again. He and Griffin sitting there, having a beer. Reflecting on all the messes that had come to Frelen. From the crooked judge who had been buried all the way to a guy the MC once considered a friend. The Chief of Police in Frelen, Jerry. And it was Jerry who was who snuck into the lot and it was Jerry who had a rifle. And it was fucking Chief Jerry who pulled the trigger and killed Griffin.
A table member.
Miller didn’t want to think about the last time a table member had been killed. It was the worst tragedy he could think of and the ultimate showing of disrespect to the MC. Yet the path going forward had to be carefully traveled. This wasn’t some gang or rival MC that Back Down Devil could just wipe out. This was the local PD. This was the chief.
They took one of my brothers.
Miller swallowed the lump in his throat. He felt like flipping the table. Breaking it. Cutting it. Shooting up the goddamn room. But now, more than ever, everyone out in the clubhouse needed a leader. Yeah, the woman and the whiskey would patch up the wounds a little, but not enough. The entire MC was a ticking time bomb. If a war broke out between the MC and the police department, it wouldn’t end well. Fuck, everything was going to end badly, no matter what.
Slowly, Miller stood. He walked along the table until he got to Griffin’s seat. He touched the chair. The son of a bitch had been overweight and a pain in the ass. He spoke his mind too much but was fiercely loyal to the patch, the club, and anyone who he considered a brother.
No member deserved that kind of death.
A bullet to the neck. Blood spraying. Dead in a minute.
“Shit,” Miller said.
The conference room door opened and Gaige entered. He shut the door behind him.
“It’s almost time,” he said. “Coffin’s here.”
“Okay,” Miller said.
“You got everything ready to go?”
“I’m good, Gaige. Thanks. Remember my cut, okay? I don’t need a fucking backseat driver.”
“But you need a VP. That’s why I’m here.”
Miller rubbed his chin. This wasn’t the time and place to let emotions run wild. He crossed his arms. “This is fucked up.”
“This is what we thought was going to happen,” Gaige said. “Not Griffin, but, you know, everything else.”
Miller nodded. “I’m trying really hard to keep the word war out of my mind. But goddammit, that’s what this is all becoming. After what we went through with Eight Under MC. Then taking down Strokner. Now we’re going to take on our biggest ally.”
“We’ll find another one,” Gaige said. “A man like Jerry isn’t sane. You know that. He’s lost his edge. And he lost his ally when we took down that judge. He wants to cash out, but he’s not going without a fight.”
“I know that, Gaige.”
“You know what it means.”
“What does it mean?” Miller asked, gritting his teeth. Goddamn, he just wanted to punch something. Fight someone. Kill.
“He’s not going to make it out alive.”
Miller had already made his peace with that the second he looked into Jerry’s eyes as he backed out of the lot after killing Griffin. The only problem was what Jerry was going to leave behind. A wife and a kid. A wife that Miller had a history with. A kid that meant nothing to him but didn’t deserve the kind of life it was going to live. Maybe it was easy to just put a bullet in Chief Jerry’s head and deal with the rest later, but Miller couldn’t imagine hurting Ella. Again.
“Call a meeting,” Miller said. “I want the table full.” He then looked down at Griffin’s seat. “Well, almost full.”
Gaige left the conference room.
In a matter of seconds, all the guys started to pile into the room. They all went to their seats, standing. Nobody sat until Miller said so. They were all standing out of respect for Griffin.
Miller grabbed his chair and pushed it away. He then nodded. “You all sit. Right now.”
To his left was VP Gaige. To his right was Blaine. A loyal and sick in the head man. Blaine’s face looked drawn and hurt. He stared at the empty seat, his hands made into fists.
Then there was the rest of the table members. Nate, Shay, Erik, Landon, Jace. All of them had been through hell and back for Back Down Devil. All of them were ready to go right back into the flames again.
“I know we have revenge in our hearts,” Miller said. “We have our fingers on the trigger. I know we’re all telling ourselves the life sentence behind bars is worth it to just get the motherfucker. For that, I praise you all. We’d die for each other. We’d die for our fallen brother. Just like he did for us. Sometimes we face questions that have no answers. Maybe that’s the hardest part of living this life. The way we can run alongside death, giving her the finger, and yet she strikes when we least expect it.”
Miller let the words filter through the room. He glanced at the empty seat. Tradition would have the MC go through a mourning period. They’d get angry, pick fights, drink a lot, fuck women, and work through the pain. Circumstances were very different now. The seat needed to get filled sooner than later. To gear up for what was about to go down.
There were words Miller wanted to say but couldn’t. Because there were too many goddamn ears.
“So now we have to go face one of our brother’s last rides. Griffin gets his rest. His memory will live on throughout this clubhouse forever. While we can’t ever forget him and what he gave to all of us, we can’t hold on. I have to speak harsh words as this club’s President and hear this fucking clear as day. We can’t hold on. We need to let go and look forward.”
Miller motioned and everyone stood up. He pointed to Griffin’s seat. Everyone at the table started to nod, clap, cheer. Everyone started to bump fists, hug, anything to tighten up the loose ends of brotherhood. They all knew the next bullet could be for any of them. Christ, Miller knew it in his heart that he was just a foot away from Griffin when the bullet flew. It could have been Miller. Maybe it should have been.
The table stayed active with everyone cheering, talking, listening to Miller’s words. Miller knew if he didn’t keep the guys under control all hell would break loose. Right now it was about control, then revenge.
As the guys started to pass around a drink, Miller turned and motioned for both Gaige and Blaine.
They huddled close.
“I would never doubt you,” Miller said to Gaige. “But we’re sure about this?”
“One hundred fucking percent. I watched it happen.”
“We’ll need a cut to make this right,” Miller said.
“Let’s get through it first,” Blaine said.
“You’re good?” Miller asked Blaine.
“Just emptied my dick out in some woman out there. Wild thing out there. Right in the hallway. Probably still standing there, dripping.”
“Good to know,” Gaige said.
“Back on topic,” Miller said. “You know what you have to do?”
“I’m all over it.”
“You have to take care of your breathing,” Miller said. “Take it easy and not panic.”
“Hey, there’s only one thing that could ever make me panic,” Blaine said. He put a hand to Miller’s shoulder and grinned. “You know what that is?”
“What, Blaine?” Miller asked.
“Why’d you ask?” Gaige groaned.
“The only thing that could ever make me panic is if my cock couldn’t get hard. Anything else? Bring it the fuck on.”
Miller nodded.
Bring it the fuck on.
That was the plan. And one thing Miller knew for sure.
Bullets were about to fly.
two.
Miller stood and stared down at the black coffin. Sleek and shiny, the final resting place for Griffin. It was something to look at a coffin. A reminder that everyone would end up there. Some sooner than others. Some of the guys would get a full life in the MC and then hand in their cuts for something else. Good for them. They could live on with high blood pressure, heart attacks, memory loss, or any of the scary shit that waited for those who lived normal.
Some of the guys would ride with their cuts on right in the fire and die proud.
In the back of Miller’s mind he thought about Ella. Chief Jerry’s wife. There was a time when he called her Anne, her middle name, because it was fun to tease her. There was a time when Miller took her into the mountains on his motorcycle, camped out all night, and let the heat between them burn hotter than the fire they roasted marshmallows over.
Making fists, Miller felt a tightness in his chest.
All he ever wanted was a good, easy life for Ella. She was worthy of that.
Miller checked his cell and then the time.
This was protocol right now. The President gets a few minutes with the coffin and the body before the rest of the guys come through to do the same. They were in a small cathedral in the middle of the cemetery. The rest of the guys should have been closer but Miller ordered them away. He ordered them up to the top of the ridge, to wait near Griffin’s grave, along with other members who had died wearing the cut.
All of it was on purpose.
There was a subtle knock on the door.
It’s time.
Miller looked back. “Open the door.”
A prospect opened the door. “Sir?”
“Come over here,” Miller said.
“Okay.”
The prospect approached. Miller put a hand to the coffin. “You see this?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Would you end up here for the patch?”
“Of course, sir.”
Miller gritted his teeth. The prospect started to sweat. A dead give away for everything. Miller’s other hand was balled into a fist. He felt like swinging right now, knocking the fucker’s teeth out.
“You good here?” Miller asked. “You look a little nervous.”
“Death,” the prospect said. “It’s scary.”
“It’s our life,” Miller said. “This is where we all end up. Just depends on how and when. You can’t live forever, kid. Don’t let anyone sell you that shit. And if they do, don’t buy it.”
The prospect swallowed hard and nodded.
“Get the fuck out of here,” Miller said. “I’m ready.”
The prospect sprung fast. He left and then Miller readied himself. Shit was about go down in three… two… one…
The door flew open and Miller kept his back to the intruders. It was two Coast Road MC guys. Thick with fake muscle, heavy with a live forever attitude since they aligned themselves with Chief Jerry.
As Miller turned, a gun smacked off the side of his face. He stumbled to the side, falling to one knee. Two guns were pointed at him.
“You’re getting buried today too,” one of them said. “Fucking losers.”
Miller rubbed his jaw.
All the info from Gaige had obviously been right. The prospect had been dirty and had been feeding information to Coast Road MC.
But what they didn’t know…
“Sorry, guys,” Miller said as he stood. “You’re the ones getting fucked.”
With that, the lid to the coffin opened.
The look on the Coast Road guys was simply terrified. They turned white and looked, amazed that a corpse was coming back to life. Like something out of a horror movie.
Except there wasn’t a corpse in the coffin. Griffin’s body was still at the funeral home, right where it belonged for now.
It was Blaine.
He grinned and lifted the semi automatic weapon and pulled the trigger, littering the two Coast Road MC members with bullets. They dropped their guns and shook as the bullets tore through them, sending them back against the wall.
One of the guys was dead, the other gurgling as he sat there, his fingers digging into his cut up flesh.
“I’ll take care of that for you,” Miller said.
He took out a handgun and put a bullet between the guy’s eyes.
A second later, the prospect opened the door and then stopped dead in his tracks.
Miller grabbed the guy by the shirt and pulled him into the room. The prospect started to throw up, falling to his knees, crying.
“What a pussy,” Blaine said as he climbed out of the coffin. He wiped his forehead. “It’s fucking hot in that thing, man.”
“I can only imagine.”
“You know, it’s not the first time I’ve been in a coffin.”
“Oh?” Miller asked.
“Crazy goth chick asked me to fuck her in a coffin. So I did.”
Miller raised an eyebrow.
“Please… sir…”
Miller looked down at the prospect. He swung his foot and kicked the prospect in the stomach.
“What’s your name, son?” Miller growled.
“Steven.”
Miller crouched down and grabbed Steven by the shirt. “Take that cut off right now.”
“Yes, sir.” The prospect took the cut off and put his hands out, shaking. “I didn’t know what to do. Okay? He approached me. He told me he was going to put my brother in jail.”
“Who did?” Miller asked.
“The chief.”
“Jerry?”
“Yes.”
&
nbsp; “Explain it all, prospect.”
“My brother has a drug problem. We’ve been on the streets our entire lives. Chief Jerry said if I helped him with this, he’d get my brother cleaned up. For free. Keep him out of the system again. So I thought I could, you know, just help. That’s why I came back in. I was going to bust it up. Fuck it up. I don’t know.”
“You fucking rat,” Blaine said. He clicked his teeth together and wrinkled his nose. “Fucking rat.”
“What about the guy who told you!” Steven yelled. “He ratted me out.”
“He was honoring the cut,” Miller said. “Now stand the fuck up.”
Miller lifted the prospect up. He looked at Blaine and gave a nod. Blaine made a fist and then spit on it. He swung and punched the prospect right in the jaw. Steven spun and fell toward the coffin. He screamed and cried, holding his jaw.
“Now what?” Blaine asked.
“Put him in,” Miller ordered.
“You got it, boss,” Blaine said.
“No! I can tell you more! Anything!” Steven yelled.
Blaine lifted Steven into the coffin and shut the lid. He then jumped up and sat on it. Steven screamed and punched, kicking, trying to fight his way out.
“Fuck,” Blaine said. “He’s going to lose air fast. I had to slow my breathing. I just imagined tits in my face. Big, monster tits.”
“Give it a rest, Blaine,” Miller said.
He then opened the door and gave out a whistle. The rest of the Back Down Devil guys came rushing toward the room. Most of them had been informed of the rat prospect just about an hour ago. That was simply damage control for Miller to keep the situation under wraps.
“Whoa,” Erik said when he saw the Eight Under guys on the floor.
“Chief Jerry did this,” Miller said. “He pulled our prospect and tried to make an offer. The guy was dumb enough to take it.”
“Fuck,” Gaige said.
“I want all prospects to be put on guard,” Miller said.
“That’s like herding sheep,” Jace said.
“I don’t care,” Miller said. “I gave a fucking order. Every prospect in the lot at all times. They’re guarded there and they never leave. Understand?”
“Got it,” Nate said and put a big hand to Jace’s shoulder and squeezed.
“What about this prick?” Gaige asked and pointed to the coffin.
SAVAGE LOVE (A Back Down Devil MC Romance Novel) Page 1