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

by London Casey

  I worried the second I heard Jim was going up against Carl.

  The two stood in the ring and the fight was called to start.

  Jim went right in, a smart plan, but not with Carl. As soon as he was within reach, Carl swung a left and got Jim in the shoulder. Jim stumbled and Carl attacked. There would be no love lost or care for Jim’s handicap. People were betting for Jim to lose because of his missing leg.

  Within seconds, Jim had a firm grip on the ropes and Carl started to work on Jim’s ribcage. Every time he hit Jim, Jim popped up off his good leg. He looked battered as he tried to scurry down the ropes.

  “Fuck,” I whispered.

  “No,” Belle said. “No…”

  Jim got to the corner and faced Carl. That was a dangerous spot to be because Carl could easily smother Jim.

  As Carl took a swing, Jim ducked and jumped out of the way. When his prosthetic leg hit the man, Jim turned, almost fell, grabbed the ropes with his right hand, and then swung with his left hand. He punched Carl in the mouth, enough to send Carl’s head snapping to the left.

  Jim stayed with him, hitting him again and again. There was only one problem and I saw it from a mile away. Jim was getting too confident. He thought he was in a boxing match. What he didn’t expect - or see - was that Carl took hold of the ropes with his left hand. Then Carl threw a right elbow and it connected right to Jim’s chin.

  I jumped up and got on the table as Jim toppled to the mat.

  Holy fuck… he’s knocked out…

  Before anyone could make a move, Jim’s head popped back up. His face was covered in blood. Carl turned and walked right to Jim. That’s when Jim finally realized the position he was in. This wasn’t some fuck around fight while training for the military. And it wasn’t just working out and having fun. This was literally life or death. This was war.

  Jim used his good leg and drove his ankle forward into Carl’s gut. Carl let out a groan and leaned forward. Jim sat up got Carl with two soft punches, but then he grabbed Carl’s hair and pulled forward, smashing his face off Carl’s face. The sound of thud echoed all around. The entire crowd let out a collective ooohhh sound. Carl fell to one knee. Jim hurried to kick back to the ropes and pulled himself up. He waited as Carl rose back, a smart move because Carl was known for insane uppercuts. One wrong move again and Jim could end up on his back for good. And then Ivan would take him and I didn’t want to think what that guy would do to my best friend. It wouldn’t be a quick death. No way in hell. Ivan thrived off pain.

  The fight continued with both men back on their feet.

  “Come on, man,” I said.

  I felt Belle clutching at my leg. I looked down at her and reached for her. I pulled her up on the table and put my arm around her.

  Jim and Carl traded a few heavy punches with equal force. They were both starting to feel it. Carl took a little lead, hitting Jim with a one-two that sent him back. Jim wisely used the ropes and corners to his need, bouncing in and out Carl’s attacks.

  But then Carl got Jim in the gut. The punch hit hard and I saw the air leave Jim’s face. Carl hit him with a left, right combo and Jim was far away from the ropes. As Jim started to go back I saw everything around me collapsing. My best friend. My girl. My club. It all being set on fire.

  Carl swung one more time and Jim grabbed at Carl’s arm. Not only did he stop the punch he kept himself from falling. Jim turned the momentum around and went right at Carl, hitting him in the nose. Carl’s arms flew open and Jim unleashed a combination of punches that I wasn’t sure I could even pull off. He found his balance and started to dance around Carl, forcing him to stumble and take swings with no target.

  When Carl had about two seconds left in him, Jim put his fists down and stood there.

  “What the hell is he doing?” Trev shouted.

  I had no idea.

  Carl started to reach for Jim with those long arms of his. Jim swatted Carl’s arms away. Then Jim let out a scream I’d never forget. It was the nightmare scream that had been inside him since the day shit blew up overseas. The split second decision to save who he could and not being able to save Bill.

  Jim jumped forward off both feet and smashed the top of his head into Carl. He hit Carl so hard the big guy lifted off his feet (something I’d never seen before with Carl) and sent Carl through the ropes and out of the ring.

  Jim ended up crashing into the ropes and dangling there.

  There was complete silence all around.

  Everyone waited to see what Carl was going to do.

  In my mind I let ten seconds go by and that was enough.

  I cupped my hands around my mouth and shouted, “Call the fucking thing!”

  And that’s when the fight was called.

  Carl was knocked out cold outside the ring.

  Jim had fucking done it.

  I looked down at Trev and Jasper. They were smiling ear to ear. The rest of the Back Down Devil MC guys were cheering, jumping up and down. Somewhere in the thick of the crowd Ivan, Peter, and their men were there. They saw the fight and they were about to get paid a lot of money. And we’d be able to give them their sixty-five grand that they wanted.

  And life would move forward.

  I jumped off the table and helped Belle down.

  Kye and Tristan got Jim out of the ring and brought him to the table.

  I could feel the mood of the crowd starting to swell. There were a lot of people who lost cash on the fight. So it was key to now cash in and get the fuck out of there.

  “Jim,” I said, and grabbed his shoulders. “You did it, man.”

  “I did it,” Jim said.

  “We have to get out of here,” Trent said.

  People were starting to throw beer bottles at the ring. A few more fights were scheduled but Jim’s was the biggest.

  “Everyone stay right here,” I called out. “I’ll go get the money.”

  “I’ll go!” Trev yelled.

  “Fuck that, Prez!” I shouted back. “You stay here. Stay safe.”

  “I’m coming with you, brother,” Kye said.

  That was fine.

  Me and Kye pushed through the crowd.

  The plan was simple. Get back to the clubhouse and arrange to meet with Ivan. Once that was settled then we’d make the necessary calls to the PD to ensure the land deal was falling apart for good.

  It was going to be busy so we had to move fast.

  There was a small building that handled all the money. We showed up looking like the bad guys. The amount of money we had won off Jim’s fight was a huge amount. The money was all stacked up in thick bricks of cash and put into a bag. Not quite a cheap shopping bag but definitely not some nice briefcase either. I took the bag and trusted the count. All eyes were on me and Kye. Last thing we needed was to get jumped or heisted with money owned to Ivan (for the second time).

  I tucked the bag under my arm and we walked toward the outside of the crowd. We got to the perimeter where the crowd thinned out. I kept my other hand near my gun just in case I needed it.

  We made it a few steps before Kye stopped me.

  He pointed toward the crowd.

  There was a fight going on outside the ring. There had to have been twenty people going to town on each other. I carefully considered my options. The key was to get to Belle. I regretted not bringing her with me to the get the cash. All I could hope for was that she’d be safe…

  My thoughts were rattled at the sound of an explosion.

  Kye grabbed me and we went to the ground.

  The entire crowd started to break up with screams and yells.

  Black smoke billowed into the air, mushrooming over itself.

  Someone had just attacked the fight.

  And Belle was nowhere to be found.

  chapter thirty.

  (belle)

  I lost hearing for a few seconds. It came back with a heavy buzzing sound. I looked around and people were running all around me. People bouncing into me, knocking me back. Som
eone grabbed my arm and I turned to see Trent. He had a weak grip on me and an army of people broke us apart. I heard screaming and watched as the crowd swelled even more. It was like being swallowed up in a wave at the ocean.

  I heard someone scream my name and saw Jim.

  I pushed against the crowd but stood no chance.

  Jim plowed forward and managed to grab my hand.

  “Run!” he yelled.

  I went with the motion of the crowd. People everywhere. Nobody I knew except my brother. I tried to look around, desperate to see Duke, but I wasn’t tall enough. People scattered to their cars, motorcycles, whatever vehicles they had. Fights started to break out again, everyone wanting a piece of each other. I felt like I had stepped into the middle of a riot.

  Then I heard gunshots.

  I looked at Jim. His head swiveled left to right.

  “We have to go,” he said. “We have to bolt out of here right now.”

  “I have to find Duke,” I said. “I can’t…”

  “Fuck! I couldn’t find Maggie! She was with the other guys. With Cade and Max. Fuck!”

  “Maybe she stayed with them. Let’s go find them, Jim.”

  “No,” he said. “We have to get out of here. Belle, trust me.”

  Jim pulled at me and I had no choice but to go with him. We started to run, staying near a fence. I didn’t ask if he had a motorcycle or a car, not that it mattered. As long as we had a way out of there to get back to the clubhouse. I hoped that Duke would do the same. Knowing him, he’d look for me and end up getting hurt.

  We ran for what felt like an hour.

  I finally looked back one last time, praying I would see Duke.

  Of course, I fucking tripped over my own two feet.

  My hand slipped from Jim’s and down to the ground I went.

  My knees hurt and throbbed in pain. I hurried to reach up and felt someone grab my hand. I looked and saw tattoos on the hand and knew it wasn’t Jim’s. I tried to pull away but the grip was fierce. I looked up and into the eyes of a man who had murder pouring from them. Jim came up behind the guy ready to hurt the man but a second later someone tackled Jim.

  He went flying into the fence and the guy punched him, knocking him down.

  I was then pulled to my feet and an arm wrapped around my throat.

  I tried to kick back but it was no use.

  “Easy, fine pussy,” a voice said in my ear. “You’re my payday.”

  “Let me go!” I screamed.

  I felt pressure against my throat and couldn’t get away. Heat rushed through my face and within seconds I had nothing but tunnel vision. I threw my arms out, reaching for nothing but a false sense of freedom.

  Then the world went black.

  thirty-one.

  (duke)

  I punched my way through the goddamn crowd. Nothing was going to stop me from getting to Belle. Behind me Kye was yelling at me to stop acting like an asshole. The crowd finally started to thin out a little from everyone charging. Right next to the ring there was a small fire. Tables were flipped over. The placed looked chaotic. Someone had set off some kind of bomb. But why?

  There were people on the crowd, hurt, bloody, calling for help.

  Someone screamed my name and I whipped so hard to the left I thought my neck was going to break.

  I saw Maggie on her ass, holding her knee.

  I ran to her and dropped down.

  “Maggie! Are you okay?”

  “My knee,” she said. “I fell. I got lost. Where is everyone?”

  “I don’t know,” I said. “I went to get the money… shit. You don’t know where Belle is?”

  “No. She was with Trent and Jim. Jim said he was coming to get me…”

  I helped her to her feet. She hobbled a little but had her balance. I heard the cry of sirens way off in the distance. I looked at Kye. We both knew if we were anywhere in the vicinity of the place when the police showed up we’d get tagged for it.

  “Come on, Maggie,” I said. “We have to get out of here.”

  My heart was in my throat, pounding hard.

  There was no sign of Belle anywhere. But there was also no sign of anyone else from the MC either. That meant they were all on their way back to the clubhouse.

  I got Maggie to my ride and helped her on. Kye was right next to me. The rest of the motorcycles were gone. Another good sign. Hell, a great fucking sign. The entire MC had gotten out of there.

  We started to ride and I felt slightly better.

  I throttled my ride and rode as hard as I could back to the clubhouse. Lucky for me and Kye we dodged anything to do with the police. We were far gone by the time they arrived to the site. And even then, nothing would come of it. Just a bunch of unruly bikers throwing fists and someone blew something up. The only big deal would be if someone died, and even then, it wasn’t on Back Down Devil MC’s shoulders to bear that weight.

  I turned to go into the lot and saw the guys all standing around a table. Trev looked up and saw me. He stepped forward and then ran a hand through his hair. I saw Jasper on a phone. He looked livid.

  I stopped the motorcycle and jumped off. I felt bad for leaving Maggie hanging.

  I charged forward and yelled, “Where the fuck is my Belle?”

  Trev put his hands out and stopped me. I almost took him out I had been charging with such force.

  “They want the earnings,” Trev said.

  “What? What are you talking about?”

  Jasper screamed motherfucker into the phone and then ended the call.

  He turned and looked at me and Trev. “We do this right now.”

  “Do what?” I asked.

  “Duke, take it easy,” Trev said.

  “Prez…”

  “Hell Five,” he said. “Police found the body and opened an investigation. That’s the good. The bad is that Hell Five were undercover at the fight. They did that to create a distraction. They grabbed Jim and Belle. They want the money from the fight.”

  I took a step back.

  I had taken Belle from her house to protect her but now she was taken from me anyway.

  “Give it to them,” I said. “Right now. Where are they?”

  “I’ve got the location,” Jasper said. “We have to approach…”

  I turned and started to run. I pointed to Maggie. “Get the hell inside, Maggie. Stay there!”

  “Where’s Jim?” she asked.

  “I’m going to get him.”

  She grabbed my arm and I shook her away.

  “Belle… where is she?”

  “With Jim.”

  “Save her,” Maggie said.

  “No shit,” I growled and climbed on my ride. “Nothing is going to get her. I’ll die to save her.”

  “You really love her?” Maggie asked.

  “Of course I fucking love her,” I said. “I’ve loved her my entire life. I fucked up before but not again. This time, I’m making it right. Even if I lose the war.”

  I started my motorcycle and had nothing else to say.

  I sped out of the lot, my brothers hurrying to tail me. I couldn’t go far because Jasper knew the location.

  I should have thought it all out better. The Hell Five were desperate. I never thought in my wildest dreams they’d pull a stunt like this though. But I got it. They were on the verge of losing everything.

  Then again, I was on the verge of losing everything.

  **

  We stopped a little bit away from the small building. It was a shipping office that had seen much better days. It used to be a used car lot but after changing its name five times to five different foreign families, it was shut down for good. A local shipping company ate it up on the cheap and made it a small office since it was close enough to a northern port. That shipping company took a turn for the worse after not working closely with the Irish O’Nuall family so they were all but shut down, leaving the building barely used.

  My first thought was that the O’Nuall family was somehow t
ied to this. That was scary to imagine. But first things first - save Belle and Jim.

  I was walking the second my feet hit the ground. Trev darted in front of me and grabbed a handful of my shirt.

  “Hey,” he growled. “We go in there like assholes and we’re going to lose it all.”

  “She’s in there. What would you do if it was Eden?”

  “The same thing you are,” Trev said. “But I’m here to tell you to calm the fuck down. Take it slow. Understand what we’re up against.”

  “Do you have the money?” Jasper asked.

  I nodded. “We’re solid. Are we just giving it up?”

  “If that’s what we have to do to get your girl back,” Jasper said.

  Damn, talk about hitting me in the heart. My brothers, club, my Prez even, all standing up for me and Belle. We were going to be in a big hole without that money for the Russians, but if I had Belle, I could survive anything.

  “So what’s the plan?” I asked.

  “What do you want to do?” Trev asked.

  “I want to kick in the fucking door,” I said. “And do whatever I need to do to make sure Belle and Jim survive.”

  “Then let’s do it,” Jasper said. “Keep our heads on straight. If they strip us of weapons, listen. Just approach with caution and do whatever they say.”

  “That’s who you talked to?” I asked.

  “I spoke with Carlo,” Trev said. “It’s pretty clear to them that we set up their land deal to fail. He’s pissed. We knew it was coming. Just not like this.”

  “I’ll lead,” I said. “If they want to kill someone, they can kill me.”

  I started to walk forward and Trev called for me.

  Not this time, Prez.

  I couldn’t just stand there and let it all happen feet away. Inside that office was Belle. Jim. My girl. My best friend. My life. Everything I had known when I was growing up. They were my first family, the MC my second family.

  I walked to the chain linked fence and eyed the place. The front door opened and one of the Hell Five came out. It was Leto. He was holding a handgun in his hand. He looked around. I dropped a little to hide, good enough that he didn’t see me. Checking his watch, he turned and walked back in.