Layne being Layne, he didn’t linger once he was done. He quickly put his hands to my waist and pulled out of me. He stepped back and tucked his dick away. Being the biker gentlemen he was, he grabbed my panties and jeans and tossed them at the sink.
He walked to the door and unlocked it. Glancing back, he said, “Get dressed. I’m sure our food is done. And if you cry one more time when I’m trying to ask you questions, you’re not going to make it back to the clubhouse tonight.”
A stern warning from a sexy man.
He slammed the door shut and I just sat there. Naked from the waist down. My legs still spread. My body throbbing. My hands holding the edges of the sink yet again.
I felt like I could cry. And I should have cried again. I should have broken down and just lost it for good.
But I didn’t.
I smiled.
I liked Layne.
11.
(Layne)
I ate the burger in four monster bites. The entire time I ate it, I had an asshole watching me. Some fuck at the bar switching his gaze from me to the bathroom. Back and forth, probably wondering if I killed Shelby.
If I had killed her, it wasn’t this guy’s business. If I had killed her, Pep would take care of the evidence for me. If I had killed her.
Then again, if I had killed her, there wouldn’t have been screams. I would have just fucking done it. Bang. Done. Dead.
I pounded my beer and Pep was already working on the refill.
He carried it over to me, his lanky body swaying as he walked.
He slammed the mug down. “Burger good?”
“Fucking great.”
“Told’ya. Motherfucker.”
“You like that word, huh?”
“Da fuck is your old lady?” he asked, ignoring my question.
“She’s not my old lady,” I said. “She’s in the bathroom. We had an argument. Some people don’t like the truth.”
Pep grinned. “Ah, yeah. Yeah, yeah.”
I caught the guy at the bar looking again.
That was enough for me.
I pushed from the table. “Excuse me, Pep.”
“What’cha doing?” he bellowed.
I walked to the guy. He turned in his barstool and stiffened. I could have shot but I had some kind of class somewhere inside me. So I kicked one of the legs on the barstool, sending him to the ground. I put my foot on his throat.
“Stop looking at me,” I said. “Got that?”
He nodded fast. Eyes wide.
I took my foot off his throat and went back to the table.
“Motherfucker!” Pep yelled.
He stepped to the guy and kicked him in the ribs. Then he walked back around the bar like nothing had happened.
The bathroom door finally opened and Shelby came out. She walked to the table with a total strut of what you’d call a walk of shame. Trying to look invisible but that was impossible in the bar. Trying to act as though she hadn’t been screaming and yelling because of my tongue and cock.
It actually made me smile to watch.
Shelby took her seat. She sipped her beer. Took a bite of her burger.
“Talk,” I said.
“Fine,” she said. “I don’t know what you want me to say. Here’s what I know. Finn and Rex didn’t see eye to eye.”
“Shocker.”
“Yeah. Finn hates everyone, but his instincts are usually spot on. They argued about guns and drugs. I think Rex didn’t want to believe that there was a rat in the MC. So they argued and Rex demanded to go to the Mountain Killers. Finn called everyone off and Rex went alone.”
“That’s treason.”
“Yeah, well… it worked out, didn’t it? You’re here.”
I grinned. I kind of liked when Shelby talked bold.
“They sent back Rex’s cut and hand. It’s pretty sick to think about. The old President out there. Dead, but still.”
“Yeah,” I said. “And your old man and the mafia?”
“My father used to ride a motorcycle, you know,” Shelby said. “I remember that. He met with guys in suits, yeah, but that was such a long time ago. After my mother left, I was basically on my own. My father was working long hours. Plain clothes stuff. I don’t know when he became Sheriff because I left as soon as I was legally able to do so. I went to San Diego with some friends. It was amazing. They were such good people and had good families. They all accepted me, but I felt empty. Like I was adopted. Like they were so nice to me because I was the poor girl with no family. They shared stories that had nothing to do with me and I hated it. So I started thinking about my mother. I had to find her. I had no idea where to start because when I looked up her name there was nothing. It was like she didn’t exist or something. I mean, she probably changed her name and everything. I don’t know. I had a small picture of her. That’s where my notebook started. I taped the picture inside and started figuring it out. I kind of had no choice but to come back to Oakville. I tried to talk to my father and he was… I just fell in the same trap.”
“Why?” I asked.
“He was living like shit. No house. No money. Living in a trailer with guns and moldy food. It broke my heart. He told me I broke his heart when I left. So I stayed. And I just got stuck.”
“What happened?”
Shelby swallowed hard. “He told me there were people that wanted us all dead. That I was better off in Oakville. That if I wanted to find out about my mother I needed to do it on my own and Devil Call MC would be a good place to start.”
“He told you to go to the MC?”
“Yeah.”
“Has he ever asked you for information?”
“No.”
I took a deep breath. I reached across the table and took Shelby by the hands. “Listen, sweetheart. I’m giving you my word right now… if you did give him info, I won’t kill you. You have one chance for honesty.”
“No, Layne. I swear. He’s never asked for information about the MC. He asks about me, my job, money, that stuff, yes. But to ask about the MC? No.”
I stared at her.
Goddammit, I believed her.
I shouldn’t have believed her, but I did.
I took my hands back. “Okay. So why do you think he wanted you in the MC?”
“I don’t know. I just went with it. Because the guys know things. I have notes. My mother is somewhere between here and Nevada. Maybe working in Vegas under a different name. Brett has been a help.”
“He knows about your quest?”
“Yeah. So does Finn.”
I nodded. I felt a little jealous and got pissed at myself for it. I couldn’t let jealousy get inside me now. No fucking way.
“Has the mafia ever approached you?” I asked.
“No.”
“So today they just showed up… killed Mack… took me… beat the shit out of me… fucked with my head…”
“Fucked with your head?” Shelby asked.
I had the pieces of paper in my pocket. A name and address with a blurry black and white picture on it. And then the other piece of paper… the one that had to be a lie.
We have your blood. That’s what Nicolas said. Fuck.
“You okay?” Shelby asked.
“Fine,” I said. I ran a hand through my hair and drank my beer. “That notebook of yours…”
“I have it with me. You could see it. I don’t care. I have nothing to hide, Layne. I promise.”
Goddamn, I believed her again.
“You understand what I’m walking into, right?” I asked. “I’m here to take everything over and part of that is taking over the bad shit, too.”
Shelby reached across the table and took my hands now.
“I’m not part of the bad shit,” she whispered.
She took one hand away and reached for her bag. She took out a small notebook and slid it across the table. I touched it, almost tempted to not look.
But I had to look. I had to see what was in there and what I could use from it.
<
br /> It was part of my job, the survival and protection of the Devil Call MC patch.
I flipped the notebook open and saw the small picture Shelby had taped there.
Of her mother.
Of…
“Donna,” I whispered.
“How do you know her name?” Shelby asked.
I looked up, a lump in my throat.
I opened my mouth to answer.
The first sound was a ping.
Then there was about a thousand of that sound.
I grabbed the table and threw it to the right. I grabbed Shelby and pulled her to the floor. Someone was shooing up Pep’s bar. The sound was constant, a fucking machine gun style tearing through the windows and…
I looked up for a second, holding Shelby to the ground.
The guys from the bar were on the ground, covering their heads. One guy jumped up and started to run to the back. Bullets tore through his back and neck out the front of his throat. He kept running, even after he was dead.
Pep stood defiantly at the bar, his big .357 in his hand. He held it out, shooting. I yelled for Pep to get the fuck down. I didn’t finish my sentence before he was sent stumbling back as bullets penetrated his old skin.
Like the spirit of a fucking tornado, the sound, the destruction, the death, was gone as fast as it came. I jumped to my feet and looked out one of the broken windows. One of the neon lights that hadn’t been busted up swung gently left to right. It cast enough light for me to see the shooter as he ran away.
I should have chased him, but I was in shock.
He wore a leather cut. And the leather cut had the Devil Call MC logo on it.
“Layne?”
I looked down at Shelby. She was shaking.
I offered her my hand, bringing another truth to life.
The fucking picture in her notebook… it was the same picture on the piece of paper in my pocket.
The mafia had me commissioned to kill Shelby’s mother.
~*~
Nicolas finished his drink and swirled the ice around in the glass. He gently placed the glass on the end table. A fire next to him crackled with soothing comfort. It may not have been true fireplace weather, but up in the mountains the weather got cool enough to warrant a fire.
To his left, Nicolas lifted a piece of paper.
They found her.
The message came across through Tommy’s cousin, Tony. He had been roughing it on the street, pulling in some grunt work. Always able to shake anyone down - even for a damn dime - Tony loved to raise hell.
They weren’t going to take her out though. That was up to Layne to decide. To see where his strengths, weakness, and loyalty existed.
Nicolas stood from the couch and walked to the fire. He leaned forward and dropped the paper onto the flames. The paper curled up and was gone in seconds.
Layne would make the decision. If he could pull this off, then it was a good start for some trust.
Perhaps.
There was a knock at the door.
Nicolas looked over his shoulder. “Come in.”
The door opened and Tyson stepped into the room, adjusting his tie. “Sir.”
“Please, Tyson, call me Nicolas.”
“I’m not full blood, sir. I won’t do that.”
Nicolas smiled. He touched his pinky ring. “What do you have for me?”
“What you’ve asked,” Tyson said. “It’s been taken care of, sir. We’ve taken care of your laundry.”
Your laundry.
Nothing but code. Just in case the cabin was bugged.
“Excellent,” Nicolas said. “I’ll be sure to get it all put away now.”
“Okay, sir. Do you need anything else from me?”
“No, Tyson.” Nicolas slowly walked toward Tyson. He got close enough so he could whisper, and if the place was bugged, nobody would hear. “Now, we have the results, we have the proof. I hope you’re prepared for this. It takes a strong man to kill his own brother.”
“I’ve never met him. And if he’s bad for your family, sir, he’s bad for me.”
Nicolas nodded again.
Tyson was fiercely loyal. Nothing but a grunt kid who had been plucked from the street to work in the family. And now, thanks to Layne’s blood, it was finally proven.
Layne had a brother he never knew about. And that brother - blood brother, Tyson - would be the one to put a bullet in Layne’s head.
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This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real locales are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
First electronic edition September 2015
Copyright © 2015 by Ana W. Fawkes
All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part of any form.
SAVAGE ROAD (A Devil Call MC Book) (Layne & Shelby Book One) Page 13