by London Casey
“Fuck, we’ve got a problem.”
It was Nate.
“What’s wrong?” Gaige asked.
He turned, looked, and knew trouble was about to explode right in the middle of the fight. The guy pushing through the crowd made it to the circle. He pulled a gun out and the entire crowd started to try and get away. Two pulls of the trigger and the two men fell.
All hell broke loose.
“We gotta go,” Nate said. “Fuck.”
Blaine stopped kissing Emily’s friend and stared at the scene.
Gaige shook his head in disbelief and anger as a small crew took to the circle, all holding guns. When they spotted Gaige and Nate, they pointed and one of the men shouted something in another language.
“Fuck,” Gaige said. “Retaliation.”
Nate took out his gun and shot. The men then began to unload their guns.
Gaige grabbed Emily and pushed her to the ground. She flew back and crashed to her ass. Gaige drew his gun and started to shoot. No way in fucking hell some assholes were going to start shit like this and not get anything in return.
A bullet hit one of the guys and he stumbled back.
“We have to get out of here, bro,” Gaige said. “This is going to…”
The bullets came from everywhere. Gaige jumped off the table, Nate by his side. There was no telling who was actually shooting right now or what their target was. This was turning into chaos.
Motorcycle engines started to fire up as crews tried to get the fuck out of there.
Emily screamed and Gaige looked up. Blaine was still standing on the table holding Emily’s friend. He was shooting his gun. Gaige grabbed his leg.
“Blaine! We have to go!”
“I got this,” Blaine yelled. “Fucking assholes.”
The gunfire continued and Gaige heard the familiar sound of bullets piercing flesh. Blaine started to jump back and then fell from the table.
“Blaine,” Nate said.
Blaine’s eye were wide. He looked at Gaige and smiled. “I’m alive, bro.”
Then Gaige saw at least a dozen bullet holes through Emily’s friend’s back. He turned toward Emily as a look of horror spread across her face. Her mouth was open, her bottom lip quivering.
“Fuck,” Gaige said. He grabbed Emily by the arm. “Come on, Emily, we have to go right now. This is going to get worse before it ends.”
“Rachel,” Emily said. “Rachel… she’s shot…”
Nate stepped behind Emily. “Right now, brother. Make your choice with her.”
“Come on,” Gaige commanded. “Now.”
Emily looked at Gaige and nodded. He lifted her to her feet. She looked at Rachel and Blaine again.
“Go guys,” Blaine called out. “I’ll be fine.”
“Blaine…,” Gaige said.
“No, just go.” Blaine hugged the dead woman on top of him.
It made Gaige cringe wondering what kind of insane thoughts were running through Blaine’s mind right then.
“She’s so warm,” Blaine said.
“Oh, fuck,” Nate said. “Come on.”
Gaige started to move, but Emily kept looking back at her dead friend and felt like dead weight.
“Hey,” Gaige called out. He shook Emily. “If you don’t start fucking walking, I’m going to leave you here.”
“Okay,” Emily said. “Sorry.”
Gaige hurried to his motorcycle and handed Emily his helmet. “Put this on and hold tight.”
Gunfire continued.
Gaige started his bike and looked back to the table. He saw the men from the circle standing there, machine gun like rifles resting on their shoulders. He feared for Blaine, who was still on the ground with the dead woman on top of him.
Nate took the lead and Gaige peeled out behind him.
The men on the table started to shoot but the bullets missed Gaige and Nate.
They sped down the alley and cut out into traffic in a blur of dangerous moves. Car tires squealed, horns honked, and Gaige and Nate both maneuvered through the evening traffic.
Once far enough from the junkyard, Gaige and Nate ended up next to each other, riding off into the night. The open road in front of them and a destruction of hell behind them.
Welcome to the life of the Back Down Devil Motorcycle Club.
Chapter Six
Emily closed her eyes, put her head against Gaige’s back, and wished everything she had just seen would all go away. The body of her best friend, her back riddled with bullets. That scummy biker guy – Blaine – holding her tight on the ground, acting like he didn’t give a shit about her. Of course he didn’t give a shit about her. Bikers didn’t give a shit about anything except themselves and their clubs.
Which made Emily wonder why Gaige was offering her a ride out of the junkyard. The sick cuts left and right on the motorcycle were enough to make Emily want to vomit. At any given second she thought the bike was going to drop and they would slide under a car or truck. It didn’t surprise Emily that Gaige could handle the motorcycle as well as he did, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t afraid the entire time.
When she didn’t think of the two wheeled beast moving at an obscene high rate of speed she could only then think about Rachel. The more she thought about Rachel the more she had to face the fact that her best friend was dead for no reason. Bullets took her life and she did nothing to deserve those bullets.
Emily finally lifted her head just in time to see the see the motorcycle in front of her hang a right as a gate opened. They rode into another compound, this one with a long line of motorcycles and a collection of cars. There was a garage and an old building that read BDD EXPORTS.
The motorcycle in front, ridden by the tall, thick guy, Nate, stopped and he backed into his spot. Gaige got in front of Nate and performed the same action. The motorcycles then stopped. Nate climbed off his bike and stood with his hands in fists, obviously waiting for Gaige to make a move. When Gaige tilted the bike, Emily had no choice but to get off or else she would have fallen.
Gaige walked to the front of his motorcycle and stood for a second. He ran a hand through his hair and then looked back at the building.
“We need a meeting,” he said.
“Yeah,” Nate said. “Want me to call Miller?”
“You fucking better,” Gaige said. “He’s on a run, but we need him back to the table. This shit can’t go without something happening. That was a fucking ambush.”
“I was there, brother,” Nate said. “What about…”
Nate nodded toward Emily. When she had both sets of eyes upon her, she grew worried. Would they kill her? She was a witness to something very serious, wasn’t she? Not only had she seen illegal fights and gambling, she had been the witness to a shootout and a murder.
“Let me talk to her,” Gaige said. He grabbed Nate by the shoulder. “I’ll be okay. Go in the office and call Miller. Head up to the clubhouse and see who’s there. We need to round this up fast and make a decision. I don’t want these fuckers to think they got to us.”
“They think Blaine is dead,” Nate said.
“Hopefully,” Gaige said.
Emily’s lips quivered. Blaine survived because Rachel had been used a human shield, taking all those bullets to her back. Without warning. Without need.
“It’s not fair,” Emily finally said. Her entire body started to shake. “It’s not fair…”
“You better get to that,” Nate said.
He hugged Gaige and then walked away, the leather chains dangling from his jeans clanking together.
Emily saw Gaige turn to face her. His eyes and face looked sympathetic, but she knew this part. It was part of the life. The life that Emily didn’t want. The life that she ran from before. The life that Rachel never knew anything about.
“Beautiful, I need you to look at me,” Gaige said.
“It’s not fair,” Emily said again.
“Emily…”
“She didn’t get it. She wouldn’t list
en to me. She thought it was a game. She thought it was fun.”
“Listen to me,” Gaige said. “I’m sorry for what happened back there. That was retaliation on the club. That will never happen again.”
Gaige put his hand out Emily stared at it. She noted the size of his hand. She wondered how many people he had hurt with that hand. How many times that hand hit other people’s faces or pulled a trigger.
She slowly lifted her gaze to Gaige.
“Look, I’m not here to play fucking games, beautiful,” Gaige said. “I took you to save you. I could have left you back there in that fucking mess. I’m doing you a favor and trying to help you.”
“Fuck you,” Emily said.
“Yeah? Is that what you want to say to me right now?”
“Fuck… you…”
Gaige took his hand away, but then came at Emily. She didn’t even flinch as her body was still in shock from what had happened. Gaige had her by the waist and lifted her onto a metal railing. When she turned her head, she saw a massive drop off above more garage bays. If Gaige let her go, she would crack her skull open and probably break her neck.
But Gaige didn’t let her go. He held her tight at her waist and he shook her.
“Fuck, beautiful, snap out of it,” Gaige commanded. “If you’re going to act like this, I’m taking you somewhere. I’ll take you the fuck home. I’ll take you to the fucking police station. I’ll take you to the fucking hospital. Is that what you want?”
Emily shook her head. She looked in Gaige’s eyes again and in the darkness she swore she could see them glowing at her.
“This is where we need to start some kind of trust, Emily,” Gaige said.
Emily put her hands to the railing and gripped it. It was cool. Her hands were sweating and when she moved her hands she could feel small slivers of paint chipping away.
“Can we do that?” Gaige asked.
Emily wasn’t sure what to do. Could she trust this man? This biker? This really sexy biker?
“I will help you,” Gaige said. “I promise, Emily. I will find the man who did this and I will… take care of it.”
“Will you kill him?” Emily asked. The question made her stomach queasy, but strangely it turned her on.
Gaige took a hand from Emily’s waist and touched her face. “This is where trust begins. I’m not going to just start telling you things. That’s something you have to earn.”
“Okay,” Emily said. “Okay. I trust you then.”
Emily opened her hands, showing her trust by not gripping the rail. It was just Gaige holding her steady with one hand to keep her from falling. The odd part was that she had a sensation running through her body that she was falling. She slowly lifted her left hand and placed it over Gaige’s hand. She gripped Gaige’s hand and had the sudden urge to kiss him. The need to feel protected and to be held ran rampant in her body. Bullets had been flying, bodies falling, and all Emily wanted to savor some kind of reassurance that it wouldn’t be her next to fall dead at the hands of an angry biker. And the only way to come close to ensuring that was to have a biker protect her.
Gaige was gorgeous and powerful, and he could do that for her.
“What are you thinking right now?” Gaige asked.
“Nothing makes sense,” Emily said.
“Welcome to my world, beautiful.”
Gaige inched closer. Emily was taken right back to the scene of the fights. When Gaige was about to kiss her. Right before all the bullets started flying. And yet here he was, getting very close again.
For a split second, Emily felt the touch of Gaige’s lips. The roar of a motorcycle sounded and it stole Gaige’s attention and the kiss he was about to share with Emily.
Emily tensed up even though she knew the motorcycle racing toward them had to be part of the motorcycle club. There was no way an enemy would have the opportunity to access the compound so easily. When the motorcycle came closer, under the spotlights high above the large lot, she saw the black hair and snake like eyes.
It was Blaine.
Emily couldn’t help herself as she looked behind Blaine, hopelessly hoping that Rachel would be straddling the motorcycle, her hands tight around his waist.
Emily hung her head and fought back tears. The reality of it all hadn’t quite settled in yet. It probably wouldn’t for a while. Not with how suddenly everything had changed course.
Blaine put his motorcycle in line and stepped off his bike. He slid his hands into his pockets and moved slowly but with enough swagger to make Emily angry. The guy had no care or consideration for what had just happened.
“Hey bro,” Blaine said to Gaige.
“What’s it like over there?” Gaige asked.
“It’s a mess.” Blaine put a hand to Gaige’s shoulder. He leaned close but Emily could still hear him. “Most of everyone cleared out. The two that were fighting were taken away. I don’t think there’s much blame there on us. But the shooters… man, they were pissed off. I don’t know how they didn’t put a bullet in my head for good measure.”
“How the hell did you get out of there?” Gaige asked.
“I can handle myself,” Blaine said. His eyes moved to Emily. “About your friend…”
“What about her?” Emily asked. She jumped from the rail.
“Wait a second,” Gaige ordered.
Emily refused. “What did you do?”
“Trying to give her some respect, that’s all,” Blaine said. “I took her to her car and put her in the driver’s seat. It was the best I could do. They’ll find here and start investigating, but there’s nothing else I can do. She’s gone, babe. She’s gone.”
“Babe?” Emily asked. “Who the hell…”
“Whoa,” Blaine said. He put his hands up. “I took care of her, okay?”
“You held her… she was shot…”
“Listen, babe, that first bullet was it. The rest, yeah, that was for my protection.”
Emily felt her blood boiling over. She looked at Gaige and saw him cross his arms. Maybe it was some kind of signal or sign, maybe it wasn’t.
“I mean, don’t get me wrong,” Blaine said, “if I could have my way with her… alive or gone…”
Emily snapped. She lunged at Blaine, knowing damn well the risk of trying to attack a biker.
She slapped Blaine across the face. Her hand stung. He touched his cheek and shook his head, then smiled. He smiled. He fucking smiled. Emily snapped again. She took both hands to his face, clawing at him, wanting to rip his eyes out. When she scratched him, Emily felt her nails ache as they pulled back. She was using all her strength, hell bent on actually hurting Blaine. This was all his fault. He did this. He flirted with Rachel. He confused her. He invited her to the illegal fights.
“You fucking killed her,” Emily yelled as she clawed and swung at Blaine.
Blaine simply stepped back, allowing Emily to have her peace with his face. When she stopped for a second, she saw deep scratches on his left cheek. He put his hands up and smiled. There was a smear of blood on his teeth.
“You calm yet, babe?”
“You took my best friend from me.”
“I didn’t, babe. The bullets did.” Blaine touched his chest. “I’m in pain too. It hurts.” He reached down and cupped himself. “I’m in pain here too. I wanted to fuck…”
Emily growled and spotted an earring at the top of Blaine’s ear. She reached out and stuck her finger through the loop and pulled. Blaine bent over and the earring ripped free. Emily let out a cry and stumbled back. She collided into Gaige and he wrapped his arms tight around her.
“That’s enough,” Gaige ordered. “No more, beautiful. No more.”
“It’s his fault,” Emily said as the tears filled her eyes. “He fucking did this…”
“No, he didn’t,” Gaige said. “I did. Turn around and fucking look at me.”
Emily slowly turned and looked up at Gaige. She blinked away the tears.
“I did it,” Gaige said. “This shit is
on me. And I’ll make it right.”
“Hey, babe?” Blaine called out.
Gaige opened his arms and Emily turned. There was blood dripping from Blaine’s ear now.
“I’m sorry,” Emily whispered.
“No, don’t be. Fuck it. I have something for you.”
Blaine reached into his pocket and pulled out a fist. He reached for Emily’s hand with his other hand. He rolled her fingers open and placed his fist to her hand. He opened it and pulled away. Emily looked down at a necklace.
“I took it off her,” Blaine said. “Not sure if it means anything to you or not. I figured things are fucked as it is, right? At least you’ll have something to remember her by. At least that’s how we do it around here.”
Blaine lifted his hand and pointed to his pinky finger. There was a woman’s diamond ring on it.
Emily held the necklace up with her pointer finger. The necklace was a simple heart. It slowly twirled back and forth. At the clasp she noticed a little bit of blood, a haunting reminder of the fate of her best friend.
Emily looked at Blaine again and swallowed hard. “You brought it to me.”
“Yeah, I did,” Blaine said. “I’m not good at this shit, so I don’t know what to say to make you feel better.”
“You don’t have to say anything. Thank you for doing this. And I’m sorry about your face.”
Blaine smiled. “Don’t worry about it, babe. I actually like it rough. You pulled that earring out of my ear and I threw a hard one. I’m still kind of hard…”
“Blaine,” Gaige growled. “Get inside.”
Blaine touched between his legs and winced as he started to walk away. Emily held the necklace out and Gaige cupped his hand under it and lifted. He put his hand around Emily’s.
“You need to come inside. I have a meeting to attend.”
Emily looked back at Gaige and nodded.
He leaned down, gently pressing his lips to Emily’s.
Their first kiss… as she held her dead best friend’s bloody necklace…
Chapter Seven