Outlaw Revenge (Back Down Devil MC #1)(31)

“Not unless I’m smarter than you realize.”

The line went dead and Emily held the phone to her ear. She just stared straight ahead. She trusted in Gaige and she believed he would protect her. But this was Max, and he really believed that Emily had left pregnant. He was looking for a child.

“Are you okay?”

Emily blinked and saw Janine standing at her desk.

“Fine. Strange phone call. I think I have to leave now.”

“Oh, look at you,” Janine said. “You should have taken the week off. Let me walk you out.”

Emily stood and grabbed her stuff. “No. I’m fine.”

She stormed by Janine and out of the building.

Within minutes Emily heard the rumble of the motorcycle. Then she saw Gaige barreling up the road, another motorcycle behind him. Judging by the size of the rider, she was sure it was Nate.

Emily let out a breath and felt somewhat relieved.

Somewhat relieved, however, wouldn't keep Emily safe or alive.





seventeen.



Gaige sat at the table. He took the last drag of a smoke and put it out. He drank from his beer and looked at the few guys at the meeting.

Miller was at the head of the table. Then there was Blaine, Shay, Nate, and Griffin.

“How can he threaten this?” Shay asked. “I thought we had everything secured.”

“It’s just words,” Miller said. He swatted at the piece of the paper.

“But they’re serious words,” Gaige said.

“He might just go up there and dig to be a prick,” Griffin said.

“Then we go after him,” Shay said.

“It’ll be too late then,” Nate said. “He’ll get a slap on the wrist and we’ll be f*cked.”

“Smart man,” Miller said.

Gaige put his hand on the piece of paper and slid it back to Miller. “I’m just sharing what I know. Mind you, he also had someone shoot at me about eight times.”

“Christ,” Griffin said.

Miller grabbed Gaige’s shoulder. “Must have been a terrible shot, huh?”

“He wasn’t aiming to hurt or kill,” Gaige said.

“He did it to send a message,” Nate said. “And to piss you off so you’ll do something stupid.”

“Not me,” Gaige said. “It’s time we settle all this shit. I know what I can do to make Strokner happy. We need to just deal with his bullshit right now.”

“I’d say we are,” Miller said. “I shook his hand at his daughter’s funeral. So did you.”

“Then we keep that up for now,” Gaige said. “He wants exactly what we want. The person who killed his daughter dead.”

“Whoa, whoa,” Shay said. “You can’t be serious. You’re going to pull him in on this?”

“Like f*ck I will,” Gaige said.

“What’s that mean?” Shay asked.

“It means we need to let these pieces fall into place,” Miller said. “I’ve arranged a meeting with our friends in Coast Road MC.”

“For what?” Nate asked.

The fire burned in his eyes. Nate had a long, brutal history with Coast Road MC. Gaige looked at Nate and nodded, hoping to keep him calm.

“Relax,” Miller said. “We have common ground here. For the moment. Eight Under swung their little dicks near Coast Road a couple months back. One of the guys in Eight Under f*cked an woman in Coast Road territory. They’ve been waiting for a chance to strike back.”

“Christ,” Shay said. “We’re going to deal with those *s over *?”

“Nothing wrong with *,” Blaine said.

“Come on,” Gaige said. “We need to focus on Eight Under. If this gets us anything… it’s worth it.”

Miller nodded. “They might know something we don’t. Plus, we know they don’t like to get their nails dirty, right?”

Everyone laughed. Coast Road preferred to look tough and spend their days on the beach getting tans. It was odd to have a beach club, but they did have big guys and a way of earning cash.

“We tell them what happened at the fights,” Miller said. “They’ll spread it around. It’s no secret that Eight Under did what they did, but maybe the more they hear, the more they’ll get pissed off. We tell Coast Road to keep their eyes open and then we do our own research on the side.” Miller made a fist and slammed it against the table. “We will find these *s and make sure they know not to f*ck with us again.”

“Alive,” Gaige said. “I want the guy who did this alive.”

“Gaige,” Blaine said. “You can’t put that on us.”

“The best we f*cking can,” Gaige said. “I made a promise to someone…”

“* stays in the bedroom,” Shay said.

Gaige pointed to Shay. “If it wasn’t for that girl who took those bullets we would have been burying Blaine.” Gaige let that sink in and then slowly turned his head and looked at Blaine. “Get it?”

“Yeah, bro, yeah,” Blaine said. “Gaige is right. Those *s had us pegged. Right in the middle of the fight like that. He shot that poor girl. Before I could even get to her and show her what it’s like to be with a real man.”