Owned & Untamed (Back Down Devil MC #11)(63)

“Yeah, sweetie, now that’s the kind of taste for breakfast I want every f*cking morning.”

**

Duke finished his breakfast and went to bed. Jim got changed into shorts and walked around the clubhouse like I had never seen before. He was almost proud of his prosthetic leg. Everyone stopped to stare at Jim and then the clubhouse erupted in cheers when he said he lost his leg in Iraq. I had never seen anything like it. Every single guy in that clubhouse stood and made it a point to walk to Jim and shake his hand. Everyone offered him a beer but he didn’t take a single sip.

When Jim passed by me he gave me a kiss on the cheek.

That was new to me.

I was left in complete shock when Jim left the clubhouse. It was like a different person had taken over my brother’s body. Even when I saw Maggie, she looked different. She was dressed in different clothes and cradled a mug of coffee between her hands. She tried her best to make her hair look good but it was definitely sex hair.

I pulled her outside and we sat at a picnic table.

“What did you do to my brother?” I asked.

Maggie grinned. “Better yet… what did he do to me?”

I groaned. “I didn’t need to hear that.”

“I heard Duke took him for a ride,” Maggie said. “That they got some action.”

“Action? I wouldn’t call it that. This is pretty serious.”

“Speaking of serious,” Maggie said. “This thing with me and Jim…”

“What about?” I asked with a smile.

“I like him. I mean, beyond all of this stuff happening. It was sweet that he thought of me when the bikers showed up to take him. He demanded I get to safety too. Just everything about him. We talk a lot.”

“Your hair says otherwise,” I said with a smile.

“Shut up. We talk a lot. And it’s fun to talk to him. I really like him.”

“You said that.”

“I said it again. If I fall for him…”

“Whoa,” I cut in. “Falling for Jim?”

“Jesus, Belle, take a hint,” Maggie said. She stood up and looked upset. “I’m asking what do I do if he ends up hurt again? Or gone?”

Great, just what I needed to hear. I had been wrestling with that since we got to the clubhouse. I worried about Duke. About Jim. About myself.

I walked to Maggie and rubbed her back. “I can’t say anything. But I can tell you this. The Jim that just walked out of the clubhouse was not the Jim that was at home. That Jim was already dead. Drinking all the time. Never showering. Letting his house and life fall apart. Letting all his burdens fall on me. So this entire thing is bringing him out of it. And that includes you, Maggie. You’re bringing him out of this hell.”

Maggie looked at me. “Really?”

“Yeah.”

“It’s only because I slept with him.”

“If that’s what it takes, stay on him.”

“Ew,” Maggie said. “Not him. You saying that.”

I laughed.

We heard a loud yell from somewhere behind the clubhouse.

“Fucking kill him!” the voice boomed.

Maggie and I both hesitated and looked at each other.

Duke was inside sleeping.

We were alone.

What could be happening now?

**

I crept along the side of the clubhouse with Maggie next to me. The screams and yells kept up and then we saw the boxing ring and realized we weren’t in danger. Inside the boxing ring was Jim, circling around some guy. They weren’t wearing any boxing gloves though.

“What the…”

“He’s getting ready,” I whispered.

Maggie and I walked toward the ring.

Cash, Austin, Tristan, Max, and Xavier were all standing there, cheering Jim on.

“Hey prospect!” Cash yelled. “I can see your * hanging out of your shorts!”

Of course it was a prospect in the ring.

The guy looked down at himself - I had no idea why - and Jim took full advantage. I had never seen my brother move the way he did with his prosthetic leg. He threw a left, right, left, sending the prospect flying back. He then moved with another right and lost his balance. Jim stumbled and moved to the ring, smashing his ribs into the turnbuckle. He grabbed the ropes and let out a yell as he tried to get his footing back to normal.

The prospect then came at him, throwing a big right to Jim’s jaw, sending him rolling along the ropes.

“No!” Maggie yelled. “Stop!”

“Fight, Jim!” Xavier said.

Jim looked up from the ropes at me and Maggie. His eyes were those dead eyes I’d seen before. The prospect got behind him and started to unload on his ribs. Then the prospect took a swing at the back of Jim’s head. Jim took the punch and then quickly threw an elbow. He smashed the prospect right in the nose. Blood sprayed everywhere and all the guys cheered.

Wincing, Jim got back on his feet and turned. He walked with an obvious limp toward the prospect and punched the guy two times, dropping him. That’s when the fight was finally called. Xavier ran to grab the prospect while Cash and Austin got into the ring to congratulate Jim.

Jim took the pats on the back and cheers with a smile. But his eyes were locked to Maggie.

Between everyone involved with the entire situation, there was one thing very clear.