Owned & Untamed (Back Down Devil MC #11)(67)

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 f*cking 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 *,” 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 *. 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 f*cking 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 f*ck 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 motherf*cker into the phone and then ended the call.