Savage Love (Back Down Devil MC #7)(108)

“I guess so.”

Griffin nodded. “It is. But we are grounded. If that’s what you call all this shit around us. The shooting at the fights… that was a step over the line. Big time. That’s going to get dealt with. Your friend should have never suffered that kind of death.”

“I’m more worried about her father now,” Emily said.

“Well, he can do what he has to do to get over the loss of his daughter. We won’t stand in the way. Hell, I’m sure Gaige would take a beating from him if it helped. We get pain. We get loss. We aren’t heartless people, we just have hardened hearts.”

Emily swallowed fresh tears.

“Now, what else is on that mind of yours?” Griffin asked. “Did Blaine freak you out too much?”

“Actually, no. But Jace…”

Griffin waved a hand. “Don’t mind Jace. He and Gaige always had rough times crossing each other’s paths. He’s been through hell and back, maybe more than the rest of us. I don’t know. We all deal with pain in our own way around here. He’s feeling you out, wondering what the f*ck you’re doing here because Gaige… well, he’s never acted this way around a woman before.”

Emily felt her cheeks flush. “That’s a lot to hear.”

“It’s the truth. Let him figure this out, okay? Go for the ride… if you get what I’m saying.”

Griffin set his attention to the paperwork. Emily offered to help and Griffin laughed. He opened the top drawer of his desk and took out a stack of invoices and tossed them to Emily. Matching orders and invoices was nothing but a big pain in the ass but it killed time.

As Emily settled, she heard a commotion outside the room. Voices were yelling. Then Emily’s cellphone started to ring. She reached for the phone and saw it was Max. She dropped the phone and covered her mouth. Griffin looked at her and then down to her phone.

“An old friend?” Griffin asked.

“I can’t… I…”

Miller appeared in the doorway, his eyes on fire. He pointed to Griffin and Emily.

“You two, out here. Now.”

“Got it,” Griffin said. He touched Emily’s arm. “Come on, love. We have to move now.”

Emily barely managed to stand. Just seeing Max’s name on her phone terrified her. She needed Gaige. He could rescue her.

They walked out of the room and followed Miller until he stopped in front of the large doors to the room where the guys all met. He punched the door and growled.

“We can’t f*cking do this in there,” he bellowed.

“What’s wrong?” Griffin asked.

Emily saw Landon, Shay, Erik, and Jace walking down the hall. Behind them were two big men with what looked like machine guns. And, behind then was Mr. Strokner. Emily’s heart sank.

Mr. Strokner stepped forward as the small crowd opened up. He took out a cigar and smelled it. His face looked a mess. His eyes were big and bulging. The process of grieving really did some scary stuff to people.

“Look at this,” Mr. Strokner said. “Look who is here. My daughter’s best friend.”

“Leave her out of it, man,” Griffin said.

Mr. Strokner nodded and now a gun was on Griffin. Griffin put his hands up. “Calm down. We can talk about this, right?”

“I told him what I wanted,” Mr. Strokner said. “Yet it hasn’t been done.”

“What are you talking about?” Miller asked.

“The death of my daughter stinks in this place.”

“We had nothing to do with that,” Miller said. “That was a terrible accident. Okay? Coming in here with guns is a really stupid mistake.”

“Why?” Mr. Strokner asked. “Are you going to shoot me? Kill me? Prove just who you are?”

Miller shook his head. “No. We don’t shoot. We don’t kill.”

Emily swallowed hard. This was lies, and the mess was getting bigger as Gaige was out causing his own trouble.

“You don't kill,” Mr. Strokner said and laughed. “Talk to Gaige then. I told him what I wanted. I want to look into the eyes of the man who killed my daughter.”

“The police are working on it,” Miller said. “They were here already. We’re clear in this.”

“Clear,” Mr. Strokner said. “Sure. Clear.”

Mr. Strokner put his cigar away and took Emily by the hand and smiled.

“It’ll be okay,” Emily said.

“You believe that? With these guys?”

“I do,” Emily said. “They didn’t hurt Rachel.”

Mr. Strokner smiled and touched Emily’s face. “You were always so damn pretty, Emily. I remember the first time Rachel brought you over. I couldn’t believe my eyes. I always hoped you’d grow up into the woman you are…”

“Hey,” Miller said. “Holing up here isn’t going to help anyone. We’ve got our work cut out for us.”

Mr. Strokner ignored Miller and kept his cold stare on Emily. It really bothered her the way he looked at her.

“Just so pretty,” Mr. Strokner said. “I would look at you all the time, Emily… and…”

Mr. Strokner slid his thumb along Emily’s bottom lip. He groaned and then tried to force her mouth open. Emily started to shake.