Savage Love (Back Down Devil MC #7)(78)

“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 f*ck home. I’ll take you to the f*cking police station. I’ll take you to the f*cking 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.”