Steel Temptation (Back Down Devil MC #6)(45)

“No,” Nate said. “Think about it. We’re going to take out a judge. We’re going to bust into a poker game with some powerful people. And our biggest contact… is gone. We won’t be able to take a shit without someone there, ready to cuff us and take us away. And we have a lot of enemies behind bars, man. We could survive the inside life, but for how long? How long do we keep getting f*cked with…”

“I get it all,” Miller said. “But principle says we fight. Yeah, we’re going to take out a judge, but you’re going to do it the right way.” Miller grinned.

“Me? The right way?” Nate asked.

“Old school style,” Miller said. “From where you came from. The right way.”

Everyone looked at Nate.

“What the hell does that mean?” Griffin asked.

“Nate knows,” Miller said. “That’s all that matters. We will not be broken. We will break those in our way.”

Nate heard enough. He walked to the door and left. A bold move, considering Miller hadn’t called the meeting done yet. For Nate there was nothing left to hear. Nothing left to do. He had to get to Mia.

The entire thing was going to be blown wide open tonight.

Sitting at the bar, Nate tried to think around it all. If there was some other way to handle this mess. If they waited…all those at the illegal game would be under the spell of Judge Jake. Who knew the power in that room… it could easily end up the entire world against Back Down Devil MC. More than usual.

The club could move. They could easily be on the road and out of Frelen within hours. There were charters everywhere. Hell, they could make calls of their own. Bring in over a thousand bikers to stand ground right in town. The attention that would get though…

A hand clamped down on Nate’s shoulder.

It was Miller. He put two fingers on the bar and two shots were quickly served.

“I’m not pissed,” Miller said. “You walked out when you had to just then. Your mind is going f*cking wild. I know you dealt with these types before.”

“Types,” Nate laughed. “Sometimes I think suits are scarier than leather cuts, Miller. It’s not a joke. I don’t know if he’s connected or not. It’s burning in my mind…”

“And if he is?”

“We take out a guy who’s connected… it’s bad for us.”

“So what you think?” Miller asked, leaning against the bar. “We wait? Let this keep happening?”

“No.”

“Connected… meaning more powerful than the businessmen?”

“Yeah. Who do you think controls all of it? The judges, cops, businesses, everything. The mob… mafia… family… whatever you want to call them… they are everything. Christ, they’re one rung away from the top of ladder, next to God.”

“You believe in God?” Miller asked.

“I believe in the ground I walk on,” Nate said. “I can feel it.”

“Good. Stay straight, Nate. I have to face the fact of Chief Jerry now. There’s a… ah, shit. He’s got a wife and kid.”

“That mean you’re not going to kill him?”

Miller lifted his shot glass, ignoring the question. “Lift it up with me.”

Nate did.

“Now,” Miller said, “if our ride of freedom ends tonight, then we ride some more. Somewhere else. A different life.”

“Aye,” Nate said.

They drank and Nate stood. The rest of Back Down Devil waited, staring. Looking for him and his approval on the night.

It was official… Nate was going to make the kill. Take the lead. Control the scene. His leather cut may not have said VP or Pres… but he had the power. All because of his past. The past that haunted him and the past that kept him falling into Mia.

Falling into Mia… falling for Mia.





nineteen.



It was like a glorified bikini. Mia hated seeing the skimpy thing hanging up and she hated seeing it attached to her damn body. The top was tight, pushed up, forcefully making it so she had cleavage. The bottoms were super small, two inches away on each side from being a thong. She had to wear skinny leather bracelets and a leather necklace that was so tight, she felt it tug against her throat if she swallowed too hard.

There was one other woman with her. Someone that Uncle Jake called Star. Her breasts were bigger and her top smaller. Five minutes into the start of the night and Star was topless. Walking around with her fake breasts bouncing for everyone’s enjoyment. That opened the door for everyone to ask Mia to take her top off.

She refused it.

Uncle Jake gave the warning that Mia was his and would not be naked. The way he said his left Mia shivering.

The entire scene was sick.

As the games played on, Mia couldn’t believe the size of the bets. Hands going for ten, twenty, even fifty thousand dollars a piece. There were men that Mia recognized. Men who held office. Men who ran companies. Men who were supposed to be pillars of the community (whatever the f*ck that meant). Christ, there were three men sitting with their badges on the tables. Detectives, maybe even federal people, all taking part of this.

And Uncle Jake wandered the room, sucking on a cigar, patting shoulders, squeezing necks, laughing with gritted teeth on the cigar.