Twisted Pieces (Back Down Devil MC #5)(59)

“Shut up,” Jordyn said. “Kill him. Kill him, Jace."

Jace nodded. He kissed Jordyn’s forehead.

He nodded to Miller. “Can you untie her?”

“Of course, brother,” Miller said. “Take care of business.”

“You’re all f*cking dead,” Mr. Strokner yelled. “All dead! You don’t know what I have…”

“Shut up,” Gaige said. “You know what you did. You know you tried to set us up. We didn’t kill your daughter, *. We only tried to make it up to you.”

“She’s gone!” Mr. Strokner cried out.

“And you tried to sell us out,” Blaine said. “The land. The pictures. Sending Jace to prison. The judge…”

“I had nothing to do with him!” Mr. Strokner yelled. “He’s got something else on the side. Trust me, guys.” He stood up and put his hands out. “Listen to me. I had the evidence for muscle. For me. For protection. You got to get out of here. Listen to me.”

Miller untied Jordyn and she stepped forward. She couldn’t look away.

Jace walked up behind Mr. Strokner and put a hand to his shoulder. Mr. Strokner sat down. Slowly, Jace placed the gun into Mr. Strokner’s hand and placed it under Mr. Strokner’s chin.

“This is how it ends,” Jace said. “With a sad, lonely businessman killing himself. With a picture of his wife and daughter on his desk. A half empty bottle of booze. Tragic. So f*cking tragic.”

Mr. Strokner closed his eyes and swallowed.

That was all Jordyn could handle.

She closed her eyes too.

The gunshot thundered in the room and it was over. Just like that.

Jordyn opened her eyes and she turned her head to avoid the grisly sight.

Everyone started to race around. Miller barked orders but Jordyn couldn’t hear them. Her ears were ringing from the gunshot. Jace wrapped his arms around Jordyn and lifted her. He carried her out of the office and rushed her to his motorcycle

“Babe, I need you to hold on,” he yelled.

Jordyn blinked and looked at Jace’s leg. “Is your leg okay?”

“It’ll be fine. It’ll heal.” Jace looked back at Jordyn and lifted his sunglasses. His blue eyes were gorgeous. “Everything will heal, babe. I promise.”

Jace started his motorcycle and sped away from the secret building. Away from hell. Away from death. Away from a memory that Jordyn knew she would never forget.

Once they were back at the clubhouse, Jace tried to help Jordyn off the motorcycle. She swatted him away and climbed off herself. When she turned around, there was a wall of motorcycles behind her. Miller throttled his ride once and then everyone else did the same. The door to the clubhouse opened and more people piled out. More members. Prospects. Even the old ladies as Jace called them.

Jordyn felt Jace’s hands touch her waist.

“You did it, babe,” he said into her ear. “You helped us kill that scum. You were perfect.”

Jordyn turned around and put her arms around Jace’s neck. “What happens now? With him…?”

“Miller will make the calls,” Jace said. “You have nothing else to worry about. I’m here, right now, and forever. I’ll take my last breath one day loving you and protecting you. And I don’t care if it’s today, tomorrow, or a hundred years from now. I’m going to love you the same… with such f*cking intensity… I’m going to give you everything.”

Jordyn leaned up onto her toes and kissed Jace once. “And I will do the same."

Behind them the line of motorcycles rumbled. A growling call that was as sweet and even soothing as waves crashing to a shore.

*

Nate had what some would call a silent meeting. The club was celebrating their current victory and Nate planned on doing the same damn thing shortly. Blaine had already made a call for some extra entertainment on top of the usual relievers that hung around the clubhouse. That was just fine with Nate. He could use the company and the attention. Hell, he desperately needed the distraction.

Time was the worst enemy Nate ever encountered. If he didn’t have the MC riding with him, he’d have nothing. He'd be dead. He should have been dead a long time. The scars on his chest were evidence of that.

Now, the sun was starting to set in front of him. Day turning to night. He thought about the people that were coming home from work. Dinner on the table. Sharing stories of their day with their loved ones and kids. Maybe having a playful fight to get homework done, because it was so important to do…

That wasn’t Nate’s life. That was never his life. He never did homework. He cruised through school, worked dumb jobs for cash, and bought a motorcycle before he could legally ride it. Nothing stopped Nate. Not life, love, death. Or bullets.

Nate wasn't dumb though. He knew he wasn’t invincible. Nobody was. He had gotten lucky a few times and nothing more. Eventually time would catch up to him, grab him by the throat, and rip him away. But for right now, with a smoke in his mouth and the blazing colors of the sunset against the ocean, it was good to be alive.

When Nate saw a white van down under the boardwalk, he cursed under his breath. It looked like the van that Coast Road had been seen using. The van that Chief Jerry said was just used for seafood and nothing more.

Things lately had gotten so real that there was no way anyone could be trusted. Nate killed the engine on his ride and stepped off. He took a drag of his smoke and walked to get a better view of the white van. Nate noticed a black car waiting next to the van, facing the road. Someone got out of the passenger seat of the car and walked to the back. They looked around, opened their suit jacket to show a gun, and then opened the backdoor.