SAVAGE LOVE (A Back Down Devil MC Romance Novel) (44 page)

twenty-one.

Emily kept her eyes moving along
the bar. Next to her Griffin had a folder full of papers. He opened the folder
and began to scan the files. The clubhouse was getting loud and rowdy. Shay was
throwing back shots like they were water. Landon and Erik were in a heated game
of darts, playing for the company of a woman who sat on a couch with her legs
crossed, looking at the two big bikers with starry eyes. Jace nursed a beer in
the corner of the bar, causally looking at Emily, making her feel
uncomfortable.

“
I
can
’
t work here like this,
”
Griffin finally said.
“
Come on, let
’
s go for a walk.
”

Griffin stood and Emily had to
follow. She met eyes with Jace and then hurried to catch up with Griffin. They
went down the hall and Griffin stopped at a large set of doors.

“
I
would go in there,
”
he
said,
“
but I can
’
t with you. The meeting room isn
’
t for
relievers
and
old
ladies
.
”

Old ladies?

Emily wasn
’
t sure how she felt about that. Is that was she
was? An old lady to Gaige? What the hell did that mean?

He stopped at another door and
opened it. It was another small bedroom.
“
I
only have one chair and a desk,
”
Griffin said.
“
I need to
work so help yourself to the bed to relax.
”

Emily didn
’
t want to sit on a biker
’
s bed, unless it was Gaige
’
s. Griffin stared at her and sensed her worry. He
walked to a nightstand and with the swing of his foot, he knocked over a lamp,
empty beer bottles, and a frame. He then handed Emily the folder in his hand
and he lifted the nightstand and walked it to the desk. He put it down and
pointed to the empty chair.

“
There,
you can sit,
”
Griffin said.

“
Thanks.
”

“
Now
let me have that folder.
”

Emily sat and put the folder down.
Griffin sat on the nightstand and opened the folder.

“
This
is all the paperwork to keep us legit,
”
Griffin said.
“
It
’
s all our legit paperwork and
club dues. We have dues to keep the clubhouse in order and to make it seem like
we
’
re just some bad dudes
looking to drink and fuck.
”

Emily smiled.

“
But
you know it
’
s more than
that,
”
Griffin said.

“
I
know,
”
Emily whispered.

“
And
it
’
s not about fighting and
shooting each other. That
’
s
the kind of shit we try to keep from happening. If it wasn
’
t for the MC, there would be
more of that shit all around here. It
’
s
too lucrative to just enjoy drugs and pussy, right?
”

“
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 fuck 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 fucking 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.

“
Fuck
this,
”
Jace called out.

He threw an elbow and hit one of
the men in the face. The man dropped his gun and Jace lunged forward and
grabbed Mr. Strokner by the collar. He threw him backward to his ass. The other
man with a gun put it to Griffin
’
s
chest and pushed him against the wall. Emily couldn
’
t stand the idea of someone else being hurt because
of her so she acted with the first thing that came to mind. She made a fist and
swung, hitting the man in the face. The man turned and then the gun was at
Emily.

“
Whore
…”

“
Stop
it!
”
Mr. Strokner ordered.

The other man got his gun back and
hit Jace across the face, causing Jace to spin and crash into the wall. When
Jace turned, he walked right into the gun, blood running down his face.

“
Do
it,
”
he taunted.
“
Fucking blow my heart out. You
fucking pussy.
”

“
I
said stop!
”
Mr. Strokner
yelled.

Miller offered a hand and helped
Mr. Strokner back to his feet.

“
Take
the gun off Emily,
”
Mr.
Strokner said.

The man listened and lowered his
weapon.

“
Let
’
s all stay within reason here,
”
Mr. Strokner said.
“
I just want it to be known that
I
’
m digging. I
’
ll find it all.
”
He looked at Miller.
“
That land has all the secrets,
doesn
’
t it?
”

“
There
are no secrets,
”
Miller
said.
“
You got the wrong
group of guys.
”

“
You
’
re an asshole,
”
Mr. Strokner said.
“
And if Gaige doesn
’
t fulfill what I want
…
this club will be gone. Your
land will be mine. And all of you can rot in prison for the rest of your lives.
”

Mr. Strokner smiled at Emily and
then turned. He and his two guys slowly walked away. Jace and Shay drew their
weapons but Miller quickly grabbed them by the shoulders to stop anything from
happening. Emily understood it. There was an image to keep up right now. They
needed to play it all off and take their hits.

When Jace turned and looked at
Emily, she wasn
’
t sure what
to do. The blood on his face reminded Emily that he had helped her.

“
Thank
you,
”
she whispered.

Jace walked away.

“
You
okay?
”
Shay asked Griffin.

Griffin wiped his forehead.
“
Fucking great.
”