BROKEN ROAD (A Back Down Devil MC Romance Novella) Read online

  Welcome to world of BACK DOWN DEVIL MOTORCYCLE CLUB

  ~

  A romance novel by London Casey

  London Casey is the pen name for bestselling romance author Karolyn James

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  BROKEN ROAD

  A Back Down Devil MC novella

  A motorcycle club desperate to survive by any means… and a woman who will do anything to get out of it alive…

  Jake strips himself of his Back Down Devil MC leather cut to go undercover. A rival MC has been pushing into town and it’s up to Jake to find out why and to make it stop. It means putting his life on the line because there’s an agreement with the club – they won’t come save him if he gets caught.

  Standing behind the bar, Keira serves drink after drink to a group of men who are all but decimated. After working a deal with the cartel, her stepbrother’s MC has been slowly wiped of most its members. They’re so desperate to collect and fight back that the President has decided to open membership to anyone who can fight and who isn’t afraid to die.

  From the second Jake steps through the door at the Rusted Devil MC clubhouse, he notices two things. One, the MC is in disarray. Two, the woman behind offering him a cold beer is the exact kind of temptation he needs to avoid.

  As the truth comes forward through an earned trust with both the MC and Keira, Jake realizes who the enemy really is… himself. Soon a quest for truth quickly escalates into a quest for survival.

  one.

  Jake saw the first punch coming from a mile away, but he miscalculated the second one. It rocked his jaw and sent him back. Instinct kicked in and Jake opened his arms, wanting to keep balance. By doing that, he opened himself to more punches.

  That was sometimes the hardest part - not just in fighting, but in life - which was to go against instinct. To go against rules. To live on the truest edge as an outlaw. Maybe to that extreme it had nothing to do with a punch to the jaw, but in a way, it all mattered.

  Jake fell against the ropes and then was sent forward. The prospect facing him kept his hands up, eyes intent, ready to strike again. But the young fuck didn’t strike again. It was hard for the prospects to go after patched in members. It took balls because you never knew the reaction if a prospect would win.

  Would the guy get killed? Would he get cheered? Would he get his own cut and a full membership in Back Down Devil MC? Or would he go back to scrubbing toilets and cooking food?

  Sighing, Jake dropped his hands. “What the fuck?”

  “What?” the prospects asked.

  “I’m wide open,” Jake said. “You could have rocked me again and again.”

  Jake felt a bump forming on his chin where the prospect had gotten him. The kid had a great right hook.

  “I’m sorry, sir,” the prospect said.

  “Put your fucking hands down,” Jake ordered.

  The prospect listened.

  Jake threw a quick right, hitting the prospect square in the nose. Blood sprayed everywhere and the young man stumbled back and tripped over his own feet, falling to his ass.

  “Fucking moron,” Jake growled.

  He climbed through the ropes and jumped down. He grabbed his leather cut off the picnic table and threw it back on. A second later he felt a vibration. When he took out his cell, he saw it was a text from his ex, Becca.

  Rule one, brother. Rule fucking one. Never fall in love with a stripper. She’ll drain your bank account, your cock, your mind, and your heart.

  Someone had told Jake that a long damn time ago.

  He never listened.

  Becca’s text was pretty cut and clear.

  Help. Again.

  “Fuck,” Jake whispered.

  He looked over his shoulder. The prospect was back to his feet, wiping the blood off his nose.

  “Hey,” Jake yelled. “Dry your tears. We’re going for a ride.”

  Jake shouldn’t have been getting involved in outside, but it was Becca. He had a soft spot for her and always would.

  The MC was under a lot of heat right now. The guys at the main table were scrambling to figure out who attacked Nate and what was really happening with Coast Road MC and some drug running shit. Not to mention, to Jake, he didn’t trust the chief of police at all in town. Chief Jerry may have been a close friend to the MC, but something about the guy had been changing for a while. He seemed darker, sicker, like he was ready to explode and do something dangerous.

  In other words, bothering Gaige, Blaine, Nate, or anyone else with some petty ex-slash-stripper stuff… that wasn’t going to fly.

  So Jake took to the road with the prospect behind him.

  He rode to the southeast side of Frelen, right where all the action seemed to be. During the days the buildings looked haggard and worn out - much like the people and women that worked the area. But at night, with neon lights, good music, and the appearance of fun, it was a different world.

  Jake hated that Becca lived in a shitty apartment, but it was her fault she took all her stripping money and pissed it away. Booze, drugs, men. Yeah, women could lose theirs to men as fast as men to women.

  Riding around to the back of the building, Jake saw Becca standing outside, her right arm hugging herself, her left hand holding a cigarette to her lips. From the side, she looked fine. When she turned to face Jake, he saw the cut, blood, and bruise on the left side of her face.

  Killing the engine on the motorcycle, Jake looked back at the prospect. “Keep your cell handy in case I need back up. Don’t fuck around, kid.”

  Jake rushed to Becca and grabbed her by the waist. Her tits were huge and the tight shirt she wore only helped to make them look bigger. Not to mention she hated wearing a bra.

  “Hey, you,” she whispered, smoking creeping from her lips.

  “What the fuck happened?”

  “Disagreement.”

  “Who?”

  “Guy name Charlie.”

  “Where the fuck is Charlie now?”

  Becca looked back at the crooked door.

  “He’s inside your place,” Jake said.

  “Yeah. Looking for money.”

  “You owe it?”

  “Maybe.”

  Jake reached up and touched the cut on Becca’s eye. He shook his head. Goddammit, how many times had he saved her? From the moment they met all he did was save her. Her demons were deep and dark, but cut through them and she was a beautiful woman.

  But it would never work between Jake and Becca.

  That didn’t mean Jake didn’t care though.

  “I’m not killing him,” Jake said. “I can’t. There’s too much heat on the MC.”

  “There’s a baseball bat in the trunk of my car.”

  “Yeah, that’ll work,” Jake said with a sigh.

  He got the baseball bat and went into the apartment building. Dealing with lowlife pimps and drug pushers were like dealing with bugs. Just crush them and walk the fuck away. The real wars were on the streets and dealing with the big names and the interstate bullshit. This was all small time stuff. A waste of freaking time.

  Jake opened the apartment door and saw the guy - Charlie - standing with his back to him. He wore jeans that hung too low with some kind of leather jacket. He had a phone to his ear and ended the call as he tur
ned.

  Charlie did not expect to see Jake rushing at him with a baseball bat.

  Jake knew he could kill the guy with a smack to the head. Or break his neck. Maybe the guy didn’t deserve to get hurt at all. He was probably just doing his job, collecting a debt that Becca legitimately owed.

  It didn’t though.

  Jake swung the back and hit Charlie in the knee. Charlie’s leg twisted the wrong way and he toppled down, screaming.

  Jake put end of the bat to Charlie’s throat and pressed until the guy’s face turned red.

  “Fuck,” Charlie groaned.

  “You hit her?”

  Charlie nodded. “She…”

  “Didn’t your old man ever teach you not to hit a fucking woman?”

  “She…”

  “I guess not,” Jake said. “So let me pass that lesson to you.”

  Jake took the bat away and Charlie rolled to his side, coughing. Jake grabbed for Charlie’s right hand and put it on a table. Jake noticed the table had bottles of booze, beer, some razor blades, and white powder.

  “Don’t move your fucking hand or I will shoot you,” Jake said.

  “Wait,” Charlie said. “Just wait, man…”

  Jake brought the bat down as hard as he could. He knew Charlie’s hand would never be the same again. Even the best fucking surgeon in the world wouldn’t fix what the bat did. Jake hit so hard, the table flipped over.

  Charlie screamed until there was no air left in his lungs.

  Jake crouched down. “Don’t ever hit a woman again. And don’t ever go near Becca again. Got it?”

  Crying, Charlie nodded.

  Jake escorted him to the door and tossed him out.

  “Sorry about the table and the blood,” Jake said.

  “No worries,” Becca said. “Thank you.”

  Jake stood at the door and Becca inched closer. She put a hand to his chest and bit her bottom lip. She pressed her chest to Jake for a second and exhaled a breath to his neck. A second later, her tight tank top was on the floor. Becca came in for a kiss and Jake turned his head.

  No. No kissing.

  “Right,” Becca whispered. “I’ll just have to use my mouth for something else.”

  Becca fell to her knees and Jake didn’t stop her.

  Old habits… old fucking habits…

  two.

  Keira topped off all the shot glasses on the bar. Five big hands grabbed the small glasses and threw them all back at once. The five men turned the shot glasses over and slammed them down.

  “Now, let’s talk,” Apollo said in his rough voice.

  He was the President of Rusted Devil MC. When he spoke, everyone listened.

  Keira’s stepbrother, Kami, was the VP. He was next to Apollo and remained standing as the rest of the guys took a seat.

  “What do we have?” Apollo asked.

  “Clean up crew is north,” Kami said. He folded his arms. “The rest of it is a goddamn mess. This was a blatant attack. Well planned out.”

  “Six months?” Hale asked.

  “If it was the cartel, why not?” Kami asked. “They do shit like that, man. That’s the risk of it all. You start playing with fire and you get burned.”

  “How poetic,” Hale said.

  “Hey, go fuck yourself.”

  Hale stood up. Before another word could be spoken, Kami dove at him.

  Keira watched as Kami hit Hale three times in the face before someone stopped the fight. It was Apollo, grabbing Kami by the shoulder and ripping his back.

  “Jesus, you’ll kill him,” Apollo said.

  “Good,” Kami snapped. “All you fuckers wanted to vote this shit. Now we have a supply warehouse in ashes, half our crew dead, and no fucking cash.”

  “Calm down,” Keira said. “Please, Kami.”

  “Listen to your sister,” Apollo warned.

  Kami shook Apollo away and stormed out of the bar.

  That’s what that MC had left. A little bar with a few rooms attached to the back. It used to be a place where the guys would come, drink, take a woman to the back, and do whatever. But the last few years had been rough. Keira watched it all crumble. Bad deals and attacks stripped Rusted Devil down to bare bones. Now the latest attack took even the bones away.

  The club looked ready to implode.

  That would send a lot of guys out on the street to do what?

  “They think they have us,” Apollo said. “They don’t have shit. We can rebuild easily.”

  “How?” Pitt asked. He gripped a beer bottle so tight it looked ready to explode in his hand.

  “We attack,” Apollo said. “We go rogue. Take what we want. Fight for what we need.”

  “Fight?” Petey asked.

  “That’s right. Place all our bets down at the snake pit.”

  That put the bar in silence.

  Keira slipped away from the bar and went outside to find Kami. He was pacing back and forth like a rabid dog. His hands tight into fists.

  “You need to go back inside,” Keira said.

  “Fuck Apollo.”

  “You can’t say that,” she said and grabbed Kami’s arm.

  He stopped and stared at her. “I know. It’s been hard.”

  “He’s doing what feels right.”

  “A cartel?”

  “You guys have the land and chance,” Keira said. “I’ve been listening to it for a long time. Something went wrong and they made a statement. The club needs to be in a stronger position before dealing with them again.”

  Kami grinned. “Look at you. My little sis making decisions.”

  “I just listen.”

  “You’re smart, Keira. You should go somewhere else.”

  “I know,” she said.

  They talked about it all the time. But Keira had no place to go. Her life was lived on the road. Always on the run to get by. To escape pain, abuse, anything that tried to hurt her. As dysfunctional as Rusted Devil MC was right now, the MC was her protective blanket.

  “I better go in there,” Kami said.

  “Go. I’m going to stay out here and catch my breath.”

  Kami went back inside.

  Keira took a seat on the side of the building. The truth was that she was simply hiding. From a man who wanted nothing more than to see her finally die. All because of one night and one really big mistake.

  But he hadn’t made contact in a long time.

  If he ever did again, he’d have to face the MC.

  Something had to give with Rusted Devil MC though. The drug running and arms dealing had taken a big toll on everyone. A lot of guys put on their leather cuts, took the road, and never came back. They were so depleted now that Keira figured Apollo would open membership.

  A new slew of guys? Prospects?

  That was a ton of work.

  That meant personalities, fights, drunks, and lots of new guys to grab ass at Keira. Of course, that meant a whole new bunch of guys for Kami to get pissed off at and want to fight.

  I should just sneak away while I can.

  Keira told herself that thought time and time again. She knew it would hurt Kami, but he’d get over it. He’d find comfort in booze and women and eventually she would slip to the back of his mind.

  Keira heard voices and the bar door opened. She hurried to her feet and rushed to see two more guys fighting each other. Hale and Pitt were pushing and shoving, Hale’s face looking really bad because of Kami.

  Apollo came out last, walking slow. He reminded Keira of the boss guy in mafia movies. Apollo took out a gun and pointed it into the air. Two shots fired and everyone stopped.

  “You have goddamn orders,” Apollo yelled. “We’re down to the wire. You all want to fucking end up pumping gas for a living?”

  “I’d rather die,” Hale said.

  Apollo walked right to Hale and put the gun to his chest. “You ready?”

  “I’m always ready,” Hale said.

  Keira crept forward and into the fold. “You’re a fucking idiot,
Hale.”

  That got everyone’s attention.

  Kami laughed.

  “Say that again,” Hale said.

  “You heard me. The club is almost wiped clean and you’re acting like this? If you can’t handle the cut, give it to me. I’ll fucking wear it. I’ll die for the club.”

  “I’ll smack you, bitch,” Hale growled.

  Kami lunged but Apollo grabbed him.

  “Let her go,” Apollo whispered.

  Hale stepped toward Keira. Her heart raced.

  What did I just do?

  “You think you can survive this life?” Hale asked.

  Keira didn’t answer. Instead, she wound up and slapped him right in the face. Right where Kami had hit him. Hale let out a scream and reached for his gun.

  Apollo stepped in and stopped anything else from happening.

  Keira felt the emotion catch up to her. She turned and ran. Part of her wanted to just go. Be gone for good. Instead, she stopped at the back of the bar.

  Kami appeared a minute later with a towel. “You have blood on your hand.

  Keira looked and realized she did.

  “It’s Hale’s,” Kami said. “He’s fucked a lot of weird chicks, too. You never know what he’s carrying.”

  “That’s really disgusting,” Keira said.

  Keira wiped her hand and dropped the towel.

  “Apollo is opening membership,” Kami said. “He’s also looking for a fighter or two.”

  “A fighter?”

  “Yeah,” Kami said. “He wants to earn down at the snake pit. We can’t go down ourselves after what happened. Plus, none of the guys could handle the pressure. And we can’t afford to lose anyone else.”

  “So send someone down there to fight? That’s a trap.”

  “Oh well. It’s not me.”

  Keira just shook her head. The snake pit was a bad place. It stripped men - and women - of their souls.

  Of course Kami didn’t want to go there. None of the guys in Rusted Devil wanted to go either. It took a really tough man to go in there and come out alive and the same.

  And that was just something Keira hadn’t seen in a long time… a real tough man.