DARK FALL (A Back Down Devil MC Romance Novel) (18 page)

twenty-one.

Erik went to the table with
Griffin. Griffin went to his seat and Erik went to his. Blaine let out a quick
whistle and gave Erik a thumbs up. Erik flipped him off and shook his head.

Fuck. He wondered if Kaity knew
that Blaine had seen them.

Oh well. Erik couldn
’
t help himself in the hallway
with Kaity. His emotions were a tangled mess of fuck and his heart the same. He
had come so close to sending Kaity away, but there was no way Erik was going to
let Kaity go out there and face danger. Especially when it was danger she had
nothing to do with.

“
Jack
is dead,
”
Erik said.
“
Another car bomb.
”

“
We
heard,
”
Shay said.
“
Christ.
”

“
It
was meant for Kaity,
”
Erik
said. "This is getting deeper and more personal.
”

“
We
might have a solution,
”
Gaige said.

“
How?
”
Griffin asked.

“
Strokner
called me,
”
Miller said.
“
Me directly.
”

“
Went
over my head,
”
Gaige said.
“
Which I don
’
t like at all.
”

“
What
did he want?
”
Blaine asked.

“
We
’
re not the only ones who like
fights,
”
Miller said. He
rubbed his chin.
“
There
’
s also a need for it with rich
businessmen.
”

“
Are
you kidding me?
”
Jace
asked.

“
Businessmen
fighting?
”
Erik asked.
“
I don
’
t buy it. I don
’
t
see it.
”

Miller leaned forward.
“
They aren
’
t the ones fighting.
”

“
Then
who?
”
Griffin asked.

Miller nodded to Gaige. Gaige
sighed and shook his head.
“
They
hire women to do it. The women are almost like hookers I guess. I don
’
t know. They get these women
together and set up fights. The men bet on the fights and on the women. Kind of
like our women here."

“
I
don
’
t fight
‘
em,
”
Blaine said.
“
I
just fuck
‘
em.
”

Miller laughed as he pushed back from
the table and stood.
“
The
point is
…
we need to be
there. Strokner said there
’
s
a good possibility one of our guys will be there.
”

“
Which
one?
”
Shay asked.

“
I
don
’
t care,
”
Miller said.
“
Someone who hurt us will be there.
”

“
Wait
a second,
”
Erik said.
“
We
’
re
going to just show up and start killing businessmen?
”

“
No,
”
Gaige said.
“
We show up and find the man we
need.
”

“
How
do we get in?
”
Griffin
asked.
“
I mean, I doubt
they
’
re going to just let a
bunch of bikers walk in.
”

“
Let
me deal with Strokner,
”
Miller said.
“
He
’
ll get us in. We do need to be
legit though.
”

“
Meaning?
”
Blaine asked.

“
We
need a woman to fight,
”
Miller said.
“
Strokner
already told me that
’
s the
price to get in. We show up with a woman. We find our guy. Get our revenge. We
move on.
”

“
It
’
s not just one person,
”
Shay said.
“
We know that.
”

“
But
we
’
ll send a clear message,
”
Gaige said.

“
Or
start a bigger war,
”
Nate
added.

 
“
Sure,
if we make this kill, it
’
s going
to make this thing bigger," Miller said. "But it shows power. It
shows we don
’
t take shit
from anyone. We expose them once and it
’
s
all ours. Got it?
”

Everyone looked around at each
other. This was a big vote right now. A vote to extend this war. A vote for
bloodshed and death. Erik looked around the table and wondered if this was the
war that would kill one of his brothers. There could be an empty chair at the
end of it.

“
We
vote,
”
Gaige said.
“
Show of hands
…”

“
We
show up to the fight,
”
Miller said.
“
We take care
of our business.
”

Miller
’
s hand went up. Gaige next. Then Blaine. Jace,
Griffin, and Nate all put their hands up. When it came to Erik, he hesitated
for a second while he let everything play back in his mind. The MC may not have
chosen this war, but he'd be damned if he was going to let someone else win it.
Erik put his hand up.

Not a single person objected to the
idea.

“
It
’
s settled,
”
Miller said.
“
Me and Gaige will make the plans
with Strokner. And tomorrow night we are going to take our step forward with
this mess.
”

“
Hey,
”
Blaine said.
“
For the kill
…
when the opportunity comes
…”

Miller glanced around the table and
stopped at Erik. Their eyes met and Erik slowly rose.

“
I
’
ll do it,
”
Erik said.
“
If
this is one of the guys that had something to do with that bomb
…”

“
I
agree,
”
Nate said.
“
This is Erik
’
s.
”

The rest of the table agreed. They
all stood one by one, nodding.

With the main table standing, Back
Down Devil was stronger than ever. They would not fold up and die in this
fight.

“
Mark
my words,
”
Miller said,
“
there will be honor in this fight.
”

Everyone cheered and Miller pointed
to the door. The orders were pretty simple now. Prepare to fight and enjoy the
day and night. Tomorrow could be the last day.

The room cleared out and Erik found
himself standing at the table. Miller grabbed his shoulder.

“
What
’
s wrong?
”

“
Too
much to think about,
”
Erik
said.
“
My mind seems to be
clearing.
”

“
Or
is it just your cock?
”
Miller asked with a smile.

“
Maybe
both.
”
Erik looked at
Miller.
“
She should have
died today.
”

“
I
’
m sorry, brother. But that
’
s our life. That
’
s why it
’
s hard to let people in.
”

“
Yeah,
it is.
”

“
Hey,
are you okay with this? The fight? The kill?
”

“
I
’
m ready,
”
Erik said.
“
The
club is ready for this. We need a victory to move on.
”

Erik left the room and skipped the
bar. He stormed down the hallway to his room. On his bedroom floor he saw a pile
of clothes. Then he heard the rushing water in the bathroom. When he peeked in,
it was steamy, but the silhouette of Kaity
’
s
body made his mind go blank.

“
How
good were you at your job?
”
Erik asked.

Kaity screamed and opened the
shower door.
“
What the
…
you scared me.
”

“
Answer
the fucking question.
”

“
My
job?
”

“
As
a rat.
”

Kaity
’
s
face tensed.
“
I wasn
’
t
…”

“
If
the club finds out who you were
…
or are
…
what do you think
they
’
re going to do?
”

Kaity swallowed.
“
I don
’
t know.
”

“
This
isn
’
t some fucking
honeymoon, babe. I wanted to fuck you, so I did. You have my heart and mind
torn to pieces. Remember when I said I don
’
t
care about a thing? That was a lie. I care about you, Kaity. But to think of
you as a rat really pisses me off.
”

“
What
do you want from me then, Erik? I can
’
t
go back and change things. I
’
ll
do anything you want to prove it. If that
’
s
what you want. Name it. I
’
ll
fucking stand on the bar and tell everyone out there. I
’
ll
…
I
’
ll kill someone. Is that
want you want?
”

Erik
’
s
heart was pumping so fast. He walked to the shower and took Kaity
’
s right hand. It was wet and
slippery. Erik looked at Kaity
’
s
naked body and felt himself getting hard again. He made Kaity
’
s hand into a fist.

“
Punch
me,
”
he said.

“
What?
”

“
Punch
me in the face.
”

“
No.
”

“
I
gave you a fucking order.
”

Kaity threw her fist and smacked
Erik in the nose. It stung for a second but didn
’
t
hurt.

“
Is
that the best you can do?
”
Erik asked.

“
What
are you talking about?
”

Erik grabbed Kaity
’
s wrist.
“
You want to be a rat? You want to be undercover?
”

“
No,
”
Kaity said.
“
I never
…”

“
This
is your chance then. Prove it to the club, Kaity. I need you to fight someone
for me, for us.
”

“
Fight?
”

Erik felt the regret already. He
just swore to himself ten minutes ago he would keep Kaity safe. But he didn
’
t know what that meant. This
woman had been a rat. This woman worked undercover for a detective. She couldn
’
t just step into the clubhouse
and belong here. That
’
s not
how it worked.

“
Fight,
”
Erik said.
“
There
’
s a chance we can find one of the men
…”

“
I
’
ll do it,
”
Kaity said.
“
Of
course I
’
ll do it. I
’
ll do anything to prove it to
you, Erik. To the MC. Whatever you need.
”

“
Get
out of the shower,
”
Erik
said.
“
So we can talk.
”

Kaity turned off the water and
grabbed a towel. She wrapped it around herself and went with Erik to the
bedroom and sat on the bed. Erik stood in front of her, his arms crossed.

“
I
want to know what you want out of all this,
”
Erik said.

“
Trust,
”
Kaity said without hesitation.
“
The way you look at me
…
the way you make me feel
…”

“
You
’
re going to be fighting for
real,
”
Erik said.

“
If
that
’
s what I need to do,
then I
’
ll do it.
”

Erik was really turned on. He was
so torn about trusting her. He wanted to. He wanted to protect her. But she
hadn
’
t earned it yet.

“
There
’
s a fight that some businessmen
have put together,
”
Erik
said.
“
We need a woman to
go into it. If we get in there, there
’
s
a chance we can make a revenge kill.
”