Free OWNED & UNTAMED (A Back Down Devil MC Romance Novel) by London Casey, Karolyn James Page A

fucking outlaw life,” he said.
    “Christ,” Jasper said.
    “Hey,” Trev said. “This is for us. My share is going to Duke for taking that bullet. I’m going to go check on my very pregnant old lady, try to fuck that baby out of her, and then I’m going to call Carlo and see what he wants to do next. I’m guessing those slimy Hell Five fucks are all over that bar.”
    “Do we need protection here?” Hudson asked.
    “Favors have been called in,” Jasper said.
    I didn’t bother asking what that meant. I just listened to the words being slung around the table. Hell Five started this little spat and we just dumped gas on the fire. That was okay though. It was needed.
    Ivan wanted his money back, with blood, and he’d get it. This was about earning trust with the Russians and about showing power with our enemies.
    Trev ended the meeting and asked to see me privately.
    He kicked out Jasper’s seat and told me to sit.
    “That’s for the VP,” I said.
    “So much respect,” he said and grinned.
    “I’ll stand, Prez.”
    “How you feeling today?”
    “I feel fine.”
    “You’ve been raising some kind of hell around here since that night you tried to slit Cash’s throat. Still don’t want to talk about it?”
    “Nothing to talk about, Prez.”
    “You gonna ease up on the clubhouse?”
    “I do what I do.”
    “Can’t argue that, Duke.” Trev stood up. “I trust you. You’re patched in and at the table for a reason. Don’t spend that money on something bad for your health.”
    I laughed. So did Trev as he walked toward the door.
    “Hey, Prez,” I said.
    “Yeah?” He stopped and looked back at me.
    “I took that bullet because of your family. I would do it again. And for anyone here. I went through some dark shit somewhere else. I saw things nobody needs to hear about. I did what I felt was right, even if it wasn’t.”
    “That’s why I trust you. Brother.”
    Trev left the room and I stood there, alone.
    I walked around to the head of the table and looked down it. The way Trev looked at the table. I put my fists to the table and shook my head.
    The club had been through hell and back. I had been through hell and back. Yet we were all still standing. And we would continue to stand. No matter what happened.
    I made it two steps away from the table when my cell began to ring.
    It was Belle calling.
    For some reason, I damn smiled.
    “Hey, sweetie,” I said.
    She quickly cut me off. “Hurry! Help! I think Jim tried to kill himself again!”
     

twelve.
     
    (belle)
     
    I left Maggie’s place with a smile on my face. She swore to me two things before I left. First, she could never go near her ex again. That was tongue-in-cheek, but I made my point clear that Maggie was only hurting herself. If she was in it for the fun, fine, but not to let her ex control her.
    I was a total hypocrite as I said it though.
    I let Duke into my house. I let him touch me, kiss me. I wanted him to press me against the wall and have me, knowing it was purely physical and nothing else.
    But I didn’t have to let Maggie know that.
    The second thing was that I needed her to show up and clean Jim’s house. I told her to charge as much as she wanted, but Jim needed his place clean and he needed the company. I always knew there was a little flirty thing between Jim and Maggie.
    So, yeah, I was smiling as I left, ready to go home and stare at my cell phone for hours, wondering if I should call Duke and try to make sense of something between me and him. Not that there was a future, but at least to settle the past. Was that so much to ask for?
    Apparently so, because the second I entered the house, I knew something was wrong.
    I saw the bathroom light on Jim’s side of house pouring out into the hall. And I saw something on the floor.
    A pill .
    I dropped everything and started to run. I spun around into the kitchen and ran through the living toward the bedroom. I did a crazy jump move over the coffee table, my eyes