SAVAGE ROAD - Layne & Shelby (3 page)

“
Let
me ask you something,
”
I
said.
“
Why aren
’
t you wearing the patch?
”

Finn stiffened.
“
Let
’
s stick to the current problem.
”

“
Fair
enough. So you want to kill Alan?
”

“
Yeah.
Leave his body near the border. A sign. A message.
”

“
What
about our inside guy?
”

“
I
got a name,
”
Finn said. He
shook his head.
“
Fuck,
Layne, I got a name.
”

And with that
…
my first day in Oakville as
President of their Devil Call MC chapter, I was going to have to kill a patched
in member.

5.

(Shelby)

My heart pounded.

Layne wasn
’
t bigger than Ax, not by a long shot, but he took
him down. He took Ax down. He squeezed his throat and tripped him. Then he put
a gun to Ax
’
s head and shut
the beast up. It was something impossible. And before that, he threw Finn like
a rag doll right into the bar.

Nobody fucked with Finn.

Not when you knew his story, who he
was, what he was capable of.

Holy fucking hell.

If that weren
’
t enough, Layne was beautiful.
Yes, a man could be beautiful. And Layne was. Thick dark hair, a little scruff
on his face, wide and round shoulders, thick arms, a thicker body, everything
that screamed complete and total alpha control. When he spoke, people listened.
And when he looked at me
…
it made my toes curl. It made my thighs quiver.

Never fuck a biker.

My one rule. Christ, my one damn
rule.

I repeated it in my mind two dozen
times as I stared at the closed door.

Layne had come in like a storm,
leaving the clubhouse silent. Hell, even the guy Finn was about to murder just
sat there, surprised. Ax stood across from the guy, arms crossed.

Nobody dared to move or speak.

The door opened and Layne and Finn
came out. They weren
’
t
bleeding, which was good. It meant they hadn
’
t
beaten the hell out of each other. In fact, Layne stepped to the side and
grabbed Finn by the shoulder. He gave a quick nod.

Finn nodded back.

He then approached the pool table.

From the corner of my eye, I saw
Layne coming behind the bar. He walked right up to me, without an ounce of
fear. His hand touched my lower back, setting my body on fire. Inside my belly,
I burned. In my panties I was even hotter.

“
Look
away,
”
he whispered.
“
Don
’
t want you to
…”

It was too late.

I didn
’
t look away. And I couldn
’
t look away.

Finn took a long knife out its
holster and rammed it into the guy
’
s
back. He let out a curdling scream. Finn pulled the knife out and he threw the
guy down to the pool table. He brought the knife down to the guy
’
s chest, through the heart, and
twisted the blade.

Finn then backed up and ran a hand
through his hair.

“
Jesus,
sweetie,
”
Layne whispered
to me.
“
I told you to look
away.
”

I looked up at Layne.
“
Not the first time I
’
ve seen it. Reminds me of the
truth of this place.
”

“
You
ever get hurt? Threatened?
”
Layne asked.

“
I
get paid to be here.
”

“
Stay
put,
”
Layne said.

Finn looked at me. I was suddenly
torn between two men. Just what I fucking needed.

Finn pointed and snapped his
fingers.
“
Towels.
”

“
No,
”
Layne said and tightened his
hand around the back of my shirt. He kept me steady.
“
Ax, you get the towels.
”

I never had a man stick up for me
before. It made me nervous as anything, but I kind of liked it.

Layne then opened his hand and
pushed by me. As fast as he came, he was gone. He went around the bar and
pointed to the guy on the table.

“
Everyone
know who that is?
”
he
called out.

A few people responded.

“
His
name was Alan. He was giving up information about the club. This is what you
get. I
’
m not here to fuck
around. Everyone, outside.
”
Layne looked at Ax.
“
Ax, I
want you to take this guy and get rid of him.
”

“
We
usually bury them,
”
Ransom
said.

“
Dig
a hole,
”
Layne said.
“
Bury
…
then burn. Let it be a message to anyone who
thinks of fucking with this club.
”

Layne walked to the door and opened
it. Slowly, the guys started to leave. One by one, out the door. Layne went
last, looking back at me. He half grinned, then gritted his teeth, like he
regretted grinning at me.

I wanted him. So fucking badly.

I rushed from behind the bar and
reached for the door. I opened it and saw Bain standing right there. I bumped
into him as he held his cell with one hand. He dropped his cell and then
hurried to pick it up.

He looked at me.
“
Fucking moron.
”

“
Fuck
you.
”

“
Yeah,
come on,
”
he said.
“
You want to fuck me
…”

His eyes were at his cell.

He then shut off the screen and
went to join the rest of the guys.

I hated when the guys talked to me
like that. Maybe Layne would put an end to that.

Yeah, right.

There were bigger things to worry
about in the MC than my feelings. And I was on my own mission to get away from
Dad and to find my mother. Whether she wanted me or not, she was going to get
me. Help me. Save me so I could catch my breath and move the hell on from
everything in my life.

I stood and watched as Layne lined
all the guys up, making them stand next to their rides. It was Layne against an
entire crew. Yeah, I
’
m sure
there were orders or something about Layne being President. But that didn
’
t mean anyone would respect or
accept him. At least not without Finn leading the way.

Layne scanned them. Left to right.
Right to left. Again and again.

He was searching for something.

I knew this move.

He wanted to see who would sweat
first.

AJ and Sugar started to bark.

I took a couple steps forward and
saw - and heard - a group of motorcycles approaching. The guys at the front
started to shout.

Attack! Attack!

They hustled back, pulling out
guns.

Before they could shoot, a gun went
off.

I saw Layne
’
s body twist and fall to the ground.

I gasped and covered my mouth.

There had been attacks here before.
And I knew the drill. Get down on your belly and cover your head. If I could
…
run like hell and take shelter
so I didn
’
t get kidnapped.
Finn made it very clear to me that if I was ever taken, nobody would ever come
looking for me. They wouldn
’
t
negotiate for my safety or life. So I was better off hiding or just killing
myself.

But seeing Layne get shot left me
frozen.

The group of motorcycles sped by.
Everyone started to return fire, but the walls were too high to do anything.
Even if they got on their motorcycles and started a chase, then what?

This is how it went.

Attack after attack.

Retaliation. A fight. Calmness.
Then repeat.

The thunderous cries of the
motorcycles faded out in the distance.

I ran to Layne, fearing the worse.
He had just gotten here, literally just gotten here.

I dropped to my knees and saw Layne
already trying to sit up.

He
’
s not dead.

He grabbed for his right shoulder
and groaned.
“
Fuck.
”

“
Holy
shit,
”
Brett said.

“
We
need to call for meds,
”
Hawke said.
“
Finn
…”

“
NO!
”
Layne growled.
“
Just help me the fuck up.
Somebody.
”

Bain offered his hand and Layne
stood up. He grabbed Bain by his shirt and then threw him back.

Layne hurried to take off his
leather cut. He saw me and reached out, letting me take the cut. I gripped it,
my hand shaking. It was like holding a relic, something so powerful and
meaningful.

I then watched as Layne lifted his
shirt up over his head. He threw the shirt to the ground. From my angle, all I
could see was muscle and blood. Just below Layne
’
s
shoulder, there was the wound. The blood ran in separate streams down his arm
and to his hand, dripping to the ground. His chest was wide, powerful, cut in a
way that made my fingertips tingle with a needy ache to touch. To kiss. To
bite.

What
’
s wrong with you?

I needed to get it together here.

Layne touched his arm, his fingers
pressing into the blood and wound. He growled and sucked in a breath. He looked
left to right, back and forth across the lot.

“
Fuck,
”
he groaned.
“
You two
…”
He was talking to Brett and Hawke.
“
You two take the front of the
lot at the gate. Do we have high power guns?
”

“
We
have an underground set up,
”
Finn said.
“
We get some
really good shit.
”

“
Then
get it and get out there.
”

“
You
heard him,
”
Finn said.
“
Move.
”

Brett and Hawke hurried.

Layne then looked at Mack and Jack.
They were breathing heavily, holding handguns that seemed bigger than them.

As Layne approached, they both
stiffened.

Holy shit
…

“
You
fucking saw them,
”
Layne
said.
“
You saw them rolling
up. You heard them. They pulled a weapon
…”

“
We
didn
’
t have time,
”
Jack said. He then hung his
head.

“
Even
though it was one bullet
…
one
bullet can still fucking kill me,
”
Layne yelled.
“
You
understand that? And if it was a complete ambush with fifty guns, you stand
there and take it like a man. That
’
s
why you
’
re here. Right?
”

“
Yes,
”
Mack said.
“
Sorry.
”

Layne walked up to Mack and bumped
into him.
“
Do you fucking
understand me?
”

“
Yes.
We do.
”

“
Yes,
”
Jack said. He looked worried.

Layne threw his shoulder and hit
Jack. Blood sprayed and Jack tumbled back, falling to his ass. He was covered
in Layne
’
s blood. He
touched his cheek, realizing what had happened, and turned, throwing up.

“
That
’
s our protection?
”
Layne asked.
“
Fuck me.
”
He turned and looked at Finn.
“
Who was that? Who shot?
”

“
MK,
”
Finn said.

“
Mountain
Killers Motorcycle Club,
”
Finn
said.
“
Local rivals.
”

“
We
’
re going to bury them all,
”
Layne said.

He started to walk. From his
shoulder, he glanced at me.
“
You
know how to put on a bandage?
”

“
Yeah,
”
I said.

“
Good.
Follow me.
”

I started to follow, not even
thinking about it.

I caught up to Layne and he looked
at me.
“
Name?
”

“
Shelby,
”
I said.

“
Shelby.
Okay. I
’
m Layne.
”

“
Yeah.
Okay.
”

I was supposed to be behind the
bar, serving drinks. Listening to conversations. I was supposed to be figuring
out a plan to find my mother. And then see if there was anything I could tell
Dad. He demanded good stories and I had quite a few. I was wrong, maybe, but if
it was for the safety of me, Dad, and the town, why not? Like there was
anything ever really that crazy
…

We went into the clubhouse and I
saw the blood on the pool table and the blood on the floor.

Ever really that crazy
…

Granted, there were some wild times
around here.

Layne walked to the door of what
Finn referred to as
church
and he looked back at me.
“
You know this place well?
”

“
Yeah,
I guess.
”

“
Where
would I be staying?
”

“
Oh
…
uh
…
there
’
s
a room down the hall and to the left. It
’
s
not being used.
”

“
Take
me there. Get some cloths or something.
”

I was still holding Layne
’
s leather cut.