STEEL TEMPTATION (A Back Down Devil MC Romance Novel) (12 page)

That
’
s
when a wave of anger crested and crashed into her. She looked at the money on
the seat next to her. Bottom line now was that if she wasn
’
t here
…
what would it matter? Everyone else could just
fucking fight for themselves now.

“
Fuck
it,
”
Mia whispered.

She started the car and drove.

Away.

Away from Uncle Jake
’
s.

Away from Frelen.

She wanted to see who could catch
her and kill her first.

twelve.

The car crossed out of Frelen. A
sense of terrible freedom ran through Mia
’
s
body. She checked her mirrors once, twice, and actually started to believe she
could just go.

Go where?

It didn
’
t matter.

The cash Uncle Jake had given her
was enough to get somewhere. Spend a couple nights in a cheap motel and then
figure out the next part of the plan. Maybe she could just keep going east. Go
until there was no more Back Down Devil MC.

Then again
…
didn
’
t
Uncle Jake say something to Mia
’
s
fake story? Of how the MC had met with another charter?

A charter?

What the hell did that mean,
really? More guys?

Mia slammed on the brakes. Her car
skidded to a halt right in the middle of the damn road. She left the keys in
the ignition and opened the door. She got out and climbed on the hood.

She sat there, looking to the late
afternoon sky.

Shaking her head, she wondered how
long this was going to take.

The answer?

Two minutes.

That
’
s
when she heard the rumbling of the engines. She didn
’
t even bother to look over her shoulder. They were
coming and they were going to kill her. She wasn
’
t
even going to bother to lie either. What good would that do? Straight up and
honest, tell them what the hell she was doing out here.

The thundering sound got closer and
Mia shut her eyes. She waited for the bullet. She hoped it wouldn
’
t hurt. It would just
…
happen.

When someone touched her, she
jumped and yelled.

“
Fucking
hell, babe.
”

Mia opened her eyes.

Nate.

A feeling kicked up inside her and
she lunged from the hood of the car at him. Hugging him. Needing him to protect
her. Just like he did before.

But Nate wasn
’
t having it. His hands grabbed
at her sides, squeezing, tickling her into a paralyzed feeling so that she let
him go. He then pinned her down to the hood of the car.

“
What
the fuck are you doing?
”
Nate growled.

“
It
’
s over,
”
another voice said.

“
Wait,
”
Nate yelled.

Mia turned her head and saw Griffin
approaching, gun drawn.

“
We
had one rule,
”
Griffin
said.
“
Miller
…”

“
He
’
s not here,
”
Nate said.
“
Back the fuck up for a second,
bro.
”

Mia stretched her neck and saw
Blaine and Gaige on their motorcycles.

“
Griffin!
”
Gaige yelled and then whistled.
“
That's enough. Let him
talk to her.
”

“
Big
mistake,
”
Griffin said.
“
Someone is going to pay for this
shit.
”

Griffin walked away. Nate backed up
and gave Mia a chance to sit up.

“
One
rule,
”
he said.
“
You broke it. You tried running.
”

“
I
didn
’
t try. I ran. I
stopped. Here I am.
”

“
Why?
”

“
Just
shoot me.
”

“
I
’
m not going to do that.
”

“
Then
give me your gun
…
I
’
ll
…”

Nate came forward and grabbed her
mouth. The sudden move shocked Mia. His grip was tight, too tight.

“
Never
fucking say that again,
”
Nate growled.
“
You
understand me? Ever. Now you take a second and then tell me what you
’
re doing out here.
”

Mia shuddered and fought back
tears.
“
I
’
m stuck in the middle of this.
”

“
Of
what?
”

“
Whatever
you have with my uncle. I want nothing to do with it.
”

“
Too
late,
”
Nate said.
“
He pulled you in. I
’
m trying to fucking help you.
”

Mia stood up and slammed a fist off
Nate
’
s hard chest. He
barely moved.
“
I hate it
all. My entire life has been a fucking joke. Okay? I think my uncle did
something to Jacob. And he tried to make a move at me.
”

“
What?
”
Nate asked.

“
You
heard me. You wanted to know if I fucked him? I didn
’
t. But he wanted it today. That never happened
before. I went to check on Jacob and the bedroom was empty. Uncle Jake then
held me by my throat and said what he wanted.
”

“
I
’
ll kill him,
”
Nate said. He looked beyond
Mia. He made a signal with his hand. He looked back at Mia.
“
What happened?
”

“
He
gave me money. Told me to find a place to take a shower and calm down. He wants
me to work you guys so I can lure you
…”

Nate stepped back and took out his
gun. Gaige was then there, his gun drawn.

“
Tell
me this isn
’
t a set up?
”
Nate asked.

“
Fuck!
No!
”
Mia cried out.
“
I
’
m
not on his side.
”

“
What
happened?
”
Gaige asked.

Nate gave Gaige the three second
rundown.

Gaige then looked at Mia.
“
We
’
re
supposed to just trust you.
”

“
Or
just let me go,
”
she said.
“
I never asked for this.
”

“
I
never asked to be attacked,
”
Nate said.
“
Getting fucking
smashed in the head and knocked out. We have a war
…”

“
Bro,
easy,
”
Gaige said.

“
Just
shoot her!
”
Griffin called
out.
“
We have to send a
message.
”

Mia stood there, arms at her sides.
She was ready for whatever was going to happen.

Gaige stepped toward her.
“
You stopped. Why?
”

“
I
made up a story with my uncle. That you left town and met with some guys. Just
thinking off the top of my head. He then got nervous, saying something about a
charter. Made me realize that you probably have guys everywhere. So I stopped.
And waited. I don
’
t care.
”

“
Well,
you
’
re right. We have guys
everywhere. Your uncle got nervous?
”

“
Yeah.
”

“
Good.
”

“
That
explains the chief,
”
Nate
said to Gaige.
“
Getting
spooked and jumpy.
”

“
Christ,
”
Gaige said. He pointed to the
car behind Mia.
“
It
’
s simple now. Get in the car and
follow us. Back to the compound. Your last chance. I
’
m going to get hell for this.
”

“
Okay,
”
Mia nodded.

Nate glanced at Mia, shaking his
head.
“
I can
’
t help you anymore if this is
the shit you
’
re going to
pull.
”

Nate started to move and Mia
grabbed his arm.
“
He tried
to fucking touch me.
”

That
’
s
all Mia had to say. It was the truth. Uncle Jake crossed the line, finally. Somewhere
in Mia she always knew the day would come. It had to, right? The man was
unstable, crazy, and he was alone. Unless he had a woman or a girlfriend on the
side
…

“
Move,
”
Nate growled.
“
I
’
ll
be in front of you and they
’
ll
cover the rest. You make one turn or move the wrong way and Griffin is going to
light you up.
”

“
Light
me up,
”
Mia whispered.

She had an idea of what that meant.

Looking back, she saw Griffin
shaking his head. He and Nate started to argue, the rumbles of the motorcycles
drowning out their voices to Mia.

She felt like a captured criminal
now.

Back Down Devil MC was all around
her, escorting her into Frelen. She wondered what kind of image this would give
to anyone working with Uncle Jake. Then again, this was what he wanted, right?
For Mia to get involved and then report back to him. It didn
’
t make sense though. The MC
would know
…
Uncle Jake
would know
…
and Mia would
still be in the middle. It
’
s
like they wanted this
war
(as Nate put it) to really happen. To grow.

Mia pulled her car into the Back
Down Devil compound. Nate pointed and Mia parked the car. A few seconds later
there were two guys in leather cuts at the door. They didn
’
t have the patches
…
they were
…
prospects
…

Nate shouted something and the car
door opened.

“
Get
out,
”
one of the guys said.
Mia grabbed the money, her bag, and was out of the car. She looked at Nate and
he waved her over.

“
They
’
re going to stash your car,
”
Nate said.
“
So nobody can find it. As far as
anyone is concerned, you
’
ve
vanished.
”

“
He
wants this,
”
Mia said.
“
Uncle Jake wants this. This
doesn
’
t make sense.
”

“
It
doesn
’
t have to,
”
Nate said.

He turned off the engine and
climbed off the motorcycle. His hand slid around her waist and he started to
walk.

“
Come
on,
”
Nate said.
“
We have to talk to Miller.
”

Mia stutter stepped and watched
everyone staring at her. Guys sitting on motorcycles, smoking cigarettes. Guys
sitting on tables, drinking beer. Everyone dressed in leather and looking angry
as fuck.

Gaige and Griffin were in a heated
conversation. Griffin waved his hands, constantly pointing at Mia.

“
He
hates me,
”
Mia said to
Nate.

“
You
lied,
”
Nate said.
“
Everyone hates you. You have no
friends.
”

“
Christ.
Can you be any meaner?
”

Nate stopped and pulled at Mia.
“
Do you think this is a fucking
game?
”

“
I
never
…”

“
Yeah,
me either. This is where you are right now. You want to end up dead? I
’
m not going to apologize for
what your uncle is doing. He
’
s
going to be killed. That I can promise you. But this goes deeper. There
’
s another crew involved. There
’
s local law enforcement
involved. You being here is you being protected. Unless
…”

Nate turned his head. So did Mia.
She spotted Miller standing at the clubhouse door, arms folded. His eyes - even
at a distance - made Mia shiver with intense fear.

With Nate
’
s hand spread across Mia
’
s lower back, they approached Miller. For every
ounce of fear in Mia
’
s body
there was a heat spreading from where Nate touched her. She hated to feel
turned on right now. But when she looked at Nate, she felt safe. Comforted.
Protected.

Then again, when she looked at
Miller
…

“
What
the fuck were you thinking?
”
Miller growled.

Mia stood frozen again.

“
He
’
s talking to me,
”
Nate said.

“
Both
of you, actually.
”

“
Look,
this is getting out of control,
”
Nate said.

“
I
agree,
”
Miller said.
“
Maybe it
’
s time we just put a bullet in the back of her head
and send her back.
”

Mia felt her knees buckle.

“
Her
uncle wants her to investigate us,
”
Nate said.
“
We can play
this thing
…”