OWNED & UNTAMED (Back Down Devil MC #11) - London Casey Page 0,7

was bold. And extremely stubborn. He came from a different kind of life and a different country than ours. That was something a lot of guys had a hard time grasping. But I understood it.

Ivan wasn’t going to let this go. Even if it was a measly five thousand bucks missing out of the one-hundred-fifty.

He reached into the bag of cash and took out our cut of the money. He held it out to Trev and nodded. “Your portion.”

“Keep it,” Trev said. “Then I owe you five thousand.”

“No,” Ivan said. “I don’t want that. I want my money back.”

“They stole our fee,” I said. “That’s what it was.”

“No,” Ivan said again and stomped his foot. “You take this. You bring me back sixty-five.”

“What?” Trent asked.

“Interest,” Ivan said and shrugged his shoulders.

“Jesus,” I said. “I want your bank.”

Ivan and Peter laughed.

“I want my money,” Ivan said. “And I want it with blood on it.”

The room changed again.

“If this doesn’t happen,” Peter said, “we will intervene. And if we have to start killing your enemies, then we will just keep going. We will take over your town, your club, and your charters.”

“Do we understand?” Ivan asked.

Trev took the fifty grand from Ivan and nodded. “Got it.”

“I hope we can count on you for future endeavors,” Ivan said.

“Always,” I said. “Just get us better intel or let us do it our way next time.”

“Fuck you,” Curtis spat.

He looked like a fat bully that had gotten punched finally. His eyes glossy. His hands shaking like he wanted to fight me but knew I’d destroy him.

“My apologies,” Ivan said. “I give my sorry in two ways here. One, if anyone ever shows up missing money, they would be killed on the spot.”

“And your second sorry?” I asked.

Ivan looked me dead in the eyes. He lifted his hand and pointed his massive handgun right at Curtis. Before I could even process what was about to happen, Ivan pulled the trigger again.

The same thundering boom went off and Curtis’s brains went scattering out the side of his head and across the warehouse.

“Holy shit!” Trent yelled. He grabbed for Trev and pulled him back, just in case.

“There,” Ivan said. “I don’t deal with a half ass job. I could have lost more money. So you never have to worry about Curtis again.”

“Fuck,” I said.

Ivan tucked his gun into his suit jacket and nodded to me. “And you, Duke. You need to shut your fucking mouth.”

Ivan tapped Peter’s arm.

I felt my phone in my pocket start to vibrate.

Who the fuck would be calling me right now?

I couldn’t fucking focus on the phone call though.

I was too busy watching as Peter took out a gun. A small handgun. I started to reach back for my gun, but I had no time. No chance.

I looked at Ivan.

“For you,” he said with his accent.

By the time he folded his arms and smiled at me, Peter pulled the trigger.

What a fucking night.

four.

(belle)

Bacon popped and a little bit of grease hit my arm.

“Fuck!” I yelled and backed up from the pan.

Right on cue the smoke alarm started to go off, the shrill beep pounding at the insides of my ears. I grabbed a towel and ran out of the kitchen to the hallway and started to wave the towel at it. That did nothing.

Behind me, I could smell the bacon starting to burn.

I ran back to the kitchen and got a chair. I climbed up and twisted the smoke alarm off the wall and popped out the nine-volt battery. I ran back to the stovetop and turned off the burner. I slid the bacon pan back and went for the coffeepot. I poured myself another cup and walked to the table.

Fuck it.

I sat and buried my hands in my face. I felt like a single mother trying to keep things together but unable to do so. The problem was that my “child” was my thirty-three year old brother who couldn't damn well take care of himself. And I had no place to tell him how to take care of himself. There was only one person in the world who could stand up to Jim and push him around.

And that person never called me back…

Then again, to be fair, I never left Duke a message. But I did call more than once.

I tried to savor my coffee, but face it, it was cheap coffee that I bought on sale. The kitchen lingered with the smell of bacon. All I wanted to do was try and