Hollywood (Steel Demons MC #7)

Chapter Twenty-Four

Winter

I couldn’t sleep and even though I told myself it had nothing to do with the fact that Hollywood wasn’t here. He’d come back to the room briefly and I felt the weight of his gaze on me, but he didn’t say anything. Didn’t attempt to talk or apologize, he just left.

Probably for good.

Oh, I didn’t think he was forfeiting his promise to my dad to keep me safe, I just figured he would pawn the job off on one of his brothers. The idea stung but there was nothing I could do about that. I knew where I stood with him and it hurt like a son of a bitch, but I also knew I couldn’t make anyone feel something they just didn’t.

“I’ll get over it.” That’s what I told myself as I pushed off the uncomfortable sofa that was probably purchased sometime in the nineteen hundreds, grabbed my phone and went to see what was going on in the bar.

“There she is!” Ruby greeted me with a smile and waved me over. “Were you sleeping?”

I shrugged. “Trying, but sleep decided to elude me. What’s going on?”

She frowned. “Hollywood didn’t tell you?”

I shook my head. “He did say anything.” Hadn’t even tried to tell me anything important was going on, which was just another clue that I wasn’t important to him, at least not beyond a few hot fucks and being his best friend’s daughter.

“The guys had a meeting with the Jade Devils tonight.” She spoke so matter-of-factly, as if she wasn’t terrified some of them might come back with bullet holes. Some might not come back at all.

“Why? Did something happen?” I shook my head and bit back any sounds or signs that might reveal my displeasure.

Peyton joined us with a heavy sigh and set a shot glass filled with clear liquid in front of me. “Nothing specific,” she answered. “But they need to figure out if this is a problem that has a solution.”

Right. “That makes sense.”

“Did you and Hollywood have a fight?” Peyton rested her chin in her hand, head tilted as if I was some type of puzzle to be figured out.

“You could say that, but it was more of a settling of things. We’re not on the same page and that’s the long and short of it.” Thankfully, the sound of my phone ringing in my pocket kept me from seeing the looks of pity I was sure were aimed at me. “Hello?”

“Winter.” Luisa’s voice was shaky and soft, as if she was trying to avoid being overheard.

“Lu, what’s wrong?”

She let out a bark of laughter followed by a sob. “You know me and my ability to turn any situation messy. I was out at The Last Shift, that new bar where all the casino employees hang out after work, and I met this guy. Super-hot and totally ripped, just my type.”

I rolled my eyes. “And what, he turned out to be an asshole?”

“You could say that,” she whispered again, her voice hitched on a sob. “Turns out he’s a bit of a criminal but not like your criminal, this one is crazy. And Asian,” she whispered the last two words so softly I wasn’t sure I’d heard her right at first.

But I did. “Fuck, Lu. Are you okay?”

“So far, yeah, but they want to talk to you.”

My legs gave out and I barely made it to a chair before I collapsed. “Lu.”

“Not Lu,” a male voice replied, a hint of amused menace in his tone. He sounded a lot like the guy who approached me on campus.

I swallowed down my fear and sat taller. “What do you want?”

“You.” He laughed. “Come to me and don’t tell anyone where you’re going. Do that and I’ll let your friend go. I promise.”

I snorted. “I don’t believe you. Where are you?”

He rattled off an address. “I am a man of my word, I assure you.”

I rolled my eyes. “I won’t come inside until Lu is outside and safe.” I knew what this was about and even though I also knew they were wrong in thinking that kidnapping me would get my father to pay the money, I was going anyway.

“Fine. See you soon, Winter. Come alone.”

I ended the call without a word and let out a long breath as I looked around the bar at all the women and kids, laughing and smiling. They were all so happy and so comfortable in their lives. They were confident, sure that their men loved them, that they would do anything to keep them safe.

It’s what I had to do for Lu. She didn’t deserve getting caught up in the middle of this shit and it was up to me to keep her out of it. These women, they were nice and had welcomed me in as if I belonged.

I would miss them.

I stood and made my way to Hollywood’s room, grateful I had clothes to change into since we were all on lockdown. I slipped into a pair of jeans and a plain black t-shirt along with my black sneakers before I tied my hair into a loose bun. Instinct told me to leave my phone behind, but I had no clue where I was going, so I needed to use the map app which meant it had to come with me.

I scribbled a note and left the room I’d shared with Hollywood, likely for the last time. I knew he didn’t want me, but some sense of self-preservation had me writing the address where they were holding my friend. I couldn’t call him though, because I knew he’d stop me and I couldn’t risk anything happening to Lu—aside from my dad, she was all I had left in the world.

I just had to get out of here without being seen, which wouldn’t be an easy task since several of the members of the MC, some were what they called prospects, were here to make sure nobody left.

I had to find a way out without being noticed.

Sooner rather than later.

Even though I itched to get to Lu, I had to be smart because I would only have one chance to get away. The women sat together in small clusters, so wrapped up in conversation or feeding children that my presence, or rather my absence had gone mostly unnoticed. Come on, I urged silently as my impatience grew.

One of the guys went out back, tugging a cigarette from the pack as he moved, and I knew this was my chance. Like any good semi-rebellious teenager I’d participated in my fair share of cigarette circles behind fast food restaurants and inside parks late at night. I timed it as best I could, inching towards he door just as he opened it. “Winter,” he frowned.

“Hey, Pike, right?”

He nodded.

“Sorry to be a bother but this is all kind of new to me and I’m a little frazzled.”

His expression softened. “Yeah, it can be but you’re safe here. Don’t worry.”

“Thanks, but I’m wondering if I can bother you to pick up a habit I dropped long ago. A smoke?”

His brows shot up, a move that made him look more like the boy next door than a bad boy biker, but he nodded eventually. “Yeah, sure. Didn’t peg you for the smoking type.” He handed me a cigarette and a pack of matches.

“Thanks. I’m not really. I tried it, smoked for a few weeks back in high school and then gave it up because I smelled like smoke all the time.”

He laughed. “I feel that.”

“Pike, stop flirtin’ with Hollywood’s woman before he kicks your ass.”

Pike flipped off his friend and joined him at the bar, leaving me to have my smoke in peace. I lit the tip of the cigarette and took one long pull to calm my nerves, shaking my hands as I exhaled. “Okay, one more.” I took another giant pull and exhaled once more before I placed the cigarette in the ashtray and made my way out into the night.

I hadn’t explored the properly at all, so I was flying blind, but this was my only chance to get out unnoticed and get to Lu. The compound was deceptively secure with a lot of walking space that ended at a tall fence covered in barbed wire. That option was off the table, but I continued to walk until I was back at the main building.

Music vibrated against the walls and though the space between the fence and the building was tight, I fit. Barely. My arms were a little scraped, but I made it to the front parking lot and slipped out into the night. The streets weren’t just quiet, they were silent. The road was slick from an earlier light rain, the lights overhead lit my path. With each step I took my heart pounded faster and harder as if I was going at a full run. It’s just a fear response, I told myself and picked up the pace.

The silence made my thoughts and my doubts sound louder in my head. I looked over my shoulder every few seconds, which I realized was slowing me down, so I kept my head down and walked faster. And faster.

I walked for fifteen minutes before I heard a vehicle, which made me jump out of my skin. I didn’t look up, I just moved to the sidewalk and kept moving as I waited for the car to pass.

Except it didn’t.

I went another block and the car still hadn’t passed me, and that’s when I knew something was off. Big time. I never slowed down but I looked over my shoulder just as two men approached. I got my phone out and started to call Hollywood, but before I could connect the call, strong arms grabbed me from behind and my phone dropped to the ground, I struggled, desperate to get away, but they easily overpowered me and carried me to a vehicle where they shoved me into the trunk.

I barely got out a scream before the trunk slammed shut and I was tossed around in back like a ragdoll. Stupid, stupid, stupid. I should have known that leaving the clubhouse was just a ruse, a way to get me away from those who protected me.

“So fucking stupid.” I continued to beat myself up while also hoping that Hollywood got my note. And that these guys weren’t really going to kill me. And that I might have a chance to make things right with Hollywood. But I knew I was fooling myself. My dad didn’t have the kind of money they were asking for, which meant if I was lucky, they would kill me quickly.

Unlikely .

I knew that my odds weren’t good, that every mile we moved away from the clubhouse increased the likelihood that I would never see my dad or Hollywood ever again. But I couldn’t let Lu die with me, so I had to be strong and come up with a plan to free her.

That was a lot easier to focus on than how my idiocy brought me to this point.