Chapter Twenty-Six
Winter
“I ’m sorry, Lu. So fucking sorry.” Tears streamed down my cheeks, and I couldn’t even wipe them because these sadistic bastards had us chained up by our wrists, naked and cold. And terrified. “I don’t know how they found you.” That was the part I was beating myself up about. I hadn’t called her or reached out to her during this mess because I wanted her to be safe.
And look at my best friend now. So safe.
“Stop apologizing.” Her teeth chattered with every syllable and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t stop her tears either. “This isn’t on anyone but the assholes who took me. And you.”
That didn’t make me feel any better no matter how true it was. “They’ve been watching me for a lot longer than any of us realized.” The idea that I was just living my life, happy and carefree and they’d just been watching and waiting, just in case they needed leverage to get more money. “I should’ve warned you the minute I found out.”
“Then they would’ve taken me the way they took you.” She sniffled between each word, unable to stop the flow of tears.
Guilt overwhelmed me and I was certain that we would both die tonight. “Whatever happens, don’t say a word. Yeah?”
Lu frowned but nodded in agreement. “Okay. I’ll try.”
For the most part the Jade Devils had left us alone after they stripped us of our clothes and chained us to a metal ring that hung from the wall. Our toes scraped the cement floor which kept us at a disadvantage, constantly struggling for solid ground. I wasn’t sure where we were since I was in the trunk, and they pulled me out inside here. This place was half warehouse and half house. The room where they kept us looked like a basement, only larger, with two sofas and a coffee table that had seen better days.
But an hour passed and then another before they reappeared. The one they called JT entered first, wearing a deeply satisfied grin that immediately put me on edge. “Ladies.”
“Whores,” one of his men called with a laugh but JT backhanded his chest.
“Be nice,” JT chided. “For now, they are our guests.” JT’s gaze never left me, focusing first on my face before he took a long slow look at the rest of me as he came closer. “You really shouldn’t have come alone.”
That same sentiment echoed in my mind ever since I was tossed into that trunk. But I kept my thoughts to myself.
“I mean, if you were my woman, which are now, I would never let you go. You’re far too beautiful to be left out here alone.”
It was on the tip of my tongue to tell him that I didn’t belong to anyone, that I wasn’t his , but I did what I told Lu and kept quiet. Even as his fingers touched my face, down to my shoulders and straight down the length of my arm, I stayed silent. My body trembled and tears fell, but I said nothing.
“In fact, I just might keep you for myself, locked up in my home waiting for me to come home every night to get lost in this sweet body. Yeah, that’s definitely on the table. Unless Daddy pays what he owes.” His fingertips slid down my chest to the area between my breasts and the under it, circling it while he watched my face for a reaction.
My body shuddered uncontrollably at his touch. I felt dirty and disgusted by his touch, but I swallowed down those emotions and thought about Hollywood. I hoped he had already read my letter and that maybe he was already searching for us. Though I wasn’t sure what good it would do, I had no idea where we were being held—but given the time I was in the trunk, I didn’t think it was the location they’d given me. I sighed. No matter what happened between us romantically or maybe just sexually, I knew he would come for me. My dad meant too much to him for him to stand back when he could act. I didn’t know how me and Lu would get out of this alive, but I felt certain that Hollywood and the Steel Demons would do everything in their power to find us, and that gave me something to hold on to.
“I’ll bet you have a tight little cunt,” he laughed. “I can’t wait to fill you with my cock.”
I made a mistake. I shouldn’t have come alone. I should have trusted that Hollywood and the Steel Demons would have rescued Luisa if I told them she was in trouble. I should not have trusted that they would let Luisa go. It was clearly a ploy to get me alone, probably to force Dad to pay. Now me and Luisa are both going to die because I’m an idiot.
“Nothing to say? Don’t worry Winter, I will do everything in my power to make you scream.” JT leaned in close and brushed the back of his hand between my legs. “One way or the other. Trust me.”
I heard the warning in his words and my body trembled with fear. I wasn’t sure how much longer he and his men would hold us before they grew restless.
“Better hope daddy pays up. Soon. Otherwise you will be mine.” JT walked out, the rest of his men followed behind him, each of them brushing against us as they headed towards the exit.
“I’m so sorry.” Luisa spit out a tearful apology that was totally unnecessary. “I knew what was going on with you, not all of it but enough to know that I should’ve been careful.”
“Lu, stop. There was no way you could know that you’d become caught up in this. Hell, I never thought you would get caught up in this.” I would’ve been more up front with her sooner if it had even occurred to me that she’d get mixed up in this.
“No, I should’ve known that guy was too hot and too charming when he started flirting with me.” She shook her head. “It was so fucking stupid.”
“Come on Lu, hot guys chat you up all the time and sometimes, okay often , you go home with him. No big deal. You couldn’t have known so stop it. I’m the one who’s sorry and you have to accept it.”
She managed a laugh and for that fraction of a second it felt like we were back in my bedroom or our favorite diner, laughing and talking shit about anything and everything. “I have to?”
“Yep. We’re tied up and naked because of me so I think that trumps it all.”
“What you did, coming after me to hand yourself over in my place? Holy shit Winter that was so brave and amazing. So fucking badass.”
“So stupid, you mean.”
“Being brave is always kind of stupid,” she replied. “Seriously, I don’t know how to repay what you did.”
“First of all, you don’t. You’re my sister from another mister and that means we’ll always be here for each other. Second, if we die here you won’t have to think about repaying anything.”
“Dark.”
I shrugged, as best as I could with my arms above my head. “It was so fucking stupid coming here alone. I should’ve waited for Hollywood instead of being pissed at him because he wasn’t ready to tell Dad about us.”
“Shit. That’s gotta be tough.”
“Yeah, and I didn’t make it any easier. You know the fucked up part? As I was writing him the note and trying to explain why I was coming after you, I finally understood why he wanted to wait. I was so stupid and impulsive and now I’m not sure that he’ll even find the note, which means we might be on our own in terms of getting out of here.” I hated to sound so defeatist, but I had to think about it seriously. If Lu and I were our only hope, then I needed to think.
I looked around the room and took note of all the windows and doors, even the rolling door hidden behind a few shelving units. We had options but first we had to see if we could get out of these damn shackles. They were wrapped around us tight enough that I felt the indentations in my skin and each time I moved, they tightened. No matter which way I turned, they squeezed my wrists.
“Getting out of here? How do you propose we do that and why are you spinning like that?”
“Twist to see if your shackles loosen.” I whispered the words low because although we were alone inside this room, I figured there was at least one man just outside that door. I twisted left and right until my back hurt. I spun harder until my feet left the ground completely, which only made it harder to twist. “Dammit.” I felt useless. I felt unprepared to save myself which was ridiculous because who was ever ready for such a thing?
Hollywood.
God, how I wished he was here right now. He’d flash that gorgeous smile and say something sexy and badass that would make me feel like the strong capable woman I sometimes think I am. “Don’t give up,” I whispered to myself.
“You’re being too loud,” Lu warned as the chains rattled louder, the more I moved.
“I can’t just sit here Lu. You know what they’re going to do to us if they don’t get what they want and they won’t because my dad can’t pay that money. And even if he does pay, I don’t trust these fuckers to keep their word. Look at you still here with me instead of back at home!” My emotions were spiraling, and I knew from past experience that wouldn’t help me at all. “Sorry. Look, I’ll try to be quieter, but I can’t stop trying to get out of here before they make us wish we already dead.” Thinking like that was helpful either, but it was the only thing motivating me right now.
Escape.
Save Lu.
Save myself.
Find Hollywood and make him mine.
***
I don’t know how much time passed, it might have been ten minutes or ten hours for all I knew. I’d tried loosening the shackles with no luck, and Lu and I had sunken into some kind of silent acceptance of our fate. I knew I had to be more assertive, but I figured I also had to conserve my strength for whatever was coming.
“Hey, you hear that?” I closed my eyes and strained my ears towards the sound of a scuffle on the outside of the door.
“It’s probably those stupid bikers just roughhousing.”
“Okay grandma. Quiet.” I kept my eyes closed and listened. I couldn’t be sure, but it sounded like a fight. Flesh pounding against flesh. And then a gunshot rang out followed by another, much slower grunt. “Somebody’s fighting.”
“Somebody’s dying,” Lu clarified. “That was a gunshot, right?”
My heart started racing. “Sounded like it, yeah.” It could be Hollywood here to rescue us but then again it could be a rival gang here to exact revenge and they would either kill us or take over whatever plan the Jade Devils had for us.
When the door smacked open and several Asian bikers rushed in with their guns out, Lu and I both screamed at the top of our voices.
“Shut the fuck up!” One of them shouted at us but I heard more fighting outside that door and hope swelled within me. They were afraid or worried, possibly both, and that gave me even more hope.
“What’s going on?”
“I said shut the fuck up, bitch!”
Lu shushed me but I ignored her.
Another gunshot rang out, this one sounded even closer as if the gunman was heading this way.
JT rushed into the room, past the three men who had entered first and stood behind the larger man who looked more like a bodyguard than a biker. “One more step asshole and I’ll put a hole in both of these bitches’ heads.” To prove his point or maybe to press his advantage, JT rushed to me and Lu, standing behind us with the cool metal of his knife pressed against my belly. “I fucking mean it!”
Oh yeah, he was afraid. His hand trembled against my skin.
Another gunshot sounded and another grunt followed by the sound of dead weight collapsing. And then there he was, the man of my dreams, the man who held my heart, my body, and my soul. “Hollywood!”
He was gorgeous even with the thin sheet of blood coating his face and his thick blond hair. He gripped a gun in his right hand and the wooden handle of a machete in his left hand, a furious glare fixed on the man who stood between him and JT.
The first two men rushed him, and I held my breath as Hollywood raised the machete and made one impressive slice from left to right, sending both men to the ground, crying out their pain.
“Stop,” the big man urged even as he stepped back, perhaps knowing by the expression on his face that Hollywood would not be deterred.
His gaze landed on JT, and he grinned. “If you hurt either of them, I will peel you like a fucking orange.”
“Whoa,” Lu whispered under her breath.
JT stood a little taller and his hand shook far less as he pressed the tip of the blade against me. “Try it. We’ll see who has a quicker response time.”
Hollywood flashed his brilliant smile my way. “You okay, babe?”
I tried to shrug, and my arms screamed out in pain. The wince didn’t go unnoticed, so I tried for a smile. “Mostly.”
“They touch you?”
I shook my head. “Nothing I can’t come back from.”
He nodded as if that was all the information he needed before he raised his gun in JT’s direction. The big man moved left and put himself between Hollywood and his leader. “You want this instead of him?”
The man nodded.
“Suit yourself.” He lowered the gun and seconds later two gunshots rang out, one in each kneecap.
The man howled his pain as one leg and then the other gave out. The gun fell from his hand and slid across the room. He tried to crawl on his forearms towards the gun, but Hollywood was there, his size thirteen boot pressed against the man’s back. “Remember why this happened to you,” he grunted and took the sharp tip of the machete, dragging from the man’s ear down to his mouth. “JT is why you’re now a cripple.”
The man put one hand to his bleeding face and cried, actually cried like a child. It would’ve been sad to see if I wasn’t naked and chained up.
JT held me tighter and used me as a shield. “Let me go right now and we’ll end this. For good.”
Hollywood smiled but it wasn’t his sexy or his flirty smile. This was a different smile altogether, one that was menacing with a hint of promise. He turned his head, using his shoulder to clear some of the blood from his beautiful face. “You had that chance before, and you basically told me to go fuck myself.”
“You weren’t authorized to make that promise.”
Hollywood shrugged. “Now we’ll never know.” He took a step forward. “You called the bluff and now you have to pay the price.” He aimed the machete at the injured men behind him. “More than half of your MC is gone and when the rest of my boys get here, we’ll wipe out the rest of you.”
He’s alone? That was stupid. Brave and incredible, but also stupid.
A perfect match, we are.
JT shook his head and applied more pressure to the knife’s tip until he broke my skin. “This is the only blood of hers that will spill if you let me go. Otherwise,” he sank the knife a little deeper until I cried out. “I’ll gut this whore like a pig.”
Do something, Winter! I hated feeling useless especially when Hollywood had risked his life to come after me. I moved back and forth against the chains, ignoring the pain as the metal tore through my skin because those moves knocked JT off his game.
Hollywood took advantage of the moment and lunged forward those last few steps until he stood inches from JT. “Don’t ever and I mean fucking ever threaten my woman again.”
JT laughed and slashed Hollywood forearm with his blade. “Or what?”
His teeth clenched as bloody spilled from his forearm, but he showed no other signs of distress. In fact, he smiled. “Or it’ll be the last thing you do.” With lightning quick moves he lifted the machete and slid it across JT’s throat, stepping aside as blood spurted a few feet out.
“Holy shit!” Lu screamed her head off, unable to look away without causing more pain from the chains. “You killed him. Holy fuck you totally killed him,” she cried out, repeating the words over and over.
Hollywood holstered his gun and smiled up at me. “Winter, fuck it’s so good to see you.”
“Better to see you,” I smiled back. “Lu is kind of losing her shit.” The truth was that I was too, but my best friend was more important now that we were safe. She was crying and screaming, naked, and bloody thanks to JT’s dramatic end.
“Come on, Lu. I got you.” He unraveled the chains until she sank against his chest. “You’re safe now.” Like the gentleman he was underneath the tough exterior, he took off his bloody shirt and slid it over her head.
“Th- th- thank you.”
“Of course.” He turned to me and quickly freed me. “Winter,” he growled.
I gripped his face in both hands and pressed my lips to his. “You came.”
“I’ll always come for you, babe.”
My heart swelled. It wasn’t quite the declaration of love I was hoping for but for now, it was enough. I smiled at him, and he smiled back, and we might have stood like that for the rest of our lives if the sound of heavy boots and angry men hadn’t spoiled the moment.
“Get down,” he shouted and spun around as more bikers entered with guns drawn. It only took them seconds to notice their men, injured or dead on the floor, before more bullets flew. Hollywood turned back to us and used his body as a shield against the bullets.
His weight grew heavy, and I knew in that moment that I was going to lose him. Warm liquid touched my skin, and I looked down to find Hollywood bleeding. “No!” His weight was oppressive on top of me.
Lu cried out as she pushed Hollywood’s chest trying to free herself. “He’s been shot.”
Twice, based on the spacing of the blood stains on his undershirt. “Shit. Come on Hollywood, not now. Not ever.” The warmth of his blood was a stark contrast to my cool skin and as the men closed in, I was sure that today was the day all three of us would die.