Chapter 17 #5
So I sat absolutely still, frozen, as Elias’s cold gaze roved over my face, turning it this way and that.
I had no idea what he was searching for, and he gave no hints as to what he was thinking.
He just stared until finally, he turned me back to face him dead-on, his gaze boring into mine.
Any hint of a smile disappeared, his nostrils flaring ever so slightly, and the corners of his eyes tightening, like he saw something he did not like.
The hostility scared the shit out of me, but as quickly as it came, it was gone, and that fake-ass grin was back in place as he released my chin to take a sip of his drink, but he didn’t let me leave.
“What’s your name, love?” he asked casually.
“Rita,” Lee called from his seat, throwing a random name out there. I glanced over at him to see that Heather was still rolling her hips, imitating the act of lovemaking without actually touching him. As far as I could see, she was too doped up to really know what was going on.
“Rita… what a coincidence. Keegan?” Elias called over to one of his men, who stepped up immediately.
I looked around and realized then that we were surrounded by his security, like a wall of muscle blocking us out from everyone else in the club.
Keegan looked like a mean motherfucker, with buzzed blond hair, pale eyes, and a scar over his bottom lip.
“Isn’t your little pet also called Rita? ”
The one called Keegan grinned sickeningly and nodded. “She is. She’s a fun little toy.” His voice was deep and scratchy, and it made my stomach churn.
Elias chuckled. “Not a common name around here, Nathaniel. So I’m going to assume that it’s a fake for your slave, hm? Now, will you be honest with me and tell me what her real name is?”
“Never bothered to learn it,” Lee said, shifting a little beneath Heather, and I knew he was trying to reach his cell.
“Strange.” Elias put down his drink and slid a hand to my lower back, gripping a handful of the dress, “to not learn anything about your plaything… you’d think you would want to be aware of her background, where she comes from, who her parents are…
” His eyes flickered back to mine and remained there, glaring at me like I somehow personally offended him.
“After all, you need to protect yourself from those who might be looking for her.”
Red, Lee! Red! I looked away from Elias to Lee, whose hand was in his pocket, as he gently pushed Heather back a bit.
“No, no, love. Look at me .” Elias pressed two fingers to my jaw, forcing me back to him.
He was glowering, but in his eyes, I saw triumph.
The slow smile curling his lips was real, but it wasn’t kind.
It was sick and terrifying, like a wolf who had caught something it’d been sniffing out for so long. “Be a good girl and tell me your name.”
“Ashton.”
He clicked his tongue, never taking his eyes away from mine as he shook his head.
“No, no. No, lying to me.” The hand that was gripping my dress painfully dug into my skin like he was clawing at me.
“No lies. I hate it when people lie to me. It makes me go a little crazy… a little less… controlled . I get mad. I get so fucking enraged that sometimes, not even these men can stop me when I lose it… ” he said, referring to his large, scary guard.
“I like to break things when I do, pretty things,” he spat the words between clenched teeth, and I could feel him shaking beneath me as the hand holding my jaw tapped my cheek.
Holy fuck, I think I’m going to pass out. I was so fucking scared I had no idea what to do. My mind was blank, my face felt numb, and all I wanted to do was run. Just fucking run!
“Your name, Sweetness .” He smirked.
“Casey,” I whispered, not knowing what else to do.
He nodded, but still didn’t let me go. Instead, his hand released the back of my dress, sliding to the front of my body.
I cringed when he ran his fingers over the curve of my breast, stroking the bare skin of my cleavage, before trailing the tips down my arm, which made my hair stand on end.
He grabbed my wrist so tight I cried out a little. “Surname?”
“That’s enough!” Lee snarled and grasped Heather’s upper arms, not hard, but enough to get her to stop what she was doing. His eyes were burning as he glared at us, his chest heaving slightly as he fought back his rage. “That one is mine, and I didn’t give you permission to-”
“I don’t need your fucking permission,” Elias seethed, not even bothering to look his way.
His security moved in, the circle around us even tighter than before.
I started to panic as I tried to tug my arm free from his grip, but he didn’t let go.
“Do you really think you could sneak in here and fuck with me?” Elias went on.
“That I can’t tell the difference between Harley Rats and the rest of them?
” He leaned in as if to smell me, but curled his lip in disgust. “You’re all the same.
But the real question is… why are you here? ”
Finally, he glanced at Lee, where then his expression shifted from disgust to fury.
“Did you think you could save some of them?” Poor Heather on Lee’s lap appeared to be coming to.
She was shaking, crying a little, and now was clinging to Lee like he was her lifeline.
“Did you think you could walk into my club, and try to pass yourself off as anything other than West-End trash? You both reek of it.” I attempted to pull myself free, but his other hand whipped up, clasping a handful of my hair tight in his grasp as he practically snarled, “Come in and what? I’m listening, kid.
What was your master plan? I’m trying to see your angle.
Coming here alone? No backup?” he tsked, and shook his head.
“Now, I am asking for one thing from you, and one thing only…” He looked back at me, his lower lip quivering slightly in his rage. “What. Is. Your. Surname?”
“C-Cooper… it’s Cooper.”
He narrowed his eyes, as if he didn’t believe me. Pulling me so close, that our noses were just inches from each other, he murmured, “Who are your parents?”
“M-my mom died about a month ago. Car crash. Her name was Liza.”
“Your father,” he said quickly, not giving a shit about my mother.
“Keith… Keith Cooper.”
His eyes twitched slightly, and that pent-up fury burning in his eyes continued to simmer.
“Keith Cooper?” He peered over at one of his men, who pulled out a tablet and began tapping the screen furiously.
No one dared say a word as we waited, until the guy looked up and shook his head.
The grip on my wrist loosened, and Elias sat back in his seat and laughed.
He laughed and laughed, the sound like nails on a chalkboard to me.
He sounded fucking insane. When he finally stopped, he seemed positively gleeful, like something amazing had just happened to him, and if Elias was happy, then the rest of us were fucked.
“Bruce, take this one into the basement with Heather,” he said, releasing me at last as he shoved me to the floor. I fell on my back as Lee shouted, rising to his feet after moving Heather aside and out of harm's way.
“Stop it! Stop!” Lee shouted as Elias’s men circled in.
I looked up from where I was lying on the floor to see the bastard himself lounging back on the chesterfield, sipping his drink, his eyes on me like I was some sort of trophy.
I fought against the men reaching for me, using my nails, kicking, and sliding backward towards Lee, who was standing before Heather, fists raised, daring anyone to come near him.
“Enough of this bullshit. Dispose of him, get the girls downstairs.” Elias sounded bored now.
I watched as one of his men drew a gun out from beneath his suit, and I heard a ringing in my ears over the club’s music.
I was about to throw myself at him, when there was a sudden commotion from the foyer.
Behind the double doors, I could hear shouting, screaming, and gunfire.
Everyone stopped to look just as the doors blasted open.
The beast that was Animal was entering the room with a goddamn pump-action rifle.
He raised it, pointing at the one standing with the pistol, slid the forestock forward and back, and pulled the trigger.
The shot was louder than I expected, with more pop to it, and Elias’s man crumpled to the floor while the others surrounded their boss, shielding him from the attack.
More guns were drawn, but Lee moved, stepping to the closest guy, sliding a set of brass knuckles onto his fingers, and punched the guy directly in his throat.
The guy choked, falling back, as spittle and blood spewed from his mouth.
More men entered, and I saw Maverick and Taz drawing arms amongst them, and then they all started shooting.
The girls all threw themselves to the floor for cover while I crawled to Heather, hoping to reach her and get her out of harm’s way, when I felt a hand clasp my ankle and pull me back.
I rolled, knowing that whoever had me wouldn’t be able to maintain the hold as the quick movement would twist their wrist. I heard a grunt from behind me over all the chaos, and I peered over my shoulder quickly to see who it was.
Elias held his arm, huddled behind a knocked-over table, using it as a shield. Good. I flipped him off when he glared daggers at me, and I scrambled towards my group.
Not today, asshole. All around me, men were dropping. Glasses and lights exploded overhead, showering me in broken shards and sparks.
“Casey!”
Lee snagged the back of my dress and hauled me to my feet. He had Heather under his other arm, and we swiftly moved along the wall towards the Black Spades, while Elias and his men backed away to get some cover.
“Go, go!” Maverick shouted to us, reaching out to grab Lee’s shoulder.
He pushed us behind him, using his body as a barrier of protection while his men continued to shoot, giving us a chance to escape.
The foyer had three bodies lying on the floor, one of them being the security guy that drew the star on the back of my hand.
But we just stepped over them, running out the door.
The honking of a car horn alerted us to the two SUVs parked about twenty feet away.
I could see Vail behind the wheel of one, motioning us over.
We ran towards it, my ankles twisting a little from my stupid heels, which I ended up kicking off.
I ignored the cuts into the bottom of my feet as I ran.
The back passenger side door flew open, and Shaw was there, arms open, ready to grab me.
I threw myself at him, and he pulled me in, followed closely by Lee, Heather, and Maverick.
The door slammed shut, and Vail pushed on the gas, our tires peeling for a second on the cold, slippery ground before we lurched forward, taking off down the drive.
The second one, with the rest of the Spades in it, followed close behind.
I was sitting on Shaw’s lap, my arms clasped tightly around his neck as I clung to him, gasping with each breath I took. I couldn’t stop shaking.
“Hold on!” Vail shouted and pressed harder on the gas. We flew down the drive and burst through the chain-link gate, knocking it completely off and sending it flying into the street. I squeezed my eyes shut as we turned, speeding up the street before taking one of the backroads out of there.
“Is everyone okay? None of you kids hurt?” Maverick shouted, reaching for us as though wanting to check for injuries.
“She’s going to need medical attention,” Lee panted, still holding Heather up.
“I’ll take her. We’ll make sure she gets what she needs.” She was passed to Maverick, who carefully buckled her into the seat beside him, and checked her arms, noting the needle tracks and bruising there. He glanced over at me. “How about you, honey? You okay?”
“I-I’m fine,” I said, my teeth chattering together.
Shaw held me tight, his hand rubbing my back to try to calm me, but I was so freaked out and shocked by what just went down that I couldn’t think straight.
Am I fine? Compared to Heather, I’ve never been better.
But holy shit… what the fuck happened back there?