CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Four days later
– KENZ –
My hands are cuffed above my head and I’m kneeling on the concrete floor. Falcon roughly fists my hair and pulls my head back. His other hand grips my chin and smears the lipstick from my lips. I can’t hold back the moan when I stare into his flaming hot eyes as he steps back.
“Could you at least make it look like you’re a victim instead of giving my brother fuck-me eyes?” Thorsten grumbles. “This photograph needs to be convincing. Get out of the way, Falcon. You of all people can’t be in the shot.”
Falcon’s lips twitch and I clear my throat in an effort to focus. Thorsten is right, we have to make it believable. The photograph Thorsten will take is one we will send to Amadeo to prove Archer has kidnapped me.
I do my best to think back to the moment when we were hit by two vehicles. Renata coming at us, guns blazing, no backup. My time with Falcon could have been cut short if the bullet that hit his arm entered his body at a different angle. I could have lost him.
The fear of losing him becomes real. My eyes sting and Falcon’s face enters my blurry vision. His large calloused hands cup my cheeks and I lean into his touch. Safe. This large, rugged man always makes me feel safe.
“I have no fucking clue how you did that, but you nailed it,” Thorsten says as Falcon removes the cuffs from my wrists.
I meet Falcon’s gaze and murmur, “The fear of losing the one who means everything to me in this fucked-up world can’t be faked.”
“Gotcha,” Thorsten grunts and taps the screen on his phone.
Falcon helps me to my feet when I ask, “Now what? We’ll wait once again?”
Livi saunters into the room with a hotdog in her hand. “Lenz is asking for you two.”
Falcon brushes his lips against mine and follows Thorsten out of the room.
“Did you smile for the camera?” Livi snickers and shoves another chunk of hotdog into her mouth.
“Screw you, miniature human carrying loony,” I grumble. “Falcon chained me up and had a nice grip on my hair as he towered over me. I can tell you right now I’d rather not have anyone with a camera witnessing it ’cause Falcon knows how to push my damn buttons. Quite embarrassing if you’re trying to take a picture where you’re actually being tortured, and not the pleasurable kind of torture.”
Livi gives me a sympathetic look. “Awkward. Then again, you always let your kinky side shine no matter what, so fuck Thorsten. I assume it was his reaction that caused the embarrassing part, right?”
“He should have left the room,” I grumble.
Livi grins with a mouth full of food. Not very attractive.
I shake my head. “Come on, let’s head to the kitchen. I’m sure you’ll want something to drink or another hotdog.”
She pulls a napkin from her pocket. “Here, your lipstick is everywhere. Hey, did I tell you who showed up at the clubhouse yesterday morning, asking for Thorsten?”
Using the napkin to clean off the lipstick I ask, “No, spill.”
“Well, Kayden was knocking on the door. Macsen and Jocko told him to fuck off, but he insisted on seeing Thorsten. They kept Kayden in place until Thorsten showed up. He didn’t even want to talk to the fucker and told him to never show his face here again.”
“Weird,” I murmur, remembering the stuff Livi told me about Kayden.
When Livi went undercover and became the new neighbor of Wisely Dicey, Kayden was already undercover as one of the new prospects. When Thorsten found out he made Archer remove him.
Livi leans against the kitchen counter. “Definitely weird. Thorsten didn’t want him anywhere near the club because he was an agent.”
“Like you,” I remind her.
She flips me off. “I proved my loyalty. Unlike Kayden. Thorsten still suspects he was on Rainer’s side and was cooperating with the cartel.”
“Holy shit,” I murmur and firm my voice when I add, “If Thorsten thinks he’s dirty, do you think Kayden could still be working for the cartel?”
Livi’s eyes go wide. “How can you link that shit and not me? Damn, you make me feel like a slacker.”
“Not a slacker, you have a lot on your mind.” I shrug. “I do think we need to warn the guys, though.”
“Warn the guys about what?” Thorsten rumbles, making me jump.
“Fuck, why don’t you wear a damn bell to announce your presence?” I grumble. “Scaring the shit out of me like that. We could have been discussing private shit.”
Thorsten wraps his arm around Livi and pulls her close. “Me and my old lady don’t have secrets between us.”
I roll my eyes. “Dude, there’s a difference between secrets and personal shit.”
Thorsten frowns and I feel the need to enlighten him.
“No,” Livi snaps. “Keep your mouth shut.”
Thorsten glances at Livi and she elbows him in the ribs. “Don’t give me that look. I don’t have any secrets, but she was about to give an example that would involve bloody clothes during periods, diarrhea spattered against the toilet seat, or whatever gory details she can think of involving personal stuff to talk about.”
The corner of his mouth twitches and the fucker looks at me when he says, “I believe there is a difference between secrets and personal stuff.”
I give him a graceful nod; glad the man agrees. The snapping of fingers draws our attention to the doorway where Falcon is standing. He’s moving his arms away from his body and his face is showing a “what the fuck” expression.
Waving in Thorsten’s direction I state, “He was sneaking up on us and scared the crap out of me. I was simply enlightening him on how wrong it was. Then he started to spew shit about secrets while it doesn’t have to do with secrets when you’re talking about personal stuff between us girls.”
Falcon nods and steps closer to me to place a kiss on my temple. “See?” I smirk at Thorsten. “He gets it.”
“Okay, but we were discussing Kayden,” Livi reminds everyone. “Along with her making the link before me.”
Thorsten frowns. “What link?”
I shrug. “Why he showed up at the clubhouse’s doorstep. You thought he was dirty, right? Working with your father and the cartel? We were wondering if he’s still in bed with the cartel.”
“Which would mean he wants to get close to us to kill Falcon and you,” Thorsten finishes.
I can’t help but wince. “Kidnap. Amadeo wants me alive. But yeah, basically.”
“He knows Archer,” Livi muses. “Do you think he would make the link and ruin the plan?”
Falcon’s arm around my waist tightens. This is bad. With what Livi just mentioned? It’s definitely a possibility, which means we could get caught in our own trap. If Amadeo knows we’re setting him up he could kill us when we’re setting up a meeting for exchanging me.
“Fuck,” Thorsten roars.
“What do we do?” Livi asks.
Thorsten shakes his head. “You’re not going to do anything. I’m going to have a chat with Archer while I ask Lenz to dig into the fucker’s life. We need to know what he’s been up to for the past couple of weeks. Then we’ll decide if our plan is still a go.”
“You guys could be walking right into a trap,” I state the obvious.
“The odds can still be in our favor.” Thorsten gives me a sinister grin. “I didn’t become the president of Wisely Dicey by playing nice or avoiding risks for that matter.”
I roll my eyes. “Killing your father knowing you’ll piss off the cartel and come out alive to gloat about it doesn’t make you invincible. If anything, you really need to think things through because Amadeo is out for revenge. He’s got nothing left to live for with you guys killing off his family and me taking out his girl. Who knows how many assassins he’s managed to hire over the past couple of days while we’ve been sitting on our ass. He might have hired a complete army to surround you guys. Need I remind you of the time you killed his father? You guys were trapped in the warehouse, surrounded by fire.”
I swallow hard at the sound of my own words, while it’s a visual Livi gave me. Like Thorsten mentioned about no secrets being between him and his old lady, Livi and I confide in one another. Since Falcon claimed me, making both of us old ladies, we’ve been talking about club business as well. Everything stays between us, and we both function better if we’re in the know.
It allows you to be prepared and to know what the hell is going on when there are people out there who want you, and those you love, dead.
Silence falls and we all seem to take a moment to process everything, knowing shit just became more fucked up. The plan we created to end Amadeo might have very well been compromised.