Chapter 37
Chapter Thirty-Seven
CITI
Shaking is what wakes me up. I’m shaking so hard I’m half convinced it’s someone doing it to me until I realize how cold I am.
My tongue feels thick and too big for my mouth, and I can taste blood.
My whole body feels like a bruise, but it pales in comparison to the thumping in my head.
I lift my hand to touch my temple, and my fingers come away damp.
I squint my eyes open to see, and even though it’s dark, there’s enough light for me to confirm my suspicions. It’s blood.
A shuffle jolts me upright, and I swallow a scream at the sudden movement. I gaze around, confused as to where the hell I am. A cave of some kind? But that’s ridiculous. Why would I be in a cave?
“I don’t think I’m in Kansas anymore,” I mutter as I try to stand.
“Ah, sleeping beauty awakes.”
I jump back at the sound of the overly loud voice and lose my footing. I fall back with a scream, landing on a rock that stabs into my thigh.
“Michael?” I whimper as fleeting memories flit through my mind.
“To you, at least. Sorry about the less-than-stellar accommodations, but we do what we have to do for our loved ones. Isn’t that right, Citi?”
“I don’t understand.”
“No, I imagine you don’t. It’s a shame, really. None of this is personal. You were just a means to an end. In another life, though…Anyhow, I digress. I have places to be, people to see.”
“You’re Lil’s husband? You’re the man chasing her?”
I hear him move before he comes into sight. He walks closer, and I swallow. The sight of him on two legs instead of in his chair brings a new wave of fear to me.
“Well, that’s a tangled web to unweave.”
“She’s dead. They have proof. The dental records are a match for a Jane Doe.”
He backhands me. For once, I’m glad I’m on the ground already, or I’d have gone flying. “She’s alive. I know it.”
I hold my jaw, trying to alleviate the pressure as tears spill over my cheeks. “Then how do you explain it?”
“Tricks. All fucking lies cooked up by your MC to keep my wife from me. You think I don’t know what they’re like? I know everything. They think they’re so fucking clever, but they can’t see the forest for the trees.”
He leans over me, his nose a half inch from mine.
“Everything is so easy when you have the right motivation. I came to your house, thinking that scarred motherfucker lived there. Imagine my surprise to find you and your little girl there instead. This was all their fault, you know. They’re the ones who put you in danger.
I would have happily left you out of it if they had done the same. ”
The acid in my stomach churns as bile rushes up the back of my throat. I swallow it down, trying to keep a clear head. Panicking won’t get me anywhere.
“I should have noticed, of course, the first time I was there. The picture on the fridge, the children’s books on the bookshelf, but I was focused on Kruger and the bullshit he was spilling.
When I came back and found you and Star, I was intrigued enough to switch up my plans.
” He leans closer, his forehead pressing against mine.
“Do you know how easy it would have been to draw my knife across your throat while you slept?”
I shudder but keep my mouth shut, the thundering of my pulse in my ears making me feel lightheaded.
“Instead, I stumbled upon your daughter. Precious little Star. I sat in her room and watched her sleep, and nobody was any wiser. I left before the sun came up and thought about what to do next. Never let it be said I act rashly.” He grins as if this were a conversation about Saturday night football.
“You took Star that night.”
He nods, pleased. “I did. After listening to you, all your hopes and fears for your daughter, I couldn’t help but prey on them a little.
You already told me you lived alone, so when I came back I waited for the neanderthal to leave for the night, and walked right in.
It took moments to knock Star out and carry her to the truck out front.
The anticipation I felt knowing when you woke up and found her gone would have the MC scurrying like ants.
Fuck, it was almost enough to make me come. ”
He stands back up, I think mostly because he likes lording it over me.
“A little fear is a good motivator. Just ask my sister. It wasn’t hard to force her hand. She’s just pathetic enough to make her compliant. Of course, it helps that she loves her kid. She hated it, of course, but her morals have always been fluid.”
I frown in confusion. He laughs. “Lauren was an addict when she gave birth to Rebecca. I took custody of her. Heck, she’s been with me so long she thinks I’m her dad and Lauren’s her aunt.”
“You blackmailed her. Told her to give me your card—told her just which buttons to push.”
“Blackmail is such a dirty word. She had a choice and she made it. I find kids make the best incentive. Wouldn’t you agree, Miss Dillion?”
He steps back and points to the back of the cave. It’s too dark for me to see much of anything, but now that my eyes have adjusted, I can make out the outline of something, or someone, lying on the floor.
“Star?”
I move to get to my feet, but he pushes me back over again.
“Tut tut. Not so fast. I haven’t finished speaking.”
“What the fuck did you do to my daughter?”
“She’s just sleeping for now. Your compliance determines what comes next.”
I swallow my retort, bracing myself. If this asshole thought I would make an easy target, he thought wrong.
Messing with me is one thing, but messing with my kid is a whole other thing entirely.
He has no idea what I’m willing to do for her, what I’ve already done.
One way or another, Star will be getting out of this cave if I have to kill Michael with my bare hands to do it.
“Why me? My ties to the MC are weak at best.”
“I think you underestimate your importance to them. Your sister and boyfriend—your pseudo-brother-in-law. You matter to all of them. I’ll admit I didn’t know that when I picked you as my in. That was pure convenience.”
I frown, not knowing how I was more convenient than the others. I always have someone with me.
He grins as if knowing exactly what I’m thinking.
“I didn’t need to come to you, not since poor, broken, little Citi walked herself through my door.
I found out lots of tidbits you thought you were safe saying.
I mean, it would have helped if you had given me something juicy I could have used, but you’re far too loyal for that. ”
“So you pumped me for information, and when that didn’t work, you what? Kept me coming because this is nothing more than a game to you?”
“Oh, it’s so much more than that, sweet Citi.
All I wanted was my wife back. She doesn’t belong to the Raven Souls.
She belongs to me, and they took her from me.
I warned them, told them exactly what would happen if they didn’t return her, but they refused to listen.
And now, I’m afraid it’s you who will pay the price.
Perhaps now they’ll listen. They took my woman.
Now I’ve taken one of theirs. I’m offering a straightforward trade.
You for Lilac. If they don’t bring her to me, then I’ll keep you instead. ”
“And Star?”
“Her, I’ll send back. Piece by piece.”
I bite my tongue so hard it splits, blood pooling in my mouth.
When his cell rings, he walks away, putting a little distance between us, but not enough for me to get to Star before he does. And as much as I want to pull her into my arms and hold her tight, I know she’s safe away from me right now.
“What did you say?” I turn to watch Michael when his anger starts to suck the life out of the cave. “Which news stations?”
“All of them? Fuck. I’m on my way.” He’s quiet for a second before he snarls, “Well, you’d better hurry then.”
He hangs up and turns toward me. I flinch at the palpable anger radiating off him. “Seems your MC has been busy. Now I need to make sure my contingency plans are in place.”
He bends down and grabs my jaw tightly, making me cry out. “It didn’t have to be this way. This is all on them.”
He lets go of me with a shove before he pulls a gun from his back and points it at Star.
“No! No-no-no,” I scream and throw myself at him, but not before he fires off two shots.
He stumbles as I fall into him, but he throws me to the ground without a second thought and strolls out of the cave like he didn’t blow my whole world apart.
I crawl to my baby, sobbing so hard I can hardly get a breath in.
It isn’t until I’m almost to her that I realize she isn’t alone.
Someone has curled themselves around her as best they can with their arm shackled to the wall.
I move my hands over them, feeling the cool leather of the cut, and roll them backward, not surprised to see Capone’s pain-ridden eyes staring up at me.
“Is she okay?” he chokes out.
I pull a still unconscious Star from his grip and check her over.
Apart from being out cold, she seems fine.
At least until I see the blood on her arm.
I run my hands up and down it frantically, spotting what looks like two burn marks, but I don’t find any wounds.
I swallow when I see her small wrist is shackled to Capone’s, which is also bloody.
But it’s not Star’s blood.
I turn to Capone, who is pale as fuck, and roll him further onto his back.
His groan of pain alerts me to the problem before I spot the torn fabric of his black T-shirt.
The black hid the blood, but not the torn fabric of the bullet wounds in his upper chest and one in his stomach where they’ve torn their way out of his body.
“Oh my god.” I shrug out of my hoodie and press it to him, making him hiss. “I don’t know what to do,” I cry.
He reaches up and cups my cheek. “You have to go before he comes back.”
“I’m not leaving you and I’m not leaving Star.”
“You have to. Take her and run.”