Chapter 31
Sadie
A fter lying in each other’s arms for a while, we rolled out of bed and took a long shower together. Keelan helped me clean my tattoo, and it soon led to me to my palms pressed against the wet tile for support as he fucked me until my pussy was raw. I honestly wasn’t sure if I could take any more, at least tonight. After finally drying off and putting a tiny amount of ointment on my tattoo, we dressed for bed and climbed under the covers.
Keelan called Aiden and told him that we were staying in for the night and that he would talk to him and Logan tomorrow. Then we ordered room service—pancakes and fruit—while I made him watch an episode of The Vampire Diaries . Begrudgingly, Keelan admitted to liking the show and said he could relate to Damon. That made me giggle so much that Keelan started laughing with me. It felt so normal , watching TV with the man I loved.
“Before I forget,” Keelan said, yawning and reaching into the drawer of the nightstand. “Here’s your phone back. ”
I blinked in surprise. Honestly, I didn’t think he’d ever give it back. “Thank you,” I said. “Um … am I allowed to call whoever I want?”
Keelan’s expression hardened. “Depends on who you want to call.”
Okay, so my newfound freedom still had conditions. It wasn’t Brian or the cops I wanted to call, so hopefully, he’d loosen the ropes a bit.
“I still need to call my mom. I don’t even know if she’s been released from the hospital,” I said, awaiting his response. When he gave me a slight nod, I powered the phone on and quickly dialed her cell. It rang several times before the automatic voicemail message started playing. “Shit. She’s not answering.”
“She might already be in bed. You can try calling her in the morning,” Keelan replied, gently tugging my arm. “Come on. You’ve got to be exhausted. Let’s get some sleep.”
“Okay.”
I turned the volume up on the phone so that if Mom called, I would hear it even in the dead of sleep. Placing the phone on my nightstand, I slid under the covers. Keelan’s warm hands found my waist and pulled me into his chest. His lips pressed against my hair and neck, sending delicious shivers down my spine. Within minutes, my eyes grew heavy, and I soon slipped into my first peaceful sleep in over a year.
I wasn’t sure how long I’d been sleeping before a sawing noise startled me awake, and I sat up in bed. I looked around for the noise source before I noticed it was next to me. Keelan.
Oh my God, Keelan’s snoring .
I had never seen Keelan in a deep sleep. He was such a light sleeper that even the slightest movement would wake him. I never stayed overnight with him, either. After we’d fuck in the past, I’d slip out of his bed and head home. Slumber parties were a little too intimate for us. But even before I’d leave his room, I never, ever heard him snore.
After a few minutes of listening to his breathing and watching his chest rise and fall, I reached over and gently nudged his shoulder. “Kee?” I whispered, but no sound other than soft snores answered. He looked so peaceful like that, a tatted angel carved from darkness.
A few hours ago, Keelan Blake confessed his heart to me, and after we made love, I told him I loved him, too, which was the truth. I loved that tattooed bastard; I just never allowed that pure feeling to take root and grow. Keelan was always so cold and aloof with me that I felt I couldn’t try until last year. When I did the photoshoot, it was meant to be a gesture of not only building a bridge of companionship but also a way to show my willingness to work toward loving him, cruel marks and all.
It took a while for the love to emerge from its ice-cold cocoon.
Rubbing my thumb on his skin, I reached for the phone with my other hand. I clicked the screen on and saw that it was just past two a.m. There were several missed calls that I hadn’t cleared from my notifications and a few text messages from Brian. The missed calls were from an unknown number, though, and they had called over twenty times, mainly during the hours that Keelan and I were occupied .
What the hell?
Thinking it was my mom reaching out on a private number, I selected the number and hit send. My heart plummeted into ice as it rang.
“Sadie?” an unfamiliar male voice said on the other end of the call.
I was silent at first, knowing I had to keep my voice quiet so as not to wake Keelan. “Who is this?”
“Your mom is safe for now. But I need you to meet one of my associates at the Henderson Executive Airport in thirty minutes, or we put a bullet in her head. Just you, Miss Ryan. We’ve got surveillance. If you bring Keelan, you’ll watch your mother bleed out.”
Before I could demand proof of life from the sick fuck who was calling me, I heard my mother scream in the distance. Instantly, tears filled my eyes, and I covered my mouth to muffle a hard sob. “If you hurt—”
They hung up.
Growing up as the daughter of a mafia boss, I knew how this played out. Since I could walk, my father instilled in me the belief that this world was filled with monsters worse than him. If ever I were to face one, I had to be smart and do everything I could to stay alive. The message was clear. Come alone.
I can’t just leave Keelan. Can I?
Keelan had already warned me that dangerous men were out there trying to find me. Someone else besides Richard Wertz, the man Keelan killed, must know about the code. I couldn’t leave my mother to die because of me. I had to go.
Quietly slipping out of bed, I padded over to the bags and pulled out leggings, a blue T-shirt, and my black sneakers. I glanced back at Keelan, who looked so serene in his slumber. My heart cracked. He was going to be so scared and angry when he woke up.
Should I leave a note?
I looked for the notepad on the table but remembered where it went. Shit. Keelan had shredded it completely and flushed the pieces down the toilet. I ran my hand through my hair. I couldn’t leave my phone behind if those bastards needed to call me again.
In the darkness, something glimmered in my mind, and I smiled.
Yup, that’ll work.
Once dressed, I went to the small dresser and grabbed the fake ID and some money from the envelope Keelan got from the man in the lobby. Once he sees the items missing, he’ll assume right away that I left for good. After grabbing the phone and slipping it into my pocket, I took one more look at Keelan.
No matter what happens, I will survive this. Keelan will find me; whoever has my mother will pay dearly for it.
“I’m not running away, Kee,” I whispered. “I promise. Come find me when you wake up, okay?”
With that, I turned on my heel and left the hotel room, leaving my dark angel in his slumber.
Twenty minutes later, the cab driver who allowed me to pay in cash pulled up to the private airport. Only one plane was waiting on the landing strip, and the pit in my stomach told me it was for me. I paid the driver and stepped out, looking around for anyone waiting at the entrance. The desert night wind brushed its chilling claws over my bare arms, and I shivered. A flicker of movement caught my eyes, and I turned to look.
A Black man in a navy blue business suit and an “all business” look walked out of the airport and headed toward me. My heart pounded, but I kept my face calm. I would not panic or plead. My mom needed me to help her like she did for me last year.
“Miss Ryan. We’ve been expecting you,” the man said with a gentle smile. “Please come with me.”
My eyes narrowed on his belt, and a flicker of confusion hit me. The man was wearing a federal agent’s badge.
What the hell is happening?
For a moment, I thought maybe the police were working with the FBI to use me to get to Keelan and arrest him, but kidnapping my mother is one fucked up way to do it. This was something far more than just catching a fugitive.
He took my arm and led me away from the airport’s main entrance toward an open gate on the landing strip, where that single plane was waiting. The jet was small—a Gulfstream G5—and a short flight of stairs led to the open cabin door. As we walked closer, the man escorting me lifted a walkie-talkie to his mouth.
“Sadie’s here.”
We reached the stairs, and another man stepped out from the cabin wearing a sleek black suit that had a few buttons opened at the top and a gun strapped at his waistline in clear view. My body felt like it had fallen into icy waters.
Oh, my God.
“Brian?” My jaw dropped, and my entire body became numb. “I don’t understand. You’re … you’re supposed to be in New York. How—” I swallowed. The space around me felt suffocating as the feeling of trepidation gripped my throat. “Where’s my mother? Why aren’t you in New York? What the fuck is going on?”
“Hey, Tessie,” he said, smiling at my stunned face. “Oh, I’m sorry. It’s Sadie. I’m glad you got here in time. We almost left without you.”
“I don’t understand,” I said, my lips barely able to form words. “How … what are you—”
“Easy answer, babe,” Brian cut me off. “I’m here to take you home and to your mother. Get in the fucking plane.”
I flinched at those words and the sudden shift in the man I cared about. Brian didn’t talk to me like this. The man holding my arm shoved me forward. Not wanting to risk my mother’s safety, I climbed the stairs, coming face to face with Brian. He ran his hand down my arm and clamped his fingers around my wrist.
“I’ve missed you,” he murmured. “We have a lot to catch up on. Come on.” He pulled me inside the plane, where two other men I didn’t recognize were seated near the front. After speaking with the others and locking the cabin doors, the pilot started the jet and directed it down the runway. Brian led me to the back of the plane and pushed me down into a seat. He took out metal handcuffs and chained me to the armrests before sitting across from me. The cuffs dug deep into my skin, cutting off much of my circulation.
The pain in my wrists gave me enough clarity to snap out of my shock. “What the fuck are you doing, Brian? Why are you involved in this?”
“I’ve always been involved. I’m an FBI agent from the Los Angeles field office. Your dad hired me to follow you to Vermont last year when he realized you were planning to run. When it came time to take you back to LA, that tattooed prison fuck had beaten me to it. So, I was forced to track you until we could get your mother, and you decode that message on your pretty skin for us.” A smile reached his lips. “Thank God Keelan took your phone with you; I’ve had a tracker on it since we met.”
My stomach twisted into a hard knot. This can’t be happening.
“I overheard you two lovebirds arguing in the casino about the code Patrick had Keelan hide in your tattoo. God, Sadie, I’ve been doing this job for many years, and this entire time, we all thought Patrick and Keelan had given you the files themselves. But no, instead, Patrick hid them himself and then made Keelan put the map to find them on your naked body. I gotta say, those guys did a hell of a good job hiding it.” He straightened his suit and leaned back into the chair. “When we get to your mother’s location, you’ll tell me the key phrase.”
I stared at him. “I don’t know how to read Morse code. Patrick was the genius, not me.”
“Bullshit,” Brian said, placing his elbows on his knees. “You’re a pretty smart girl, Sadie. You were taught the same techniques. I’m sure you can figure it out when your mother’s life is in your hands.”
The plane increased its speed, and within seconds, we were airborne. As calm as I tried to make myself feel, the terror of being separated from Keelan was starting to leach in.
Once we were at cruising altitude, Brian rose from his seat and walked up to the front of the plane, rifling through a black backpack before taking out a small device. He returned to my seat and switched it on, a small crackle of static echoing.
“You know,” he started. “One thing I’ve learned while my agency and I investigated the Ryan and Blake families over these last ten years is how much those men love to protect their women. If it’s not hiring security to follow them around, it’s creating pretty jewelry with tracking devices on them, so they can find them if they ever try to escape.”
Fuck. The bracelet. That was the only chance for Keelan to find me.
“Finn understands how important it is that I get you back to him safely. Logan and Aiden were quite cooperative in assisting me tonight. Their idea was brilliant. Make it seem like it was Keelan’s idea to place that tracker around your wrist … but not for his sake. For mine. Finn wants Keelan arrested again. If Keelan tracks you, I’ll be able to deliver him to your father, too.”
Traitors.
Brian held the device next to my wrist, but he was way, way too close for my comfort. When the black box hovered over my wrist, a high-pitched whine emitted, and several green lights flashed. While he leaned into me, he inhaled my scent so close to my neck. When he grinned lasciviously, I debated head-butting him.
Brian seized my wrists, forcing a hiss of pain from between my teeth. He turned my left arm, and the silver bracelet glimmered in the overhead light. Then he clicked his tongue and lifted the device, pressing a button. The metal bit into my skin as he squeezed it before it finally released.
“Ow! Asshole!”
He held up the bracelet. “This little trinket will help us when we get to California. Once we land, I’ll reconnect the chain, and the tracker device’s signal will reactivate. Then we wait for Keelan to follow us into the trap.”
“You’re a lunatic,” I said, risking the chance that he would strike me. My eyes narrowed at Brian’s smug expression, and I kicked him in the shin. “You lied to me for months, made me feel safe and cared for, treated me with kindness. Put a fucking tracker on me? We slept in the same bed, you creep. Why?”
His cheeks reddened in anger, raising a hand as if to grab me, but he quickly composed himself and sat back down. “Why did I seduce and lie to you? It was my job, Sadie. Finn told me that the best way to save myself from going to prison was to monitor your every move and find the files. He’s also paying me a lot of money to deliver you to his doorstep. Getting to fuck you was just a perk of the job, and I took it very seriously.”
I let out a derisive snort. “Sure, bud. If that’s what you call fucking.”
I turned my body as far away from him as I could and stared out the window, watching the twinkling lights of Vegas fade out of view. Despite the anxiety and horror of the situation, exhaustion settled deep into my bones, and I pressed my head against the window, praying that Keelan would wake up soon and notice me gone.
Please find me, you psycho.
The plane landed with a jolt, snapping me out of my thoughts as I straightened up to peer out the window. From what I could see in the darkness, we were on the private landing strip in LAX. My body felt so stiff, and my hands were close to numb due to the handcuffs. Brian watched me as I rolled my shoulders and cracked my neck. I met his gaze and sneered at him .
“Whatever my dad paid, it will never be enough when Keelan gets his hands on you,” I warned. “You’ll wish you just left me alone.”
He didn’t respond. Instead, he proceeded to unlock one of the cuffs, pulled me to my feet, and shoved me down the aisle to the exit. One of the waiting men took my arm and directed me down the stairs to a windowless van.
“Good grief, could you be more of a stereotypical villain?” I muttered as they shoved me into the back. Brian climbed in after me and secured the handcuff to a bar welded to the floor. I tried to flex my fingers, but they were so stiff from the cuffs that they hurt too much. Soon, the van was driving down an unknown road.
“Brian, could you at least loosen the cuffs? I can’t feel my fingers,” I said.
“Can’t handle some handcuffs?” he scoffed. “I thought you liked it rough?”
I rolled my eyes. “It’s only fun when you know how to do it right. Which you clearly don’t. God, the number of times I had to fake it with you is embarrassing now that I think about it.”
“I’m going to miss that smart mouth of yours. In more ways than one,” Brian said, his eyes softening, almost pleading. “I need you to cooperate, Sadie. Finn will kill me if you don’t tell me what’s on that tattoo. Then he’ll send someone else to do the job. Someone who will be far worse than me. They’ll torture you, cut off your fingers, and much worse.”
“Oh, so scary,” I mocked. “I don’t know where the files are or even know how to read this goddamn tattoo, so save your breath.”
There was a sigh. “I’m sorry about this, then.”
The next thing I knew, Brian’s hand grabbed my throat, and my head was slammed into the wall of the van. Stars filled my vision, and sharp, terrible pain ripped through my skull. Before I could react, he stuck a needle into my neck, and darkness pulled me into its depths.