CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Seraphina
I can’t believe he just turned around and walked out without giving me a second glance. Even Ink seemed indifferent. After Ky and his brothers left, you could hear a pin drop. Unshed tears blur my vision, but I was determined not to cry.
Crying gets you nowhere.
Crying only gets you more bruises.
“Okay, put the bitch back in her box,” Angelo calls out to someone, and without another word, or a look in my direction, walks out. Someone roughly grabs me from behind, pulling me to my feet, my bruised and battered body aching.
It’s the guy who had taken off his shirt, revealing his scarred chest, and roughly shoved me back toward the basement where I’d been staying for what felt like forever. He pushes me toward the dank room—the cage Angelo locked me in after kidnapping me—beckoning me forward. Even if it was small, and nowhere near enough room to stretch out, I felt safe in there. At least from the beatings Angelo had doled out these last however long I was kept here.
Bent like a pretzel inside the cage, every limb aches, but as the goon closes and locks the door with a clang, I shield my nudity from his lascivious gaze. The food bowl set out is empty, but at least there’s water in the other one. I pick it up and drink thirstily, spilling some on myself in my haste. He’s been treating me like a dog the entire time, locking me up in this cage, and putting out food and water bowls.
Asshole.
I move my body slightly, trying to get comfortable. I’d been sleeping in this thing, and I’ve made do for the last few days. But I’m aching, and I know I probably need to see a doctor, otherwise the baby still inside me is going to cause an infection and I’m going to die. Maybe it’s for the best, anyway. I don’t see any way of getting out of here anytime soon.
It’s going to be another week of hell on earth here. So, if I die, it’ll only hasten my relief. And that’s all I want. Right?
But then thoughts of my beautiful daughter invade my mind, and fresh tears appear. For the first few days, I fought to get back to her, but now I can see I will never be free. Unless Angelo dies. Maybe then.
With each blow from his fists and every kick, I felt my will to live slowly fading away. So many times, I’ve wanted to tell him if he wants my mother’s money so much, I’ll sign it all over to him immediately.
But then I think of Willow, that money should be hers, not mine, and certainly not his. So I’ve endured everything he’s thrown at me, and I’ll keep enduring as long as Willow lives and breathes freely. I send a prayer to whoever may be listening to look out for my baby, and finally let the tears fall.
I had hoped that Angelo had a modicum of humanity still left inside him, but I was only fooling myself it seems. For the next few days, my health had taken a turn for the worse. How could it not after my miscarriage? I felt like shit, and I just wanted to die. I think that’s what the bastard was hoping for.
That I’d just drop dead.
But I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction.
Not yet anyway.
I’d even started hallucinating, seeing Willow and Ky telling me to keep fighting.
I refused to give up; my resolve to keep living burned fiercely within me. To make sure my little girl was well taken care of, at least.
Angelo had sent one of his goons to feed me this morning, the same slop I had been given since I’d been here. I’d eaten it, because I was starving, and I needed to keep my strength up. The feeling of the infection taking hold inside me was a chilling realization that my time was running out.
I’ve lost all sense of time down here, but I’m pretty sure today is the day that Ky will be facing off against a fighter of Angelo’s choosing.
A fight to the death.
Something Angelo had not told Ky or any of the other men of the Devil’s Carnage MC. If I had a way of warning him, I would’ve already done it. But I don’t, so I have to wait until they actually meet.
Just when I thought I would be left down here to my own devices, while things played out wherever the fight was going to be held; the door swung open, and one of Angelo’s men walks slowly down the steps. Another following close behind. I wonder why they’re here, because I rarely see anyone after I’m brought breakfast.
When they take in my appearance, both curl up their lips in disgust.
“Boss wants you at the warehouse where the fight will be held tonight,” goon number one says.
“God, she’s rank,” goon number two complains to his buddy.
Even though I was feeling weak, I was able to muster a self-satisfied smile. Good. This is not going to be fun for tweedled dee and tweedled dum.
What is Angelo playing at? Why does he want me there tonight? Unless he’s confident, his man will win, and he’ll most probably kill me there in front of Ky and his brothers.
That’s the only reason I can think of for him not to call a doctor for me.
I didn’t speak a word while they worked to get me together with the cage upstairs. I’ve made peace with what’s going to go down tonight, I just hope Ky and his brothers can get out of here safely back to Briar Creek, and Willow.
My heart hurt when I thought of my daughter and Ky, but that they were going to be together again soon, soothed my soul somewhat. I was in and out of consciousness the whole way to the warehouse. And by the time we reach the destination, I was halfway to being delirious. My thoughts were a mashup between Willow and Ky, and the way he found out that Willow was his, if I had any remaining strength in my body, I would kill Angelo myself.
Angelo’s men laid the cage I was in on the floor, a few feet away from the ring. People were already filing in and looking at me as if I were the main attraction at the circus.
Minutes later, or it could’ve been hours for all I knew since I was losing track of time, and everything around me, I noticed a group of men enter, wearing leather vests. The first group I didn’t recognize, but the group following, my glassy eyes tried focusing on Ky, his jaw ticking when his eyes came to rest upon me. That was his only reaction as he turns away and walks farther into the warehouse.
A voice I recognize as Ink’s spoke soothingly behind me. Telling me not to worry, that they were going to get me out of here. Pain shoots through my abdomen, causing me to let out a groan. I feel as though I’m dying.
“Help me. Please,” I beg, my voice soft, I was certain that nobody could hear me over the din of the loud music. I was certain Ky and the club had turned their backs on me, which meant I was left alone to rot in this godforsaken place. With that final thought, I slip into unconsciousness.
***
I wake with a start, thinking that everything that happened beforehand was a dream. But I’m still in the warehouse. I’m still locked in this damned cage. But what is new is the fight that’s taking place in the boxing ring set up in the middle of the large rundown warehouse.
Someone must’ve moved me, because the cage is now butting up against the ring, and I can see Ky and his opponent clearly. In my delirious state, I can still enjoy the way Ky looks in his red boxing shorts, his long dark hair tied back away from his face, his deeply tanned muscular torso as though he had spent most of his life outdoors. The ink that covered his tall frame and his legs. Everything about him was just perfect. Even the sweat covering his body.
Shouts and jeers, and grunting from the two in the ring, permeated the air in a loud cacophony of noise. It was then I heard Ink’s voice somewhere in the distance. Or what I thought sounded like Ink, since I was disoriented and probably hallucinating again.
“Are you ready to get out of this hellhole, darlin? Nod your head if you can hear me.” I nod, but I quickly stop, as the pain in my head was immense.
“Okay, get ready,” he tells me, just as gunshots ring out, bringing with it a sense of déjà vu. I lift my head, bringing my eyes to the ring, and I can see Ky’s opponent has him in a headlock. I want to scream, but I have no energy left to do anything but just watch. Ky finally gets the upper hand, reaching towards Tiny who’s shooting, and handing him a knife at the same time. In a single, fluid motion, Ky plunges the knife into the other man's throat, the blade slicing through flesh and cartilage with a sickening crunch
A horrible gurgling sound comes from the other man, but Ky doesn’t let the knife go as a dark grin appears on his face.
Removing the knife, he cleans it almost gleefully on his shorts and jumps from the boxing ring into the fray of screaming patrons and the three groups shooting and fighting. The cage I'm in shakes violently, making a rattling sound, and I can't help but feel hope that it's Ky or one of his brothers coming to set me free.
Instead, it’s Angelo, holding a set of keys, his clothes covered in blood, and his face a mask of evil. He unlocks the cage and pulls me out roughly.
My body protests. Lack of food and medical attention have taken their toll. I just want to curl up somewhere and fade away peacefully. But it seems Angelo has other plans for me, as the man I’ve heard about many times as a massive beast of a man, his name stitched into the breast of his vest the only reason I knew his name was Tiny, but I have never actually met the man, comes in front of us, his weapon trained on my stepbrother.
“I can’t let you go,” Tiny grinds out between clenched teeth. “Let me rephrase. I won’t let you go. This is the last stop, Angelo.”
“I think not,” Angelo almost gleefully says, before he pulls the trigger of the gun he was holding, trained on the other man. Red spreads on Tiny’s chest, a look of shock on his face. I manage a scream, the noise getting the attention of the other men. Varying degrees of surprise and anger on each of their faces when they see what’s gone down.
Tiny drops to the ground like a heavy log, and I shake my head, unable to believe what has happened. The men as a group all run in our direction, and Angelo can see his time has come up. With a rough shove, he pushes me to the floor next to Tiny’s body and runs in the opposite direction to the other men.
When Ky reaches me, I’m surprised at how quickly he’s changed back into his own clothes, his jeans riding low on his hips, his vest the only covering over his chest; he drops to his knees in front of me, together with Ink, while the others circle around Tiny.
“Someone call 911,” Ky calls out, with a gentleness belying what I’d just witnessed him do to another human being, he picks me up and strides purposefully out of the warehouse.
“Is he okay?” I ask weakly. But he ignores me, stopping at a blacked-out SUV and placing me just as gently as he had picked me up inside.
Before he shuts the door, he drapes his vest over my nakedness, something I had completely forgotten about as the worn leather offers a comforting warmth I desperately crave. Tears burn my eyes, and I finally let them fall. Uncaring who sees them.
I was safe.
“Thank you,” I reply. He juts his chin at me, his gaze taking in my appearance with soft, regretful eyes. But there’s something else in those depths. An anger burns brightly inside him, and I feel guilt all over again.
He walks around to the driver’s side, slamming the door shut with a resounding thud as he settles into the seat. The passenger side door swings open, and I brace myself. My shoulders drop when I realize it's just Ink.
“How is he?” Ky asks
“Not good, brother. The rest of the guys are waiting for the paramedics, Kick said for us to take Sera to the hospital.”
“No hospitals, please,” I whisper, my voice fading.
“Sorry, sweetness, but you don’t get a say this time.” I hear Ky’s voice as if in a long dark tunnel, I try to stay awake, but the pain, exhaustion and adrenaline all combine to suck me down into the dark depths of unconsciousness.