Seven
Brooke
“Are you sure the guys aren’t going to have a fit that we’re heading out without them?”
“I made sure Bolt could tail us.
Besides we won’t be long.”
I glanced over at Sage as we strolled through the mall, peeking inside the windows to see if we spied anything we wanted to check out.
“I mean, I know they aren’t possessive to the point where you aren’t allowed to do anything without their permission.
I didn’t mean it that way.
I just know Ryder is really protective of you because of this shit with that old club.
And Grayson has been a little protective with me since those two incidents.”
Grabbing my arm, she tugged me into a lingerie store.
“I knew exactly what you meant.
And you’re right on those accounts.
I just wanted to do something for me and Ryder.”
She waggled her eyebrows at me.
“He’s been so good at helping me with the baby.
When she gets better at sleeping through the night, I want to have a nice surprise for him.”
She paused to peruse the selection of lacy Babydolls on one of the round racks in the middle aisle.
Why wouldn’t he be good with the baby? Jade was his daughter.
Maybe bikers had a difficult time adjusting to the daddy life.
But I didn’t voice my question.
“I guess since I’m out, I can look for something for Grayson too.
I don’t think he’d mind.”
I giggled.
“You must have gotten pregnant really quickly.
Unless it was insta-love for you guys too.”
I snatched a pale blue lacy number from the rack and held it up to me.
Lace covered where my breasts and pussy would be, but the belly and back areas were cut out.
It didn’t leave much to the imagination, but I didn’t think Grayson would mind and I really liked it.
A strange look briefly crossed her face before she smiled at me.
“I think that outfit is perfect for you.
Very racy.
You should get it.
And I’m so excited Grayson told you he loved you. Ryder and I kinda had guessed that already. But the guys are pig headed about stuff like that.”
She picked up a lacy peach one that had a bit more material than mine but was still very sexy.
“But back to your earlier comment: I just happened to get pregnant our first time.”
She shrugged.
“He wasn’t ready to fall in love again when we first met.
He’d been burned pretty badly before me and wasn’t looking for a relationship.
He was really up front about it too.
And I was okay with just having sex.
Deep down I was hoping he’d fall for me, but I was starting to think it wasn’t going to happen.
I fell really fast for him.
Part of that was due to the fact that I had lost my parents when I was really young and was just looking for something to fill that void.
I was an only child and classmates weren’t really kind.
And when I ended up with Pyro Devils it really wasn’t that much better.
The guys weren’t vicious.
Not like that one from Brutal Demons.
But they were rough and made sure you knew you didn’t mean anything to them; that you were just property.
And the girls there were cruel bitches.
But then I met Misti and Angel too.
I know that’s a terrible reason to want someone, but that was just how it started. But the more time I spent with him; the harder I fell and it was easy to see he was a great guy.”
“Hey no judgement here.”
I rested my hand on her arm.
“I think when you met him you just realized he was the one.
I don’t believe it had anything to do with your past.
Sometimes you just know when he’s the right one.”
“Like with you and Grayson?”
She bumped her shoulder into mine.
“Yeah, even though I had given him a hard time when we had first met; when he came to my rescue later on that night, I let my preconceptions go really quickly.
But he needed that earlier sass from me to bring him down a few pegs.
You know, because he is just way too cocky sometimes.”
I giggled.
“They all are.”
She lowered her voice like she was giving me some top secret information.
“But they are entitled because, well, they earn it with everything they do.”
I couldn’t deny her words.
Although Grayson was definitely cocky; but because I knew him now, it no longer grated on my nerves.
And I certainly benefitted from that cockiness in the bedroom.
“I’m glad Ryder rescued you from them.
You are so amazing and I’m glad I met you and that we’re friends. And you and Ryder make a perfect pair.”
“My sweet to his severe.”
She shot me a smirk.
“He definitely looks the part of a biker.
Grayson on the other hand reminds me more of someone who should be on the cover of some woman’s magazine or maybe their tough guy version of it.
But it doesn’t mean he doesn’t act the part of biker.
But Ryder definitely has the appearance as well.”
Sage and I wandered back to the dressing rooms.
The attendant unlocked two rooms for us and we stepped inside.
After stripping out of my jeans and t-shirt, I slipped into the lingerie.
Turning to face the mirror, my lips curled into a mischievous smile.
Grayson was going to go nuts.
The garment accentuated the little curves I had and the amount of skin it exposed would have him pouncing on me the second I stepped into the room wearing it.
He treated sex like a celebratory feast with me as his prize winnings.
And he would probably say the Ruger 380 holstered on my ankle added to the allure. My smile widened. He was something else. But he was all mine and I loved it.
“So, are you going to buy it?”
Sage’s eager voice sounded from the other side of the wooden panel separating our rooms.
“I’m going to buy this one.
I still have quite a bit of weight to lose and we have to wait six weeks, and it’s going to be a little while before Jade is sleeping better at night.
So I have time.
But now I have a surprise for him that I am ecstatic about.”
“I’m going to buy it.
I’ll try to keep it down tonight when I model it for him.”
I snickered.
“I don’t know why I’m not embarrassed to say that to you.”
“Because you know there is no shame in letting your guy love you the way he wants to.
But you should at least feel a little bad for me that I have to wait.”
Her tone held a slight pout.
“But I’m not going to be jealous of you.
Well, maybe just a little.”
She giggled.
After changing back into my clothes, I met Sage outside the rooms and we headed to the check out and paid for our purchases.
“Does it ever feel weird to you that you fell in love with a biker? Not because of the stigma that people like my dad give them, but because he has the potential to live a dangerous life.”
I steered Sage out of the store and over to a bench where we sat down.
“I mean, I think it’s admirable that his club tries to help those who can’t defend themselves.
But it’s kinda scary to think of them getting hurt.
I keep thinking about them going to that abandoned farmhouse and the gunfight that erupted.
When I realized Grayson had been shot, my heart stopped in my chest briefly.
He was standing there talking to me and looked fine, but my mind kept drifting to ‘what if he would have been hit somewhere else’.”
Reaching over, she patted my knee.
“You love him.
And he loves you too.
So we’re going to worry.
That’s what it means to care for someone.
But we have to trust that they know what they’re doing and will never take unnecessary risks.
I haven’t had that since my parents. So I know exactly how you feel. I love Ryder so much. And I just try to remind myself that he knows what he’s doing.”
“And I love Grayson so much too.
I don’t know how.
I’ve only known him for a few short days.
But I love him with my whole being.
And I would do anything for him.”
“And he’d do anything for you too.”
She twisted in her seat to meet my gaze.
“And I hate to bring this up because I know it’s a sore spot with you; but just like with your dad.
He has a dangerous job too, but he does it because it’s a part of him.
And I’m sure he doesn’t take unnecessary risks either because he doesn’t want to cause you excessive worry.
And during the years I was with Pyro Devils; yes they had a ton of injuries, but not one of their members was killed while on an assignment or anything.
And the guys at Twisted Flames are tougher, smarter, stronger, more careful, and just better at what they do.
Plus, they get back up from the police at times and their support.
That definitely helps.”
“Yeah, I’m surprised my dad hasn’t removed that because of my relationship with Grayson.
Maybe even though he is so stubborn, he realizes the police need the club just as much.”
“Well, I don’t know about you, but I have to pee.
I swear my body still thinks it’s pregnant.”
Rolling her eyes on a laugh, Sage stood and tugged me up with her.
Heading down toward the double doors that led to the back of the mall area, we rounded the bend and then walked down the long corridor to the bathrooms.
The hallway seemed to go on forever.
“I’m not sure why this mall has to have its restrooms way in the back, like away from everyone and everything.
It’s kinda eerie.
I’m already picturing about a dozen different scenes from a horror movie.”
A shiver rippled up my spine.
“And none of them end well.”
“Stop watching horror movies.”
Sage ducked into the women’s restroom, with me following.
“I don’t watch them.
But I get creeped out enough from the trailers.”
So we wouldn’t have to venture back here again, I slipped into a vacant stall as well.
When we were finished, we stepped back into the hallway.
Walking at a faster clip this time, I tugged Sage along.
The clicking of a metal door echoed in the empty hallway and I jerked my head back to investigate the sound.
Two men, dressed in all black, rushed toward us.
But before I could work up a scream, one meaty hand clamped over my mouth and his other arm wrapped around my waist as he dragged me toward another door.
But that didn’t mean I surrendered to his ambush.
Biting through his palm, I prepared to release a blood curdling scream, but his other hand slammed into my stomach, stealing my breath and any hope of emitting any sound other than my grunt of pain.
Hauling me through a door that led outside, I expected to be tossed into the back of a white van and carted off with Sage.
However, instead I was shoved into the back seat of a black sedan with darkened windows.
Once my kidnapper banged the door closed, the vehicle sped off.
Even though another unfriendly bulky guy sat at the other door, I contemplated for a brief moment jumping from the moving car, since Sage wasn’t inside.
“Where’s my friend? What did you do to her?”
The guy guarding the other door stared at me with his dark cruel eyes.
His black hair was greasy and visions of horror movies rushed through my thoughts again.
“Don’t pretend like you don’t know we know who she is.
Sage is in the other car.
You’ll meet up with her when we get to the house. He’s going to be thrilled we not only nabbed her, but acquired a bonus as well.”
My stomach threatened to toss up its contents.
They had to be from the rival club that had wanted revenge on Sage.
What would they do to us? I couldn’t dwell on that right now.
The possibilities were too frightening.
Fuck. I shook those troubling thoughts loose. And tried to focus on more positive things. Our guys would find us. Bolt should be . . .
Twisting, I faced the guy who had grabbed me.
His eyes were just as dark and soulless and even though his hair wasn’t as dark, it was just as slimy.
I had to force away the horror movie visions and keep my wits about myself.
I couldn’t give in to panic.
Once I was reunited with Sage, we’d figure something out until help arrived. “Where is the guy who was tailing us? He was in the hallway too. He should’ve noticed our disappearance.”
My kidnapper gave a humorless chuckle.
“He may have witnessed it, but he’s going to be out for quite a while.
He won’t do you any good.
And we crushed your purses and anything inside would have been demolished.
So any tracker will be useless. They won’t even have a starting point.”
That was okay; I tried to reassure myself.
Our guys were competent and skilled at dealing with these types of things.
Wanting to punch him right in the throat, I had to work hard to dominate my growing rage.
I doubted striking him would give me any advantage.
Just a brief sense of satisfaction, but I couldn’t go toe to toe with him, especially in the back seat of a moving vehicle.
And I needed to conserve my strength.
And surprisingly, I still had my Ruger inside my ankle holster.
I couldn’t fire it in the car.
I’d risk injuring myself.
But as soon as we got to our destination, I was putting a hole in every one of them.
I smiled to myself.
But the fact that I didn’t have my phone and now I’d have to pay for a new one and I no longer had that stunning lingerie spiked my anger again.
But I had to quell it.
At least for now. Once we reached our destination and I was sure Sage was okay and we were together, I was going to unleash it. And I’d much rather have fury rushing through me than terror.
About twenty minutes later, we drove up a winding dirt path and around to the back of a battered house nestled in the seclusion of a small wooded area.
It didn’t appear to be on the verge of collapsing or anything, just that time, weather, and neglect had not been kind.
A moment later, another black sedan pulled in beside us.
Relief rushed over me when a guy slid from the car, pulling an ornery Sage out with him.
She slugged him in the arm and scratched at his face as he manhandled her toward the house.
Hopefully they were dumb enough to keep us both in the same room. The two of us had enough feisty in us to figure something out, collectively.
After opening the door, my kidnapper ripped me out of the back seat by my arm.
Only luck prevented him from tearing it from its socket.
“Let’s go.
Slash should be here shortly.”
He pushed me in the direction of the house.
Pretending to stumble, I dropped to a crouch, ripped up my pant leg, grabbed my gun and had it trained on my attacker before I even stood.
But as I squeezed the trigger, his buddy charged me from the side and the shot missed its mark.
I fell to the ground in an inelegant heap and was disarmed before I could fire again.
The pissed off asshole kicked me in my side in irritation.
“Why didn’t you search her once you were inside the car? She could’ve killed one of us.
We seized Sage’s weapon as soon as we had her inside.
Dumb fuck.
Get them inside.”
Pulling me up from the ground, the guy I had tried to shoot punched me in the face.
“Keep it up and I’ll sample the goods even though Slash told us he wanted the two of you untouched, at least in that way, until he got his entitlements.”
Then he shoved me in the direction of the back door.
I’d dismember any one of them before I let one of those thugs touch me.
The thought made me want to vomit.
Taking in several deep breaths, I managed to calm myself slightly.
Once inside, I took in our surroundings.
Empty rooms and it smelled musty, like it hadn’t been aired out in a very long time. The guys shoved us into one of the smaller rooms that sat off of what used to be the main living area.
He pushed me a little harder than necessary.
“I would have locked you in the basement if that door had a reliable lock.
This room is the only one that does so count your blessings that you can hang out with your bestie.
At least until Slash comes.
Then he can decide what to do with you.”
Sneering, he slammed the door closed and the locked clicked a moment later.
Sage turned wide eyes to me.
“Grayson is going to paddle your ass when he finds out what you tried.”
“Well we have to figure something else out to try so that he has a chance to paddle my ass.
So, you’re going to tattle on me?”
I joked, hoping to lighten our moods.
That attempt at escape was an epic fail and only managed to piss them off.
But at least they kept us together.
For the time being.
“Of course I’m going to tell him.
He’ll be proud of you and then he’ll paddle your ass.
But that was bad ass.
They had taken my gun, otherwise I might have tried something similar.
I’m sad you got hurt, but I’m proud of you too. You don’t back down.”
“I’ll never give up.
As long as I’m given a fighting chance; I’ll take it.
My mom wasn’t given one, but I’ll make sure to take every one I get.”
My eyes burned but I blinked back the tears.
Now wasn’t the time to dwell on the past.
I needed my full focus on getting the two of us out of here, safely.
“I’m sorry.”
Her lips tugged into a frown and her eyes grew watery.
She didn’t know the story, but her expression told me she knew it was heartbreaking.
“You’ll have to tell me about her sometime.
Right now we need to scheme.
It seems they are waiting on this Slash guy. I guess they want to appease him so he’ll consider being a new prez for the Brutal Demons. They are using me as enticement and you as a bonus.”
“Fuck that.”
I glanced around the empty room looking for anything that could be used as a weapon.
“Not one piece of furniture in here.
I wonder if we can kick the closet door enough to break it into smaller pieces to use as makeshift knives.
And do it without drawing their attention.”
Since the door was locked, they didn’t need to guard it, right?
“I feel bad I convinced you to come out shopping with me.
But thank God I didn’t bring Jade out with me.”
A shiver shook Sage’s entire body.
“Although if they would have done anything to her; I would have ripped them to shreds like a wild animal, my safety be damned.”
“Hey, don’t feel bad.
You would have been alone.
And with the two of us brainstorming, we’ll come up with something.”
“I’m glad I’m not alone, but I dragged you into this shit.”
“According to my dad, I’m dragged into this shit because I’m dating a biker.
So don’t beat yourself up over it.
Let’s see how quietly we can destroy that door.”
Sage and I walked over to the closet and pulled on the wooden panel.
“The wood isn’t real sturdy.”
Sage smiled at me.
“It shouldn’t take much to bust it into chunks and I’m thinking we can do it without much noise.”
However, before we even got one kick in, the other door swung back open.
My kidnapper stepped inside and tossed me a cruel sneer.
“Cute.
You want to hide in the closet like a scared little girl.
We’d know to look in there.”
No, dumbass.
We were going to use the broken pieces to shred you.
I threw him my own satisfied smirk.
“But change in plans.
It seems Slash worries your guys might find us here.
So we’re moving to a new location.
We can’t have them ruining our plans.”
The smirk dropped from my face.
We couldn’t allow them to move us to a new site.
The more places we moved to, the harder it would be for the guys to find us.