CHAPTER EIGHT
My phone rings and I recognize by the ringtone who is calling me. I grab the phone and look at the clock on the nightstand. Is six in the morning. Why would Colin call me this early? I look to my side and softly caress her cheek. Rosalie has one leg wrap around me and I slowly slide from under it.
“Give me a minute,” I answer the phone.
I stare at her sleeping face and at some of the visible love bites.
Just looking at her makes me want her more.
I take a deep breath before I fully go hard just by staring at her sleeping body filled with the signs of what transpire last night.
My life makes it hard to have a long romantic relationship and I’m not a fan of one-night stands.
I can’t recall the last time I could take my time pleasuring my partner. To explore every inch of her body. Find all the noises I could pull from her. I wonder how much can I discover with her and refuse to think about how whatever we have is temporary.
I grab my clothes and put them over my naked body before I step out of the room. I don’t want my conversation with Colin to wake Rosalie up. I decide to head down and get us something to eat from the breakfast they serve here.
“Why are you calling me this early?”
“I’ve been waiting for three hours to be partially acceptable to call you.”
“Another sleepless night?”
“That and the more I peel a layer about these girls, the deeper I have to dig. That’s what I’m calling you, Cooper. I think you should send Rosalie back to Maxwell and to their company.”
“What? Why?” Why now when I just had a taste of heaven?
“I dug out their contracts and unless there is hard evidence of the company’s negligence and breached of contract, the four women’s lives are forever bound to LuxeMuse and its owner.”
“That sounds like a messy but simple legal battle one of our lawyers can flex their muscles with,” I say.
“There’s something worse. LuxeMuse seems to have tight relationships with Los Cuervos de Plata. So tight they Crows are the biggest investors of VERA, with Domingo ‘Don’ Valente as the major investor and co-owner of the group.”
“Say that again.”
“The company that manages them and the crows are so entangled I have a feeling LuxeMuse is part of their legal business that they used to do some of their money laundry and maybe some of the human trafficking. Isn’t her manager charged with money laundry? Hold on, let me check his name.”
I let my brain run at a million miles as I hear the faint sound of Colin’s keyboard. Can I send her back to her town? Did my brothers send the other women back? If I do, will they even make it before the Crows intercept them?
“Colin, did you guys already send the other three to Maxwell?”
“No, we are waiting for Caleb to decide what to do with them?”
“Then why the heck you are telling me to send her alone back to her town? Are you asking me to abandon her?”
“They want her and from what I read from her contract, they basically own her. Staying with her is suicidal. If something happens to you, your twin will truly go crazy. You know Caleb and I barely have a hold on him.”
“Until Caleb comes up with a solid way for them to go back home without us literal handing them to monsters, I’m not leaving her alone.”
Before my brother can say something, I hear the voice of the youngest in the group. “Colin, when did I fall asleep?”
“I’m gonna be the bigger person of the two of us and not comment on what I heard. Go take care of Vivian and update me if there is anything else you discover between their company and the crows.”
I hear him sigh over the phone before the call cuts.
I shake my head and head over to the Nighty Night Bed and Breakfast dining room that houses their hot and continental display.
I open the door to our room with a tray in hand full of delicious pastries, fresh fruits, a variety of nuts, and freshly squeeze orange juice. Before I lay the tray on the small table, I notice Rosie is not in the room.
The robe she had on last night is on the floor. Last night she lay her clothes folded on the right corner of the dresser, her phone on top of the stack. I dial her secret phone number, but before it rings, I hear her screaming my name.
Through our room’s window, I see two men grabbing Rosalie and tossing her into an unmarked windowless gray van.
I run down the hallway, taking the stairs two at a time and barging out of the front doors just to watch the van speed away.
I text Colin the license plate numbers and demand him to find me the van now.
Two minutes later, my gps app opens and I can see a dot that is moving away from where I’m at. A quick message pops at the top of my screen. “One of our satellites it’s following the van. I guess you have no intention of letting her go.”
I attach my phone to a special custom clamp I created for my motorcycle, zip my two jackets, put my helmet on and was loading my guns into my custom compartments.
The reason I have to work on my motorcycle is because of all the customization I made that hides my guns and magazine I travel with.
I had to make sure it didn’t get messed up by the previous encounter with the Crows.
I know I have less than three minutes to make sure everything is as good as possible before I have to hail ass to catch them up.
The van is not moving too fast, so I’m confident I can catch up before they reach their territory.
I speed out of the bed and breakfast ready to get my girl back.
I have the van in sight when the beep in my earplug notifies of a call.
“Caleb,” I say.
“How do you know it is me?”
“Because I’m sure you are watching the gps like a hawk and has recognize where the van is heading.”
“One of Black Reign’s old routes.”
“Exactly. I’m sorry I’m not gonna be able to check out why they are going there, but after I’m done with these motherfuckers, I’m sure Curtis, if Colin is too busy, would love to take a peek into our system there and check what they are doing.”
“That’s if they haven’t blocked our system.”
“A challenge for Curtis to then rub it on Colin’s face? He will be more than eager.”
“We shall see. Margaret is keeping your twin on his toes. I’m not sure if outsmarting us is as satisfying as trying to match her or tame her.”
“So he met his match. Good. Hey Caleb, I gotta go.”
“Be careful Cooper. I expect you to come in one piece.”
“I’ll try.” I cut the call, pull out one of my guns in the custom compartments and shoot all four tires of the van.
I watch them struggle to take control over it until it stops.
I have little cover, but I know they already know which sections of my jacket are bulletproof. They’ll just have another surprise.
I wait six feet away from the van, guns in hands. The side door opens and three men step down. One of them is holding a crying Rosalie by her hair. She has a dirty cloth on her mouth and I can tell how filthy the van is inside by how dirty her jeans and shirt are.
“One wrong move and she dies.” The man holding her says, pulling her hair again.
She scrunches up her face and the whimper that the gag couldn’t muffle makes my eyes go red.
I didn’t let them say anything else. This close shooting one after the other in a quick sequence on their head is so easy I could do it with my eyes closed.
I shoot the driver the moment his head got out of the van.
I pocket one of my guns, kick the kickstand and run to Rosalie, who is shaking. I wrap my arm around her waist and pull her close to me. I take the gag on and kiss her head.
“You are okay. You are safe. I will let nothing happen to you. I swear on my life,” I say it against her ear and try to comfort her as best as I can. I’m waiting for any more of them to jump out of the van, but nothing happens.
“Was it these three and the driver?” I ask.
She nods her head and sniffles. I remember her hands are bound. I take one step back and she freaks out.
I cradle the side of her face that has some blood splatter and lean down to look at her eyes.
“I’m not leaving you. I just want to unbind you so we can head out. Okay?”
She nods and whispers. “I’m sorry.”
“You have nothing to apologize.”
I pull the knife I have hidden in my left boot and cut her ties. I pocket the knife and pull her to my bike.
“We are going to a safe place,” I say.
I got her helmet and take off one of my jacket to put it on her. I help her get on the motorcycle and I speed off as her arms wrap tight around my waist.
I’m grateful that I thought of giving her one jacket I was wearing when two cars shoot at us the moment we crossed the state line from Missouri to Tennessee. They didn’t recognize she was wearing my jacket, so all the bullet aim at her didn’t pierce through the bulletproof layer of the jacket.
I know if they are observant, they will realize who is wearing what. They did.
I hear her cry when a bullet nudge into her arm.
I hold on to it as I feel the arm sliding off my waist. I gritted my teeth as the piercing pain on the same side I have the bullet graze now has a one in.
The second bullet is on my right shoulder and I fight through the pain to keep my grip on my motorcycle and speed up.
I need to get away now. I can deal with the pain and the bleeding. Rosalie has never experienced this. For all I know she can lose conscious and it would be harder for me to keep her on my back while I drive.
Miles before our territory starts are Caleb and Colin. They brought the bigger guns because one bullet from Colin shatters the front window of the car and killing the passenger while making the driver lose control of the impact of the broken windshield.
Caleb shoots the left tire, making the car turn. He switches to his favorite hand gun and three headshot later the car crashes with the driver only being the one alive. I pass between them as they get on their bike and escort me back into Cross Hollow and our compound.
Colin takes an almost passed out Rosalie to get treated while Caleb helps me get to the other sterilized room.
Sophie is the one taking care of my injuries, which means Jessica is tending to Rosalie.
I’m glad they send Rosalie to her. Nothing wrong with Sophie, but Jessica knows how to deal with someone who is experiencing being shot for the first time and will have more compassion for Rosalie, who is still very shaken up from the attempted kidnap.
After Jessica and Sophie tend to our wounds, I scoop Rosalie off the infirmary bed and head over to my side of the compound.
“I know her friends want to check up on her and be by her side, but can you ask them to wait for a day or two? Can they let Rosalie decide when she is ready for the onslaught of questions and people?”
Caleb sighs. “I will talk to Ginny. I’m sure she will handle the other two.”
“I don’t doubt that. Caleb, did Colin clue you in everything he found?”
“Yes, and there’s a lot more we need to tell you and things Rosalie needs to clue us in some things too.”
“Okay. I’ll let you know when we are ready.”
“I can deal with that. Cooper, do you know what you just did to the club, to the town, right? Everyone here is a target.”
“I know. Now that she is here, I’ll make sure they can’t touch us. I’ll pluck those Crows feathers and burn them all. Before, it was a matter of business. Now is personal.”
“I guess I have some meetings to schedule with the locals.”
“I guess so.”
I hold Rosalie closer to me as I head to the east side of the Black Reign compound. I’ll deal with Los Cuervos de Plata later. Right now, I need to make sure Rosalie feels safe, that she knows I’ll never leave her, and that I’ve fallen in love with her.