7. Jett
JETT
I looked over at my boys as I leaned against the wall. I took my knife and a rag to clean away the blood that had dried there.
“How many times have we warned you? Don’t.” Talon paused as his fist landed a hit to the guy’s cheek. “Touch.” Another punch. “The” Another hit to the guy’s gut this time. “Girls.”
The one-way glass let us see into the club without anyone knowing exactly what we were doing in here. It was our office I supposed, although more often than not, there was more blood than paperwork in here.
The strip club was the one place we had purchased with our own money.
Daddy Barone knew about it and looked at it as an extension of himself.
He couldn’t touch shit here though. We sometimes used it to move some of the shadier sides of the Barone family businesses, but mostly?
It was just a strip club that made us less dependent on the family.
“Knox, why are we wasting our time on this ex-customer?” I asked. The guy would be lucky if he made it out alive, which I guess I didn’t see happening.
To be honest though, tonight just felt off.
“Fuck if I know. But Ronan and Talon have been ready to fight since we dropped off the Harrington girl, so I’m just helping,” Knox said.
I smiled.
“I kind of miss our pretty girl too, but this? It’s not very satisfying, is it?”
He started crying after the first hit. “Sucks to think only be when you beat on women,” I said, but I didn't finish my thought.
All our phones beeped with a notification at once, and that’s when my boys stopped beating the pile on the floor.
I pulled out my phone first and smiled when I saw who it was from. We all had her number, it was our fucking phone, so she came up as pretty girl for me. I wasn’t dumb enough to use her real name.
No one needed to know about our new little toy.
Christmas was ruined when I opened the notification to reveal the text.
“Fuck.”
Pretty Girl: Anyone willing to come kidnap me again?
Pretty Girl: Please. I can’t go with Carrow. They said I had to move in tomorrow.
One by one we all turned to each other.
“Bad idea?” asked Knox.
Ronan though? He’d grabbed his black leather jacket and was already heading for the door. I grabbed for the office door following him.
“Clean this up,” he said over his shoulder to the guy guarding the door.
We all scrambled to catch up with him.
“Apparently it doesn’t matter, Knoxy. Let’s go rescue our damsel.”
I practically danced on my tiptoes as we rushed out of the club to the back where our bikes were safe and sound.
Tonight was supposed to just be a chill night at the club, making pretty girl’s request a bit inconvenient.
Typically there were always two of us that wanted to do our own thing and having the bikes afforded us freedom from each other.
But tonight? Now, the bikes seemed to have a whole new purpose.
I kicked my leg over mine, and even though concern for pretty girl was raining on my parade, I still saw the glint of excitement in my brothers’ eyes.
We were going to make it wherever she was in record time.
“Do we know where we are going?” I asked as I pulled my helmet on.
Ronan tapped a button on his phone, and a moment later her location was shared with all of us. I wonder if she knew we tracked her just like her uncle.
“Sweet. We’re stalking her officially now? This day is getting better and better.”
I kicked up the stand as I turned the key, starting my baby up.
I loved our little toys. We rarely got to use them, but it was rarer that we got to let loose, and something about the way Ronan was already racing down the alley like his ass was on fire told me he wasn’t going to tell us to be careful.
“Fuck, yes.”
There was nothing like speeding through the city knowing one mistake could have me kissing the pavement. Instead I was racing to see my new obsession. She didn’t know just how long I’d wanted to touch her, and now that I’d gotten close to her? Game on.
No more showing up at parties just to get close to the senator.
No more paying off those around him to abandon his plans.
Of course, we were still stuck with the latest issue on the strip—billion-dollar construction deals, local laws shifting overnight, and zoning changes that conveniently made the most valuable land untouchable.
It was all smoke and mirrors, a legal shell game designed to push out the old players and crown jokers parading around like the new kings of sin city.
A horn blared and I pushed my bike faster, making Knox and Talon chase me.
It was early evening and traffic was light, not like it would be as the hours got closer to midnight when the sin spread like a plague in this city.
Either way I would have gotten to her, because she was quickly making me an addict that needed another hit.
I pulled up next to Ronan and sized up the building. This wasn’t one of our hotels and it wasn’t directly on the strip. It smelled of old money.
“Who owns this one?”
I probably should have known, but this wasn’t my job. My job was to plan, but one couldn’t plan when the target was asking to be stolen.
“Thorne.”
I shook my head, the helmet not moving an inch.
He pulled out his phone, and it didn’t take more than a second to know what he’d asked. My phone beeped with the group chat.
Ronan: Where are you?
My brothers pulled up and we sat in the parking garage. Did we go up? Did we go down? We waited and waited some more.
“She isn’t answering; do we need to go kill someone?” Talon asked.
“I’m going in,” Knox said, his bike safely where it would be easily accessible. He yanked his helmet off and threw it at me.
“It pays off that he really likes black suits, doesn’t it?” He would blend just fine.
Me? The others? Black was pretty versatile, but none of us had a suit jacket, making us look more like the help.
“Let us know if you want back up, sweetheart,” I hollered as he pulled open the door to the stairwell. At the last minute, I saw him tuck hands in pockets, hiding the blood we hadn’t stopped to wash off. I sighed.
“When was the last time we had such an eventful day?”
No one was answering me. I leaned onto my bike and waited for the next thing to happen.
“Anyone find it odd Knox is the one who volunteered to go in without having to be asked?” Talon finally asked, breaking the calmness of the parking garage, where the only sounds were of tires squealing here and there.
We all glanced at the new message on our phones.
Pretty girl: restaurant
“Do we follow Knoxy or do we just wait?” I asked. It was more a question to myself. What was the best plan? Whoever she was with wouldn’t know we were here. That was perfect. But with that meant we also didn’t know much either.
“Give him a second. He’s probably almost to the restaurant. Talon, where are the exits?”
Ronan watched the fire door to the stairwell like something was going to happen. Maybe it would. Talon was typing away on his phone to our guys. They could pull up anything we needed, not that Talon couldn’t if he had his computer. He was a master at this shit even without their help.
“The restaurant’s on the top floor and views Fremont street. There’re not many exits up there. However, if you give me a second…” He stopped talking for a second. His fingers spread out on the screen, making something bigger.
“They have to come down to the main lobby. There’s a bathroom down the same hall as an exit to the stairwell that would lead her right back here. Text Knox and see if he has eyes on her.”
I didn’t have to be told twice and typed out the message.
Me: Do you see her?
Knox: Yes. Harrington and Thornes all in a row.
Me: Talon has a plan.
Knox: Better be fucking good.
We’d crammed all the bikes into a space not far from the stairwell assuming they wouldn’t be noticed for quite some time. Everyone except Ronan.
“So you’re the getaway bike then?” I asked, my thumbs hooked in my pants pockets, and glanced down at my shirt.
Black hid blood well, but I could still feel the stiff movement of my shirt as it dried.
It also made this a bit easier. Good news was that with a quick glance at the three of us, it would be hard to tell who we were when we finally got her.
Talon shot me a few instructions.
“You’re getting her from the lobby down that hall. You use those skills of yours.”
I nodded and got into place, removing my helmet, because now I needed to look like the help.
“Is this really smart, Roe? All this for just a little girl?” I asked, but truthfully I hated the way my heart did this strange little pitter patter around her.
Fucking hell, she made me smile. Having her in my room?
Well shit. That should have been like some kind of red flag to me, but instead.
I wanted to show her all my books. I wanted to play my guitar for her.
I’d even let her touch the thing, and the way she smiled up at me?
Well, it was pretty strange that the girl seemed to be really happy in a stranger's house and not begging to be released. I liked her brand of crazy.
Knox: They’re moving.
“I’m heading in.”
I jogged toward the stairwell without waiting for anyone to say anything. Talon and Ronan knew where to go. My job was to pick her off from the group.
Me: Pretty girl. First floor bathrooms.
I sure hoped she was good at reading between the lines. I wasn’t even sure she’d see that. Not if Uncle Asshole was as controlling as we assumed. I made it to the hallway of the restrooms. Where would be the best place to grab her if she got this far?
I looked around the exit into the main lobby.
Vegas-style elegance with a retro flair meant lots of large planters and big furniture. No one knew I was here, so why not just sit and wait?
I grabbed one of the large stuffed chairs knowing my head could be seen above it, but otherwise I was inconspicuous. Now I waited like a patient, pretentious businessman.
The elevator dinged. Over my shoulder I saw her as she stepped out.
Bingo.
I typed a quick text to the boys.
Me: Ready
I watched her walk slowly, settling in behind the men, near what I assumed must have been future mother-in-law.
Hard to say. She struggled to walk a straight line, but Margaux stayed near her.
Good. I could work with that. The toxic trio of men seemed to trot on like little prized ponies thinking everyone followed as they should.
One step closer. Two steps closer. Three steps. I reached my hand back, brushing the back of hers, and watched as she looked up from studying her own feet, eyes widening as it clicked.
I whispered, “Hey there, pretty girl.”
The three men kept walking and didn’t notice as she stopped and I grabbed her hand, standing in one fluid movement and pulling her to the hall.
Someone shouted, and I had to assume the guys I’d written off were guards and they had noticed her getting taken.
“Hold on, babe,” I said and grabbed her up into my arms and picked up the pace to the back stairwell.
“Where is she? How did you let happen?”
I could hear the shouts of what must have been Carrow or the senator. I didn’t really care. I didn’t stop because the footfalls were getting closer. I slammed into the door into the stairwell.
“Hold on, Margaux. Your rescue is just up ahead.”
“J?” That was Talon calling up the stairwell.
I smiled.
“Get ready, they’re coming.”
I got down the two short flights and burst out the door. Ronan was already ready, and all I had to do was put her on the bike and they were gone. Her dress fluttered on the sides as he pushed the bike.
I stood there.
“Do we wait for the show? Three. Two.”
A gun pointed at my face a second later.
“Sweet. It’s been a few days since I’ve looked down the barrel of a Sig. Your employer knows reliability.”
I put my hands up, not because they asked and not because I actually wanted to show them I was indeed armed, but because it made it easier to grab the knife at my wrist. I already had my own gun in the opposite hand.
“Where is she?” one of the guards shouted at me. I took a peek and saw Talon nearly hidden behind the door. They hadn’t noticed him yet.
A shadow moved behind the open door. That would be Knox. Good. All accounted for.
“I dunno. Who is she? I don’t know if you noticed, but do I look like I'm struggling to get a woman in my bed?”
There were only two guards. They stepped closer.
“Shut up. Where is she? The senator’s niece. Don’t play stupid.”
I shrugged.
“I dunno. I don’t see any cute little nieces out here. I see a few cute little guards though. Is this your first gig? I mean that explains a lot.”
I noticed they were scanning the garage. If they’d been smarter, they might have heard the squeal of tires.
“She’s not down here. Close off the hotel,” one of them said through an earpiece.
“Alright. Well, now that it’s clear I don’t have her in my possession?—”
I ducked as a guard reached out for me.
“Aww. Too slow. You’d be better off shooting me,” I said. This time the two guards noticed the figures behind them.
“We need to take you in. The senator will demand you come with us.”
I chuckled.
“Demand? He doesn’t even know it was me. What is he interested in? I’m not really into guys like him, but I’m flattered.”
The good news is that my distraction was what we needed.
“Alright, well on that note, we gotta go.”
My two brothers stepped behind them, and before the guards could flinch they were both knocked out and slouched on the pavement.
The three of us turned toward the bikes only a few feet away.
“Talon. Cameras?” I asked the question as I put my helmet on. Masks would have been handy today, but I suppose we couldn’t plan on a kidnapping every day.
“Already being taken care of. Let’s get out of here,” Talon said.
Knox grunted in front of us.
“Shit. They really are locking down,” I said, studying the rolling door coming down from the ceiling, blocking the exits.
Talon swore under his breath, but he grabbed some pliers that I didn’t even know he’d squirreled away.
“Let’s go. Be ready the second I get the thing to move.”
We practically walked the bikes over to the gate. Talon got off and headed for the electrical box to the side.
The place was expensive and high end, but it wasn’t built like the casinos on the strip. Talon had the box opened and rewired in seconds. The door started to retreat.
Before the guards could wake up at our backs and before anyone made it down here, we were all out and speeding onto the main road headed home, and I was so damn excited. Maybe this is what it felt like to actually like living.