Chapter 19
NINETEEN
NOTCH
The second my hand fell onto Maya’s shop door, it fell open. Not only was it unlocked, but the damn door hadn’t been closed. I drew my weapon, casing the corners as I slowly made my way through the darkened waiting room.
“Maya?” I asked.
My eyes peered over at the cash register.
It was open. Empty. And my stomach dropped to the floor.
The hallway door in front of me hung open, its darkened expanse fueling my worry.
My anger. I sniffed the air, wondering what the hell had happened.
Wondering what would cause such a cautious, closed-off woman to keep all of her doors hanging open.
I found my way down the hallway and to the stairs that led up to her apartment.
“Maya!” I yelled.
There were soft footsteps above my head, rushing around as if in a frantic mood.
I holstered my gun and went running up the stairs.
Two at a time. Three. Anything to get me up to her studio apartment quicker.
Her apartment door was cracked, and I burst through, hearing the soft pants of her lips hit my ears.
“Maya!” I exclaimed.
She sniffled, and I charged into the living room.
My eyes fell into the kitchen where Maya was bent over.
She had suitcases tossed onto the counters.
She shoved things into them with wads of money falling from the crevices.
My brows furrowed as she rushed back down the hallway, unable to hear me through the panicked motion of her movements.
“Maya. Maya, you need to stop,” I said.
I got all the way to her bedroom before I reached out for her. And when I did, her elbow came back and connected with my chest. I grabbed her wrist as I heaved for air twisting it behind her back. I spun her around, taking in her wide and watery stare as she gazed up into my eyes.
Her nostrils flared with anger before recognition settled over her face.
“Notch?” she breathed.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
With one fell swoop, she collapsed into my arms. Tears flowed and her sobs shook her body as I held her closely. My eyes darted around her bedroom, casing the shadowed corners and wondering if someone was with her.
Or if someone was coming back.
“It’s okay. Hey, hey. I’ve got you. I’m here,” I said softly.
“I couldn’t—I’m sorry,” she choked out.
I closed my eyes, knowing exactly what she was talking about.
“You promised me, Maya,” I said.
“I know. I know I—I—I did—I—”
“Take some breaths. Here. Let’s sit down.”
I moved us both to the bed and we sat, her small form crawling into my lap.
I held her closely, taking in how she shuddered against me.
She couldn’t breathe. She couldn’t speak.
I held her as I kissed the top of her head, feeling her tears and snot soak the shoulder of my shirt.
I rocked us side to side. I whispered and shushed her softly in her ear.
My heart hammered in my chest at the thought of what could have possibly happened.
If that man had touched her or threatened her in any way, he was a dead man walking.
“He called,” she whispered.
Maya slowly pulled away from me and looked up into my eyes.
“He called not too long after you left the shop, and I knew it meant they were watching. If I said no, they’d just come back. And I didn’t know if you were coming back, and—”
“What happened when you went to go see him?” I asked.
I lifted my knuckles to her skin, brushing away her tears. Then, her eyes fell to my chest. To my arms. To my tattoos.
“You need more Vaseline on these,” she said softly.
“I’m not worried about my tattoos right now,” I said.
“Where’s your leather jacket.”
I stiffened. “That isn’t important. The only thing that’s important to me right now is you.”
Her dark brown eyes fluttered up to mine, and even in her emotional state, she was the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen.
My heart seized in my chest. The world stopped existing as she sat there in my lap, straddling me with her long, slim legs and gracing me with the warmth of her body.
I wanted to kiss her, to lay her down on this bed and take her in all the ways I’d dreamt of. All the ways I knew she wanted me to.
The only thing that was more important than making love to this woman was making sure she was alive long enough for me to love her the way she deserved.
If she’d have me.
“Where’s your brother?” I asked.
She grimaced. “He’s not my brother any longer. Hasn’t been for a long fucking time.”
“Maya—”
“I just didn’t realize how badly he’d sunken into this lifestyle until today.”
“I know. I know. But it’s important that you tell me where he is.”
“The restaurant. Where he always is. With his armed goons and bullshit drinks and wry smile.”
“What happened when you got there? When you went to see him?” I asked.
She sighed. “He asked about you. Practically confirmed the fact that I was being watched after they left, though I told him I didn’t need any sort of protection like that.”
My stomach fell, because that meant she was probably being watched right now. Which meant I’d walked right into a fucking trap.
“You’re not being watched for protective purposes,” I said.
“You can’t be here. He’s going to know you’re here, and he’s going to take us,” Maya said.
I grinned. “I’d really enjoy seeing them try.”
“My brother isn’t someone to be messed with. He deals in human trafficking too.”
I paused. “How do you know that?”
Her bottom lip began quivering. “Because he threatened to sell me off to someone who would buy me if the information I gave him was false.”
I had no idea where the fuck to even begin unpacking that statement. But whatever amount of unpacking we did, we couldn’t do it here. She was right to be packing. She needed to get the hell out of this place.
And there was only one place I could take her where I knew she’d be safe.
“Are you done packing?” I asked.
Maya sniffled. “Almost.”
“Well, almost is now. We need to get out of here. Grab what you already have and let’s get going.”
“Wait, what?”
I stood from the bed, holding her in my arms as she reached for her purse.
She scooped it off the bed just as we walked out of the room, and I carried her back out to the kitchen.
I set her down on her feet and grabbed one of her closed suitcases.
She dragged the other one off the counter, zipping it closed with her purse inside.
She slipped her cell phone into her back pocket and then she followed me to the front door.
“I’m going to get you somewhere safe, and then we’ll talk about our next move,” I said.
We locked all the doors we went through on the slim chance we weren’t actually being watched.
Locked doors would slow them down, at least a little bit, if they came looking for Maya.
And I knew they would. We locked the front door and went out the back, making our way toward my bike.
Thank fuck I’d been smart enough to park it in the alley.
I strapped all of her shit to the back of my bike and helped her on.
No helmets this time. Just the two of us clinging to one another as we raced through San Diego.
I knew Stone would never turn away a woman in need, no matter how infuriated he was with me.
“Come on. Hang on tight, and don’t ask questions,” I said.
I struck up my bike and navigated the back alleys.
We needed to get far away from this place before we hit the main roads.
I went as far as I could before having to pull out onto the highway, and I sped down the road as quickly as I could.
With the ocean to our left and the city to our right, we made our way north.
Until the squealing of tires caught my ear behind us.
I looked in my mirrors and saw black cars coming for us. Tinted windows. Double-walled tires. Fuck. We were being followed. Or had been found. One of the two.
“What’s going on?” Maya asked.
I pulled off the road without a turn signal and picked up the pace.
“Just hang on. Okay?” I asked.
I darted down alleyways, taking sharp turns as Maya yelped and clung tightly to me.
Turns where my knees were almost touching the fucking road.
She had herself wrapped around me, arms around my chest and legs locked around my hips.
She buried her face into the crook of my neck, crying unlike anything I’d ever felt before.
My heart broke for her. My veins welled with anger.
I wanted to pull my gun and start shooting at their tires so I could wear them down further.
But I didn’t want to spook Maya any more than I already had.
But before I knew it, cars surrounded us.
One of the cars blocked off the only exit for the alleyway we had found. One car had gotten trapped against the brick walls, and I heard them bashing out the windshield. With every alley I passed, cars came down them blocking other ways out as we careened toward the black car in front of us.
I tried to find anything I could bank. Anything I could use to launch myself over the fucking thing.
However, there was nothing.
“Fuck,” I murmured.
I skidded to a stop, kicking up a rubbery cloud of smoke along with my motions.
My bike came to a perpendicular stop to the car, and I drew in a deep breath.
I watched the passenger door open. A shining shoe stepped out.
And when Maya gasped, I knew exactly who it was before my eyes got to his face.
“Hello, Notch,” Harry said.
I wanted to rip that man’s fucking throat out.
“Notch!” Maya exclaimed.
“No!” I roared.
I reached back for Maya, but someone pressed a gun to my temple.
My nostrils flared as a man yanked her off my bike, holding her by her shirt as the stitches ripped.
She stumbled over her feet as he pushed and dragged her toward her brother.
I watched with wide eyes as the man holding the gun to my head cocked the weapon, threatening me with a good time as the man holding Maya shoved her into the back of Harry’s car.
I’ll kill you too, for putting your hands on her.
“I’m sorry, Notch!” Maya exclaimed.
The words hit my ears just before the car door shut.
“You’ve been such a big help,” Harry said, grinning.
“If you hurt one hair on that woman’s head—”
“Hurt my sister? Oh, no. I would never do anything like that. She’s my sister,” he said.
“That what you said about your parents?” I growled.
His face fell, and his eyes grew dark as he nodded at the man next to me. I looked over and watched him raise the butt of his gun, but I held my hands up to stop the attack. I got off my bike and put the man into the brick wall, punching him across the face with my fucking fist.
“Leave him barely breathing,” Harry said.
And as a foot came crashing into the small of my back, I heard Maya screaming as Harry’s car pulled away.