Chapter 2
TWO
Orla
Footsteps under my door had my body tensing, fear lacing through me. I’d shown everyone who dared look in my direction how tough I was, but I wasn’t really. I had my breaking point, and it had been pushed days ago.
I’d not seen Sheridan or Wolf in days. It had felt longer, but the idiots who had captured us had left windows in our rooms. I couldn’t see out of it, it was too far up but I could see how many times the sun rose and went down.
The lock clicked and the door opened to reveal the man who had taken us. Well, he hadn’t, he was a loser who had his cronies do the hard work. His face was handsome, but he had a devilish glean in his eye that told me to fear him.
I didn’t like him.
“Now, now,” he said, his voice soft, and almost comforting. If I didn’t know any better, I would trust him by the sound of his voice. “You don’t need to fear me. I don’t want to hurt you.”
I scoffed, a sound that had come out of me unwittingly. His sick smile turned up on his lips and I felt myself shrink back.
“My men tell me you aren’t eating,” he said, looking over at the plate of food he’d left for me. “You need to keep up your strength.”
I looked away, not wanting to admit how much I craved food. The smell from the plate alone had made my hunger worse, and waves of nausea hit me hard.
His fingers moved over my skin and a harsh clack of his tongue forced my head back to look at him. “Why would you mar such a beautiful body with all this ink?”
The way he had said it made my skin crawl. His eyes raked over my body as I pulled back from him as far as I could.
“Why did you take us?” I asked him, surprised at how level my voice was. “Who are you?”
“You were an unfortunate victim of chance,” he said, his leering eye gone as he stood back up from the bed. “But, I see no need in keeping you if you won’t tell me what I want to know.”
“You’ve not asked me anything,” I protested.
“Tell me about everyone in this MC,” he asked. “I want to know every name, every detail, and I want to know about this clubhouse. Where it is, any weaknesses.”
Confusion rolled over me. “What?”
“Do not make me say it again,” he glowered. “I don’t much like repeating myself.”
“Why do you care about an Irish MC?” I asked him, confused how he could possibly know the club when he was in Italy. “What is this about?”
He took a deep breath, his hands going to his hips as he looked down at me.
He was intimidating, not in the same way as the guys at the club, but in a more sadistic way.
He reminded me of Neal when he would intimidate me or Sheridan.
That fucker didn’t scare me anymore, I’d stopped being scared of him years ago.
But this guy…I knew this guy could do some damaging shit to me, and the boys would never know what happened.
Did they even know we weren’t safe?
“How are you connected to them?” he asked me, dragging a steel chair over from the corner of the room and sitting down.
“I’m a friend.”
“I know your friend Sheridan is the president’s woman,” he said. “She’ll be the main reason we get them to crumble, but you…I need to know who’s woman you are.”
My lip trembled. “I’m not anyone’s.”
He didn’t believe me. I could see it by the look in his eye. “Do not lie.”
“I’m not,” I said, my voice shaking. “I am a friend of the club. I party there, and that’s it.”
“So you really will die for no reason.”
My body shook uncontrollably. “Where is Sheridan?”
“She’s being taken care of,” he said dismissively. “But if there is no one to return you to, I don’t see the need for you, unless you give me something in return for your life.”
“I don’t know anything,” I said.
“Yes, you do,” he said, getting up from the chair and walking over to me. He grabbed at my crop top and yanked it up, looking down at my ribcage. I knew what he saw.
“Now, shall we try again?”
I remembered the pain of getting the club logo tattooed over my ribcage, but I couldn’t bear for it to be anywhere else. It was hidden enough so that people didn’t know, but I didn’t really care who knew I was associated with them.
I’d gotten it for Bear.
I hadn’t told him…but by the time it had healed, he had been gone with Hawk and Ace.
And out of my life.
“Tell me what I want to know,” he said, letting go of my top. It fell back against my body, tight as I always liked my clothing to be.
I shook my head.
His hands were on my jaw, yanking me from the bed. I could barely touch the floor as he lifted me up, pain radiating through my mouth as he squeezed tightly.
“I want to know what you know,” he said through gritted teeth.
“I’ll never betray the club,” I said defiantly.
He let my face go, and my feet fell to the ground.
Anger shot through me at being manhandled by this prick.
I hocked back and spat in his face. My saliva rolled down his cheek, a sickly smile twisting over his face as he wiped it off.
I didn’t see the movement until it was too late, as the back of his hand slapped me across the cheek.
My head twisted to the side, my body falling to the bed from the impact.
A sharp stinging pain spread across my face.
His hands were on my back, shoving me down on the bed again.
I turned to face him, wondering what the hell he was playing at.
What was he going to do?
“Loyalty like that doesn’t come just from being a party girl,” he said, pulling his gun from his waistband and cocking it, aiming it at my face.
I looked down the barrel of the gun, my lip trembling at what I knew would come next.
I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of breaking down or looking away.
If he was going to shoot me, he was going to have to look at me as he did it.
“Tell me who you are connected to in the club.”
“Bear,” I said finally. “His name is Bear, and he’s going to fucking kill you.”
He chuckled, and it made me angrier than I had ever been in my entire life. “He can try. He’ll die trying to save you.”
And then he pulled the trigger.
Bear
“Who are we meeting?” I asked Hawk as we stood over the baggage claim conveyor belt in Milan Airport.
“Dario Conti,” he said.
“President of the Rabid Wolves?” I enquired.
He nodded. “We need to bring them in. This is their territory and he’s had his men out scouting for any traces of them. They’ve run through CCTV and word of mouth but they say they have the Barone’s estate scoped out.”
I nodded. “Any word on signs of life?”
Hawk shook his head. He knew how bad this was. I didn’t know if I would survive if I found her dead, and finding Sheridan dead would end Ace.
We could very likely be walking into a trap.
Dealing with different MC’s was unheard of, but we had a good relationship with the Rabid Wolves in Ireland.
We both respected our territories. Coming here could be classed as disrespect, but Colm, president of the Rabid Wolves in Ireland, knew the deal and he was all too happy to lend a hand.
I hated not knowing what I was walking into, but for Orla? I would walk through fire to save her.
Our bags moved around to us and we grabbed them before we joined Ace, waiting at the car for us. Throwing the bags in the back, we got in and introduced ourselves to Gio, our driver, and prospect for the Rabid Wolves.
“We go to the clubhouse and discuss,” Gio said in very broken English. “Dario has news.”
My finger tapped on the side of my leg, my only way to calm myself down as I watched the scenery pass us on the way to the clubhouse.
I was eager to get out there and start punching my way to Orla. If she had one fucking cut, bruise or injury, I was going to fucking burn the piece of shit where he stood. No amount of pain would ever make up for her being hurt.
It wasn’t long until we pulled into the clubhouse, and got out of the car. Ace led us up the steps after Gio and into the bar. Bikers sat around the clubhouse, their eyes firmly on us. I heard some of them talking in Italian, but I couldn’t care about that right now.
“Hawk!” the man I knew to be Dario came out to shake his hand. They’d known each other when he had ridden with the Rabid Wolves in Ireland a few years ago, before taking over the helm as president of the Spanish chapter from his father. “Come with me.”
His English was perfect, hardly an accent to be heard.
He led us into church, and we stood at the end as Dario took his seat.
His VP Enzo sat to the side of him, and his Sergeant at Arms, Emil, sat on his other side.
It was just the six of us in here, an annoyance to his men outside I could only imagine.
“We found your women, and Wolf,” he said. “They are being held in one of the Barone’s older mansions. The only problem we see is the fact that they have no less than forty guards protecting the land. We don’t have the men to take it.”
“We’ll go,” Ace offered. “No need to endanger your men here.”
Dario was quiet for a moment, it was Enzo who spoke. “No, it is too dangerous. We have ownership of this place, the polizia do not dare intercede. If you do this alone, they will arrest you.”
“Then what?” I barked.
“We scout,” Enzo offered. “We will bring you to the place at midnight, we watch, we wait for weakness and we strike.”
He had a good point. We’d surely die before we could save them if we went in half cocked, and this place was not Ireland. We’d be sitting ducks.
I nodded, as did Ace and Hawk.
“Get some rest, boys,” Dario announced. “The cabin out the back has a few rooms to choose from. We use it for our Irish brothers to visit, so it’s empty right now.”
“Thank you,” Ace said. “We appreciate this.”
Dario nodded, and we followed Ace out to grab our bags. Emil led us down to the cabin, which was similar to the one Hawk lived in with Morena, but it was bigger and for temporary stays.
“Come up to the clubhouse anytime,” he offered.