Chapter 28
CHAPTER
TWENTY-EIGHT
Julie
The first thing I hear when I start to come to is voices. Multiple of them.
Not just talking, but ranting.
I’m lying on my side, arms tied behind my back. I keep my eyes closed and try to breathe as if I’m sleeping. The last thing I need is for whoever’s with me to realize I’m awake.
Buy yourself time. I can hear my dad’s voice in my head.
Think. What’s the last thing you remember?
I think back to earlier tonight and how Yak got a call, then everything that followed. How Ray mysteriously came over and I let him in like a fool. How he confessed to having feelings for me. I tried to run, but he caught me.
He didn’t just catch me, he drugged me.
Anger courses through my body.
The audacity of that man. Who the hell does he think he is?
“That wasn’t the deal,” Ray hisses, behind me, reminding me that I’m not alone.
“It is now, boy. I know you’ve had your eye on her, but after the shit she’s pulled, she’s mine. She needs a firm hand to teach her her place,” Aragon says harshly.
Aragon and Ray.
Holy shit. Are they working together? I used to think the saying “going from bad to worse” was stupid, but now I get it. Things really can get worse.
The men fall silent.
“Do you hear that?” Ray asks quietly.
Hope fills my chest. Are Dad and Yak here? Did they realize what was happening? Or was Ray an idiot and took me right to where Dad and Yak were going unknowingly?
Maybe the night is looking up.
I hear footsteps approaching and try to relax into the hard ground beneath me, still trying to play dead.
A heavy hand lands on my shoulder, pushing me onto my back.
“I know you’re awake, Bambi,” Aragon growls as he grabs my face.
My eyes snap open and he laughs.
“Little Bambi, caught in my trap. Tell me you didn’t really think that old lady claim from the imposter was going to save you, did you?”
“Let me go, Aragon,” I spit out.
He laughs sarcastically.
His hand moves from my face down to my chest. I can’t help but gasp as he rips my shirt open, tearing it to shreds.
“I’ve dreamed of this body. The plans I have for you…” he says with longing.
No. Whatever he’s thinking, no.
“Yak is already looking for me,” I tell him with false confidence.
Aragon scoffs. “Please, that boy couldn’t find his way out of a wet blanket if he tried.
He has no idea you are missing because he’s so busy chasing his tail.
That brother of his isn’t much better. I’ve been stealing from right under his nose for almost two years now, and he’s none the wiser.
It just goes to show that he never should have been named president.
” He stands and starts to pace. “I should have been given the spot as president. Everyone knows it even if they don’t want to say it out loud.
Yooper only got it because he can speak using fancy words and comes off so put together.
The last president didn’t see through his act.
It should have been me. ME!” he says, slamming his fist against his chest.
I move my wrists, trying to test the restraints.
“So I set him up. I started stealing from the club to see how long it would take to catch on. I started to build my own army. Make my own deals with the cops and guys at the port. Made it so I could get to shipments easily. Then have the cops raid us. Only instead of taking the products for confiscation, they brought them here to be sold! Then he brought Yak in, who couldn’t keep his nose out of anyone’s business.
” He spins back toward me. “Then I saw you, and of course, you had to pick him. But that doesn’t work for me.
I get what I want, Julie, and that’s you. ”
“Aragon, that wasn’t the deal. You knew I wanted her,” Ray speaks up. “She’s mine.”
Aragon spins back toward him. “I told you that you could have a turn with her. I never told you that you could keep her. That’s your fault for misunderstanding.”
My eyes move to Ray.
“You were supposed to be his friend,” I say, referring to my dad.
He makes a sound in the back of his throat. “Your dad isn’t as good of a cop as he thinks he is. He’s too by-the-book. He doesn’t understand shades of gray. Sometimes it’s acceptable to get your hands dirty.”
I shake my head. “You’re wrong.”
He raises a brow. “Really? You’re going to say that after you let a criminal fuck you? Let him crawl into your bed night after night and exchange I love yous?”
My heart skips a beat and not in a good way.
Holy shit. There’s no way he should know that.
He laughs, nodding. “I was right there, standing outside of the window, watching. You let him take you bare. You could be pregnant right now.”
Am I pregnant? No, but he doesn’t need to know that.
“No,” Aragon hisses, turning back toward me. “Is that true? Did you let him take you raw?”
“I got it on camera,” Ray adds to the fire. “You should be better about making sure the curtains are fully in place.”
I close my eyes as despair tries to choke me.
I am totally screwed. I don’t even know if Yak knows where I am. He’s not going to find me in time.
I could try to convince Aragon that Ray is lying, but if he really did record it, then it will only make things worse. No, I have a feeling honesty might be the best policy right now. If anything, it might buy me some time. Time I desperately need for Dad and Yak to find me.
Please find me.
“Answer me,” Aragon demands.
Opening my eyes, I tilt my chin up and look him in the eye. “He’s my old man. Of course we had sex unprotected. What did you expect?”
The answer is more catty than I intended, more like something Liz would say, but I can’t help how it comes out.
He eyes my flat stomach in disgust. “Yeah, well, there’s one way to take care of it because I’ll tell you one thing: I won’t be raising a bastard son of a Taylor.”
He draws his leg back and swings it forward, kicking me in the stomach, hard, making me curl into a ball as I cry out in pain.
“Stop. Don’t hurt her,” Ray calls out.
“You’re a fucking pussy. She doesn’t want you, Ray, and even if she did, it doesn’t matter. She’s not yours or that interloper’s. She’s mine.”
As he kicks me a second time, I bite my tongue. As much as it hurts and as badly as I want to break, I won’t. The men I love need me to be strong, and I refuse to be anything less when it counts.
That’s when I hear it.
The sound of bikes rumbling, and nothing has ever sounded so sweet.
Yak
Men jump off of bikes as others jump out of vehicles. Some of our men are swarming the other exit as we take the front. The building is surrounded, and whatever we find on the inside will be as well.
This is it.
Everything I’ve been working toward has led to this moment.
“We’ve got bodies inside. More than just three,” Keener murmurs as he checks out his thermal imaging camera.
“Be ready, boys. May your aim be steady and true,” Yooper says as he marches toward the door.
“You good?” Benjamin asks.
I nod as I rack my handgun. “Yeah, stick with me, and remember, if they shoot at us, we shoot back.”
“Understood.” He nods as we approach the building.
I watch as my brother tips his chin, giving the signal for Goose to bust the door down. When he does, Yooper makes his way in first, followed by the rest of us, and I can’t help but hope nothing happens to him.
I just got him back, and I’m not ready to lose him again.
Before the worry can set in, though, gunshots pull me into the present.
There’s a crate not far from the front door, so Benjamin and I make our way to it, using it as cover.
“How many men does he have?” he mutters.
I shake my head as I peek around to get a good look. I knew he had some men on his side, but I severely underestimated how many.
“Too many,” I mutter.
“Well, let’s get this party started.”
I watch as my future father-in-law leans around the crate and starts firing.
Damn. He’s really doing this. Fighting with us.
He must feel my gaze because he looks over at me as he takes cover again.
“Are you going to start shooting or what?” he asks. “I won’t let some pansy-ass be with my daughter, so tonight you better prove yourself, or I’ll put a bullet in you myself.”
Instead of replying, I do as he said. I lean around the edge of the crate and fire, taking down a guy I’ve never seen before.
“Let’s move,” Benjamin says.
“You go first, I’ll cover,” I tell him.
He nods and dashes forward as I lay down cover. Once he’s in place, I move. Rushing forward, I hit the crate, but it doesn’t move. As I try to catch my breath, I watch as Wolverine catches a graze to the arm. He jerks back but doesn’t stop shooting. Shit, this is a mess.
“Am I crazy, or are half of these people from the streets?” Benjamin asks.
I nod. “I think so. It’s kind of smart if you think about it. Employing the unemployed. Offering them a roof over their head if they do his dirty work.”
Benjamin cuts me a dirty look. “Don’t compliment the man.”
“I’m just saying,” I mutter as I reload.
Before either of us can say anything else, a whistle cuts through the air, making all of us tense.
“Stop! Yaky boy, come out. I have something you want to see,” Aragon shouts.
“Don’t do it. It’s a fucking trap,” Benjamin says.
“Yeah, well, I can’t exactly say no,” I mutter before I stand up.
Gun in hand, I aim it right at him. He has his aimed right back at me, a wicked smile on his face.
“What do you want, Aragon?” I ask.
He smirks, making my stomach sink. Something about the way he looks feels wrong. Almost as if he knows something I don’t.
“I thought you would like to know, I have my girl safe and sound. She always was mine. Now I’ll prove it to you.” He smirks, looking up.
I follow his line of sight, and I swear my heart stops as I watch someone carry Julie over their shoulder up a flight of stairs like she’s a sack of potatoes.
My heart beats out of my chest as I stare at her. She is fighting tooth and nail, which gives me hope.
Then I hear it. The movement from my side.
“No!” Benjamin roars, popping up and aiming his gun toward the man carrying Julie.