Chapter 34
Kayla
“So there he was,” Gigi says, wiping tears of laughter from her eyes, “hopping up and down in my kitchen, stripping off his clothes until he was buck naked, screaming about ants in his underwear!”
Maddie snorts into her tea, her freckled cheeks flushed. “No! How old was he?”
“Sixteen,” Gigi says, her eyes distant with memory. “Six-foot-two already, voice deeper than his father’s, and hollering like his ass was on fire. I don’t think Henry ever forgave Christopher for that one.”
“So, what did you do?” I ask, unable to stop giggling at the image of the intimidating Dragon being brought low due to a bunch of tiny insects.
“What could I do?” Gigi shrugs, her tiny shoulders rising and falling beneath her oversized cardigan.
“I laughed so hard I had to sit down right there on the kitchen floor. Their father came in, took one look at the situation, and walked right back out. Some battles even he knew better than to fight.”
We dissolve into another round of laughter.
“Can I ask you something?” I say. “Roman told me not to ask any questions about the club name, said to just call it the Inferno. But why if it’s—”
I stop when both Maddie and Gigi start laughing again.
“Dragon grandfather, my husband, founded the Inferno,” Gigi finally explains with an eye roll, “and he thought that calling it Drago’s Inferno would impress me.
Because I was raised Catholic and he thought Drago was the Latin word for Dragon.
” Gigi is quiet for a moment, remembering her long dead husband.
“Idiot. Called himself Drago for a while too until he got tired of his men mocking him.”
The door swings open, cutting off Gigi’s story. Molly stands in the doorway, her blonde hair disheveled, a scowl darkening her pretty features. Her eyes dart around the room, finally landing on me.
“Has any of you seen Todd?” she asks, her voice irritated.
I set my cup down, sobering instantly at the mention of Todd. With everything that’s happened, I’d almost forgotten about him. A knot of guilt forms in my stomach. “Not since this afternoon. Why?”
Molly steps fully into the room, closing the door behind her.
She runs a hand through her hair in an attempt to tame it, but that just makes it stick up even more.
“Dragon assigned me to keep an eye on him,” she says, her scowl deepening.
“Make sure he didn’t wander into any places he wasn’t supposed to or just generally do something stupid that might get him killed. ”
“And you lost him?” Gigi asks.
Molly’s cheeks turn pink. “I got a little… distracted,” she admits, not meeting her grandmother’s eyes.
“Distracted?” Gigi repeats, one eyebrow raised.
“With Stinger,” Molly mumbles, her blush deepening. “It was only for a few minutes!”
Gigi’s eyes narrow. “Henry will kill both of you if he finds out. You know how he feels about you getting involved with anyone in the club.”
Molly’s blush deepens to an almost alarming shade of red. “That’s not the point,” she says, her voice rising slightly. “The point is, I need to find Todd.”
I stand up, fighting the slight wobbliness in my legs from the bourbon. “When did you last see him?”
“About two hours ago,” Molly says. “In the main common room. I was only gone for a few minutes, and when I came back…” She trails off, gesturing helplessly.
Maddie rises too
“It shouldn’t be too hard to find him,” she says reasonably. “The clubhouse is big, but not that big.”
Gigi mutters something under her breath that sounds suspiciously like “men are more trouble than they’re worth,” but she gets to her feet as well, waving off my offer of help.
“We should split up,” I suggest. “Cover more ground that way.”
Maddie nods. “I’ll check the kitchen and dining area.”
“I’ll look in the main common room and the gym,” Molly says, already heading for the door.
Gigi sighs. “I suppose I’ll check the garage and the storage rooms.”
“I’ll check our rooms and the guest quarters,” I say, following them out into the hallway.
We separate, each heading in different directions. I make my way to the guest wing, trying not to worry. Todd probably just got lost exploring the clubhouse. It’s a maze of corridors and rooms, easy enough for even someone familiar with the layout to lose their way.
I check my room first, but the only occupants are Mochi and Charlie, curled up together on the bed.
Todd’s room is next door, but it’s empty too.
His overnight bag sits untouched on the bed, clothes neatly folded beside it.
I check the attached bathroom but find nothing. No sign that he’s been here recently.
A flicker of concern sparks in my chest, but I push it down. There are plenty of other places he could be. I continue my search, checking each guest room in the hallway, but they’re all empty.
I find Maddie in the dining hall, her search equally fruitless. “Nothing in the kitchen or dining hall,” she says, twisting her hands together. “And no one’s seen him.”
Molly joins us a few minutes later, shaking her head before we can even ask. “Not in the common room or the gym.”
Gigi appears last, looking annoyed. “Not in the garage or storage rooms,” she reports. “And Twitch says he hasn’t seen him all evening.”
We stand in a tight circle, exchanging glances.
“Could he have left?” I ask, voicing the question we’re all thinking. “His mother has been texting him, worried she hasn’t heard from him in days. I know he was feeling down about that.”
“No one leaves the compound without Gunner knowing about it,” Maddie says, but there’s a hint of doubt in her voice. “Especially not now, with security so tight.”
“We should ask him,” I decide. “Maybe Todd slipped out when everyone was distracted by Dragon and the others leaving.”
Gunner isn’t hard to find. He’s in the security room, a small space filled with monitors showing different areas of the compound. He looks up when we enter, his eyebrows rising at the sight of all four of us crowding the doorway.
“Ladies,” he says cautiously. “Everything okay?”
“Todd’s missing,” Molly blurts out before any of us can speak. “Have you seen him?”
Gunner straightens in his chair, suddenly alert. “Missing? Since when?”
“About two hours,” I say, stepping forward. “No one’s seen him, and we’ve checked everywhere we could think of.”
Gunner frowns, turning back to his monitors. “He hasn’t left the compound,” he says confidently, fingers flying over the keyboard. “I’ve been watching the cameras at the gate all night.”
“Can you check?” Maddie asks, peering over his shoulder at the screens. “Maybe during the confusion when everyone was leaving…”
Gunner nods, pulling up footage from earlier in the evening. We watch in silence as the monitors show Dragon, Roman, and the others preparing to leave, then filing out to the vehicles waiting outside. There’s no sign of Todd anywhere in the footage.
“See?” Gunner says, turning back to us. “No one leaves without me knowing about it.”
“Then where is he?” Molly demands, frustration evident in her voice.
Gunner rubs his jaw thoughtfully. “He’s probably just gotten lost somewhere,” he says, though he doesn’t sound entirely convinced. “This place can be confusing if you’re not used to it.”
“We’ve looked everywhere,” I insist.
“Not everywhere,” Gunner corrects me, standing up. “There are a lot of rooms in this place, a lot of corners to get turned around in.” He glances at the monitors one more time. “I’ll help you look.”
Relief washes over me. Gunner knows the compound better than any of us. If Todd is here, Gunner will find him.
“Let’s split up again,” he suggests. “Cover more ground.”
I decide to check outside, specifically the garden area behind the kitchen where Maddie grows vegetables and flowers. Todd had mentioned earlier that he found it peaceful out there.
The late afternoon air is warm against my skin. The patio looks empty at first glance. There’s no one in the garden, and no one sitting on the scattered lawn chairs.
“Todd?” I call out, walking further into the space.
I’m about to turn back when a voice freezes me in place.
“I thought I was going to have to work harder to get you away from Gunner.” The voice is male and familiar. “But here you came, right to me, and it took barely any effort on my part.”
I turn slowly, my heart hammering against my ribs, and the scene before me makes my blood run cold. It’s David, one of the prospects I’ve seen around the clubhouse. His arm is locked around Molly’s neck, her face pale, and in his other hand, a gun pressed pointed right at her temple.
“David?” I manage, my voice barely above a whisper.
“That’s me,” he says with a smile that doesn’t reach his eyes. “Though Naomi usually calls me Davey.”
“You’re working with Naomi?” I repeat through numb lips.
“I sure am. Being a prospect pays shit,” David spits.
“Being Naomi’s inside man pays very well.
” He moves his hand until he has a fistful of Molly’s hair and she winces.
“Now, we’re going to walk very quietly to those grills over there and climb up them and drop over the fence.
I have a car waiting. You try anything, make any sound, and Molly’s brains will decorate this garden. Understand?”
I nod slowly, my mind frantically searching for a way out of this. Where is Gunner? Where is anyone?
As we slowly walk towards the grills, I can’t help but think that Naomi is waiting for me on the other side of that fence. And this time, there’s no Roman here to protect me.