And now, they weren’t going to let us go.
We were like cattle just passed around from one overlord to the next. Even though we were being treated well—we had food, a place to sleep, showers—this wasn’t home.
Most of the other girls I worked with had nowhere they had to be. They didn’t mind being held captive and being looked after like this, but I did. I needed to see my grandmother. I needed to get out of here. This couldn’t be my life. I had a different one out there.
I was supposed to do this for six months and then quit.
Just disappear.
I was so close!
And then I saw Mary-Beth, Crash’s sister. She recognized me from Teasers. We used to acknowledge each other’s presence with casual smiles before, but now she’d seen the look of despair on my face and was coming up to talk to me.
But I didn’t care anymore. I had to tell her.
I had to tell her what I knew about her brother, Crash, and Eagle and what went on at their Club.
* * *
I didn’t get a chance to tell her much, Drax, the President of the Iron Thunder MC and some of the other guys walked in. As soon as he came up behind her, I quickly made my exit.
I wasn’t so sure that I’d made the right decision by telling her what I knew. Maybe there were some things that should be kept secret and her brother’s drug-problem should have been one of them.
I thought I was doing the right thing. I thought she would have wanted to know, but now I was sitting there at the table, alone again, wondering what would happen next. Would I even come out of this thing alive?
I had never been involved in the MC world. I didn’t know how they worked, what the fallout and consequences could be. I didn’t know how much longer I’d be able to keep it together. I was already bursting at the seams with panic.
If only I could just stand up and walk out of this place. Then I’d leave and never return.
My thoughts took possession of me and it felt like I was in a dream as I stood up from the chair. I had to try. I needed to escape. What was the worst that could happen if they caught me trying to leave?
But then a shadow fell over me and I looked up with a gasp.
A tall muscular biker was standing at the table, his thick bulging arms crossed over his chest. His eyes were narrowed and I noticed how brown they were. Smoldering and intense.
I remembered him. He was the one who had grabbed me by my waist and pulled me down to the floor last night. When the shootout began, I was frozen to the spot. I couldn’t move or think. One of those whizzing bullets would have surely got me straight in the gut or the heart if he hadn’t done what he did.
This man saved my life.
And then I didn’t see him again after that.
He was staring at me now, studying me closely. I saw the way his tattoos crept up his neck and the backs of his wrists, and I felt a sudden pang between my legs at the thought of his naked torso.
How intricate were the tattoos on his naked skin?
It wouldn’t take a genius to figure out that he was as solid as a tree trunk and covered in muscles under those clothes.
I gulped, feeling my mouth go all dry and starchy while I stared at him.
It was strange because mere seconds ago, I’d been planning on making a run for it, and now I was glued to the floor because I wanted to keep staring at him.
That jawline. So rigid and straight. It matched his sharp nose perfectly. It was almost unfair.
And then I realized neither of us had said a word to each other yet. He was just standing there above me, looking like he wanted something.
What did he want?
Payment for saving my life last night?
What kind of payment did he have in mind?
“Th…thank you,” I mumbled awkwardly, but before I’d managed to fully get the words out, he was finally speaking.
“You have to come with me,” he said. A deep and firm voice. One that sent chills down my veins. I got the feeling that he didn’t remember me from last night. Maybe he hadn’t even intended on saving my life. Maybe I was just in the way.
“Where?” I asked. I could feel fear rising in my chest now. I had no idea what this meant. Where would he take me? What would he do?
Yes, he was hot, possibly the sexiest man I’d come face to face with and under other circumstances, I would have blushed under his steady gaze but right now, I was suspicious, afraid for my life and my sanity.
“We need to talk to you,” he replied and then made a grab for my elbow before I could step away. His grip was firm but somehow, he was managing not to hurt me.
“Where are you taking me? What is going on?” I hissed.
There were others in the room, others who turned to look at us—but nobody did anything. This was his territory. Nobody was going to come to my rescue no matter what he chose to do.
“Calm the fuck down!” he growled and yanked me to him. Our bodies collided and I felt another heatwave. This time, it went right to my head and I thought I would collapse. “We need to discuss what you told Mary-Beth,” he said in a lowered voice, closer to my face.
Okay…so all I needed to do was repeat what I told her and then I was free to go?
He tugged me out of the room and this time, I didn’t resist. I was scared of whatever he had in store for me. The ‘talk’. But I was even more afraid of what he and his men would do
