“That’s why I know he’ll be heartbroken when he realizes you’ve left. At least wait until he’s calmed down so you can talk.”
Leia bursts in. “Mom, something happened to Ziggy,” she pants. “The guys are in church, but Riggs wouldn’t say what happened. He had that look on his face.” Tears fill her eyes. “Like last time when Ziggy went missing.”
“Michelle isn’t back?” asks Frankie, and Leia shakes her head.
I follow them downstairs with my heart pounding hard in my chest. Frankie knocks on the door to church, but nobody bothers to answer. “I’m gonna go in,” says Frankie.
Leia’s eyes widen. “He’ll go mental,” she warns. “You know what he’s like about rules.”
Frankie shrugs and pushes the door open. “Fuck the rules.” Twenty or so bikers fall silent and all eyes turn to us. In the centre of the large table are piles of guns, all different sizes. “Where’s Ziggy?” asks Frankie.
The look on Riggs’ face tells me something is very wrong. “Get out,” he almost whispers.
“Finn—” begins Frankie.
“I said get the fuck out!” he yells, and we all jump with fright. Cree steps in front of us and carefully ushers us out of the room.
“I need to know, Cree,” begs Frankie. “Is Ziggy okay?”
“We don’t know. Reggie has them,” he says. His eyes fall to me. “Now, go. We have plans to make.”
I’m shaking as I step outside of the club. I pull out my cell and dial Reggie’s number.
“Princess,” he croons.
“What have you done?” I whisper. “This has nothing to do with them.”
“It has everything to do with them. You made it their problem when you crossed onto their side of the tracks. You realize that you’ve unsettled years of peace between the Kings and my organization?”
“Please let them go, Reg,” I beg. “I’m sorry, okay. I’ll do whatever you want. Just let them go.”
“You should have done what I wanted in the first place and then this war wouldn’t have started.” He sighs. “I’ll send a driver to get you and Malia. Be ready in ten minutes.”
He disconnects the call and I take a few deep breaths. I have to do this for Ziggy.
I go back inside the club, avoiding Frankie and Leia. Eva finds me in my bedroom, packing the rest of my stuff. “Can you get Malia ready for me?” I ask.
“What’s going on? Frankie just told me Reggie’s got Ziggy?”
“He’ll let him go if I go home,” I say, and she gasps. “Please get Malia for me.”
“He’ll hurt you, Anna.”
“And if I don’t go back, he might hurt Michelle, or worse, Ziggy. He won’t stop until I go back. I don’t have a choice. Get Malia and don’t tell anyone I’ve gone.”
“Are you sure about this?” she mutters.
“Yes. I’ll be fine. I survived this long, didn’t I?” I smile. “And you have to stay here with your mom. No one’s safe just yet and I don’t want anything bad to happen to you two.”
Eva nods her head sadly. It isn’t like we haven’t been here a hundred times before. I hug her and kiss her cheek. “Quick, get Malia.”
Once I have everything packed, I head downstairs and go out the back door. There’s never anybody out there, and with all the guys currently in church, it means we can leave without being spotted. I take Malia by the hand and head for the gates. There’s a large black car with tinted windows waiting, and a man I recognize as one of Reggie’s men gets out. He opens the door and we get inside. I strap Malia into the seat. “Why do you look sad, mommy?” she asks, touching my face.
“I’m not sad,” I lie.
“Is it because you like it at the club?”
“Maybe,” I say. “As long as I’m with you, I don’t mind where we are. You make me happy.” I smile and she returns it.
We get to Reggie’s house and he’s outside waiting for me. I step from the car, leaving Malia in her seat. “Where’s Ziggy and Michelle?” I ask.
Reggie smirks. “Come inside, Princess. We’ll talk.” He glances around. The street isn’t busy, but he has a lot of rich neighbours. He doesn’t like to look like a fool in front of people.
“Not until they get in this car, so I know they’re safe.” I sound much braver than I feel. Reggie smiles stiffly and stuffs his hands in his pockets. He casually comes down the steps towards me. When he gets close enough, he leans in towards my ear.
“You don’t make the rules, Anna. Get inside, now.” I feel around behind me and hold onto the door handle of the car. I shake my head and Reggie’s jaw goes rigid. He glances around again and then grips the top of my arm tightly. I try to hold onto the door handle, but it’s no use. He wrenches me away and drags me up the steps. “Darrell, get Malia out the car,” he shouts over his shoulder.
“Let them go,” I cry, tripping up one of the steps and hitting my shin hard. Reggie pulls me to my feet and up the last few steps. He gets me through the door and throws me to the floor, and I scramble away from him as he looms over me.
“Get up,” he hisses. “Before Malia comes in.” I push myself to stand, but I stay pressed against the wall. Darrell carries Malia inside and she immediately reaches for Reggie. She smiles and kisses his cheek, and when her eyes find me, she frowns. I often wondered before I left him if she could sense the danger in the air. “Juliette,” he shouts. Malia’s nanny comes rushing in. She sees Malia and squeals with delight. I never agreed to Malia having Juliette around. Not only because I was pretty certain that she was fucking Reggie, but also because I wanted to look after my own child. “Please take Malia to her room until I tell
