Filling out my filter requirements, I search for one-bedroom, one-bathroom apartments from lowest to highest price range. I’ve lived in complete shitholes, hell, I’ve lived in my car, nothing is above me, but even some of the places on page one are a little scary.
Touching the page three, I decide to completely bypass the first couple of rental pages. I know that a single woman, who will probably not have a man in her life anytime soon, should not be staying at most of those places alone.
I find a couple places that are around the middle of the road price range, sending a message to the realtors so that I can schedule to see them as soon as possible. I’m not paying another month’s rent on this place, not if I can help it.
Pulling up my email, I find my accountant’s name and send him a message requesting him to call me in the morning about my finances. I’m not going to sit on this and waste any time. I’m moving on and I’m doing it as soon as possible.
I want nothing that’s attached to Layne anymore, not the apartment he found for me or any of the clothes he supplied me with. My next step is to sell all of the designer and one-of-a-kind pieces he bought for me.
Not many people know, but I wasn’t just an escort who worked for Layne, I was more than that. I was trusted, I was given access to his personal information that other girls never could have imagined having. It all came at a price as well, because when Layne wanted me, he had me, no questions asked.
I was Layne’s personal whore.
HAWK
Shifting the truck into park, I climb down from the seat, I feel like shit. Not just a little bit, but I feel like a fucking asshole for walking away from yet another woman. This is what I do though, this is who I am.
I am the man who never stays, who convinces himself that these women, Trista and Avah, they’re better off without me. I don’t lump Savanna in with them, because not only was she a screaming bitch, she had a little too much crazy inside of her to be right in the head.
Dragon starts to rush toward us, not just walking, but fucking jogging, and my heart jumps into my throat at what that can mean.
“Dragon?” I ask as I rush toward him.
My legs begin to move without me even giving them the signal. Something ain’t right, I can feel it down in my gut. Mountain and Dutch stay frozen behind me, still perched on their bikes, fucking goddamn frozen like ice, no doubt feeling that gut-wrenching sensation the same way that I am.
“Mountain, Hawk, need to talk to you,” Dragon calls out as he stops in front of me. His gaze flicks over to Dutch. “You too.”
None of us speak right away, the men behind me don’t move, either. Dragon takes a step back and starts to walk inside the clubhouse, my feet staying planted this time.
Whatever he needs to say, he’s going to have to say it right fucking here, because I can’t walk into that clubhouse to hear whatever it is, if I need to get on my bike or back in that truck, I’m not wasting a fucking second running across the gravel parking lot to get to my vehicle.
“We ain’t goin’ nowhere. Tell us right fucking now,” I growl.
Dragon curses, looking down at his boots before he lifts his gaze up to meet our own. “It’s Trista and Leighton,” he murmurs.
Mountain becomes unstuck and charges after Dragon. He grabs ahold of him and wrenches him forward, their noses almost touching.
“Where the fuck were they, when they were taken?” Mountain shouts.
Dragon’s eyes shift to the side, then come back to meet Mountain’s from over my shoulder. “Your house.”
Mountain pushes Dragon backward, then turns and starts hissing to himself, no doubt losing his mind second by second. I’m not there, at least not yet. I need more information.
“Who?” I rasp. “Who took my daughter?”
Dragon shrugs his shoulder, a move that makes me want to cut his fucking throat instantly. “We don’t know. We have no fucking clue. There’s been zero communication and Worm can’t find anything, either.”
I take a step forward, my eyes wide as I shake my head. “Where is my daughter?” I demand. “Where is my fucking daughter?”
Dragon doesn’t have any answers. He doesn’t have anything. I feel worthless, yet again. I walked away from her to deal with club shit, to deal with Avah.
I could try to rationalize that I was just trying to save little girls, but that would be a lie. That truck is full to the brim with product, so nothing is ever done selflessly, especially by me.
“Jaguar is on the phone,” Taz announces from behind Dragon.
We all freeze, even Dutch. He knows what happened with Jaguar, everyone knows what happened with Jaguar, it’s no big secret he is on our shit list and we’re looking for him so that we can deal with him our own way, the Beast way.
“Fuck,” Dutch hisses. “Jaguar?” Speaking for the first time.
There’s a moment of silence as the phone call with Jaguar is dealt with, but when Dragon ends the call, his gaze finds mine and he jerks his chin.
“They were taken to the Donkey Punchers. I don’t know why, but Jaguar is with them. He saw them, he got them out.”
“Where the fuck are they?” Mountain demands on a hiss.
Dragon looks directly at Mountain, his gaze focused on his and nowhere else. “He doesn’t know. All he could do was help them escape the clubhouse. Says he has a reason he needs to stay, but that he wants to make shit right. They’re up in NorCal in the woods. He said he can’t go out and look
