He spins around, eyes narrowing. “Watch your mouth, Lena. I knew you were smart, but I didn’t know you were this disrespectful. Any woman would be desperate for the life I’m offering you. A family with everything you could ever want, all of your needs met, in a beautiful home. Mia will want for nothing.”
“I’m just telling the truth,” I reply, voice steady. “Families don’t trap each other like this. They don’t kidnap and lock each other up. You can threaten me, manipulate me, but I won’t letyou enslave Mia the way you’ve tried to enslave me. I won’t raise her in a gilded cage.”
Zeke’s face darkens, and for a moment I think I’ve overstepped. But then he sighs, rubbing his face with a hand. “You’ll see, Lena. One day, you’ll understand. We’re meant to be a family. You’ll come around.” He laughs, the sound hollow and mocking. “You always were overly dramatic. You just need more time to see things my way.” He doesn’t wait for my reply. He turns away, dismissing me like a disobedient pet.
I look around, noting the security camera in the top corner of the room and the faint red light glowing beside it. I don’t know if it’s live, but I assume Zeke is monitoring everything I do.
“Not likely,” I whisper under my breath, tightening my fists. I feel foolish for even thinking I could make Zeke see reason. He has no intention of treating me like anything other than a trophy, a pretty ornament.
There’s a knock at the door, and two of the men from before appear. “Prez, Spike asked to see you,” one says—Chuck, I think.
Zeke rolls his eyes in frustration. “Fine,” he says with a sigh. “Butch, stay here and keep an eye on Lena,” he orders, then looks at me. “And if you try anything stupid, I’ll make you regret it. I don’t want to punish you, but I will if you force my hand.”
As the door closes behind Zeke and Chuck, Butch blocks the doorway with his giant frame, crossing his arms across his barrel chest. Butch stands looking as if he’d like to get revenge for my kneeing him in the balls. I know better than to try anything this time. He tells me, “Try anything funny and I’ll kill you.” I believe him. I don’t bother replying.
I walk as far away from him as I can and lean my head against the cold wall, closing my eyes for a moment. I can’t afford to show weakness now. Mia’s future depends on what I do next. My eyes drift toward the single small window high on the wall. It’s barred, of course. No sunlight filters through, just the faint glow of exterior floodlights. Somewhere in this house, Mia is sleeping, or crying, wondering where I am.
I close my eyes and take a deep breath, forcing myself to focus and mentally chart my next move. I won’t let Zeke win. I know in my heart that the guys are out there searching for us, that they will stop at nothing to rescue us. I just need to hold on until that happens.
I whisper it like a prayer.Find us.
But if they don’t get here fast enough, I’ll wait for the right moment, and when it comes, I’ll run. I will save Mia, no matter what it costs me. Even if I can only save her, I’d gladly sacrifice myself so that she can escape.
Chapter 25
Cole
An endless stream of inane one-sided conversation flows from Trish’s mouth, like a leaky faucet you can’t shut off. Trish moans that she’s bored, and we should get going before it’s dark. Unbothered by our indifference, she continues rambling about how her butt hurts from sitting on the hard bench by the bikes, then adds that she’s hungry. I don’t respond. Neither does Rex. We’re not listening, we’re both too focused, too tense, our minds elsewhere. We’re anxiously pacing like caged animals outside the old barn where we agreed to meet Judge, Doc, and the others. But they’re late. Far too late.
“They should be here by now,” Rex says, echoing the thought that’s been bouncing around my skull like a ricochet bullet.
I nod grimly, my jaw clenched. Rex is right. Judge and the others are taking too long. I’ve tried calling several of them, but I can’t get through. Something’s not right. They should’ve shown up over an hour ago, and it’s not like Judge to run behind, especially not when Lena and Mia are on the line. This kind of silence eats at your gut and whispers that something’s gone very, very wrong.
Rex’s phone rings, and he pounces on it like it’s a lifeline. Part of me wants to tear it from his grip. I stop pacing to listen in, willing my hearing to miraculously improve. As he greets the caller, I realize that it’s Tank’s old lady, Amanda, on the other line. The frown on Rex’s face deepens as he listens, and I know that whatever she is telling him is bad.
“What did she say?” I ask the second he ends the call, not even giving him a chance to tell me himself.
Rex’s mouth presses into a thin line, the muscles in his jaw twitching. “It’s bad. The Iron Vultures bombed the clubhouse. Tank and a few others were severely injured. They took Doc and Judge.”
The words land like a fist to the gut. I stagger a step back. A heavy, suffocating silence falls between us for a beat. My ears ring and my vision tunnels. I can’t believe what’s happened.
“Fuck!” I roar, my voice echoing through the woods surrounding us. I want to lash out, but I hold it in, clenching my fists. I want to throw something, smash something, tear down the damn world until I find Lena, find Mia, find my brothers.
Trish, annoyingly calm despite the news, interjects. “They didn’t kill them there and then, which means they’ve taken them somewhere for some reason. They have to be alive still. There’s a chance they could have taken them to the same house where Lena is being held. If it’s their new base of operations, they probably brought the others there, too.”
I bristle, irritated that she’s involving herself in our conversation at all, but I can’t deny that she has a point.
“She’s right,” I reluctantly admit. I look over at Rex, who seems equally as furious as I am. “We should continue to the house with Trish. Hopefully, we’ll find them there too. If not, saving Lena and Mia is our priority because the guys would want that, and they can handle themselves. If anyone can escape, it’s them.”
Rex nods in agreement, his eyes flinty. “Let’s go.”
We head back over to our bikes. Trish climbs onto the back of my bike again. Rex would likely break Trish’s hand if shetouched him, so I’m stuck with her. Not that I blame him. I try to ignore the revulsion I feel as she clings to me, pressing closer than necessary. I drown out the vulgar things she says with the roar of my engine.
The ride is long, winding through dense forest as twilight settles in, stretching shadows across the road. It’s getting dark by the time we reach the rundown colonial house tucked deep in the woods. Although it looks abandoned, it hasn’t been used for years; someone’s here now. Floodlights out the front bathe the lawn in bright, white light. Two armed guards stand sentinel by the front porch. A few lights are lit inside. It’s a fortress.
We pull up just far enough to stay hidden in the treeline and kill the engines.
“How do we get in?” Rex asks me as we study the place from a distance.
