“She’s gone.” He cleared his throat. “Said something about her roommate, and?—”
“What the fuck do you mean, she’s gone?” Rage boiled up inside. I couldn’t hold back my anger.
“Oh, shit.” Bear’s voice came through my earbud. “There’s movement inside.”
The door to the cabin opened. I barely registered the guy standing in the middle of the doorway with a semi-automatic rifle on his hip. Gunfire rained down on us. Bear fired back.
Dammit. I couldn’t hear Stone through the sound of bullets. A chunk of tree trunk splintered above my head. I needed to move and quick.
Disconnecting the call, I slid my phone back in my pocket and took aim at the guy standing in the middle of the doorway.
* * *
Rae
I wouldn’t letthem see me cry. Even though I’d fallen right into their trap, I tried to stave off the panic and come up with a way to get myself out of my current situation.
“I’m so sorry.” Ashley sat across the small kitchen table we’d picked up at a thrift shop. “They told me if I didn’t make the call, they’d go after my grandma. I didn’t know what else to do.”
She looked like she’d been on the receiving end of Razor’s backhand a few times since I’d seen her last. I couldn’t blame her for luring me here, not when they’d threatened the life of the one family member she had left.
“What are we going to do?” she asked.
“Shh. I’m thinking.” With my hands zip tied behind my back and my ankles secured to the chair I was sitting on, I had more than enough incentive to try to come up with a plan.
Based on what Ashley said and what I’d gathered since I arrived at our apartment, the Savage Bones had lured Priest and the others away from the clubhouse by saying they were going to torch his place so they could get their hands on me. And I’d shown up just like they wanted.
“He seemed so nice when I met him. How was I to know the MC he belongs to isn’t anything like the Mustang Mountain Riders?” Ashley continued, despite me asking her to hush multiple times.
“This isn’t your fault,” I reassured her. “They used you, just like they’re using me.” And Priest was going to walk right into their trap unless I could come up with a way to stop him. Life wasn’t fair. First, it had taken my dad, then my grandparents. Now, it was threatening to take the life of the man I loved.
Tears streamed down my cheeks. I let out a frustrated sigh. How was I supposed to save myself and Ashley if I couldn’t even stop myself from crying?
Eight Ball moved from his position at the living room window. “They’re on their way. No casualties up at the cabin. I bet they’ll send over the first wave from their clubhouse.”
I didn’t like the sneer on his face or the excitement in his voice. This wasn’t a game. They were playing with real lives, though it wouldn’t do any good to remind them of that.
“Ready to see your boyfriend splattered over the pavement out front?” Eight Ball crossed the room and leaned into me. His eyes glittered in anticipation. “You shoulda taken up with a real man when you had the chance, sweetheart.”
His breath stank of cigarettes and something even more rank. I closed my eyes to avoid having to look at him.
“Did you hear what I said?” He grabbed a fistful of my hair and jerked my head upright, forcing my eyes open. “Maybe when all of this is over, you and me can spend some time together. I bet you’d like that, wouldn’t you?”
I couldn’t stand having him so close. Bile rose in the back of my throat, and I leaned back, gathering momentum to spit right in his face.
“You bitch.” The sting of his palm on my cheek flung my head to the side. “We’ve got ways of breaking in bitches like you. I can’t wait to tell that old man just what we’re going to do to do. Hell, maybe I’ll even make him watch before I end him.”
My heart dropped. No doubt Priest would come for me. I only hoped he knew what he was doing when he arrived. Losing him wasn’t an option. Not now when we’d just found each other.
CHAPTER12
PRIEST
As soon asI received confirmation Rae was at her apartment, I raced down the mountain to get back to my truck. They’d played us. I hadn’t given the Savage Bones enough credit, but someone with brains had to be pulling their strings. Getting me out of the way so they could get their grubby hands on her had been their plan all along.
Bear jumped into the passenger seat as I pulled back onto the road. “Thunder’s right behind us.”
The truck bounced with the impact of Thunder jumping into the bed.
