In all the years since she had lost her family, it had never felt like she didn’t have one. She had the Bandit Brothers. Quinn, who was like a big brother to her, she could have easily spilled her secrets to him and once or twice she had thought about it. Gabe, a month ago, asked her if she was all right, with that crystal gaze of his that missed nothing. Nick always brought her favourite coffee just for her, even though it was on the opposite side of where he lived. She had Claudia, her assistant, Gardenia, her friend, and Kayleigh. Pure frustration ran like fire pinpricks through her system, she screamed, the heartache choking her.
A clanking sound from outside rattled her. Here they were, they were going to take her. She’d wrecked her life. She bit hard down on her lip and the pain crystalized her thoughts.
Recalling her self-defence training, she took deep breaths and focused. The dark space smelled musty. Her knees felt the hardness of the floor, and her shoulders ached from her hands being secured behind her.
The clanking sound echoed throughout the room, and Harper’s heart thumped like a pair of Congo drums. Tightening her core muscles, she arched her back and brought her hands down just above her hip bones. It hurt, but she felt the tape give a little.
Taking another deep breath, she tried it again, picturing exactly how Janette Jennings taught her in her women’s self-defence course.
For a moment she stood still, shocked that it worked. But then she shook out her wrists and felt the tape give. She pulled the tape off her wrists as she ran to the door.
As she reached for the handle, the door was flung open, and a man with a silver mustache glowered at her.
“Where were you going?” He smirked. “I’ve waited seven years for this.” He stalked towards Harper, and she gulped in the air, trying to stay calm.
God, to be so close and not make it. No, she wouldn’t let desperation cloud her thoughts. She ran by the man, and he grabbed her around the waist.
Harper kicked at him and screamed. He tightened his hold. “No, you don’t. Xander destroyed something precious to me. It’s time for me to do the same to him.”
Harper leaned all her weight against the man’s arm and kicked back at him. He let go and she dropped to the ground, scrambling up as he grabbed her ankle.
Not a chance, Harper thought as she kicked and twisted out of his grasp. The man caught her by the arm, jerking her off the floor. He threw her to the ground, his body over hers. His eyes blazed with hatred.
She screamed.
With a shriek of rage, Harper formed a point with her fingers together and jabbed the right one into the man’s eye.
“You fuckin whore!” Holding his left eye, he stumbled to his knees but snatched her by the arm in a bruising hold.
From behind her came aBOOM!
“Don’t think so, buddy.” The twangy Québécois accent of Nick Laurent was a breath of hope.
Her rescuer heaved the guy to his feet, Gabe gripped his other arm.
“Hey, Harper. You hardly needed us at all,” Quinn said.
The instant she put her hand in Quinn’s, tears clouded her eyes. The air rushed out of her as she slumped against Quinn’s chest.
“What the fuck, Theo?” Logan marched into the room. And behind him, not even sparing a glance for Theo, Xander.
“We’re here, Kitten.”
With a sob, she fell into those muscular arms, catching the familiar scent of woodsy mixed with leather. “We have you, Angel.”
Without letting go of Logan, Harper reached for Xander, for his solidness, for the familiarity and comfort of the two men she loved.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE - LOGAN
Loganheldhertighteras she trembled in his arms.
“Here, Angel, let’s get you outside,” Xander said.
“Xander, we called the police. We’ll keep an eye on him until they get here,” Gabe said.
“Guess we had to” Xander muttered. “Come on, Angel.”
They got her out of the concrete storeroom. Logan on her right, Xander on her left, guided her out of the building. She took two steps and stopped. A shudder wracked her body. She fell forward to her knees. Logan wrapped an arm around her side. Thank fuck they found her. Xander rubbed her back.
