Drew
There were three things that were certain to make me react. One: seeing Ayda hurt. Two: my brothers being in danger. And three…
People disrespecting my club.
My hand pushed against the steel door, my shoulder soon replacing it when it offered more resistance than I’d expected. The smell that came from the other side had my face scrunching up and my eyes narrowing. Whatever the place was or had been, it fucking stank.
I couldn’t let myself think about Ayda out there all alone. I wanted the heat taking off us and all this crap laid to rest for good, and the more time I wasted leaving it to the likes of Sutton to deal with, the more those pack of wannabes trod all over everything my men and I stood for.
Pete was at the forefront of my mind again, and as I pushed through and took my first step into the darkness, I asked him to watch over her while I couldn’t.
Yeah, I was fucking praying.
I finally had something to pray for.
My feet skimmed across the surface, kicking against the loose stones, pieces of rubble and whatever else was laid out there I couldn’t quite see. The only thing that could be heardwere my movements, so once I was in, I stood completely still and let my eyes adjust to the diluted light. I tried to find something to focus on. My neck rolled back as I looked up at the few narrow, wired window panels that lined the top of the bare brick walls. They weren’t letting much light in, but in that environment, I was grateful for what I could get.
It didn’t take long for the rookie to make his first mistake. The sound of an iron bar rattling against the floor from not too far away had me moving forward carefully. Whoever had entered the place was as blind as I was, and the thought of finding him and dealing with him the way I should have all those nights ago had me rolling my shoulders in my cut.
The old me would have been taunting him into playing a game of cat and mouse like a true man, coaxing him out of the corners he was cowering in, but no matter how self-assured I felt that I could handle whatever I was about to come face to face with, I didn’t provoke. Mainly because I promised Ayda I would be in and out in a heartbeat.
I was all about keeping my promises those days.
I sucked in a small breath as my foot nudged something on the floor before sliding it out the way so I could try and create a clear path without falling on my ass.
“Shit,” came a quiet voice—a voice that was so close, it felt like I could reach out and touch it, and when the shadow to my right turned into a body, my predatory smile broke free.
“Well, well, we—”
I didn’t get time to finish.
The blood-curdling scream from behind me grabbed my attention from the moment my name clawed its way out of Ayda’s throat, and before I could even think to reach out for the fucker in front of me, I was moving on auto, turning on myheels to run in the opposite direction. Her name was barely a whisper from my lips when something grabbed the back of my cut, the force of it yanking me back in its grip before I could lash out and attempt to free myself. My whole body turned to shit the moment I heard her piercing scream for a second time. The only thing I could feel with any clarity at all was the blood within my veins turning cold.
I barely had time to blink or breathe when I was struck on the head with a force so strong it felt like it held the power of an army behind it. The world slipped away from beneath my feet, and as the concrete came hurtling closer at a terrifying speed, the pain erupted all over, leaving me paralyzed, until everything around me began to fade away.
Then all I was left with was darkness.
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Ayda
My body hurt everywhere, but my mind was a fuzzy, foggy mess that was stuck in a perpetual state of confusion. I’d known I was in trouble the moment I saw the patch on the back of the man who currently had me draped over his shoulder. The sugar skull smiling out of the regal fur lined cape was a dead giveaway. I’d only seen it twice in my life, but it was one of those things that stuck with me. Then again, anyone who made an attempt on my life would imprint themselves in my head. The swirling mess of panic in my stomach made the bile rise in my throat violently as I realized I had no idea what had happened, where I was, or how I managed to get there.
The last thing I remembered with any lucidity was feeling Drew’s warmth through the leather and against my thighs as I’d pressed up to his body, that lingering musk that belonged solely to him making me lightheaded with lust. I’d been on the bike, watching him walk into the warehouse…
That was the exact moment the real panic started to flow like acid through my veins. Drew was in the warehouse.
My eyes darted around the place, trying to pick up as much as I could to figure out how much time had passed, what damage had been done, or ways to escape, but there wasnothing distinguishable. It wasn’t like I had anywhere to go. I was over someone’s shoulder, and my hands had been bound by a zip tie. The unforgiving plastic had been digging into my skin from the moment my coherence found its way back to me. It was then the most relevant thing in my world.
Until I saw Drew—then everything else simply became background noise as the horror of our situation shifted from nightmare to a shocking reality. Not even the stench of the place distracted me from what I was witnessing.
There wasn’t much light, but there was enough power to rig one nude bulb that they’d dangled directly above Drew. Rusty chains were looped too tightly around his wrists, both of them hooked to the outer walls of the warehouse, holding him captive in the middle of the open space. Stretched out like he was, the only thing taking the pressure from his arms was the weight he had on the balls of his feet. His muscles trembled under a sheen of sweat through the torn material, even though he was clearly unconscious. His feet and legs were limp and slumped forward along with his head, which hung heavy and listlessly to one side. There was a trickle of crimson blood riding down the side of his face, the thick viscose liquid weaving a slow path down his tanned skin and disappearing into his dark beard where it dripped onto the ripped and torn white shirt he’d been wearing.
I tried to be strong, even if this was a scene that could have been plucked from my worst nightmare. It wasn’t like I had much of a choice, and it was the only thing he would have asked of me if he could have. I understood that I had to try and keep my reactions to myself. I couldn’t give them more ammunition than they already had, but even I was realistic enough to admit it was useless. I was only human, and the manI loved, one of the few genuine strengths I had in my life, was unconscious in the hands of his rivals.
There was no comparison to the fear I felt. It was dirty, gritty and more real than anything within my reach as it took control of my body in small waves of trembling. My blood felt frozen in my veins as my heart fought to push it, which made the world quake around me. My panic and fear had incapacitated everything in my body, except, apparently, my vocal chords.
The whimper didn’t go unnoticed by my captor. The man carrying me may not have said anything in response, but I felt the tightening of his arms around my legs as he walked us into the shadows, and the shake of his shoulder as he found amusement in my predicament.
