Harper slowly crept toward the three of us. “I’m sorry for yelling at you about the baby when I first got here. I just want Duke to be happy and it seems you make him happy.” She smiled softly and pulled me into a hug.
“Okay, enough of the sappy shit. You all know how I hate that,” I griped.
“It’ll be a while before they get back here with James. You girls want something to eat?” Phoenix asked.
“I do,” I quickly answered. “I’m going to need my strength to beat that bitch’s ass when she gets here.”
Phoenix chuckled. “So, steak and potatoes?”
***
The doors to the common room flew open to reveal Duke standing there like a dark knight holding our sleeping son. Damn this boot on my foot. I wanted to run to him, but it was a fast hobble at best. When I got to him, he handed James to me and I lost it. I placed kisses on the top of his head and all over his face. I cried, dropping tears and snot all over his little head. Duke silently stepped forward and wrapped us in his arms.
We stayed in his arms for several minutes. When I finally got a hold of myself, I pulled back a little and met Duke’s eyes, “Thank you.”
He smiled softly. “You don’t have to thank me, sugar. I’m his dad, it’s my job to protect him. Go get your things so we can get him home.”
I shook my head. “Not until I have a chat with the bitch that took him.”
“You’re not going to budge on that, are you?” he asked, already knowing the answer.
“Hell no.”
He sighed. “Fine. Ember, can you watch James for us?” I stiffened when he asked her. It’s not that I didn’t trust Ember, but my son had just been kidnapped while in someone else’s care. I didn’t exactly want to leave him with another person just yet. “You’re not taking James down there. He’ll be just fine while you handle your business.”
I handed James off to Ember and followed Duke down the stairs that led to the cells where they had once kept Ember. Duke stopped suddenly causing me to slam into his back. “Wait right here. I’m fucking serious, Reese. Don’t move from that step.” The tone of his voice was something I hadn’t heard from him before.
“Okay.” What the hell was he doing? He went down the rest of the stairs and walked out of my line of sight. I couldn’t make out what he was saying, but I could hear him talking to some of the other brothers. Moments later he was back, motioning for me to come down the stairs.
“What was that about?” I asked.
“Club business,” he grunted.
Whatever. I really didn’t care. I just wanted to knock this cunt’s front teeth out and be on my merry way.
He led me into a cell. A woman was tied to a chair with a gag in her mouth. She was younger than I thought she would be. Significantly younger. “This is your wife? How old was she when you married her, like 10?” I shrieked.
“No, she’s not my wife. This is my wife’s sister,” he explained.
“Why the fuck would she take my son?” I asked, utterly confused.
“Don’t know yet. Didn’t want to waste any time getting James back to you, so we haven’t questioned her yet.”
I hobbled over to her and removed the gag. “Why did you take my child?” The stupid, stupid bitch spat in my face. “Oh, that was the wrong thing to do.” I raised my hand and slapped her across the face, then brought the back of my hand across her other cheek on the downswing.
I quickly moved behind her and grabbed her ponytail, using it to yank her head back. Now, she couldn’t spit on me. “Do you know where you are?”
She grunted in response. So, she wanted to make this difficult. I looked over to Duke. He was leaning against the wall, arms crossed over his chest, watching me curiously. “Can you get my brother for me, please?” I asked sweetly.
Carbon entered the cell. “You rang, little sister?”
“Hello, big scary brother. Could you get me some ice water, please?” I stared at him and innocently batted my eyelashes a few times, hoping he understood my request.
Carbon grinned menacingly and nodded. He returned with two five gallon buckets of ice water and a thin, damp cloth. I yanked her head back by her hair and placed the cloth over her mouth and nose. At my nod, Carbon lifted one of the buckets and slowly poured the ice cold water over her face. She thrashed, sputtered, gagged, and coughed, but she couldn’t get away. The water just kept coming.
Carbon paused and I asked, “You ready to talk?”
She clamped her lips shut and we started again. This bitch would talk, one way or another. By the time we got started with the second bucket, we had attracted an audience. Only the officers were allowed down in the cells, but every single one of them was there. To my surprise, Copper and a few of his crew were also watching.
