“Fuck,” Maddox punches the steering wheel. “Fucking prick.”
“Let’s go back to your place and figure something out from there.” I try to calm him down while there is a storm raging inside of me as well. “We’ll get him.”
Just as Maddox cranks the car, my phone vibrates in my pocket. I get it out and look at the screen.
“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me?” I growl. “It’s him.”
I answer the video call, my thumb swiping over the screen so hard it might crack. The video comes on, and I freeze. My heart stops, and terror settles deep in my bones.
“Hello, old friend,” Tucker greets, looking amused with himself. He has the camera angled from above him. He is sitting on the floor, and behind him is Penny. She is lying on her side, her hands and feet tied together, leaving her even more helpless than she already is. The side of her face is swollen, and her eyes are red from crying.
“You’re a dead man,” I grit through my teeth, just as Penny raises her gaze to the phone. The moment our eyes meet through the screen, my chest aches. There is a distinct pain that only she could ever make me feel. It’s a mixture of longing, sadness, and lost hope.
Knowing that I never told her the truth is eating me up inside. I should have told her I forgave her. She doesn’t have to carry that guilt any longer. I should have told her she was safe here instead of toying with her. I should have done a lot of things, but it’s all too little, too late now.
“Am I? I feel like I’ve got a lot of leverage here, and I’m not just talking about your little sex slave here. See, there are some guys in the club who are sticking by my side. They are tired of your bullshit, Ryder, putting some slut before your brothers.”
“You’re lying,” Maddox growls.
“How do you think I got Buck to send you to that house? Are you really that stupid that you can’t see when your men are turning against you?”
“What do you want, Tucker?” I ask him.
“I want you to leave the club. I’m taking your spot. The guys are okay with Maddox being president, but they want you gone.”
“You know there is only one way out of the club,” Maddox answers.
“I guess death for you it is.” Tucker shrugs. “Look, we can do it the easy way or the hard way. Maddox can kill you now where you stand. Quick and easy. I’ll even untie your pet and let her go. Then everything goes back to normal… well, almost. I’ll be VP.”
“Fuck you,” Maddox roars, trying to snatch the phone from me.
“Let her go first. Untie her. I want to see her walk away, then I’ll do it.”
“You think I’m stupid? No deal. Do it now, or I’ll take my frustration out on her.”
Maddox lunges for me, and this time he is able to grab the phone from my hand. “No!” I yell, but he’s already disconnected the call. My mind goes blank, and I throw punches. “You fucking asshole!”
“Calm down!” Maddox yells back at me, his fist connecting with my ribs. “Listen to me.”
I don’t. I keep hitting him as hard as I can, not caring what the fuck he has to say.
“I know where he is!”
My fist freezes in midair. “What?”
“I know where he is,” Maddox repeats. “I recognize the fucking wallpaper.”
The fucking wallpaper?
I look at him dumbfounded. “Why didn’t you lead with that? Where the fuck are they?”
“Tucker’s old man used to have a convenience store on the corner of Main and Bristol Street. It went bankrupt years ago. I used to joke it was probably the ugly ass wallpaper.”
“Shit, that’s an hour away from here… but only ten minutes from the club. Call the guys, Maddox.” I stare my friend down, urging him to pick up the fucking phone.
“Ryder…” There is a tone in his voice I haven’t heard in so many years, I can’t recall the last time it was. Uncertainty. Maddox, the president of the MC, who is always so sure of himself, hesitates. “What if Tucker was telling the truth? If there are guys against you, this will only make it worse.”
“He is fucking lying, and you know it. Maybe Buck is in on it, but that’s it. No one else would go against us.”
