“I’m not sure when women started having a fucking say in the way this club runs, but it sure as hell needs to be stopped. Fucking pronto,” Deacon grumbled.
Holding up my phone, I said, “Sometimes you don’t have to have a dick to come up with the best plan.”
Deacon stared open-mouthed at me before slamming his hand against the wall. He breathed heavily for a few seconds. “Fine. Call your father and the Feds. You just make surethat nothing blows back on the Raiders since we’ll be fucking exposed.”
“You’re such an asshole,” I muttered, as I started dialing my father.
“Damn straight, babe,” Deacon replied.
When I brought the phone to my ear, I sucked in a breath. Beneath my bravado, I was panicking. What if my father said no?
“Annabel?” my father demanded without a hello.
“Hello, Father.”
“I have to say after the way you left things, I’m surprised to hear from you.”
A nervous laugh bubbled from my lips. “I feel the same way.”
“Might I assume you need something me from me?”
“I do.”
Dad’s long exhale reverberated over the line. “And what is it?”
“Mendoza has Nathaniel.”
Silence echoed back at my declaration. “He’s in Mexico?” Father questioned.
“No. Mendoza tracked me down here. Rev—I mean, Nathaniel—was coming back from making a deal with the Rodrigues cartel to have Mendoza killed when he was taken.”
Once again, silence hung heavy between us. “Father?” I finally questioned to make sure he was still on the line.
“What kind of demands have they made?”
I swallowed the rising bile in my throat. “Me.”
“What?” Father growled.
“I’m to trade myself for Rev, or he’ll be killed.”
“That’s a fucked demand.”
“I’m aware of that.” Gripping the phone tighter in my hand, I drew in a ragged breath. “I know the power you hold. It doesn’t reside just in Virginia. That’s why I’m asking for your help.”
Once again, painful silence hovered on the line. “If you want my trust fund, it’s yours.”
I would’ve rather he scream and berate me than to have that awful silence cloaking me. With desperation overwhelming me, I croaked, “I’ll do anything to free him.”
“Except give him up,” Father countered.
His words had the same effect as a knife piercing my chest. I couldn’t imagine a life without Rev in it. He was the man I loved with all my heart and soul.
But in that moment, his life and my freedom meant more than our love. How could I live with myself if I didn’t do everything within me to see him free?
“I…I’ll give him up if you save him.”
“Do I have your word that if I intervene, you will never see Nathaniel Malloy again?”
