“What do you need?” I asked, because fuck me if I couldn’t help her one last time.
I was a dead man anyway; at least I’d die doing something good with my miserable existence.
~ 20 ~
Penny
48 hours earlier
“You must know something,” my daddy roared, slamming his fisted hand on the table in front of him. “You must have seen something.”
The beautiful face of the man who had taken me, the Devil’s Highwaymen member, flashed in my mind. Those cold, dark eyes devoid of love and compassion burning into mine as he punished me. I swallowed and shook my head.
“I didn’t. I was blindfolded. I was bound,” I replied with strength, holding my bruised wrists up for him to see, hoping he didn’t see through my burning lie. “I didn’t see anything.”
My father’s face filled with even more fury. “Fucking useless, just like your cunt mother.” He sat back down in his chair, his attention turning to Solomon, his VP. “You better fucking find me something. I know it was those fuckers the Highwaymen, and they’re not getting away with this shit. Taking my daughter? Embarrassing me like that.” He shook his head, his gaze going to me again. “This club’s a laughing stock because of you, Penny. Get out of my sight.” His expression was full of disgust for me.
Disgust because he’d raised me better, taught me better. I knew better than to get taken. I knew to be safe, safer than I had been.
If only he knew how unsafe I had been in recent months.
“We’re partying later, celebrating your return,” he sneered. “Make sure you’re looking more presentable.” He looked me up and down and shook his head.
I nodded, angry, hurtful words burning in the back of my throat. Words I’d never say to him. “Okay,” I replied instead, swallowing down the resentment I felt toward him.
I was a strong, independent woman until I was near my father. Then I was a little girl cowering from the force of his anger.
I left his office and headed through the clubhouse to find Scratch to give me a ride home. I hadn’t seen my car since the night I’d been taken. I loved that car, it was one of the only things I truly loved in this world, and yet the only thing on my mind washim. His hands wrapped around my throat, his fingers and tongue inside me, his eyes blazing with need and desire.
“Penny!” Ruby called as she peeled herself away from Cheeto, her old man.
She wrapped her arms around me, pulling me into a tight hug.
“I know you’re not a hugger, but I am, and I’ve been so worried about you!” She squeezed me tighter before letting go and looking into my face. “Are you okay?” Her gaze moved over me, checking me for injuries.
“I’m fine. Hungry, tired, but fine.”
My father was still shouting inside his office and both Ruby and I turned to look, watching as he picked something up and threw it across the room.
“Nothing’s changed round here then,” I sighed.
“He’s been worried about you,” Ruby replied, and I turned to look at her in disbelief. “He has! But you know what he’s like. He’s not good at showing his emotions—not unless it’s anger.” She shrugged. “He’s had every man out looking for you since the day you were taken. Barely slept, barely ate. You’re his little girl, Penny, always.”
I frowned at Ruby and she responded with another shrug.
“These men are all the same; they have the emotional range of an orange.”
I forced a smile, but it fell quickly. I just didn’t feel like smiling at the moment. I felt lost instead of at home among these men and women. It was my club as much as my father’s. They were my family, yet I felt like an outsider. Mostly, though, I couldn’t stand the taste of betrayal on the tip of my tongue. I knew who had taken me—who was responsible.
It wasn’t like I was in love withhimor anything, but the thought of my father going after him and hurting him—torturing him, killing him…it made my stomach flip and the knots inside me tighten. I owed that man nothing, and yet I wanted to protect him for some reason. Who my kidnapper was was my secret and I wanted to keep it that way. Conspiracy and backstabbing were at the heart of my father’s club, and he took his vengeance out on those who worked against him. If he found out about the Highwaymen, there would be war. Death and blood would be on my hands, spilling through my fingers like molten lava.
Ruby glanced back at Cheeto before pulling me to one side. “So seriously,” she said on a whisper, “you really have no idea who it was? No clue at all?”
I liked Ruby—trusted her, even. We’d been friends for a long time, way before she hooked up with Cheeto. We told each other everything, kept each other’s secrets, but in that moment I felt alone at the realization that her loyalty was more to my father and Cheeto than to me.
I shouldn’t have cared. I’d had people use me before—befriend me to get access to the club.
Yet something had changed. I had changed, and the sting of betrayal flashed across my arms like I’d been burned.
