And then there was Dom. Her dark, leather jacket — soft from a few years of use — was cropped just to her hips. She towered over the pitch-black Brabus bike, her outfit matching it perfectly.
As she slid onto the seat, her jacket shifted, revealing a Tom Ford logo in the shimmering, diamond quilt lining.
Jesus. Money just falls off of her.
The cut of the jacket made her undeniably attractive, despite Kiera’s best attempts to ignore it.
Shaking it off, reminding myself that she had taken me hostage, I wrapped my arms around Spencer as she kicked up the bike stand and revved the engine.
Dom led us out of the driveway, the gate closing decisively behind us as we rode into the last wisps of sunlight disappearing behind Valemont’s mountains.
Whatever “mission” I was being brought on meant something. Something I couldn’t see yet. But I knew that there would be no going back. If I wanted to run, to get away from them before it was too late. This was my last chance.
As the anxiety set in, I tightened my grip on Spencer, leaning my helmeted head on her strong back. If I could just close my eyes and make all of this go away, maybe I’d just wake up next to Spencer and Leo on some beach miles from all of this.
Miles away from Gabe’s weaselly face on the TV. Miles from my mother’s incessant calls.
With all the answers I needed to know they were safe, that they weren’t trying to ransom me to my abusive ex boyfriend.
Hell if life was that good, Dom could come too.
It wasn’t long before the bikes were slowing down in Valemont’s seedy downtown. The three motorcycles parked adjacent to each other, their handlebars facing a bustling bar across the street. They’d positioned their bikes for an easy escape, the same way Leo and Spence had parked the night they found me.
Did they plan on snatching me? Did I just play into their hands by begging for help?
Once the kickstands were down, each of them pulled off their helmets — locking them to the handles of the bike. Careful to keep my wig in place, I slid my helmet off too, passing it forward to Spencer.
Looking over at me from her bike, Dom shook her head. “This is ridiculous. She’s going to be spotted.”
“You just want her locked away in that castle forever.” Leo shook her head. “It’ll be dark in there and she’s safer with us.”
For some reason, it was enough to stop Dom from fighting. And meeting her blue eyes, I could tell she felt it was true. Being by her side was better for me than locked away in her tower. So long as I was a prisoner, I couldn’t gather much information and I certainly couldn’t run.
A wave of discomfort swallowed me, still unsure why Dom trusted herself to keep me safe when it was so obvious how much she fucking hated me.
Why hadn’t she shipped me back to Gabriel if she really did know him?
My blood was beginning to boil when Dom moved on to the mission at hand. “We’ve got to locate a target. He’s been hitting up different bars in the area, taking girls who later disappear.”
I couldn’t figure out why that was noteworthy. “What makes him so special?”
Spencer leaned back, turning her head to look at me. “It’s weird for a lowlife nobody to be rotating locations.”
Shifting on the red bike, Leo’s jaw tensed. “Small-time assholes stay in one spot, probably a bar where they know the bouncer or the bartender. They hit that same spot once every few months, do something horrific, and leave.”
“If he’s moving around, it could mean something more organized.” Dom grumbled, annoyed to have to explain anything to me.
Spencer put a gloved hand on Kiera’s knee. “It’s our job to find out who’s at the top of the chain.”
“Every link gets us a little higher, and this is our closest one yet.” Standing from her bike, Dom straightened out her jacket and ran a hand through her dark hair. “Let’s move.”
I should’ve been annoyed with her, the way she’d launched herself at me for the TV remote was ridiculous — how her facehad paled when Gabriel appeared on the screen. Despite all of that, there was no denying that I liked the idea of her on top of me, not with the smear of pleasure I’d found in my underwear after she’d stormed off.
But Dom wasn’t any other woman. Whoever she was, she was powerful and — maybe most important of all — she recognized my ex boyfriend.
As if all my anxiety hadn’t been enough, my phone dinged with a text.
I hope you saw our conference. We just want you home. If you’re in danger, just say that.
