“What are you doing here?”
“Surprised you still live here after what I told him.”
“We’re not on speaking terms, but I have nowhere else to go.”
“Is he here?” She shakes her head just as her eyes widen.
“Tide,” she screams right before something hits me in the back of the head. I stumble forward, nearly taking her down as we’re forced inside. I grab her wrist and pull her behind me, blinking my eyes to get them to focus after that blow.
“This was too easy,” a man says as he stands in front of me. Mylah grips the back of my shirt in her hand, her hand shaking.
“What the fuck is this?” I ask, looking at the men surrounding us. I can fight, but not seven of them.
“This isn’t any of your concern, but since you’re here.” The man shrugs as they all begin to move on us.
“Mylah, run!” I yell as I pull away from her and swing. It does no good. One man moves to grab her, and anger surges in my veins.I swing again, hitting one in the face, causing him to stumble back, but another takes his place. He steps up to me and swings while another grabs my arms, jerking them behind me. Another blow to the stomach has me falling to my knees. I don’t know what the hell is going on or who these guys are. I don’t know what they want, or who they were looking for, but they have us now.
“Take them to the van,” one of the men shouts as another kicks me in the ribs. I huff out a breath as I’m dragged from the living room of my son's house and out the door. I hope to hell someone around here sees this but it isn’t likely. Everyone’s at work in this uppity neighborhood.
Thrust into the back of a van, I fall onto my face, not realizing they bound my wrists with zip-ties. I groan and roll to my side to see Mylah being shoved in next to me. Her arms are behind her back, a gag in her mouth. Pure hot rage sings in my veins, and I know I will kill every one of them for touching her.
“You okay?” I ask when the van starts moving. She nods her head as I shift a little.
“We’re gonna be okay,” I tell her. She closes her eyes before opening them once more and locking them with mine. She needs me now. I have to be stronger for her now.
The van jostles and throws us around as the driver takes the curves quickly. I try to think, try to time us as we drive. I don’t think it’s been quite ten minutes when the van skids to a stop.
Before I know it, the back door is being thrown open, and we’re both being yanked out. Tears leak down Mylah’s cheeks when I realize we’re in a warehouse. I take in my surroundings, get mybearings, so that when the time comes, I can figure a way out of this mess.
I’m dropped to the floor, and that’s when it all starts. The kicks, the punches, her cries through the gag. It doesn’t take long for me to black out.
Chapter 10
Mylah
How can one man take so much punishment? Blood drips from his lip onto the floor beneath his head. His eyes are closed, and I’m shivering. It’s so cold here. I wish Tide would open his eyes but he hasn’t. He lies there, lifeless, and I pray to God that isn’t the case. He has to wake up.
I lie here, shivering and shaking, when he finally groans.
“Tide?”
“Mylah? You okay?” he asks. His body is trembling much the same as mine when he finally pries his eyes open to look at me.
“I’m okay. Are you?”
“I’ll live. Shit, it’s cold in here.”
“It’s freezing.”
“Can you scoot over here?” He asks. I know he isn’t in any shape to move, and we aren’t tied to anything, so I do it. I scoot across the floor with my hands still behind my back.
“What am I doing?” I ask as I get closer.
“Press your back to my front, darlin’. It’ll give you a little heat.” I shift and scoot a little more before rolling to my side and sliding up against him. My fingers latch onto his belt loop, and that’s where they stay.
“What’s happening?”
“I don’t know. We just need to stay calm,” he tells me. How the hell do I stay calm when I’m tied up and locked in a freezingwarehouse? My lips tremble as I think about my situation. This can’t be happening.
