Page 81 of Harper’s Renegades

“Keep close,” she yelled loud enough for me to hear over the music.

Nodding, I tried to keep her positioned between me and anyone we passed. Finally, we reached the bar that ran down the whole length of the building, but it looked like this section was for servers like us.

“She need shots, doesn’t speak Russian, so Madam wanted to keep her out of trouble,” the redhead explained, pointing to me over her shoulder.

The male bartender looked me up and down, frowning but started to fill a tray with shots that had already been prepared. “These are two hundred rubles, anything more you get to keep,” he explained. “When the tray is empty, you come back, I’ll give you more.”

I took the tray and a deep breath. This, I could handle. I would waitress during the summers the last few years of high school, so I had experience. What I needed to do was use this to find the guys or Prim, whichever came first. Once I found them, they would be able to get me the hell out of here. I decided to start at the edge of the space, so I only had to worry about grabby hands from one direction, not multiple.

At first, I ignored the men waving at me to come over, but when one of the men standing guard gave me a warning look, I gave in. I had to balance giving out shots as I searched for our missing teen. It wouldn’t make sense for them to have her out here, but things were so chaotic I couldn’t figure out where the back rooms were. I ran out of shots and quickly returned, not wanting to give anyone the idea I was free to touch. Quicker than I would have liked, I had a full tray, so I cut to the other side where I’d seen some people entering and exiting curtained-off areas.

Just as I passed one of the curtains, a man flew out, followed by the man in the nice suit I’d seen get out of the SUV, Slava. In his hand was a gun pointed directly at the man now lying at my feet. The man on the ground was clearly begging for his life, but Slava didn’t like what he heard at all. With the silencer on his weapon, you didn’t even hear the shot over the music, but being this close, I saw the flash of light and the hole in the man’s forehead.

Slava glanced up and noticed me standing there with my tray. He didn’t say a word but motioned for me to follow him with a crook of his finger. Slava didn’t wait to see if I would do as I was told, knowing I couldn’t refuse. Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted Jaxson just as he saw me. His face was contorted with fury like I’d never seen before, and even though I knew he would never hurt me, it didn’t mean he wouldn’t take it out on others.

A man stepped up behind me and used his gun to nudge me forward. “He’s waiting.” A voice growled in a tone so frightening I didn’t need any more encouragement.

Behind the curtain wasn’t a room but a hall with a few doors. At the end, I could see men gathered, smoking and chatting. Taking an educated guess, I headed in that direction, assuming Slava wanted to share some shots with his men.

When I entered, Slava pointed to the room and said something in Russian, but I got the gist. Thankfully, these men were more interested in the other completely naked woman wandering around the room. One was giving a blowjob right in front of everyone while another was being fucked into the wall, none too gently. I let out a sigh of relief that I had enough for all of them and started to head back.

This time as I walked down the hall, I spotted an office door cracked with a light on. Pausing, I pushed it open a little wider and spotted Prim. She was hogtied and passed out on a couch. Seemed she might have caused some trouble when she woke up, or they were taking precautions. I didn’t notice anyone else in the room, so I slipped inside, closing the door behind me. Rushing over to her, I crouched down and reached out to take her pulse. It was beating slow but not enough for me to be worried.

The room looked like it was a lunch room of sorts for people with a refrigerator, table, and water cooler. Removing my shoes so people couldn’t hear me walking around, I searched everywhere to find something to try and cut these ropes. I found a plastic knife but not much else.

“It’s better than nothing,” I muttered as I returned to Prim.

I started to saw at the ropes, and it didn’t do much but make the fibers fuzzier. Growling, I chucked the knife and started to try and work the knots loose but whoever tied them did a damn good job.

“Check my boot, left one. I cut out part of the heel so a blade would fit in there,” Prim murmured, her voice hoarse.

Grabbing her foot, I poked around at the heel and noticed a part that didn’t sit right. It took some effort, but I was able to pull the chunk out and found the slim handle of a tiny knife. The damn thing was extremely sharp, and I cut my thumb as I got it out.

“Fuck,” I swore, putting it to my lips.

“If I thought you were an assassin like your guys. After this performance, you’re either really stupid or an amazing actress,” Prim commented as she watched me.

Flipping her the bird, I examined my thumb and determined it wasn’t too bad.

“You’re not going to die from a paper cut, so can we please move along? I don’t know how long they’re going to leave me here without checking on me.”

“Anyone tell you that you’re kind of a bitch?” I shot back as I cut through the ropes on her legs, then moved to her hands.

“Can’t say that’s the first time I’ve heard that, but not many people say it like you do,” she said, sitting up and rubbing her wrist.

I quirked a brow at her. “How is that?”

“Like it’s a compliment, not an insult,” she mentioned off-handedly as she stood and walked past me. “How many people guarding the door?”

“Which one?” I asked, grabbing my shoes and handing her the knife. “We’re in the heart of his operations.”

“The one that gets us the fuck out of here, Barbie,” she sassed.

I shoved her up against the refrigerator by the door, making a loud thud sound. “Listen up, bitch spice, I’m not going to take more attitude from you. Me and my guys didn’t have to show up here coming after you. We could have left you to rot in this hell hole of a club. Now drop the teen drama bullshit, and let’s help each other get through this.”

“Fine,” she agreed. “Can we go now, or did you need to have another moment after that heartwarming speech?”

“Just wait until Dax gets to meet you,” I grumbled, putting my shoes on. “You’re either going to be best friends or kill each other.”