by Brook Wilder
Bryan approached me brazenly, his eyes narrow slits.
“If she is harmed in any way, I will kill you. Do you understand?”
“When I bring her home, I will come looking for you first,” I answered. “And if I find out that you had anything at all to do with this, I will kill you.”
Bryan said nothing, stalking away and out of the room, his hands clenched at his sides. Good. Let him stew over my words while I rescued ‘his’ woman. If it had been me, I would have been itching to go out myself, but I knew that Bryan wasn’t going to take that step.
“I do not like this,” Nat’s mother responded, red in the face. “I do not want this… this man going after my daughter. Can you not send a professional?”
Zebrovskiy looked at his wife, a frown on his face.
“Lawrence is better than any professional, Yelena. Now, go. I will handle this.”
She didn’t look happy about it, but she did as he had instructed, leaving just the two of us in the room.
I rolled my shoulders to relieve some of the tension in them, worried about Nat. Why had the Cazadores taken her? Did it really have to do with Chavez, or something else?
“Tell me what you need,” her father said wearily, rubbing a hand over his face.
“Nothing,” I ground out. “Other than for everyone to stay the hell away from me.”
He said nothing, and I started toward the door, my jaw clenched. I would find Nat and bring her home, but she would decide between me and her fiancé.
“You love her, don’t you?”
His quiet words had me pausing at the door, my hand on the knob. Did I tell him the truth, or did I lie? What would he do if I said yes?
Why did it matter anyway?
“Yeah,” I forced out, my throat suddenly tight with emotion. “I do.”
“Bring her home then.”
I walked out of the room and down the hall, exiting the front door where my bike waited. If the Cazadores truly had Nat, she was in a shit load of trouble. The Cazadores were a no-holds-barred kind of gang, one that had been warring with everyone and their brother for years. They liked to make a statement, and usually that ended up with a body being burned in a ditch in the desert.
The mystery still remained as to why they would take her. Money was not a motivation for them, and the guys who were caught on camera were not the sort that would strike out on their own and make such a bold move. No, this had been planned and planned well.
Slinging my leg over the bike, I gunned the engine and took off down the manicured driveway toward the clubhouse. I would gather a few guys, get some additional eyes looking out. There was too much ground to cover by myself and very little time to do it. I had to find her and fast, plain and simple.
What happened after that… Well, I didn’t know what that was going to bring. My duties lasted officially up until the moment she said her vows, and now that her father knew how I felt, I didn’t know if that was a good thing or a bad thing.
One thing was for sure. She would know how I felt before she walked down the aisle and married that asshole.
Chapter 15
Nataliya
The rag tasted like day-old sweat and dirt.
I pulled against the zip ties at my wrists, wanting nothing more than to get this nasty rag out of my mouth. My feet scraped against the concrete floor, and I winced, wondering what had happened to my shoes.
But it wasn’t just my feet that were hurting. My jaw ached from where they had knocked me out. My shoulders strained against the position of my arms behind my back, and the zip ties were starting to cut into the tender skin at my wrists and ankles.
All in all, I was having a great fucking night.
Letting out a groan of frustration, I forced myself to focus on the present. The room I was in was filled with machinery, like an old auto shop or something. There was dust everywhere, so that meant it hadn’t been used in a while, and a single light bulb swinging over my head was my only source of light. Despite the usual warm temperatures, the room was chilly, and I felt the goosebumps break out over my skin more often than they had when I had first awoken.
When I had come to, my first thought was that I had dreamed it all up. One minute I was walking back to the party in search of Fox, to tell him… Well, I wasn’t sure what I was going to say. But the next minute I had heard the breaking glass and gone to investigate before being grabbed from behind. I had fought, though, with my head and my legs, but the second guy had come in and hit me hard enough to knock me out.
And then I had woken up in here.
I didn’t know my attackers, nor did I know why I had been taken in the first place. Did it have to do with the strange occurrences that been happening to me as of late, or was there something bigger?
If only someone would come in so that I could figure it all out.
Rotating my wrists, I thought about Fox. Likely, someone would have noticed me gone by now and the alarm raised that I had been kidnapped. What would Fox be thinking? Did he even care, or had I killed the best thing that had happened to me with my harsh words? It sickened me to think about that night now, the harsh words I had said to him in an attempt to mask my own feelings. I had been called a bitch often, but by that night, by that person… It was worse than all the pettiness.
I had hurt him deeply.
And now I might not get the chance to apologize to him.
It was funny, really, to think of everything I had wanted to change, now that my life was likely hanging in the balance. I wanted to tell my father how much I appreciated everything in my life. I wanted to let Alice know that I saw her as the sister I never had and how I wouldn’t trade her for all the money in the world.
I wanted to tell my mother to fuck off and to take Bryan with her. She had done nothing but tell me about everything I had done wrong since the day I had been born. None of my love had been lost on her. Likely she was already planning my extravagant funeral and what she would wear, rather than attempting to help find me.
And Bryan... I wasn’t sure what he would be doing right now. One thing was for sure, I would be breaking off the engagement if I got out of this alive. Tonight’s little encounter in the limo had given me a glimpse of what my future would be like, and I didn’t want to pretend any longer. I wanted to be happy, and that happiness would be in the form of Adam Lawrence.
Likely, my family was going to think I was crazy when I walked away from the money I had craved since I had been twelve. But what I hadn’t realized until tonight was that the money was dictating me. I had been so consumed by greed that I had nearly settled for Bryan, even though we were far from compatible.
Hell, I didn’t even know what Bryan’s favorite color was.
Nor did I know Fox’s, but I did know his love for his family, his drive to keep his mother alive so strong that he would take the job as my bodyguard.
Well, no matter what, I hoped my father would give him the money. I would have a fundraiser with my father’s rich friends and get a fund going for experimental treatments for people with his mother’s condition.
I wanted to help with my money, not turn into my mother or any of her shallow friends.
Not that any of mine were any better. With the exception of Alice, the rest were just as fake as their eyelashes, and I had been one of those people before I had met Fox. It was sad, what I had worried about, what I had wasted money on, when there were people out there that could benefit from what my family had been blessed with.
And I thought I had been helping with my fancy parties and elaborate auctions. I could have just given the money to them.
Tears pricked my eyes, and I forced them back. Well, no more! I was going to get out of there. I was going to tell Fox that I loved him and tell Bryan that I wasn’t interested in being his trophy wife. I was going to help those that I could, and if that meant giving all my money away, then so be it.
I was going to have Fox. I didn’t need anything else.
That is, if I coul
d get out of my current situation.
Idly, I thought about everyone that would miss me if I didn’t get out of here alive. Alice definitely would, and I would miss her. She was my only true friend, and despite the pettiness of the rest of the women at my bridal shower, her true character had shown through. If my mother wouldn’t have thrown a fit, I would have just walked out, embarrassed that I had even been associated with the others. Alice hadn’t let them get to her, but it was yet another thing I should have done, instead of worrying what the consequence would be.
What did Fox see in me anyway? I had acted like a spoiled brat, broken his heart, and now I was expecting him to rescue me. To take me back.
God, I hoped he would take me back.
The door opened suddenly, and I sat up, not wanting to show any weakness that they could pick apart. I was a Zebrovskiy, and we weren’t scared of anything.
“You’re awake.”
I lifted my chin as a short man in a leather jacket and jeans came into my vision, a toothpick stuck between his lips. His beady eyes raked over me, and I fought the urge to shiver.
“Beautiful. You would go for a pretty penny across the border.”
He wanted to sell me? Well I would die first, before I would be sold into sex slavery. Being this close to the Mexican border, it was a real threat, and the news was filled with stories of women who went missing every day, presumably meeting that fate.
“But,” he continued, crossing his arms over his chest. “That’s not the plan of course. You know, I’ve never had a beef with the Russian mafia before. I bet your father would pay out some shit to get you back in one piece.”
I kept staring at him, willing for him to make one move my way so that I could pick him apart. All I needed was a chance.
But he remained in place, content to hear me not answer his questions.
“Just so you know, a fight is coming, and you are just a small tip of the iceberg, Nataliya. No one is going to get out of this fight alive, no one.”
I swallowed hard, my throat dry from the rag stuffed in my mouth. Somehow, I knew the fight would have something to do with Fox as well as my father, and just the thought of losing either one of them made my stomach roll.
“You are a beautiful woman,” he said again, a light in his eyes, one that I had seen many times before. “Maybe I should keep you for myself. You would make a good mistress.” Then he laughed. “Just think of it, pretty one. You in my bed. I would treat you like a queen.”
He tsked as he walked back to the door, pausing to look back at me.
“Don’t go anywhere. The fun is about to start. I would hate for you to miss it.”
I screamed at him, my voice muffled from the rag, as he shut the door, locking me in the room again. Hot tears stung at my eyes, and I blinked them furiously away, not wanting to show even an ounce of dejection at the present. I was still alive and could still get out of this alive, as long as I kept my wits about me.
And hope that Fox was coming for me.
That was the thought that would keep me going, allow me not to give up until all hope was lost and they killed me or proved to me that he wasn’t living any longer. If Fox died, my heart would break, knowing that I had missed my one shot at true love. I wouldn’t want to live then.
Life wouldn’t be living if I didn’t have Fox in it.
Straightening my shoulders the best I could, I clenched my jaw. I wasn’t going to think about it. None of my loved ones were gonna die.
I had to keep fighting.
Chapter 16
Fox
I gunned the bike down another street, looking for anything that was out of the ordinary, anything that would give me a clue as to where Nat had been taken.
For an hour I had torn apart Greenwood, street by street, in some sort of effort to narrow down the options.
The rest of the Legion was doing the same, all hands on deck to help me, though they didn’t exactly know why they were doing it. That was for me to know and for them to find out after the fact.
After leaving the mansion, I had ridden to the club. Jack had taken one look at my face and passed me a glass of whiskey, already rallying the troops before I could get a single word out of my mouth.
It was my damn fault Nat was missing and I had to find her. I had to hold her in my arms again and know she was safe, before I tore the Cazadores apart for laying a hand on her.
But first, I had to find her.
Slowing for a stop sign, I grabbed at my phone, which was buzzing on my hip. Maybe someone had seen something, found a Diablo to torture, so that we could get a jump on where they were keeping her.
But all of my hopeful thoughts went out the window as I saw the number flashing on the screen. Hell, I didn’t have time for him right now.
“What the hell do you want?” I growled.
A chuckle broke out on the other end of the phone.
“Really? That’s how you answer the damn phone? No wonder you are on everybody’s shit-list right now.”
“I don’t have time for this,” I said darkly.
“Oh, I heard,” Derrek MacMurray replied.
Derrek was an Irish bastard I loved to hate, a gun runner that we dealt with from time to time. The man was as aggravating as his damn Irish brogue, but I had no real beef with him. He thrived on pissing me off though.
“Heard you lost a Russian. How do you lose a beautiful woman like her, Lawrence?”
“Why don’t you give me something to work with instead of running your damn mouth,” I answered, knowing he had to have something for him to be calling me like that.
“Touché,” Derrek replied. “I do have something, and he is currently standing in the middle of my club. Funny thing, he looks like shit but didn’t come armed. Figured it was your handiwork.”
Hector. He was talking about Hector.
“Don’t let him fucking leave.”
“I don’t plan to,” Derrek laughed, hanging up.
I grumbled as I fired a text to Jack, before putting my phone up, gunning the bike toward the club. Hector would know where the Cazadores liked to hide shit. And if anything was, he would be my best lead to finding Nat.
He had to be.
The Legionnaires bar was tucked in the middle of town, between a barber shop and a store that sold cheap-ass souvenirs. Though Derrek didn’t officially run with any particular group, he did help keep the peace in the strip mall, and for that they lined his pockets. There was a rumor that Derrek’s father was one of the founding members of the Grim Legion, but Derrek had never come out and claimed his rightful seat in the club, tending to hang out in the fringes and call us up when he needed some help.
Parking my bike, I stared down those who were gathered out front, daring them to approach me, as I stalked toward the door, pushing it open to cigarette smoke and shitty songs from the speakers overhead. Derrek was waiting for me near the bar, leaned up against it with a shit-eating grin on his face.
“Hey Lawrence. You didn’t waste any time getting here.”
“Where is he?” I asked, cracking my knuckles.
“Whoa, now,” Derrek grinned, holding up his hands. “Can’t I interest you in a beer or something?”
“I’m short on time. Cut the shit. Where is he, Derrek?”
Derrek’s grin slipped, his eyes widening.
“So, it is true. Damn, man! Couldn’t you pick an easier chick than the Russian? I hear she’s a real ball-buster sometimes. Gorgeous though.”
I wasn’t about to air out my dirty laundry all over Greenwood.
“I’m not talking about this with you,” I growled.
“Fine, fine,” Derrek laughed, motioning for me to follow him. “Come on, he’s back here. I put him in the office, so he wouldn’t take off.”
I set my jaw as I followed him through a door and down the hall, making way for two drunk girls who started giggling at the sight of Derrek.
“Ladies,” he grinned, tipping his imaginary hat to them. “Go on and tell
Johnny to give you a free drink on me. I’ll be out there shortly.”
I rolled my eyes as they hurried past, whispering to each other.
“Dude, do you ever shut that shit off?”
“Not when it works,” he grinned, opening a door to his right. “Maybe you should try it sometime, Fox. You know, charm?”
I had no intentions of charming anyone except a Russian beauty who was going to find out that what she needed would be standing right in front of her. I followed Derrek into the room, spying Hector sitting on a stool, rubbing his hands nervously.
