by Cara E Holt
“Sorry to disappoint, but he, Dom and Izzy have nipped out to get food supplies. They should be back soon though.”
“So are you ready to party like northerners tonight?” Courtney asks Owen and Ems.
Owen laughs out loud. “Girl, I was born to party.”
“Good,” she nods in reply, “because tonight we’re getting the tram into town and hitting the clubs.”
Owen rubs his hands together in anticipation. “I hope Manchester is ready for the southern invasion.”
Ty chuckles. “We have had people from down south visit Manchester before you know?”
Owen winks. “But they haven’t met me before.”
Ty looks at me smiling, and I shake my head, returning his smile. He hands the remote to Jake. “I need a quick word with Taylor. You want to take over?”
Jake takes the remote off him and drops into Tyler’s vacant seat. Courtney eyeballs me before she sits down beside Ems and starts chatting to her.
Ty gestures with his head towards the kitchen, and I follow him through. He leans himself against the kitchen units, leaning back on his hands. “I just wanted to thank you for letting me stay here.”
I lean on the units opposite him, crossing one ankle in front of the other. “You already thanked me once, Ty, so why have you really brought me in here?”
He chuckles. “That obvious, huh? I just want to say that if me being here is causing friction between you and your boyfriend, I can go. Just say the word.’
“Like I said last night. You let me handle Grayson.”
Ty nods, his eyes burning into mine. “You love him?”
“I do,” I reply with a firm nod and I hold his gaze.
He smiles and sucks in his bottom lip. “I’m glad you have someone fighting in your corner, Taylor. It looks like you’ve got a good bunch of friends around you.”
“I do. When I left here, I never thought I’d have a family again, but I have.” I sigh. “What are you gunna do, Ty? Is there a way out of this mess?”
Tyler shrugs his shoulders, but I can see the worry in his eyes. I take two steps forward and put my hand on his arm. “Could you hold them off? I don’t know how long it will take to sell this place, but once I do, you can have the three grand.”
Tyler stares at me in silence for a few seconds, his eyes searching mine. “You’d do that for me?”
I nod, smiling. “You were kind of a big deal to me for a large part of my teenage years, you know that right?”
Ty’s grin widens, and he winks. “You’re referring to when you were crazy obsessed with me?”
I roll my eyes at him. “I wouldn’t say obsessed, more like a little crush.”
Tyler chuckles, arching a brow. “Whatever you say, Tay.” He surprises me when he steps forward and throws his arms around me, hugging me.
“I’ve never had many people fighting my corner in my life. It means a lot that you’re helping me, but I can’t take your money.” He pulls back from me, but our shoes are still touching.
“Yes, you can. You can pay it me back one day, when you get on your feet. I want you to promise me Tyler that when this debt is paid, you’ll not do anymore work for Doyle? That you’ll concentrate on building a future for yourself.”
Tyler smiles down at me. “You think I have prospects, Taylor?”
“I know you do,” I tell him sincerely.
The sound of someone clearing their throat, pulls both our attention and I turn my head to find Grayson and Dom standing in the doorway, their arms loaded with bags.
“Are we interrupting something?” Grayson asks, burning holes into Tyler’s face.
Ty smiles tightly. “Not at all, Taylor and I were just chatting about old times.”
I glare at Tyler; he just has to stir the pot at every opportunity. “Tyler was just thanking me for letting him stay here, that’s all.”
“Pretty sure he did that last night,” Grayson grumbles under his breath as he drops his bags on to worktop.
Tyler eyes Grayson and gestures to the backyard. “I’m going to go for a smoke.”
Grayson’s frosty glare follows Tyler’s back until he’s outside and the doors closed. He turns his attention to me, a deep frown marring his face.
“Say what you like, but he’s still interested in you,” Grayson comments.
I bat his comment away with my hand. “No, he isn’t.’
“He is,” agrees Dom, who is busy unpacking. He stops and looks over at my shocked face. “Sorry, but he definitely wants in your pants.”
I scoff and shake my head. “You’re both being ridiculous. Tyler knows the score. He knows I’m not interested.”
Grayson and Dom share a look that says they’re not having a word of it. “I’m not even going to justify this conversation any longer.” I hold my hand out. “Pass me the pizzas and I’ll get them in the oven.”
Chapter 10
THREE HOURS LATER, everyone is dressed to kill and ready to hit town. It’s cold out tonight, so I’ve opted for black pleather trousers, heels and a pale pink wrap top.
“You’re sure you’ll be okay here on your own?” I ask Tyler, who is sitting on the sofa with a can of lager in his hands.
He raises his can. “I’ll be fine. I’ve got lager and food and x-box. What more do I need?”
I chew on my lip. “Okay, but you’ll ring if anyone turns up?”
He nods. “Yep.”
“He said he’s fine, Ev,” Grayson says, taking my hand in his. “Come on, everyone’s waiting to go.”
Tyler shoo’s us with his hand. “Go, I’m good. Have a good night.”
I allow Grayson to pull me outside where the others are waiting. I feel bad leaving him in the house alone when we are all going off having a good time.
“He’s a big boy who can take care of himself,” Grayson whispers into my ear as he places an arm around my waist.
I nod my head. “I know.” I plaster on a smile. “Okay, let’s go.”
We meet Courtney and Jake at the tram station. They are busy locking lips when we arrive and Owen wolf whistles. “Get a room.”
Jake and Courtney pull apart, and she pulls her tongue out at Owen. They are already used to his humour.
Twenty minutes later we reach town and pile off the tram. We head to the northern quarter first and hit a few bars before we take a taxi to a club. The place is busy when we arrive, but we don’t queue for long thanks to Courtney’s cousin working the bar there, who has got us on the guest list. She’s even reserved a booth for us. The girls and I pour over the cocktail menu and make our choices, leaving the guys to head off and get our drinks.
“Those two guys over there are staring at you,” Ems tells me, nudging my arm. I follow her eyes to where two guys stand over by the seating area on the other side of the dance floor. They look about early twenties and one has a tattoo all the way up his neck. They both look away when they catch us watching them.
“I think they are looking at all of us, and so they should,” I say with a shrug of my shoulders. “We are all looking gorgeous tonight, ladies.”
“I’ll drink to that,” Grayson says as he slides into the seat beside me and hands me my cocktail. He hands Ems water, and she pouts at him.
I roll my eyes at him. “Grayson, she’s sixteen.”
“And?” he replies flatly. His tone of voice tells me nothing will change his mind. I wink at Ems, I will grab her a drink later when he is distracted. We sip on our cocktails and then Courtney insists us girls hit the dance floor. We weave through until we find a spot and start dancing. It felt good after the horror of the last couple of months to just let our hair down and be teenagers, having fun. We dance until my bladder screams at me for release. I shout into Ems ear that I’m going to the bathroom and leave them there.
I say a prayer of thanks in my head when I see that the queue for the ladies is not that long. After relieving my bladder, I touch up my lipstick and head back outside to find the girls but I stop in my tracks when a da
rk shadow falls over me and I look up to find the two guys from earlier that Ems had insisted were staring at me.
“Hey guys, can I squeeze past,” I say, feigning a bravery I do not feel inside.
They both stand shoulder to shoulder, blocking my path. The one with the tattoo on his neck shakes his head. “Someone wants a word with you.”
My heart hammers in my chest. How do I get myself out of this? “And who might that be?” I ask, keeping my tone casual.
The other one with the dark brown hair grabs my arm just below the elbow and drags me down the dark corridor away from the club.
“Get your hands off me!” I hiss, pulling and trying to get free. He doesn’t budge though, and we get closer and closer to a door that I fear will take us outside and away from the safety of the club. The metal door pushes open and we’re in a small alleyway up the side of the club, littered with large bins and empty cardboard boxes. My heart stills in my chest when they pull me towards a car, with its door open. I dig my heels into the ground and go to scream, but the tattooed guy places a hand over my mouth, silencing me as I’m bundled into the car. The door is swiftly closed behind me and I look around me in panic. My eyes land on a man, sitting opposite me in a leather jacket and jeans. He has dark piercing eyes and a wicked scar above his left eye. I swallow, I’d never met Danny Doyle, but I know without a doubt that this is who is sitting across from me. He raps his knuckles on the window and whoever is driving the car pulls off and my eyes widen in panic.
“What are you doing? Let me out of this car now!” I frantically try the door, but it is of course locked.
“Everly Taylor. That is your name, isn’t it?”
I sit up straight in my seat and raise my chin, feigning a bravery I do not feel inside. “Depends whose asking?”
Danny smiles. “I think you know perfectly well who I am, so let’s skip the games. Your little boyfriend owes me money.”
I hesitate, unsure whether to admit I know who he is talking about or not. “And who exactly do you think is my boyfriend?”
Danny’s eyes narrow. “Why Tyler Kingston, of course.”
I fold my arms across my chest as a defence mechanism. “Tyler isn’t my boyfriend. I’m not sure who told you he is, but they’re wrong.”
Danny pulls out his phone and scrolls across the screen with his finger. “So this isn’t you?”
I lean slightly forward and look at his screen. My eyes widen when I see a photo of Tyler and I standing close together, he’s looking down at me with a look on his face that smacks of desire and want. It was taken the night when I first went home and we’d gone to the house party with Courtney. I compose myself and lean back in my seat.
“Like I said, he’s not my boyfriend. Ty is a friend and nothing more. I have a boyfriend, his name is Grayson. Check my phone if you don’t believe me.”
Danny studies my face for a few seconds before he replies. “Makes no difference. It’s clear from the photo, that you two are close, so I’m sure he wouldn’t want anything bad to happen to you.”
A shiver runs down my spine, making the hairs on my arms stand to attention. “He doesn’t have the money.”
“Then he’d better find it quick.” He holds his hands out to me. “Your phone princess, now.”
Grayson
I finish the last of my drink and head down to the dance floor to find my girl. She looks hot tonight in those tight trousers and that top that shows off her tits. I mean, she always looks stunning, but tonight even more so. I weave my way through the crowded dance floor until I find the girls, but Manchester isn’t with them.
“Where is she?” I shout into Izzy’s ear.
Izzy leans into me. “She went to the ladies a while ago. I’d presumed she was with you.”
I frown. “Can you check the ladies?”
Izzy nods and she shouts into Ems ear before we leave her and Courtney to go and look for Ev.
I follow Izzy to the toilets and hang around outside. A blonde comes out of the toilets looking a little worse for wear and she lingers when she spots me outside. Her eyes drink me in from head to toe. Don’t waste your energy, darling, I think to myself. I avert my eyes and she gets the message and stumbles down the corridor back to the busy club.
The door bangs open and Izzy comes back out, shaking her head. “She’s not in there. Maybe she’s at the bar.”
“You go check out the bar and I’ll head back to our booth in case she’s made it over there while we were looking for her.”
Izzy nods and we head off in different directions. Something doesn’t feel right. I don’t believe in all that intuition crap, but there is a niggling feeling in my gut that something is wrong. My stomach sinks when I spot our booth and see that she isn’t there.
“Hey Dom, has Ev been back over here?”
Dom looks up, cutting off his conversation with Jake and Owen, and shakes his head. “No mate. Is everything okay?”
I run a hand through my hair and shrug my shoulders. “Yeah, I just can’t find Manchester anywhere.”
Dom must see my concern as he stands to his feet and offers to come and help look for her. Izzy comes up to us and Ev isn’t with her. “She isn’t at the bar,” Izzy says. “Maybe we should split up and look for her?”
I nod. “You take that side of the club,” I point Dom in the direction of the entrance to the club. “Izz, you take the dance floor and I’ll work my way round this side and over to the bar.” I lean down to speak to Owen. “If Ev comes back here, can you keep her here until I get back?”
Owen nods. “I’m sure she’s fine, G. She’s probably bumped into someone she knows.”
I nod and take off. I hope he is right, but it isn’t like her to just go off on her own and not let anyone know where she is. I prowl the booths and the edge of the club right around to the bar, but my girl is nowhere to be seen. Okay, now I’m worried. I head back over to the booth and both Dom and Izzy are back and she isn’t with them.
“Nothing?”
Dom shakes his head. “No. She isn’t here, Gray. Have you tried ringing her?”
I sigh. “Why hadn’t I thought of that?” I pull out my phone and dial her number, but it goes straight to voicemail, which deepens my worry. She always has her phone on, even at night when she was asleep. “It’s switched off.”
Izzy chews on her lip. “This isn’t like her. She wouldn’t go off on her own. What if she’s been roofied?”
‘Stay here,” I order. “I’m going to speak with one of the bouncers.”
I head off through the club and make my way to the entrance. I ask the two door men manning the front if they’ve seen a girl meeting her description leaving, but they both shake their heads. Who am I kidding? People were coming and going out of here all night as if they are going to notice one girl.
I head back to the booth. Where the fuck was my girl?
“Nothing?” Dom asks me and I shake my head.
Jakes phone rings and he pulls it out of his pocket and answers it. “Hello.Grayson? Yeah sure, hold on.” Looking up with a deep frown, he holds out the phone to me.
“Yeah, who is this?” I ask, not recognising the voice.
“It’s Tyler. Grayson, you need to get back here, something’s happened.”
The panic in his voice stills my heart. “What’s going on Tyler?” I demand.
“They have Taylor. The people I owe money to, they’ve taken her.”
“Fuck!” I exclaim, clenching my fists and wanting to wreak havoc on something, anything.
“You better pray they don’t harm a hair on her head. I’m on my way.”
Fuck, fuck, fuck!
“We need to go,” I announce. “Doyle’s got Everly. He’s made contact with Tyler.”
“Shit,” Dom swears, looking pale.
“Oh crap,” Courtney adds, her face ashen.
WE ARRIVE BACK AT THE house and I storm in there and find Tyler pacing up and down the living room. I don’t give him a chance to open his mou
th before I have him pinned up against the wall.
“Where the fuck is she?” I hiss. I am raging mad. This is all his fault. I said he was bringing trouble to her door.
Dom comes up beside me and with his hands on my shoulders he tries to pull me away from Tyler.
“You better start talking now,” I bark. I am done being civil. I will kill him if they harm one hair on her head.
Tyler to be fair looks worried sick. “Danny Doyle called me about half an hour ago. Said he had something important to me and then he put her on the phone. They have Taylor. They must have taken her from the club.”
‘We need to ring the police,’ Emily insists, and both Tyler and I say no at the same time.
I shake my head. ‘If we involve the police, we only put her in more danger.” I turn my attention back to the scumbag before me. “What did he say?”
Tyler swallows. “They want the money before morning, in cash or Everly will pay.”
“Pay,” Izzy repeats. “What do you mean, pay?” Her voice is pitched with hysteria and worry.
Tyler shrugs. “They might knock her around a bit.”
Dom sees that I’m about to explode and he steers me out of the room into the kitchen.
“I want to fucking kill him,” I seethe. I was so fucking mad.
‘I know mate, me too, but right now we need to concentrate on getting Ev back to us, safe and sound.”
I nod. “I can get the money. I still have some left over from the sale of my car. Shit.” I groan as I realise a slight snag in my plan. “I can’t get that amount though until the bank opens though.”
Dom rubs a hand across his face. “Let’s see if we can club enough together if we all empty our accounts.”
I’m glad he is here thinking rationally because I am not able to right now.
I follow him back into the living room and I listen to him tell the others what we need to do.
“I have about five hundred in my account,” Izzy announces.
Courtney winces. “I wish I had that kind of money. I have about sixty quid.”
“Owen?” I ask, feeling deflated.
