“You. . .you mean you were going to murder Duke and his friends but you didn’t because you thought I’d be upset?”
“Yes. Was I wrong? Sometimes I get these things wrong. Understanding others emotions aren’t my strong suit. I find it hard to care about people. You’re an exception.”
Lucky her.
Actually, it was lucky her, she realized. Because if he didn’t care about her then Duke and the others. . .
“You’re the Fox,” she whispered as it hit her.
“The one and only.” He smiled gently.
“You were hired to kill the senator.” She put her hand over her tummy, feeling ill.
“Ahh. . .yes. That upsets you?”
“That you’re going to kill the senator? Well, yeah.”
“Why?” He frowned. “He’s a nasty piece of work. Buys underage girls, ties them up and rapes them. I recently discovered where it is that he takes them to play with them. I took out the pimp who has been supplying him with the girls and now all that’s left is to take care of the senator and his bodyguards. They’re both in on it, you see.”
“You’re an assassin.”
“Well, yes. See, there’s not many jobs where you can make good money when your moral compass is slightly warped.”
Slightly warped.
“I mean, I guess I could murder for the fun of it. . .but no, I get a strange sense of satisfaction in taking out rapists and murderers. And this way, I get paid.”
He didn’t seem to count himself as a murderer.
“You only kill rapists and murderers?” she asked, trying to understand him. Although she had a feeling it would take someone far smarter than her to figure out the Fox.
“Ahh, well, I’m not saying I was always so picky about what jobs I took. But it’s more of a hobby now, so I can pick and choose. The senator is dark and evil on the inside while pretending to be moral and upstanding on the outside. He hurts young girls. He doesn’t deserve to live now, does he? I’m sure your Duke would agree with me. Along with his friends. It’s strange, I couldn’t work out their motivation for watching him in the beginning. That’s why I became Marv. I needed to gather some information on them before I acted. Wasn’t sure if they were trying for more blackmail material on him, or if they wanted a cut of the action. I was shocked to find out that they were trying to take him out. And for no financial gain.” He shook his head.
“They’re good guys.”
“Oh, I’m not so sure about that.” He studied her. “But you, Sunny. You are good. You saw me when I was just an old, homeless man. Most people walked straight past me. You tried to help. You cared. And in the end, that’s what saved all of you. I’m sparing them for you, Sunny.”
What did she even say to that? To say she was confused about the Fox was an understatement. On the one hand, he was an assassin for hire, his moral compass completely off and he seemed to have some psychopathic tendencies.
But on the other hand, he’d made this room to make her feel more comfortable. He’d rescued her from Horse and Rory. He was drawing the guys away from the senator to keep them safe. Even if by doing that, he’d kidnapped and scared the shit out of her.
“What. . .what happens now?”
“Well. I’ve got to go kill a senator. Not every day you get to say that. Although this isn’t my first senator. Popped that cherry a while ago. There’s a bathroom through there.” He shook his head. “I couldn’t believe it when those two idiots got to you before me.” His face zeroed in on her face. “They paid for hurting you. I don’t like anyone hurting you.”
He reached out as though to touch her face.
“You’re kind of scaring me a little,” she whispered, hoping like hell she didn’t piss him off.
Something strange crossed his face. Sadness? That couldn’t be right. “Yes, I have that effect on people.”
She swallowed heavily. “Who hired you to kill the senator?”
“Ahh, sweet girl, you know that’s confidential. I have to go now.” He stood and put the chair back. “Use the bathroom. Sleep. I wouldn’t advise trying to escape. You’ll just wear yourself out. There’s a small fridge in the bathroom with water and food. If Duke doesn’t find you by morning, I have arranged for you to be released by lunchtime. Goodbye, Sunny.”
“Wait.” She stood. “I. . .umm. . .how did you know about all this?” She waved her hand around. She hadn’t been going to ask that, but she wasn’t quite sure what she wanted to say to him. It would be weird to thank her kidnapper.
Right?
“I bugged the tattoo parlor. Some interesting things went on there.”
He winked at her and she blushed. Holy. Shit.
“How did you manage that?”
“That wasn’t so difficult. You see I always wanted to get a tattoo on my back.”
On his back? “You were a client?”
“Your biker does do good work. I’ll give him that.”
He turned away.
“Marv. . .I mean, Fox, whatever your name is.”
He turned back.
Oh, screw it. “This is weird and I don’t know how I feel about you. But I do know that Horse and Rory would have killed me. So thank you.”
“You’re welcome, sweet girl.” Then he opened the door and left. She attempted to open the door. Locked. She looked across at the other door and dashed over to use the bathroom. After going to the toilet and washing her hands, she studied herself in the mirror. She grimaced at the red mark on her cheekbone and her disheveled appearance.
Oh well, it wasn’t every day you got kidnapped twice. A giggle escaped her and she slammed her hand over her mouth.
No point in getting hysterical. You should try to escape. She glanced around the small bathroom. No window. No way out.
She searched through the bathroom. For what, she had no idea. But all she found was some soap, some bubble bath and extra toilet paper.
All good things to have, she supposed. She moved into the bedroom and systematically searched her way through it. There was no secret hidden door or lock-picking kit. Not that the door even had a lock. It must have a deadbolt on the other side.
She didn’t exactly know how to pick a lock anyway.
Exhaustion filled her as she made her way to the bed. She bent and studied the bookshelf, pulling out a copy of Alice in Wonderland. She looked it over. It was a beautiful version and it looked old. Opening it, she gasped as she saw it was a first edition.
Holy hell.
So, okay, the invasion of privacy was disturbing. He’d bugged the tattoo shop for goodness sake. She blushed as she thought of everything he might have heard.
And yet, he’d bought her this.
He’s a killer, Sunny. He would have murdered Duke and the others just because they were in his way.
But he didn’t. For her.
Disturbing and yet she couldn’t quite bring herself to be as horrified as she thought she should be.
“Maybe I’m still in shock,” she muttered as she moved to the bed and sat, opening the book. A card fluttered out. On the one side was the image of a Fox’s head. On the other side was a phone number. And a small, handwritten note.
In case you ever need me.
Maybe she was the one with a few brain cells missing. But she found herself kind of liking the guy. She opened the book and started to read.
24
If she wasn’t here, he was going to fucking lose it. He was holding on by a thread as it was. It was nearly sunrise.
If the Fox fucking hurt her. . .
“Easy, man. We need to do some recon first.” Reyes placed his hand on Duke’s shoulder. Squeezing.
“Easy? How can I be easy? He sent us on a fucking goose chase for hours. Five places. Each time another stupid fucking note from him with another fucking clue. Guy’s a fucking nutcase. I’m going murder him. What if he’s. . .”
Hurt her.
He swallowed heavily.
“Don’t say it,” Reyes told him. “Don�
�t even think it. Sunny will be all right.”
She better fucking be. He didn’t know what the point of this fucking was. Taking her. Sending them chasing around the city, looking for her. First, they’d gone to a bar called the Fox and the Ferret, then a stripper joint called Foxies, then a popular nightclub called Fox’s Hole. Fucking bastard thought he was hilarious.
At each place another of the Fox’s fucking notes had been given to him. Delivered by nameless, faceless little pricks who had brushed past and tucked them into his pocket. He’d managed to catch hold of the last messenger, but he’d was just a kid and he hadn’t been able to give them any information. He’d been handed the job by a nondescript looking guy who’d paid cash and given them a description of Duke so they’d know who to give the note to.
The last set of directions had been different. A set of co-ordinates leading to what looked to be an abandoned cabin about an hour out of the city.
“I’m never fucking letting her out of my sight again.”
The house was in the middle of nowhere. Surrounded by woods on three sides, it was quiet and ominous. Dawn was just streaking across the sky, making his gut tighten further.
They needed to find her.
A low whistle sounded giving them the all-clear. He jogged his way up to the front door, jiggling the door handle.
Locked.
Drawing back, he was about to ram it, when Reyes grasped hold of his arm. “Wait. Thing’s made of steel. There’s no getting in that way.”
“I’ve checked all the windows. Bars on all of them,” Razor called out.
Bars on the windows? A steel door? How the fuck would they get in? He looked around, noting the unusual number of potted flowers on the small porch.
“Check under the pots,” he said urgently.
“What?” Razor asked.
“Under the flower pots. Sunny used to keep her keys to her house under a flower pot on her porch. The key to here might be under one.”
“Here!” Jason held up a set of keys he’d found under a pot.
Fuck. It was disturbing to realize that the Fox had been watching her that closely. How had Duke not noticed him? How had he failed so spectacularly to keep her safe?
Never again. If he had to tie her to him to keep her safe, he would.
Jason unlocked the door. Reyes and Spike grabbed Duke when he would have stormed inside. He growled at them both, trying to shove their hold off.
“Hold it together, Duke,” Reyes said quietly. “Let Jason check the place first, make sure it’s not a trap.”
Jason was ex-military. It was probably a good call but it still chafed to stand back and wait.
Razor was behind them all, watching their backs.
“Clear,” Jason called.
Spike and Reyes immediately let him go and he strode in. “Where is she? Is she not here?”
“There’s another locked door back here. Steel again. There’s a deadbolt on this side,” Jason called out urgently.
He rushed over to him just as Jason unlocked the door, opening it. He stepped inside the dark room.
Duke pulled out his phone, turning on the flashlight. He ran it around the room. What was this fucking place? It looked like a kid’s bedroom.
Or a Little’s play space.
Finally, someone found the light switch. His gaze immediately settled on the bed. And the sight of a figure lying on top of it, her dark-blonde hair spilling out across the white coverlet.
“Sunny!” he yelled out. Oh God, she was so still. Had he killed her? Had they gotten there too late?
“Sunny!” he roared. He didn’t hear what the others were yelling at him as he dove towards her.
He picked her up and held her close. “No! Sunny!”
“Duke? Duke, what’s wrong? Oh God, what’s happened? Did someone die? Duke?”
Arms wrapped around him cradling him against her chest.
“Duke man! She’s alive. Stop it! She’s fucking alive!”
The words penetrated. Along with the fact that she was holding onto him. That she was talking to him. He pulled back abruptly, taking hold of her shoulders.
“You’re okay. You’re alive.” His breath was coming erratically. He still couldn’t believe he’d found her. He had her back.
She stared up at everyone. Then slowly, comprehension filled her face.
“Oh God, you thought I was dead. Duke, I’m fine. I promise.”
He started running his hands over her body. He needed to make sure for himself.
“Duke, really. I’m all right.”
“Did he hurt you? If he hurt you, I’ll fucking kill him.”
“He didn’t hurt me, I promise. He brought me here and then he left. I’m fine.”
“We should get going in case he comes back,” Reyes warned.
“He won’t come back here,” she said confidently, swinging her legs over the edge of the bed.
Duke placed his hand on her shoulder. “Don’t move.”
“Duke, really. He didn’t hurt me. He locked me in here and told me you guys were coming for me. That’s all.”
“Why don’t you think he’ll be back?” Ink asked, moving around the room. “What the fuck is this place?”
Sunny’s face grew red. “Ah, well, this is one of his safe houses. Apparently, he decorated it like this to make me feel more comfortable.”
“He created this room so when he fucking kidnapped you and locked you up you were more comfortable?” Duke asked.
“Um. Yeah. He’s a strange man. I think he might have some psychopathic tendencies. Or at least his brain doesn’t work the same way other people’s does. He has a warped sense of right and wrong. I think to him, kidnapping me and bringing me here was his way of keeping me safe. And all of you.”
“All of us?” Reyes asked. “Why the fuck would he care about us?”
“He doesn’t,” she said softly. “He cares about me and he knows killing you guys would hurt me.”
“What?” Duke barked. “Are you saying that he. . .that he. . .” He couldn’t get the words out.
“That he wants you?” Jason asked. “Has feelings for you?”
“They’re not normal feelings. I don’t think he’s attracted to me.” She frowned slightly. “I don’t know. He’s difficult to understand. He went into disguise as Marv—”
“Wait,” Duke barked. “The Fox is that old homeless guy?”
“Yes. And he was, uh, also one of your weekly clients.”
She winced as he swore.
“This can all wait,” Reyes barked. “Let’s get out of here. I don’t want to leave it up to chance that he won’t be back.”
Duke nodded. Much as he’d like to stay and wait for the Fox, Sunny was his priority. He reached down and picked her up.
“Wait.” She wiggled out of his arms. He set her feet down, but kept hold of her.
She picked up a book from the nightstand. He gave her a curious look as he picked her back up. He held her cradled against his chest, bridal style. The book rested in her lap.
“It’s a first edition Alice in Wonderland,” she told him. “I can’t leave it behind.”
He growled. “How the fuck did he know that was your favorite story?” How had he known that she was a Little? That she used to keep her housekeys under plants on her porch?
“He bugged the shop,” she told him as they moved out of the cabin. “And maybe our houses.”
“That fucking bastard, I’m going to kill him.”
“I know he shouldn’t have done any of it,” she told him. “But if he didn’t care about not upsetting me, you guys would all be dead. He would have killed you. I don’t like that he kidnapped me and held me, but he did rescue me from Horse and Rory.” She shuddered. “And they were going to hurt me. They were pissed about not being let into the Iron Shadows. Horse. . .he had this knife. . .” she trailed off, looking pensive and scared.
“You don’t have to worry about those assholes, he took care of them. They can’t h
urt you again.”
She let out a shuddering breath and nodded. “As wrong as Fox was for the way he went about things, he did save me.”
Duke still wanted to kill him. There were a lot of things that bastard could have done differently. But for now, he wouldn’t argue with her. He reached Ink’s bike and set her down. Fuck. He didn’t have a helmet for her. Or more clothing. He pulled off his leather jacket and helped her put it on. She smiled up at him, looking tiny in his big jacket.
He pulled her close, aware of everyone starting their bikes and waiting for them. “Don’t ever fucking do this to me again, understand? I was fucking terrified, chasing down each of that asshole’s clues, wondering if you were all right. I’m not fucking letting you leave my sight again, understand?”
She just hugged him tighter. “I love you too.”
25
Pleasure filled her.
She moaned as her clit was gently sucked. Her eyes fluttered as she floated in that place between consciousness and sleep.
A finger slid down her slit, pushing inside her and she sighed. Oh, yes. His tongue flicked at her clit as he added a second finger.
She groaned. “A girl could get used to waking up this way.” She attempted to touch him, to run her fingers through his hair. She frowned. She couldn’t move her arms, her hands were stuck above her head. Then she let out another groan as she realized why.
He’d tied her up.
Again.
To say Duke was having a few lingering issues from her being kidnapped was putting it mildly. Over a week had passed since he’d rescued her from the Fox’s safe house and he was sticking to his vow of not letting her out of his sight.
It was kind of cute.
Except when she needed to go to the bathroom.
Eventually, she knew she’d need her own space. However, for the moment she needed him nearby just as much as he had to be close.
But as well as sticking to her like glue, he’d ramped up his needs in the bedroom. The man was insatiable. And demanding. And she was loving every second of it.
After the guys had rescued her, they’d decided to all head to the compound, thinking it would be safer. She knew the Fox wouldn’t hurt them, but she hadn’t argued.
Motorcycle Daddy (MC Daddies Book 1) Page 24
