by Nicola Jane
“No one’s getting through here,” he repeats like a robot.
“Relax,” I hiss. “We just wanted to check he was okay.”
“Get your fuckin’ hands off me,” growls Gia. “Nobody manhandles me.” Blu releases her
and sits back on his stool calmly. “Is that how you get your kicks, Blu? Pushing women around?” He ignores her and she glares at him in disbelief.
“Is he okay, Blu?” I ask and he nods his head once.
“Jeez, what is with you? You’re so mechanical. Do you feel anything?” asks Gia coldly.
“It’s fine. Can I leave him this water?” I ask and Blu shakes his head. “He’ll need a drink. Please.”
“Look,” says Gia with a sigh. “I’m sure deep down you’re a nice guy. A little odd, but nice. Riggs isn’t thinking straight. If anything happens to Chains, he’ll regret it. We want to prevent that happening, so be a doll and give him the water.” She runs her tongue over her lower lip and holds out the water for Blu to take. When he doesn’t move, she steps closer and presses it against his chest while resting a manicured hand on his knee.
Blu’s eyes fix on her hand. His nostrils flare, and for a second, his eyes fill with heat, but it’s quickly replaced with anger. He takes her hand and removes it from him. “Don’t touch me,” he growls.
“Anyone ever tell you that you’re weird as fuck,” she mutters. I follow Gia back into the main room. “My god, he’s hot,” she groans.
“You said he’s weird,” I point out.
“He is but also very hot. That broody thing he’s got going on makes me want to fuck him senseless. He’s so big, he could throw me around the bed with ease.” I laugh, shaking my head at her wanton behaviour. If Vinn heard her speak like this, he’d lock her in a tower like Rapunzel.
CHAINS
Being dragged from Leia’s room in the early hours of the morning wasn’t on my to-do list today. My own brothers were following orders from their Pres, but it doesn’t make me feel any better. I always wondered what it felt like to be down here like so many men who we tortured and killed. Being alone for hours in the dark gives you time to think of all the shit you ever did wrong and, fuck, have I done some shit.
The smell of blood lingers and I can taste the metallic tinge in my mouth. Riggs used knuckle dusters for the second beating and my ribs feel shattered, but it’s the smell that bothers me the most. I don’t know if it’s my own blood or the blood of hundreds before me soaked into the limestone walls, but the faces of everyone we’ve ever kept down here haunt me.
Light bathes the room as the door opens and I tense. Riggs makes his way into the room, pulling on the cord light. A yellow bulb flickers on and Riggs pulls a stool and sits himself in front of me.
“I’ve never had to put any of my men down here,” he mutters, glancing around the damp room. “You’ll be pleased to know that you’ve had lots of people come try and visit you today, like it’s a fuckin’ hospital stay. I had to put Blu on the door cos he’s the only man I can trust right now. Can you imagine that? All these men and I can only trust the one who came from a club I had to break up because they were raping and selling women.”
“All time low,” I mutter.
“You watched her grow up, man,” he mutters. “Were you always looking at her like that?”
“No,” I say defensively. “Fuck, Riggs, you know me. You know I ain’t like that.”
“I thought I knew you. I thought I knew Cree and Anna and my own fuckin’ sister!” he snaps. “Turns out I knew shit.”
“I tried to ignore it. But it became like a compulsion. It was too hard to stay away.”
His fist dashes out and catches my jaw. Pain shoots through my already sore head, but I shake it off. “The women are sitting up there like a bunch of witches, looking at me like I’m the bad guy. My own men are scuttling off whenever I come into the room. I don’t know who lied and who kept your dirty secret, but I feel like their alliance is with you over me. Why the fuck should I let you live?” he growls.
“Because I love her, man. I’ll spend my life making her happy.” His fist crashes against my skull again, and this time, I can’t hold in the anger. “Fuck, Riggs! At least untie me and fight me like a fucking man,” I hiss.
It was the wrong thing to say and a barrage of punches land on my body. “It doesn’t work like that,” he yells. “But that’ll come. Right before I put a bullet in your fuckin’ sneaky head,” he shouts.
I spit blood onto the floor and my mouth refills quickly. “If you’re gonna kill me, Riggs, then just do it. The longer you leave me tied up here, the more chance I have of breaking free, and once I get outta this, I’m taking her.”
“You’re not to touch her ever again. I’ll die before I accept that you and she are together.”
“Your choice, but we’ll be together,” I insist. “I kept my mouth shut for too long. I chose the club over her and it was wrong. I’ll spend my life making it right again.” Riggs shakes his head and begins to lay into me again.
Chapter Sixteen
Leia
Blu stares into my eyes as I wince at the sound of flesh being hit. A tear runs down my cheek and I turn to leave. I can’t get past Blu and no amount of pleading will convince his cold, dead heart to let me down there to break up Riggs and Chains.
I break out into the parking lot and suck in a lung full of fresh air. The stench coming from the basement was putrid. “Leia,” shouts Tiny, one of the prospects. “This man’s here to see you. I can’t let him in, Riggs left strict instructions.”
I head over to the gate. It’s Ryan and he’s holding a huge bunch of roses. “Hey,” he says warily.
“Ryan.” I’m surprised he’s shown up here like this with no text or call. He doesn’t look as angry as he did the last time I saw him.
“I just wanted to give you these and apologise for my outrageous behaviour. I’m so ashamed of myself. It’s not like me to be so cruel.”
“Okay, thanks,” I say. “It was understandable, considering everything.”
“You want to grab a coffee?” he asks hopefully. “Just friends.”
“I’m not supposed to go out,” I begin as I look back at the clubhouse. There’s no one around and Tiny is playing fetch with Diesel over the other side of the yard. “But I need a break from this place,” I add. I tug open the gate and slip out. Ryan smiles and hands me the flowers. “Just a quick one,” I add.
We round the corner and Ryan points his key fob at a white van and unlocks it. “There’s a place that’s two minutes from here,” I say, confused as to why he’d need the van.
“Sure. Let’s put the flowers in the van and I’ll give them to you when we come back,” he says. I wait while he fiddles in the van for a second. When he turns back round, he smirks. It throws me for a second and then his hand goes over my mouth. He presses a rag over my face and fumes fill my nose and mouth. I cough, but it makes it worse. My body begins to fall and I slump against him. I feel myself being lifted and then dumped into the back of the van, but my limbs feel so heavy that I can’t do anything about it. The hard floor digs into my back and then everything goes black.
“Wake up, beautiful.” I’m doused in cold water. I sit up, sucking in air while choking on water. I wipe my eyes and see Ryan standing above me, smiling like a maniac.
“What’s going on?” I splutter. “What the hell did you do to me?”
“I had plans for us,” he says. “I can’t let you ruin them, Leia.”
I glance around the room. It’s clean but small, and a single bed sits under a window that’s boarded closed so there’s no natural light. A heavy chain is attached to a metal cuff on my ankle and fastened by a bolt in the wall. “I don’t understand,” I mutter.
“Aww, poor little princess. It’s simple really. I’m doing what’s best for you and the baby.”
I chew on my lower lip and blink away the tears that threaten to fall. “And that’s what exactly?”
“I’m going
to wait for the baby to get stronger and then I’m going to take it.” I shuffle back on the bed in panic until I’m against the wall. Ryan smiles calmly. “You’re going to be fine. I’m a doctor.”
I wipe my wet cheek. “Take it how?”
“Let’s not worry about the details. Get some rest and I’ll make us some lunch.”
I stare at the closed door after he leaves. He didn’t lock it, but I’m on a chain so I can’t go anywhere. I examine the metal cuff—it’s solid. I stand on the bed and feel around the sheet of hardwood screwed into the window frame. There’re no gaps. If I could unscrew the screws, maybe I could scream for help. I have no idea where we are or how long Ryan drove for. I begin to panic and my chest tightens, so I sit back down and breathe in deeply, releasing it slowly.
When Ryan returns, I’m calmer. He lays a tray on the end of the bed and then goes to get a stool. He proceeds to lay out a picnic cloth on the end of the bed and carefully spreads out the plates of sandwiches and snacks. “I thought you’d like a picnic,” he says.
“I’m not sure I can eat anything right now,” I mutter. His behaviour is so calm, it unsettles me more.
He suddenly looks troubled and leans over to feel my forehead. “Umm, you don’t feel like you have a temperature.”
“I think I might be stressed,” I say carefully.
“Stressed? What do you have to be stressed about?” he scoffs and my eyes widen. He’s clearly mad. “Try having a mother who is ridiculously needy and a pregnant girlfriend.”
“You have a pregnant girlfriend?” I ask.
He falters. “I did. Never mind.”
I wake with a start. The only sound in the room is my heavy breathing. It must have been a nightmare because I can’t possibly be here with Ryan. I look around the room, the realisation hitting me hard. The flowers he brought me earlier are arranged on the table in a child’s plastic bucket.
I climb out of bed and carefully open the door. I have no idea what the time is and there are no gaps giving away the light from around the window in my room. The chain clunks as I stretch it as far as it will go, allowing me to stick my head out of the bedroom door. There’s a passage leading to some stairs, but they are too far away for me to see what lies beyond. Other than that, the passage is empty—no other doors, no pictures, not even a small table. I hear footsteps and I rush back to the bed and lie down, closing my eyes tightly.
“It’s good to hear you up and about, my love,” he says. “Don’t pretend to sleep on my account.”
“How long have I been here?” I ask. “Where am I?”
“A few hours. A place that’s fit for a child,” he says with a smile.
“I have four months left. You can’t keep me here for four months,” I say. “People will come looking for me.”
“I’m going to leave the baby as long as I can. The longer she’s in you, the better.”
I cry out in frustration. “What do you mean and how do you know it’s a girl?”
“It’s a feeling I get. I knew you came into my life for a reason, and she is the reason,” he says happily. “She was a sign.”
I pinch the bridge of my nose. “We met because of college.”
“But I was drawn to you, Leia, and I didn’t know why, but God had a plan, I see that now. All my pain, it was killing me, and then I saw you and the fog lifted. Now, you’re bringing me a baby girl.”
I begin to cry because I can’t hold it in any longer. His ramblings both confuse and scare me. “You’re wrong. God took me to Chains and gave us a baby, not you.”
Ryan’s face darkens. “That’s why you could never be her mother. You don’t want the best for her like I do. You’ll poison her.”
“I am her mother. I’ll always be her mother and I’ll do anything to protect her. You try and take her and I’ll kill you.”
He smirks. “My love, that’s not possible. With him on my side . . . ” He pauses and points to the ceiling. “I can do whatever I need to do.”
“Let me get this straight,” I say as calmly as possible. “You’ve taken me because you want to take my child from me.”
“You’re getting it,” he says.
“You want to remove her from me, take her from my womb before I go into labour?” He nods and I begin to hyperventilate. “Why can’t you wait until she’s born?”
“Because the date is August twenty-eighth.”
“But that’s only a month away,” I screech.
“Relax. I’m a doctor. I know what to do.”
He leaves the room, I glance around for the hundredth time, looking for anything to get me out of here. I take some deep breaths and feel my heart slow. I have to get my shit together if I want to get out of here alive with my baby.
CHAINS
My breathing is shallow. There’s a whistling sound with every exhale and I know from previous experience I’ve punctured a lung. “You think she’d want this?” I whisper.
“Shut the fuck up,” snaps Riggs. He’s tired, I see it in his face and the way he slouches against the wall, dangling a whiskey bottle between his legs.
“She’s carrying your niece or nephew,” I continue, knowing that it might be my last words if I keep pushing him. “You want this kid to grow up without a father?”
“Why are you still talking?” he growls.
“You know she’ll hate you forever. She’ll have to tell my kid that I died at the hands of you, it’s fuckin’ uncle.”
“I’m warning you,” he hisses.
The door opens and Cree walks in. “Fuck,” he mutters when he sees me. “Blu said you wanted to see me,” he says to Riggs.
“Finish him,” he mutters and Cree glances at me. “You want to prove I can trust you again, VP, fuckin’ end him.”
Cree rubs his stubble thoughtfully. “It won’t be a kill like the others, Pres,” he says. “This’ll haunt you forever.”
“Stop talking and get on with it.” Riggs throws a knife at Cree’s feet and he stares down at it.
“Anna’s up there having pains,” says Cree.
Riggs laughs to himself. “Like last night’s pains?”
“I think this is the real thing. She refused to let me get you, saying you’d say she was lying.”
“Get on with this and then I can go to her,” snaps Riggs.
Cree picks up the knife. “Man, we been through some tough times.” He sighs. “You remember that time in Kabul? That bomb went off and we thought you’d gone, brother,” he says to Riggs. “Chains wouldn’t stop looking for you, said he’d feel it if you were dead.”
Flashbacks of me looking through dead soldiers’ bodies flickers through my mind. I looked for a solid hour. I ignored the commands of my sergeant because I knew Riggs was still there somewhere. I was right—we found his unconscious body under two men. “He carried you on his back for miles,” says Cree.
“I know what you’re trying to do and it isn’t gonna work. He betrayed me.” Riggs drinks the last of the bottle, then throws it across the room. It shatters. “I’ll do it myself,” he snaps, pushing to stand.
“Tell Leia I’m sorry,” I say to Cree. “And I love her. I always did.”
“Shut the hell up,” yells Riggs, gripping my throat and squeezing.
Panic flashes in Cree’s eyes. He desperately wants to stop Riggs, but he’s torn between friendship and loyalty. I smile to reassure him. I knew it was a risk when I did what I did, and if this is my time, then I’ll take it. I’ve made my peace with it.
“Riggs,” yells Anna from the doorway. Blu is blocking her path. “I need you.”
“I’m busy,” he yells, but his grip loosens slightly.
“I swear to god, Blu, if you don’t get the fuck outta my way, I’m gonna beat you. How will that look to everyone, a pregnant woman kicking your ass?” she yells. Cree moves to the door and says something in a low voice to Blu. He steps aside and Anna marches in. I see the slight falter in her step when she sets eyes on me, but she brushes it off and then doub
les over in pain, panting hard and squeezing her eyes shut. “I’m in labour,” she hisses.
Riggs puts his hands on his hips and watches her sceptically. “Like last night?”
“No, not like last night,” she hisses through gritted teeth, groaning and rubbing her stomach. “You’d better take me seriously, Finn James, because I am having this baby.”
“Then get comfy and when I’m done here, I’ll call the hospital.”
“I’m serious, Riggs. This isn’t a false alarm.” She doubles over again and cries out.
Cree gently rubs her lower back. “Man, she ain’t messing. She’s burning up,” he says.
“After last night’s performance, I don’t fucking believe her,” snaps Riggs. “Call the doctor, he can come here.”
Anna gets on all fours and rocks back and forth, making funny groaning and panting noises while we all watch warily.
“Riggs, get her to the hospital. I’ll still be here when you get back. Maybe you can come up with a more inventive way to kill me,” I mutter.
“It’s too late,” hisses Anna. “I’m not going anywhere—this baby is coming.” She pants through another pain. “Cree, get Eva and Frankie now. And a towel. Or blanket or something.”
“Great performance, darlin’, but we’re a little busy right now,” says Riggs.
“Shut the fuck up, you moron!” she snaps. “You said you were gonna try and make shit up to me and here I am on my fuckin’ knees in the basement of death.” She cries out again. “I’m gonna have a baby in this cesspit,” she wails. Anna lifts her skirt slightly and pulls her knickers down, slipping them from her ankles.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” snaps Riggs. “What the hell, Anna?”
“You want me to give birth in my underwear? Have you ever done sex ed?”
“Chains is sitting right here,” he growls.
“I’m happy to leave at any time,” I butt in. “Just cut these ropes.”
“You’re not going anywhere. Anna, get up. I’ll take you to the hospital,” says Riggs.
