“No, no, no, no.” She sobbed as she fell to her knees by the side of the woman that laid on the floor. “Is she breathing? Is she alive?”
“No, Ashlyn. I’m sorry, she’s gone,” the Doc said.
“Noooooo!” She cried as she placed her head on the woman’s chest and all I saw was that familiar fiery red hair. “Please, Amber. Wake up, please,” Ashlyn begged. The whole room was silent as Ashlyn cried for her friend.
“We need to get her moved,” Rooster said quietly to me. I knew what he was asking, he was asking for me to move Ashlyn.
“Come on, darlin’,” I whispered as I bent down and pulled her up with my hands under her arms.
“No. No!” she screamed as she got out of my hold. She turned around until she was facing me. “This is your fault,” she growled, poking me in the chest with her finger. “If you had let me go when I wanted to, this wouldn’t have happened. She would still be alive. I’m the reason she’s dead and the reason why Henry’s face looks like that.” She pointed at Henry and we all glanced at him. He stood up straight and wiped at his eyes. Were they more than friends? I hadn’t picked up on that. “Why didn’t you let me go? Why?” She sobbed as she fell into my chest, gripping the sides of my t-shirt. I placed my hand on the back of her head and held her there as her tears soaked through my thin white t-shirt. I moved us to the side of the room as the guys carefully picked up Amber’s body, this couldn’t go on. We needed to get this sorted once and for all.
“I need to lie down,” Ashlyn whispered as she stepped back and looked over her shoulder to where Amber had been lying.
“They are getting ready to bury her.”
“What about her family? She should have a proper burial.”
“Her house is empty, everything has been packed up and there is no sign of anyone.”
“Oh.” Her head dipped as she turned around and headed back to our bedroom.
***
I sat at the bar when I heard Pipe calling out to Holes, my VP. I looked over my shoulder as he, Solar and Toes headed in my direction.
“VP.” I stood up as he shook my hand and slapped me on the back.
“Everything ok? Where’s Ashlyn?”
“She’s lying down.” I grabbed the bottle of whiskey that I had been drinking from and a couple of extra glasses and nodded my head towards a table in the back. I poured us each a shot and we downed them. I explained all about what had happened while we had been away and about Amber.
“She’s not doing so well.” I exhaled, rubbing my hand on my jaw.
“Let’s get this shit done. When do we leave?” Solar asked. I was surprised when I looked up to see that it was starting to get dark outside. I was about to answer when a commotion was coming from the clubhouse door.
“How stupid are you? He’ll kill you!” Drum boomed as he rounded the corner with his large hand tightly fisted around the top of Ashlyn’s arm. “Look who I found? Heading in the direction of that address she was given.”
“What the fuck!” I fumed as I stormed towards them, pulling Ashlyn out of Drum’s hold. “What were you thinking?” I shouted at her.
“That I want this to all be over!” she screamed back at me.
“It will be, very soon,” I promised her.
“Let’s ride!” Pipe shouted. “Everyone get in position. Drake and Ashlyn, you’ll leave in thirty minutes. Not a minute before.”
“Got it,” I said to him as I pulled Ashlyn into my side, kissing the top of her head. We stood by and watched Pipe, Rooster, Monkey, Drum, Henry, Solar, Toes and Holes climb onto their bikes and head away from the compound, splitting into two groups in case they were followed.
“What now?” Ashlyn asked.
“Now, we wait.” I held her against my body, praying that everything went smoothly and that I wasn’t about to have the most precious thing in my life taken away from me.
Chapter 19
Ashlyn
My body trembled as I climbed onto the back of Drake’s bike and secured my arms around his waist. He placed his hands on mine and gave them a squeeze. We already had our helmets on and our mics were turned on ready so we could talk.
“I love you, Drake.”
“No, don’t do that, it sounds like you’re getting ready to say goodbye.”
“No, just telling you how I feel. I’m so glad I met you. You make me happy.”
“You make me happy too, darlin’. Let’s get this shit dealt with so we can go back to Cornwall and make you officially my Old Lady.”
“I like the sound of that.” I squeezed him with my arms and he started the bike up. We slowly rode out of the compound and down the street, once we rounded the next corner I heard the distinct sound of bikes behind us.
“They’re following us,” he informed me. I closed my eyes and hoped to God that this would all be over very soon. “Shit, they’re gaining on us. Hold on tight, darlin’.” I squeezed my arms and thighs around him as the bike surged forwards. Last time we went for a ride, they stayed at a safe distance, why weren’t they doing that this time? Had they somehow found out our plan? I yelped as two bikes rode on either side of us, each one getting closer and closer.
“Dray, they’re going to crash into us!” I screamed.
“Hold on,” he muttered as the bike picked up speed once more, causing Drake to have to swerve in and out of traffic. I looked behind us to see that the bikes had backed off when we turned left onto a quieter road. “Nearly there, darlin’.”
“Drake!” I screamed at the top of my lungs when a white truck came out of nowhere and crashed into the front of Drake’s bike. We spun around in circles and I screamed as the bike flipped through the air, throwing us both off. I tried to hold onto Drake for as long as I could but it was like we were opposite sides of a magnet, repelling against each other. No matter how much I tried, I couldn’t hold on. I slammed to the ground, the wind being knocked out of me. I didn’t move, I couldn’t because I hurt everywhere. I tried looking around for Drake. Once I spotted him lying on the side of the road, not moving, I tried climbing to my feet only to be pulled to my feet and my helmet to be yanked off. I cried out in pain as my neck twisted.
“Hello, Ashlyn.” The one person I never wanted to see again was stood in front of me, with a devilish smirk on his face.
“No.” I sobbed, trying to pull my arm out of his grasp. “Drake!” I yelled for help and he still didn’t move. Why wasn’t he moving?
“Get her in the van!” Switch yelled as he pushed me towards someone else. Strong hands gripped my arms and I winced in pain.
“I’ll go, I’ll go with you. Just please call an ambulance for him first. Please, I won’t be any trouble,” I pleaded. Switch nodded at the bloke that was behind me and I sighed in relief as his grip disappeared. I watched as a tall, broad man dressed all in leather walked up to Drake and nudged him with his foot.
“He’s unconscious and bleeding out, boss.”
“He’s not going to make it, he’ll be dead before the ambulance gets here,” Switch said as he went to grab me again, I dodged him and ran towards Drake, falling beside him on my knees. I flipped open the visor on his helmet, his eyes were closed and he was cold.
“We can’t just leave him here.” I stroked my hand down his face as I saw Switch and the other bloke headed for me. There was no use in running anymore, I wouldn’t get far. “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry. I love you, Drake, I love you.”
***
Mason
“What the hell is taking so long? Shouldn’t they be here by now?” I asked Pipe as I glanced at my watch for the third time in five minutes. We were all waiting outside of an abandoned slaughterhouse. Our plan was to get Drake and Ashlyn to lead the Satan’s here so we could be rid of them once and for all. So Ashlyn didn’t have to keep looking over her shoulder every two minutes and so our families could get on with their lives without having to be on a constant lockdown. I wanted to be able to take my son to the park without three other brothers having to
come with us.
“I’ve got a bad feeling,” Drum added.
“No shit, Sherlock,” Toes said.
“Prez?” I asked. He glanced at his watch and then back to the road. It was deadly quiet, not even the sound of a bike in the distance.
“Rooster, Holes and Drum. You three head back into town, we’ll wait here. If you don’t come across anything by the time you hit the clubhouse call me.”
“Got it.” All three of us mounted our bikes and took off down the road. I was leading and decided to stick to the route that Drake would be travelling.
“VP, what’s that up ahead on the right side of the road?” Drum shouted. I slowed down and skidded to a halt when I noticed Drake’s bike smashed up and on the side of the road. I jumped from my bike and took off running until I saw his limp body. I threw off my helmet and knelt down beside him.
“Drake, can you hear me?” I asked. When I got no response I leant closer to him and pressed my ear close to his mouth. “He’s breathing, just. Call an ambulance.”
“One’s on the way,” Rooster said. “Pipe, yeah we found him. He’s unconscious, bleeding pretty badly. No, no sign of Ashlyn.”
“Check the area!” I shouted at Drum. “In case she was flung from the bike. That field, check there.” I ran to the edge of the road and searched in the overgrow. “Ashlyn?” I called out several times. “Fuck!” I swore. How were we supposed to find her now? The sound of bikes had me spinning around and pulling my gun out of the back of my trousers.
***
Ashlyn
“Wake up, gorgeous girl.” I stirred as I heard someone’s voice. My head was banging and my body ached. I shot up into a sitting position when the image of Drake lying on the side of the road popped into my head. When I saw Switch in front of me, I scrambled back on the bed until I hit the headboard. What? Bed? I looked around and saw that I was in some sort of bedroom, a nice one. I was sitting on a double bed with a soft duvet covered in swirly patterns, there were matching bedside tables, dressing table and wardrobe. Pink curtains covered the windows and a matching pink rug covered the floor.
“It took you long enough to wake up.”
“Where am I?” I croaked, my throat was dry and sore.
“We’re back in Devon,” Switch explained. There was something different about him, he seemed calm and gentle. “We’re at the new clubhouse.”
“New clubhouse?”
“Yes. If you remember correctly, those Devon Destroyers burnt our last one down.” His fists clenched and his jaw tightened. “Come on.” He grabbed the top of my arm and yanked me off of the bed like I was a rag doll. His mood soon changed from calm into rage.
He stormed through the clubhouse pulling me behind him. Once he got to a door, he stopped and pushed it open; it looked like it lead down to a cellar. I tripped several times as I tried to keep up with him, in the end, he got fed up and threw me over his shoulder. I screamed and hit his back several times but then I remembered my time with him before, that was what he liked. He liked us to scream, beg to be let go and he got off on us fighting. I breathed in deeply through my nose and tried to look at as much as I could, to see if somehow I could figure out where I was. Now, we were in the cellar and there were no windows to look out of and it was dark and mouldy. Switch stopped once he got to another door, put me on my feet and held onto my hand in a tight grip.
“You don’t have to break my fingers, I can’t go anywhere,” I complained. His grip loosened slightly as he dug out a key from his pocket and opened the door. He shoved me in first and I came face to face with at least ten different aged women, all naked and crying. I went to take a step forwards when Switch grabbed hold of my hips, showing me that he was hard, he ground his cock into my ass and I had to fight the sickness that crept up through my throat.
“You see this?” He waved to all the women. “This is where I could put you again so any of my men can have their way with you. But I want you upstairs in a nice bed with me.” I had to fight the repulsion that shot through me at the thought of me in a bed with him. The idea of being held onto a table while he cut me seemed like the better option. Where he just wanted to fuck and cut me. Not in a bed where he thought we could have some sort of relationship. I’d rather be dead, at least I’d be reunited with Drake again.
“What?” I cleared my throat. “What are you going to do with them?”
“The same that we have always done.” He was going to kill them.
“But I’m here, you said if I came back to you then no one else would get hurt.”
“But they’re here now, I couldn’t possibly let them go. They would know where we are and they’d tell the police.”
I spun around to face him.
“You could blindfold them and drop them somewhere far away. They were probably drugged when you brought them in. They wouldn’t know where this place was, they would have no information to tell anyone.”
“Look at you trying to bargain for their lives. For all you know, these women could be drugged up prostitutes.”
“I don’t care. They should be set free. I’m here now, I’m who you want.”
“What about my brothers? You willing to satisfy them too? Just so these ladies can go?”
“Yes,” I said as I tried my hardest not to break down into tears.
“You’re mine!” he roared as his hand reared back and slapped me across the face, the force of it knocked me off my feet and I screamed out as the hard concrete floor met my knees and hands. “Get back!” he sneered as one of the women surged forward to try and help me. I subtly shook my head at her and mouthed. ‘I’m ok’. I screamed as he grabbed my hair and forced me back onto my feet, pushing me into a wall.
“No one is coming for you,” he spat at me. “Even your useless boyfriend couldn’t save you.”
“Husband,” I muttered quietly.
“What?” he snapped.
“He’s my husband!” I screamed in his face.
Chapter 20
Ashlyn
The furious look that invaded Switch’s face was one that I didn’t want to see again; he pushed me back until I was flat up against a wall. His hand slammed down beside my head and I tried not to flinch.
“Not anymore, now you’re mine. You’ll be my wife and carry my kids.”
“No.” I sobbed as my head fell to my chest. I had wanted to keep up a strong front but those words made me realise that he wasn’t planning on killing me but that he planned to make me his for a long time. The defeat surged from my body and I slid down the wall until I hit the floor.
“Fine, you wanna be like them. You can stay here with them.” He yanked me to my feet and began pulling my clothes away from my body before shoving me back to the floor. “You’ll soon realise that it’s every woman for herself. None of them will help you,” he spat at me before gathering up my clothes and leaving the room. I stayed still and didn’t move. The coldness from the floor was chilling my body and I began to shake.
“Here.” I jumped when someone put something around me. I looked up to see that it was the same woman as before, she was wrapping one of the bed sheets around me. “I’m Rayna.”
“Thank you. I’m Ashlyn.” I looked up when I heard several gasps. Rayna was the only dark haired girl in the room, her skin was bronzed and she had the darkest brown eyes I had ever seen.
“You’re Ashlyn?” another girl asked, this one was blonde like me. I nodded. “He said you were coming here.”
“I don’t understand.” Rayna helped me to my feet.
“You’re the one he wants. He might leave the rest of us alone now.” The same blonde girl from before said. “He would always call us Ashlyn, he always said that your body was the best. That the marks showed up on your pale skin the most.”
“Is that why you haven’t got any marks?” I asked Rayna.
“He never picks me. His brothers do though.” The sadness crossed her face and I so desperately wanted to help them all. A thought popped into my head a
nd I needed to get Switch’s attention. I hurried towards the door, gripping the sheet around my body. I pulled at the handle and it was locked so I started banging on it, calling out Switch’s name.
After several minutes, the lock sounded and I looked over my shoulder to see that all the girls had gathered back towards the dirty mattresses that were lined up against the far wall.
“What?” the same guy from earlier barked at me, the one that was dressed all in leather.
“I need to see Switch, please?” He laughed and shut the door in my face.
“What are you doing? Why are you bringing him back down here?” the blonde girl asked.
“I’m trying to find a way to get you all out of here. Trust me, I’ll help in any way that I can.”
The door opened again and Switch filled the doorway.
“You wanted me, gorgeous girl?” I nodded. “Lose the sheet and come with me.” I hesitated and he rose an eyebrow at me.
“Um… I’m yours now, right baby?” I said in the sweetest voice I could muster. He nodded. “Then you don’t want your brothers seeing what’s yours, right?”
“Come on.” He grabbed the top of my arm and pulled me out of the room, slamming it shut and locking it again. We passed several people as he dragged me up the stairs and through a couple of rooms, I tried to make a mental note on how to get back to the girls and how many brothers were around. I gasped in surprise when I saw someone that I recognised, he subtly shook his head at me. Was he here to help me? I tried to disguise the gasp for a cough. Switch stopped walking and turned to face me.
“I’m sorry, baby. I just have a tickle in my throat. Can I get some water?”
“You’ll definitely have a tickle in your throat soon.” He winked at me as he pushed his erection into my stomach. I tried to smile sweetly up at him, I wondered how much damage I could do to his cock with my teeth?
We walked through another door and we were met with the most gorgeous kitchen I had ever seen.
“Wow, this is gorgeous.” I ran my hand over the black granite worktops and the bright white glossy cupboards, the fridge, dishwasher and oven were stainless steel.
Forbidden Love (South Coast Brothers Book 4) Page 11
