by Bella J
“That’s a lie.” It was a feeble attempt to fight him. My voice lacked conviction. It lacked strength because my body was slowly succumbing to his touch, only wanting more and more.
“It’s not. You’ve waited for me all this time. Silently hoping I’d come for you. Well, now I have. And guess what?” The tip of his tongue dragged up my neck, and I tried to squirm in my seat, lust pooling between my legs. God, it felt dirty, the way my sex throbbed as he licked across my skin. It made me wonder what his tongue would feel like against my sensitive folds, licking, sucking, tasting.
With rapid breaths, I whispered, “What?”
His hand wrapped around the back of my neck, gripping my hair in his fist. Pulling my head back, he moved up, his lips brushing against my ear. “I’m not giving you back. Not until I’ve had my fill of you.”
Abruptly, he let go of me, and I gasped, taking a deep breath. My body was still on fire, my skin sizzling with desire. Not even the threat in his last words could smother it.
Granite straightened, looking down at me with hooded eyes. “I bet you regret making a bargain with the devil now, don’t you?”
There were too many feelings, too many emotions for me to form a coherent thought. All I was capable of at that moment was staring back at him. I had lost control of my body. I had lost control of my thoughts. I had lost control of everything…all because of the way his touch corrupted me.
“If I come back and find you’ve made yourself sick, I will force-feed you again. And this time there will be no deal.”
I was still dazed, caught up in the moment, when I heard his heavy footsteps and the door.
I sat there tied to a motherfucking chair, and I couldn’t wrap my head around what Granite had just said.
Was I not part of a blackmailing scheme? Was I not here for ransom purposes? Did all of this have nothing to do with my father, but everything to do with…me?
Not caring that my mind was still spinning, my body all riled up, fatigue started to set in. I was exhausted. The pain meds Neon gave me were wearing off, and my stomach felt like I had swallowed lead. As my body gradually stopped humming, my sex no longer throbbing, I could feel the aftereffect of eating too much. The gluten was poisoning me from the inside, and the carbs and calorie overload from the beer were making me feel horrid. The mac and chees alone was probably five hundred calories, not to mention the hundred and fifty calories with the beer. That was more calories than I had consumed during the last three days.
After my body finally settled, the fire in my belly extinguished with his absence, my first reaction was to make myself sick, to purge myself of the poison in my stomach. But Granite’s threat rang like a warning bell in my head, which meant my body had to endure it. For anyone else, this would have seemed futile, meaningless, and practically not that bad. But for fifteen years, my mom controlled what I ate, how I ate, and when I ate. It only took a year or two for my body to adjust, to get accustomed to what I put in it. It had grown used to a calorie-controlled, no-fat diet. It wasn’t something I could control anymore. My body controlled it.
My mother controlled it.
I closed my eyes, willing my body to keep the food down. I didn’t have the strength to throw up again. And, frankly, my ribs and back still hurt from the last vomiting spell I had—which was still on the floor, covered with a sheet. God, I hoped someone would clean that shit up, or it would start smelling like a dumping site in here soon.
I sighed and let my head hang back, staring up at the ceiling. What was happening to me? Why would I still want Granite after seeing what a wretched human being he really was? A kidnapper. A killer. Maybe he wasn’t the psycho in this equation. Maybe I was. It was the only explanation as to why I let myself lose control under his touch. If I was completely honest with myself, I probably wouldn’t have stopped him if he tried to go further. In fact, if my legs weren’t tied to the goddamn chair, I would have tried to push my thighs together to get rid of the ache and the need to be touched there.
A sudden cramp spread across my abdomen, and I groaned. It was too much food. Too much beer. My body was protesting. Why couldn’t it have acted up when Granite had his hands on me? At least then I’d be able to show him he was wrong. That me staring at him from my window wasn’t a silent plea to be taken.
But then again…maybe it was.
Chapter Thirteen
Granite
It wasn’t our usual spot. But this wasn’t our usual meeting. The PC was looking for his recently disappeared daughter and needed our help. In fact, he pleaded for our help. I had been working with this man for years, long before I became president. The man never sounded as helpless and pathetic as he did when he called this morning.
We agreed to meet a few miles out of town, on a dirt road leading to what used to be a mountain area. No one came here during the day anymore. But at night it was the local hump yard where every goddamn teenager came to get laid.
Ink nodded in the direction of an approaching SUV. “Incoming.”
I got off my motorcycle, placing my lid on the seat. “Put on your best game faces, boys.” Both Ink and Dutch flanked me, and I lit a cigarette as the black SUV came to a stop a few feet from us, greeting us with a cloud of red dust as the wheels screeched across the dirt road.
I inhaled deep, feeling the smoke cling to my throat and lungs before tossing the cigarette to the ground and stomping on it. “Here goes nothing.”
Commissioner Green got out of the SUV with two of his bodyguards coming from around the car. “Granite.”
“PC Green,” I greeted with a nod.
“Tell me you know something. Tell me you know where my daughter is.”
The old man seemed to have a thousand worry lines on his forehead, shaping the way to his widow’s peak. He was a tall man, definitely not something Alyx inherited from her father’s side of the gene pool.
He straightened his suit. “Anything?”
I handed him the brown envelope. “Pythons.”
“What?” He grabbed the envelope and tore it open, pulling out the pictures. As he scanned them one by one, his face paled. I wanted to smile but kept my stoic expression while I knew what he was looking at. Pictures of three men sitting in a car outside the tattoo shop where Alyx was seen last. These pictures were legit, since they were taken by the security camera across the road.
“How do you know they’re Pythons?” He kept looking at them, one by one.
“Those fuckers are Python prospects. It didn’t take a lot of background checks to figure it out.”
He glanced up at me. “Why? Why would they want to take Alyxandria?”
In my head, I could see Alyx frowning. She hated her name, which was why she preferred Alyx.
“Jesus.” He pulled his hand over his head, panic written all over his face, and I knew exactly at which picture he was looking. One of the pictures Neon took of Alyx earlier today.
He hunched down, still clutching the images. “What did they do to her?” I’d never seen the police commissioner so close to tears. During the last five minutes, I’d seen more emotion in this man than I had during the last ten fucking years.
“Is she…” he bit his fist, “is she still alive?”
I nodded. “As far as we know.”
“How…how did you get these pictures? What do these fuckers want?”
I glanced over my shoulder at Ink. “It got delivered this morning by another Python prospect. My guy here took care of that fucker.”
The PC stood straight. “What do they want? Ransom? Blackmail?”
I slipped my hands into my pockets. “They know about our business arrangement.”
“What?” He narrowed his eyes.
“They know we’ve been assassinating criminals around town in exchange for you turning a blind eye to our business with the Sixes.”
He clutched the envelope tightly, his knuckles white and cheeks red. “Why? Why in God’s name would they take my daughter?”
I straight
ened and squared my shoulders. “They want our business with the Sixes. They tried to infiltrate our club, tried to take us out, but they don’t have the balls or the manpower.” I lit another cigarette, trying my best to remain calm and not seem too overeager. “Now they’re pushing our asses into a corner by forcing us to choose.”
He frowned, sweat running down the side of his face even though the early autumn chill was in the air. “How in God’s name are they forcing you in a corner by kidnapping my daughter?” He gritted out the words between clenched teeth, his emotion something between anger and fear. “Why the fuck would they hurt my baby girl?”
I blew out a cloud of smoke. “They want the Sixes, and they won’t give your daughter back unless we walk away. In other words, they’re forcing us to choose.”
It was easy to see the exact moment the penny dropped, blue eyes that mirrored his daughter’s staring at me as he put the pieces together. “They know I’ll come to you. They know I’ll ask your help to find her. In other words, they’re blackmailing you. Not me.”
“Exactly.” I took another draw from my cigarette before exhaling. “They will only give Alyx back if we agree to walk away from our business with the Sixes. If we don’t, there’s no way they’ll let your daughter go…which would ultimately end our alliance with the police commissioner of New York. In other words, we’ll be fucked.” I faked a worried expression. “In fact, the Kings are fucked either way.”
“Jesus,” he muttered, leaning his head back, staring up into the sky. “Sly bastards.”
Ink stepped in next to me. “We can take these fuckers. Give us until dawn tomorrow, and you’ll be picking up their bodies across town for a week.”
“No!” His glare cut from Ink to me. “No. Not until you get my daughter back. I don’t want her getting caught in the crossfire. This is your fucking war, not mine.” His anger was taking the lead over his fear, and right now we were easy targets.
“Everybody calm the fuck down.” I flipped my cigarette across the road before I turned my attention to the commissioner. “We’ll get your daughter back.” I spat out some built-up mucus in the back of my throat as if I was already standing on a Python’s grave. “But once we have her, once she’s safe, Pythons are open game for us with no interference from you or your department.”
“Done.” He didn’t even hesitate.
I grinned then stepped closer. “You do understand that it’s war? It’s no longer just a battle for power between them and us. It’s a full-blown war, and there will be casualties. There will be blood. Are you prepared to bury the body count, no questions asked?”
He took a step forward, matching mine, his eyes hard and determined. “I don’t give a fuck if you kill half the goddamn town, just as long as it’s not my daughter.”
Deep down, I was fucking smiling like the Cheshire cat. The police commissioner just gave me the free pass I needed to take out those motherfucking Pythons with the entire goddamn police department behind me.
I looked him up and down, sizing up the poor bastard. If only he could have shown such balls when it came to his wife starving and mind-fucking his daughter.
Dutch moved closer, and I knew he was keeping an eye on the commissioner’s bodyguards, watching their every move. The day my father died and I took his seat at church, Dutch stepped up asking for the enforcer rank. He wanted to be my personal fucking bodyguard without the added responsibility the sergeant-at-arms would carry. For him, protecting me and my brother was like breathing. Loyal fucker.
Taking a step back, I kept my gaze on the old man. “Keep the uniforms off our asses over the next week, and we’ll get your daughter back.” I turned to walk away when he called me.
“Granite?”
I stopped and glanced over my shoulder.
“If she gets hurt in any way, I will make it my life’s mission to take you down alongside those Python bastards. I swear to God.”
The threat was loud and clear, and I expected nothing less. The man’s daughter was at stake. I’d be tossing threats around like candy too if I were in his shoes.
With a mere nod, I concluded our little meeting and got on my motorcycle. Ink and Dutch followed. The roars of our engines filled the silence of the dirt road, and we rode off.
It was on. Our plan had finally been set in motion. Over the next week, New York would be our battleground as we fucked up each and every goddamn Python…all just to find the police commissioner’s daughter.
Good thing we already had her safely tucked away.
Chapter Fourteen
Alyx
“Hey, Swan Lake.”
I rolled my eyes and didn’t even look her way.
“You seem comfortable.”
I snorted.
“Jesus, what smells like vomit in here?”
“Vomit.”
Neon sat on the bed and looked at the sheet on the floor. “Please tell me there’s not vomit under there?”
“There’s vomit under there.”
“Good God.” She scrunched up her nose at the stench. “Okay, there’s a lot of shit I can handle. But that is just nasty.”
Neon got up and started to untie me.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m taking you out of this room and getting some prospects to clean this shit up.” Her dark brown eyes shot up to mine. “You’re not going to make me regret it, are you?”
I remained silent.
“Thought so.”
I got up and rubbed the raw flesh around my wrists. “Why are you being nice to me?”
She frowned. “I am? I didn’t notice.”
“I’m serious. Why?”
For a few seconds, she studied me, scrutinized me while pursing her lips, hands on her hips. “Because this ain’t us.”
“What do you mean?”
She stepped closer, her eyes cold and hard with heavy black eyeliner. “Nothing is as it seems, Swan Lake. Whatever it is you think you know about us, about the Kings…you’re wrong.”
“He kidnapped me.” I spat out the words. “He’s keeping me here against my will, so me thinking he’s a psychopath, that the Kings are savages, can’t be that wrong.”
Her lips curled into a grin. “This ain’t your world anymore, Swan Lake. It’s ours. And in our world, Granite rules.”
“Oh, he made that clear.”
“He also protects. He takes care of us. And when there’s a threat, he does whatever he can to eliminate it.”
I held up my hand. “Is that what I am? A threat?”
“Not you. No.”
“Nothing makes sense, Neon. Things you and Onyx said make me feel like I’m just part of some plot. But things Granite said…things he’s done, it tells me something completely different.”
Neon cocked her head, the silver stud in her nose glinting. “Some friendly advice. Don’t try to understand him yet. First, try to understand our world, then maybe you’ll get a glimpse of the person Granite really is.”
“What is going on, Neon?”
Neon bit her pierced bottom lip then smiled. “All in due time, Swan Lake. All in due time.”
I stepped back. “You’re loyal to him. A man who has no conscience. A man who kidnaps women.”
For the first time since I met her, she gave me a tiny glimpse of aggression as her gaze turned into a glare, her lips pulled in a straight line. “I’m loyal to Granite because he deserves it. Not because he demands it.” She walked up to me, so close I could smell her jasmine scented perfume. “Like I said. Don’t try to understand him. Not yet. You’ll get it wrong if you do.”
“It’s kind of hard not to make my own assumptions while he has me tied to a chair behind a locked door.”
She smiled and stepped back. “Don’t worry your pretty little head about it, Swan Lake. You’ll figure it out soon.” With that, she brushed past me toward the door. “Come on. We’ll wait in the kitchen while the boys clean up in here.”
I watched her walk away, and my mind reeled. Ne
on had turned into a threat in the blink of an eye because of how I spoke about Granite. It was clear as fucking daylight that her loyalty was with him and no one else. If there ever was a part of me that hoped I could rely on her and a developing friendship between us to help me out of this mess…I was wrong.
Neon walked out of the room, leaving me behind like she knew I wouldn’t run. How was she so certain I wouldn’t? Or maybe it was because she knew I couldn’t. I was no match for street smart bikers. Not when my only talent was being able to dance on my toes for hours straight.
I followed. “You’ll probably get into trouble for letting me out.”
“Nah. You’ll be back in your room and tied to that chair before Granite gets back.”
“Are you really—” I paused when I walked into the kitchen, Onyx sitting at the table, eating. My heart stopped, and I glanced from him to Neon.
Neon shrugged. “Relax. Onyx ain’t the brother you should worry about.”
Onyx looked at me as I stood by the entrance, not saying a word. Those blue irises seemed darker, his features cold and hard. But even so, he still didn’t intimidate me as much as his brother did.
“Something tells me you’re not the caffeine type.” Neon grabbed milk from the fridge. “Tea?”
“Water.” I remained still, feeling uncomfortable under Onyx’s gaze.
Finally, he looked down at the bowl of macaroni and cheese in front of him. “Take a seat, Alyx. The meaner brother won’t be back for the next hour.” The sarcasm in his voice wasn’t lost.
I eased into a chair across from him.
He tilted his bowl so I could see the food in it. “Want some?” He smirked, two dimples flanking his top lip. It was easy to see he was younger than his brother. He seemed different too. Lighter, somehow. Like there was more than just ice running through his veins.
Voices came from down the hall, and Neon yelled, “Make that room all sparkly-clean, boys.” The grin on her face told me she was having fun at their expense.
