by Kay Maree
“I see you finally got rid of the clinger. How about we have some fun?” She got too close and I had to push her back at arm’s length. She pouted but her eyes sparkled.
“Get away from me Crystal. Did you not hear my father was in a horrible accident? I need to be with him and even if I didn’t, you would not be the one I wanted to spend my time with.” I raised an eyebrow at her as I attempted to move around her again.
“You’re gonna be sorry, Tank. I’m the only one around here who actually cares about you.” She sneered as she pushed by me going in the direction of my room. I had no doubt Nadia could stand her ground if Crystal got in through the locked door. I doubted Nadia would let that crazy bitch in anyway. I shrugged and continued down the hall. When I got there the old man was awake and I breathed a sigh of relief.
“You scared the shit out of me Pops.” I sat next to his bed.
“What happened? Why’d you swerve?” He was holding his head groaning.
“That fucking Devil swerved to try to run me off the road and I overcorrected smashing into you. You flew ten feet and hit a tree. It’s a good thing Nadia was there,” I said then flinched. If she hadn’t been there, I had no idea what would have happened.
“Then what’s the problem? Is she hurt? Does she need the doc?” He asked trying to sit up.
“Nadia is fine… she just informed me her father is an international human trafficking agent. He’s kept her under lock and key for her whole life and even decided who she should marry. That’s why she ran away. That fucker Snake said someone powerful wanted her which means either her father went to the very people he hates to find her; or the Mexican cartel wants to ransom her,” I sighed. It was all so complicated.
“That girl is not a spy.” My father’s words had my head snapping back to him.
“How can you be sure? Are you willing to risk the club on that assessment?”
“Yes, because I have known many spies in my day and they always ask more questions than they answer. She trusted you with her secret and what did you do? You did exactly what she expected. You ran.” He shook his head like he was disappointed in me. He didn’t have to be disappointed in me I was plenty disappointed in myself.
“Thanks, Pops. I need to go.”
“Finally! Go get your girl.” I grinned at his words as I moved back down the hall toward my room. The happiness faded the closer I got to the door. It was left open and there was a crowd looking in.
“Tank!” Slash yelled when he saw me.
“What happened?” I asked as I ran the last few steps.
“I don’t know. Some are saying Crystal dragged her out by her hair. Others are saying Crystal tricked her into leaving. Either way, they’re gone.” He looked uncomfortable like I might kill the messenger and the way I was feeling in that moment, it was a strong possibility. I roared and pushed through the crowd in the hallway to see Ellie standing in the room staring out the window. It was only a second before I realized she wasn’t staring out the window, but at the words written in lipstick on the window. I stood next to her as I read the words in disbelief. The bitch is going back where she belongs.
“Motherfucker!” I roared. “Find out who Crystal knows. What she’s into and how much she knows about the Devils. I’m going after them.” I looked to Jay who was standing there slack-jawed.
“On it, boss.” He took off at a run.
“You.” I pointed at Miguel who looked just as angry as I did. “We’re gonna have a conversation about your past but first you’re gonna help me get her back. Mike! Slash! You’re with me.”
“But, Tank what about Ellie?” Slash looked in the room at the distraught woman.
“Cobra. Sit with Ellie. If anyone gets within ten feet of her, I don’t care what you have to do to protect her. She remains safe, you got me?” The man nodded and I clapped him on the shoulder. Slash growled and glared at him letting him know silently what would happen if anything happened to his girl. Cobra nodded solemnly. He was a good soldier. He wouldn’t let anything happen to Ellie. I nodded to Slash and Miguel to follow me.
I raced out of the clubhouse just as I realized my bike was trashed and I didn’t have a ride. “Miguel, where’s your car? My bike was destroyed.” He threw me the keys and I found it parked next to the other prospect’s car. They both had bikes but most of the time we asked them to drive their cars especially if we needed to transport more than one passenger back. It was always a good idea to have a vehicle that sat more than two people. I got in the car driver’s seat as Miguel slumped into the passenger seat. He knew we knew he wasn’t what we had thought. He was in some kind of trouble and the feds were after him.
“I can explain everything,” he almost whispered.
“Not now. We will have a conversation. But not until after we get Nadia back and punish Crystal for thinking she can fuck with me like this,” I growled. I had no idea why she thought she could go behind my back like that. I punched on the gas doing my best to get to the Devils’ compound before shit went even further south. I would get Nadia back and show her I didn’t care who her father was. I wanted her, damn the consequences.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Nadia
I was so pissed off at Tank as I paced the bedroom, I barely heard the knock at the door. It was so soft and meek I thought it might be Ellie and I could definitely use a friend who understood the club and the situation I had found myself in. I flung open the door only to find a pissed off Crystal standing in the doorway. She pushed me back into the room, assessing the décor as she did.
“It will look much better when I add my touches don’t you think?” She was completely delusional if she thought Tank would ever want her. She was classically beautiful, but she had a meanness about her that Tank would never find attractive. She smirked at me as if I’d said that out loud which I very well could have. I had no idea.
“Oh honey, Tank and I have history. I was his first. We were together for a long time before you showed up and ruined everything but that’s not important. I’m taking you back where you belong. The Devils are really excited to get their prize back.” She giggled. “Especially Snake. He wasn’t too happy when Tank cuffed him to a tree but as long as they get you, they’ll leave the rest of us alone, well… except Ellie. The boss wants her. It’s a personal matter.”
Her eyes sparkled with rage as she pulled a small handgun from her waistband and reached in her pocket for a tube of lipstick. She pointed the gun at me as she scribbled on the window. I didn’t understand why she was leaving a message. Was she trying to start a war? It sounded like she thrived off the chaos she caused. She cackled as she read her words before grabbing my arm and jabbing the gun into my side.
“You see? I don’t give a fuck about either club. I just want to be sure I get what’s owed to me, so I have no problem killing you and ruining both their plans because your daddy and the drug cartel pay much better than either of these idiotic clubs.” She scoffed. I laughed then. This crazy bitch thought my father worked for the cartel? That was the most hilarious thing I’d ever heard.
“Oh, didn’t the cartel princess know? Your daddy doesn’t work for the cartel. He is the head of the cartel. What did he tell you? That he was the good guy?” She cackled again. “Oh, you poor sheltered thing.”
I hated her condescending attitude. The whole thing pissed me off. I ripped my arm away from her. Glaring at the woman I balled my hands into fists, but I realized too late we were already outside the clubhouse and there was a sedan pulling up to the curb. Her eyes sparkled as if she’d won just before a large man opened the door of the town car and wrapped his hands around my mouth and dragged me backwards into the car. Crystal stepped in next to us and closed the door. She pulled out her phone and dialed without giving me a second glance. “Hey baby, we are on our way to the airstrip.” She giggled at something he said on the other end of the phone and it caused me to gag. She was talking to my father, a man who had apparently lied to me my
whole life. He wasn’t the one trying to stop human trafficking. He was the one doing the trafficking. I needed to find a way out of this and back to Tank. If he knew the reality of things, maybe he would want to find me instead of leaving me to suffer at the hands of my father and his sadistic friends. An errant thought ran through my mind and I thought of Miguel. He’d been wanted. Was he part of my father’s network? Is that why he seemed so familiar to me? If anyone could find me, it was him. I had to hold out hope as we barreled down the highway. Miguel would know where to go. He had to.
Crystal seemed all too pleased with herself as she sat in the front seat. “How do you feel about having a stepmom, Nadia? Daddy dearest promised me a key position in his organization if I could get you back to him. Well the key position is in his bed,” she giggled, and I wanted to puke. I’d never thought my father could be so sadistic. I thought he was a good man but hearing this? I knew he’d only shown me what he wanted me to see and the bodyguards had to have been so I didn’t get out of line and mess up his business more than his protecting me from outside forces.
I slumped in my seat as I thought about everything he’d lied to me about. Fuck, I’d been so stupid and trusting. I wanted nothing more than to go back to Tank and tell him how I’d been wrong. I’d been wrong about everything. My father wasn’t who I thought he was, and our fight earlier was for nothing, but sandwiched between Crystal and my old bodyguard I didn’t think that was going to happen. I wouldn’t be able to tell Tank anything because I was on my way back to Mexico. Back to a place where I would be watched constantly and probably confined to my room. My heart broke a little at the thought of never seeing Tank again. I had grown to like him more than I should have and the idea of never seeing him again crushed my spirit. I slumped back in my seat as the jet came into view. Well shit. I have literally minutes to save myself from going back to being a prisoner once again.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Tank
Miguel didn’t heed my warning about his part in all of this. He spilled his story like a singing canary. He was cartel but he’d dealt with Nadia when she was younger and taught her a few self-defense moves that had gotten his detail switched because her father was not who Nadia had thought he was. I found out quite a few things from Miguel. Like how her father was not an international agent but the head of the Mexican drug cartel, the same cartel that also dealt in human trafficking. It pissed me off because this man had made his daughter proud her whole life thinking he was making a difference in the world when he was actually the problem.
“Where would he go to pick her up?” I asked Miguel.
“The private airstrip he owns,” Miguel said thoughtfully. I changed directions. I needed to make sure Nadia never got on that plane. Once she got on the plane she would be lost to me. I couldn’t have that. She was mine and I wouldn’t let anyone take her from me.
When we got to the road leading to the private airstrip there was a line of Devils blocking the road. They had guns out trying to stop us but I had no problem revving the engine and barreling into the line of motorcycles. As I did, I wondered if they’d found their brother tied to the tree. I didn’t see him there, so I was guessing they hadn’t. I chuckled to myself as they all scrambled out of the way.
We drove up to the airstrip, but there wasn’t as much security as I had expected. I waited until Slash and Mike came up on either side of me. “I want both women unharmed. I’ll do plenty to Crystal on my own for taking my girl and disobeying the club leader. Everyone else is fair game.” I nodded to both men who grinned at the fact they would be able to take out any man they wanted.
“What about Crystal?” Slash growled.
“Oh, believe me, Crystal is mine. She isn’t an innocent. That bitch is mine and she will pay.” I grunted. No one was going to give that bitch an inch. I would make sure she got what she deserved. Slash nodded. He knew as well as anyone it was my right since the bitch took my girl to some sadistic fuck. I didn’t care if he was her father, he wanted to control her, and I wouldn’t let anyone do that. She would decide for herself what she wanted. Who she wanted to control her and when, but I wasn’t going to let anyone decide for her. I would rather die than let anyone take the decision from her, even me.
We barreled through the line of Devils without even trying and made it to the airstrip just as I saw Crystal dragging Nadia on to a plane. I hopped from the car and pulled my gun. There were a few men sitting around the plane watching the surrounding area languidly. Perfect. I pulled my gun, taking out each man before they even knew what was happening. They tried to close the doors of the plane but I stopped the flight attendant with a well-placed shot close to her hand. She gasped and let the stairs go back down. “Hide,” I whispered as I moved around her. She didn’t need any encouragement. She went back in the corner to hide as I made my way through the cab of the jet. It wasn’t long before I saw Nadia. She was sitting rigid next to a gray-haired man.
“Tank, you seriously think you can take her from me? She is my daughter and she will do what I say.”
The man smiled as I walked out into the open. Nadia looked at me wide eyed before she looked around for my backup. I’d left them outside to make sure Nadia got out with, or without me. They hadn’t been happy about that, but I didn’t have a choice. I needed her to survive even if I didn’t. I needed Nadia to live. I couldn’t explain it, but I needed her to be there for everyone if I couldn’t. I knew she would help them if I didn’t make it. I trusted her. Did the first time I saw her. Fuck! I should have trusted her when she’d told me about her father, only she didn’t even know about him so I couldn’t blame her for the way she explained her life. I felt like an ass and I knew there was nothing to be done about it. She was wrong about her father, he wasn’t the good guy she thought and now if I didn’t stop him, she would be back with an animal who didn’t even care about her. I couldn’t have that.
I pushed through every person in my way through the plane. As I made my way through the opulence, I noticed several men but the fact they didn’t stop me from going to Nadia had all my muscles locking up. This wasn’t good. There was a couch sitting away from me and I decided I was done with this bullshit. I put a gun to the head of the man on the couch. He didn’t even flinch.
“Tank, please sit down, my daughter has told me how you helped her with the Devils, and I would like to extend my thanks.”
“I don’t need your thanks since you sent those psychopaths after her in the first place,” I growled. What the fuck was this guy’s game?
“Well, now that I have found my daughter we will be going.” The growl that left my lips didn’t even cause him to pause.
“Thank you for protecting her, but I can take care of her safety from now on.” He smiled smugly. I tried to refute his statement, but Nadia shook her head instantly.
“I’m not going anywhere with you. I won’t go back to Mexico and I refuse to let you two fight. I will control my life from now on and I want to be with Tank. So, you father can go back to Mexico without me.” She raised an eyebrow at the man, and he nodded. I noticed Crystal sitting away from the group.
“Does this mean I don’t get my reward?” She pouted and I rolled my eyes. Nadia’s father scooped her up in his arms smiling down at her. “You my dear, are mine and we will work things out.” I was disgusted but the fact Nadia’s father had taken that club whore off our hands made me smile.
“As for my Nadia. What would you choose if Tank was out of the way?” He pulled a gun on me cocking it. I already had my gun on him. Nadia stood from the couch and placed herself in front of me. The sentiment was sweet, but she was so small she couldn’t stop him from getting a head shot anyway, and I wasn’t about to let her take a shot meant for me. I gently moved her behind me, and she huffed angrily.
“No matter what you do, I refuse to go with you!” She yelled from behind me.
“With him gone, I could make you,” he mused moving away from Crystal. “Who would stop me?”
“The men I have sitting outside waiting for me.” I smiled back at the man.
“Yes, but I have men out there too and if anything happens to me, the two of you will never make it out. You will be dead, and Nadia will be the heir to my empire. Never wanting for anything ever again.”
“Except freedom,” she scoffed.
“Freedom is overrated.” Her father waved a hand dismissively.
“Now, Nadia. You either choose to come with me, or he dies. The choice is yours.” I looked over at Crystal who was watching the entire thing with interest. If I had to take him out, then I would, and I would do everything in my power to make sure Crystal’s life was a living hell. He cocked the gun but before he could pull the trigger three loud shots rang out around me. I turned to see what looked like SWAT and put my hands in the air dropping the gun. They wasted no time in getting me cuffed as Nadia screamed.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Nadia
Apparently, Snake was literally a snake. He’d sang like the rat he was and told the cops who his employer was and everything he knew about Tank and the Saints. My father had only been hit in the shoulder even though three shots had been fired. Two had been warning shots. I sat in the plane with Crystal as the police took Tank out to a waiting cop car. I hated that. I hated how he was going to jail because of me. I turned to the crazy psycho bitch and glared at her. “How could you betray the men who took you in and gave you a home like that? This is all your fault.”
