by Ryan Michele
“What’s up, Casey?” Cruz answers on the second ring.
“It’s G.T. Get up here now. Bring all the brothers.”
“On it. Details?”
“Guy that helped when Mia died tried to kidnap Casey. Going into his apartment now. Make it fast.”
“Got it.”
I place the cell in my pocket and move the gun to my good hand. I slip on my boots, open the door slowly and look all around the hallway, not seeing anything or anyone. I move to the door the asshole came out of earlier and try the handle first, it’s locked. I should pick it and make this clean, but fuck it. Standing in front of the door with my gun up, I kick in the door and it buckles at the top. Fucker must have some type of bar up there. I keep kicking until the door splits and enter looking quickly around.
The room is empty. “Hey asshole!” I yell. Looking around, the room is in disarray. A table is knocked over and blood is all over the carpet. She showed me that she wasn’t bleeding, so I’m glad it’s the fuckers blood that’s spilled. Pride surges through me at her strength.
I scope the room and listen, but hear nothing. I move without making a sound through the apartment checking every room. Nothing except blood trails from the living room, bedroom to the bathroom. Fucker is gone. But how the hell did he get out and put that fucking bar in place? I need to hurry. The cops have probably already been called, but we are lucky that none of the nosy ass neighbors have come running in.
I run to the windows. The one in the bedroom has a fire escape staring at me. I look down seeing nothing. If the fucker went out like this, he’s gone. “Shit!”
I look around quickly for items that are of use. On his desk sits a laptop, I grab it. Looking through the drawers, there are several flash drives and CDs and I swipe them too putting them in my pockets. A couple of spiral notebooks sit there and I grab them too, setting all of this on the kitchen counter. I open and shut all his drawers quickly and look through his closet. Nothing stands out.
The kitchen is the same, nothing flashing at me. Needing to get the fuck out of here, I gather all the shit and make my way back to Angel’s. I slip into the door and lock it behind me, sitting all the goods on the counter top.
I head to the bedroom. “Angel?” I ask when I don’t see her anywhere. The closet door slowly opens and a gun is pointed at me.
My eyes land on hers, relief fills hers and she lowers the gun. “Are you okay?” She asks walking out.
“Fine. He was gone.”
Her eyes widen and a gasp leaves her beautiful lips. “What do you mean? I stabbed him in the chest!”
“You stabbed him?” She rushes into my arms and I hold her tight, kissing the top of her head. She nods. “I’m gonna need you to tell me exactly what happened. Start to finish.”
She breathes in deep and everything spills out of her in a rush. My body is humming with murderous rage. My jaw is sore from clenching it so damn tight, but I welcome the pain. I’d do anything right now to take Angel away. I rub up and down her back trying to soothe her. But a huge part of me is pissed at her for fucking leaving this apartment in the first place. But I tap that down for the moment.
We sit on the bed and she crawls into my lap where I hold her. The sounds of sirens fill the air and her body stiffens. “I’m so sorry, baby.” I try reassuring her. “The cops are here. I expected it. You are going to stay locked in this apartment and not go out. You are not going to talk to him until I talk to the brothers. Alright?” She nods slowly. “I need to know everything you know about him, family, friends and work. And if you know where he could have gone?”
“No. His family is from here and his father owns Blankenship Enterprises. That’s where he works. He has friends named Alex, Jared, Ella and Joey. He studies business like me. Other than that, I have no idea.” Her body stiffens and her breathing picks up. “Bella. We have to get Bella here now. He’ll hurt her. He knows how much she means to me. He’ll hurt her!” She tries to get out of my grasp, but I hold her tight.
“Calm down. Call her and tell her to come over.” I hand her the phone. Her hand shakes, but she’s able to call.
When the roar of bikes rattles the walls, she immediately stands.
“You called them?” She asks looking out the window, no doubt seeing the bikes and the cops, one big happy fucking family.
“Hell yeah. Shit’s about to get messy babe. I will find him, I promise you that.” I kiss her rough on the lips and head out to the door, her soft footsteps following me.
I slip my boots on not bothering to tie them and open the door. “I’ve gotta go out and get them. Stay here. Do not open this door. Not even for the cops.”
“Okay.” She clutches on to the gun that she hasn’t let go of since I gave it to her.
“Lock this.” She nods and I rush out to meet my brothers who made excellent time.
Walking out into the sunlight, I blink my eyes adjusting them. I pass several cops who eye me suspiciously, but I head right to my brothers. Pops, Becs, Cruz, Dagger, Zed, Rhys, Tug and Princess get off their bikes moving towards me. “What are you doing here?” I bark at Princess quiet enough for only her and the small group before me to hear.
“Relax. I came to settle Casey. Not get involved in this shit. What apartment?” I give her the number and watch our large black cage pull up behind them, Buzz and Breaker piling out.
“I’m going up.” Princess says, gives Cruz a kiss and leaves.
“What’s going on son?” Pops asks.
“Let’s go upstairs. We’ll talk there, too many eyes.” The guys look around, they’ve drawn an impressive amount of attention, eyes are solely focused on all of us including the cops. They nod and we turn to go in the building.
“G.T.!” is screamed across the parking lot and only one other woman knows I’m here. I turn quickly to see Bella running towards us.
“Who the fuck it is that?” Dagger chokes out.
“Bella, Angel’s friend.”
“Holy shit.” He growls and I can see why. Not only is she pretty fucking hot, her tight shorts and tank top leave little to the imagination.
Bella slows and takes in all the guys staring at her. “Come on.” I say breaking the spell.
She shakes her head. “What’s going on?” She asks coming up to me. “And these must be the brothers.” She waves her hands at the guys who grin.
“Yes. Brothers. Get in the apartment and I’ll tell you all what’s going on.” Some of the guys take the stairs while others ride the elevator. I put the key in the door and open it wide. I’m met with two guns pointed at my face. “Fuck girls. It’s just us.” Princess puts hers down and Casey launches in my arm. I pull her tight to me.
“Casey, what the hell is going on here? Why all the cops?” Bella asks stepping around us.
“Oh my God Bella!” She yells and throws herself at her. As the guys pile in, she hugs each and everyone one of them taking more time than needed to hug Becs and Tug. Becs I can handle. Tug needs to keep his fucking hands off my girl.
I pull her tight. “Give me the gun, babe.” I say quietly and for the first time since I gave it to her, she releases it to me. I retell the entire story and gasps from Bella continue to roll out of her mouth. Apparently, she didn’t see this coming either.
“We need to find him. Now.” I growl staring at my brothers.
Pops starts barking orders. “Buzz get on that laptop of yours and start searching. He couldn’t have gone too far. Dagger, Rhys, Tug and Becs make sure everything’s ready to go. The rest of us stay here with the girls.” Everyone leaves quickly to start their tasks.
Angel looks a bit shaken up still, but her color is coming back to her face along with some serious black and blue marks she’s going to be facing. The marks send fury through me and all I want to do is find the fucker and end him. And I will end him.
“What am I supposed to do?” Bella asks from the couch.
“When Buzz gets done, he’s gonna take you back to your place. You need to ap
pear as if everything is just fine. If the cops pull you aside, you say you saw nothing and you heard nothing. You stick to that shit no matter what. You need to pack enough to be gone for two weeks.”
“No. I can’t leave for two weeks.” She begins to argue, but Angel cuts in.
“Bella. I’m sorry, but this is how it is. I need the guys to protect you right now. I don’t know what the hell is wrong with Jace, but he knows how much you mean to me. He will come after you. You’re coming with us.”
Her face lights up. “Like to the clubhouse?” Angel nods. “I’m in.” Bella smiles and Angel tries returning it, but to no avail.
“Here ya go.” Buzz hands me some sheets of paper. “Everything on Jace Andrew Blankenship. Down to his last time using his credit card. According to this, it was about thirty minutes ago about an hour away.”
I walk over to Angel. “I’ve gotta go with the guys right now.” I hand her back the gun. “He comes here, you shoot. Breaker will stay here with you and Buzz will be back soon.” I look at the three girls. “You all do what they say, got it?” I make sure to linger on Princess, who concedes.
“Yeah.” I hear in unison.
“Baby. It’s gonna be okay. I’m gonna take care of this so he won’t do this again. Alright?”
“Be careful.” She says quietly. I pull her up from the couch and crash my lips to hers, partially for me and partially to let every bit of feeling I have for this woman pour through. I love her plain and simple.
“Always.” I look at Princess. “Take care of my girl.”
“You got it.” She grins and cocks her gun.
I nod to Pops knowing my sister will protect Casey with everything she has.
“Let’s go.” He says and we all file out. Unfortunately, I can’t fucking ride yet, so I’m stuck in the damn cage with Tug. Not exactly the best place for me, but my adrenaline is pumping so fucking hard, I don’t think about it. I focus on finding the fucker and ending him. For good.
12
Casey
It’s been over six hours and still nothing from any of them. I keep pacing unable to stop. I know I’m wearing the carpet thin, but my nerves are so shot. And I don’t care. I need to move. Bella’s already packed her things and is ready to go back with us to the club. She’s even contacted her professors and helped me contact mine about our ‘family emergency.’ I seem to be having a lot of those lately.
Cops came by when Bella came back in the door. Harlow knew they would come and gave us a cover story she made us repeat several times. We were all listening to loud music and didn’t hear a thing. It helped that when Bella walked in we had the music blaring. We even added a bunch of questions about what had happened. One of the female officers eyed my face, but I shrugged it off saying that Harlow and I got into a bit of a fight over a guy. Somehow they bought it and left us alone.
Harlow’s tried several times to get me to eat, but I want nothing to do with it. My stomach is in knots and just the thought of food makes me want to throw up. She also insisted that she check me over for injuries, even though I knew I didn’t have anything but a few bumps and bruises. It could have been so much worse.
It baffles me that Jace thought we had more than we do. I’ve never given him the impression otherwise. Or at least I never tried to and I was always straight with him. He never once gave me any indication that he had this other side to him. He was always so damn caring towards me especially after I lost Mia, never once even raising his voice. A twinge of sadness creeps through me as the loss of the Jace I thought I knew envelops me. Why did he change? What the hell happened? So many questions and ones that I will probably never get any answers to.
I turn to Buzz, who’s been eyeing Bella since they got back from her apartment, never letting her out of his sight for more than a few minutes. “Anything?”
“Nope. This shit takes time. You gotta settle down. They’re fine.” He says way too calmly.
“Easy for you to say.” I pace… And pace. My mind clouds with so much shit it may just explode. I can’t lose him, I just got him back.
“I’m about two seconds away from sitting on you.” Harlow calls from the couch. I don’t stop, but gladly take the irritation her words make me feel.
“How can you just sit there like this isn’t bothering you?”
She waves her hand. “It’s not. The guys know what they’re doing and they’re not stupid. And it’s one guy… Piece of cake.”
I huff at her and nibble on my fingernails that are now raw and on the verge of bleeding. How did everything go to shit so fast? What the hell changed?
Buzz’s cell rings and I stop dead in my tracks, eyes glued to him and ears peeled to the one sided conversation.
“Yeah.”
“Got it.”
“Yep. Cops came by. Took care of it. There are three still in the building, but have left us alone.”
“Alright.”
He shuts off the phone and looks at me, not saying anything for a moment.
“What!” I yell, needing something from him.
“Apparently your boy is smart. He went to his folks’ house about thirty minutes from here where there is a huge party going on. Boys are sitting outside… waiting.”
“First, he’s not my boy.” I say through clenched teeth. “Second, is everyone ok?”
“Everyone’s fine. Action hasn’t started yet.” He smiles and Bella sighs. I turn and she is staring at Buzz like he is the be-all-and-end-all, but when he looks she snaps her head away.
Whatever, I don’t have time for their dramatics right now. “So we wait.” I say finally plopping down on the couch for the first time.
“We wait.” Harlow says. “So you and my brother finally get shit sorted?” I look over at Buzz not really wanting to talk about this in front of him. Breaker is outside the door guarding it. He must have sensed my hesitation because without a word he gets up and goes out the door for the first time since he got here.
“Yes. No. I don’t know.” I blow out after he shuts the door.
“Okay… That was fucking clear. Spit it out.” Bella starts laughing looking over at Harlow who spoke. I get the distinct impression they will be ganging up on me really soon.
“What?” I ask.
“I like her.” Bella points to Harlow. “A lot.” Harlow smiles.
“I don’t get that much, most want nothing to do with me.” Harlow shakes her head turning her glaring eyes back to me. “Spill.”
I sigh, lean back on the couch and put my arm over my eyes. That’s such a loaded question and every word I say will be evaluated and she will read what she wants to into each of my words. “He wants me to move in with him, but I told him no.”
“Why?”
“I don’t think he’s come to terms fully about Mia and what I did. I think it’ll blow up eventually. I agree, now more than ever, that I need to be home, but I need my own place. I need to know that when this whole thing goes south, I have my own space to get away.”
“You honestly think he’s gonna let you have your own place?” I remove my arm from my head and stare at Harlow. “You’ve been around just as long as I have. Shit, Cruz demanded I stay with him. You think that after all these years, now that my brother has you, he’s going to let you just walk away?” She shakes her head. “You know this life Casey. It’s not new to you, at all. He loves you and you love him. Yeah, there’s shit you gotta deal with, but that doesn’t change anything. My brother is bossy, overbearing, stubborn and possessive, but he has a good heart. He won’t let you leave this time.”
“I don’t want him to hate me.” I sound so pathetic I want to kick my own ass, but there is so much truth to my words.
“He doesn’t. He’ll work through his shit just like he does everything else. You believe in him, right?” I nod. “Then trust that he will take care of you no matter what. He won’t make the same mistake twice.”
“God… I want one of these men.” Bella sighs and I can’t stop the small smirk th
at plays on my lips.
GT
Four fucking hours now and this damn party is still in full swing. I called Buzz over two hours ago hoping to relieve Angel a bit. Now, I’m just getting fucking pissed this guy is wasting my time. If there weren’t a fucking shit ton of people spread throughout the house, we would have gone right in. But here we are waiting in the fucking trees for the asshole to leave. If he’s smart, he’ll stay, but I’m banking on him not.
Pops comes over and sits next to me. We sit in silence waiting.
Three hours later, we are all getting fucking antsy as shit, mostly hungry and really fucking temperamental. Rhys has to walk off several times to get himself together.
“There he is.” I whisper and the guys’ eyes snap to the blue four door that Jace just got into. Each one pissed and ready for blood.
“Let him move. Once he gets to a clearing, take him.” Pops says with authority. After Jace gets in his car, he turns off the driveway. The guys hop on their bikes and I climb in the cage. We take off, but the bikes stay far enough back because of the roar and we don’t need him seeing us quite yet.
My body is pulsating and my good hand is fisted so tight I’m sure my knuckles are white. I want this fucker. Now. No one messes with Ravage and no one fucking messes with my girl.
Pops gives the go ahead signal. “Go!” I bark at Tug, who pulls ahead gunning for the car. We’re lucky the fucker took the back roads, clean up should go pretty easy.
Tug moves the cage swiftly, pulling up alongside of the car. Jace looks over and I wave my gun saying hello. His eyes widen and he attempts to pull ahead of us. Tug is smarter though and maneuvers the cage close enough not to hit, but instead Jace veers off the road, the dirt of the ditch stopping his car.
Tug stops and I jump out quickly running to Jace’s door and yank it open. His body is hunched over the steering wheel and his moans do nothing to stop my anger. This fucker will pay for putting his hands on Angel. “Get out!” I bark, yanking his shirt and pulling him out of the car. My brothers park their bikes and join me on the side of the road.
