PRIZE: A Bad Boy Hitman Romance

by Sophia Gray

  Adopting her had been a no-brainer. My own father had been a deadbeat, and my mom did everything she could for me until she died of a heart attack a few months after I turned eighteen, so I knew what it was like to be alone. I knew what it was like to have no one to look out for me except for myself. Life had dealt her a terrible hand, but that didn’t mean she should have limited options. Plus, I saw a lot of potential in her. I hadn’t let my trials prevent me from achieving my goals. I could be a business owner and a mom, too. I had the funds, the drive, and the determination.

  I didn’t need a lot to make me happy, and I sure didn’t need a guy to make me happy. It was just Sage and me. We were more like sisters, considering our age difference. For five years now, I was her mom. I hadn’t even gone out on a lot of dates because guys didn’t want a woman with a kid. Okay, so maybe I used her as an excuse sometimes.

  It wasn’t that I didn’t want to date, but it always became the same old song and dance. Each one loved the idea of dating a businesswoman…at first. But when it meant time away from them and then being too tired for them after I spent all day long arguing with vendors or advertisers or dealing with customers or employees, they never asked for a long-term commitment, which was fine by me. I wasn’t ready to commit, not to any of them, at least. The number of guys calling me lately had diminished down to nothing, and it didn’t bother me any. It seriously didn’t.

  Or maybe they couldn’t accept dating a woman with more ambition than they had ever possessed. Maybe I intimidated them. I could be a little, well, intense at times. “A little overbearing,” Sage called me a few times, and she might be right about that. I liked things to be done correctly, properly. Was that too much to ask? Have set goals and plans made things run smoother. It just did.

  All of the guys who did have ambition were already taken. Of course. I had prioritized my career over having a family, but did that mean I had bypassed my chance at finding someone? If it had, oh well. I had a daughter. What more did I need?

  But while I hadn’t dated anyone recently, Sage had. She was a gorgeous young lady, and she made guys’ heads turn. I tried to instill in her a sense of independence, to get her to see value in her own life so she didn’t need to rely on anyone else, especially a guy, but that was one area where she and I didn’t see eye to eye. Ever since middle school, she had had one boyfriend and hopped from him to another and another and so on, with one guy in particular being her “go-to.” Maybe her real mom hadn’t given her enough attention so she craved it elsewhere. But it bothered me. She shouldn’t define herself based on a relationship. She had the potential for so much more than just settling for being some guy’s girlfriend.

  I wouldn’t be surprised at all if her disappearance had something to do with a guy. Her current boyfriend was Trenton Young, a twenty-two-year-old who I hadn’t liked from the beginning, and he was the one she had dated longer than any of the others combined. He was a member of the motorcycle club Devil’s Horns.

  He was also bad news.

  Sage couldn’t see it, though. He wasn’t just a bad apple; he was a rotten one. But she was blinded by love. It wasn’t love. Maybe it was lust, but whatever it was, it wasn’t healthy. I liked to think that if she had picked a good guy, one with a promising future, I would have encouraged the relationship, but I couldn’t in good conscience sanction the one between her and Trenton. Between the way Trenton treated both Sage and me, and also the way she treated me when she was around him, it wasn’t good. She became moody and sullen and disrespectful, a completely new person.

  Only once had Sage talked to me about her father, and it sounded like he had been just like mine, a deadbeat who never spent even one second caring for or loving his daughter. While my mom had grown up and matured from the need to have a guy when she had been left to raise me all alone, Sage’s mom had a string of bad relationships, one right after the other. It was no small wonder that Sage had followed at least partially in her mother’s footsteps, and Trenton was a bad relationship, that was for sure.

  The only major issue I had with Sage—aside from her poor taste in guys—was her schooling. She had dropped out of high school and refused to go. Wouldn’t even bother to study and just get her GED. It had been a year after her mom went to jail that she dropped out. She told me she couldn’t stand the looks and the whispers about her mom, and I understood that. I really did. But when I suggested she go to a different school, she didn’t want to hear about it. That girl could argue with the best of them.

  “They’ll find out about my mom soon enough, and it’ll start all over again,” she had said.

  “You could take my last name,” I had suggested.

  But she had shaken her head. “You’re young yet. You’ll have kids of your own. You’ll leave them the restaurant. As it should be. I appreciate you taking me in, but…”

  She never did finish that statement.

  Basically, she didn’t quite view me as her mom. And I guessed I was wearing a lot of hats considering I wasn’t just her mother but I was also her boss at the restaurant, even if she wasn’t a waitress and only did the dishes. She only ever called me mom when she wanted something—a dress, a purse, shoes, some money—which hurt, but I could understand it to some extent. Her mom had scarred her, and she didn’t want to let me in, afraid of letting me get too close in case I hurt her, too. Still, that in and of itself hurt me. She didn’t trust me. I gave her shelter and clothes and food, but that was basically all I was to her. In my mind, she was my daughter, but in her mind, there were times I was just a nag. For the most part, though, we got along.

  It was only a month after she’d dropped out of high school that she got mixed up with a bad crowd, one that included Trenton Young. They had been on and off ever since, and even though I inwardly cheered each time they went off, they always ended up getting back together again. I guessed Trenton might’ve had someone else in between their stints, and I knew for certain Sage did. What she saw in Trenton that kept her going back to him I wasn’t sure.

  It was only because they had been together for so long that I had his phone number. Not all of her boyfriends—she had a quite a few during her “off” times with Trenton—had she shared their number with me.

  Having nothing to lose, I called Trenton next, but he didn’t answer his phone either. His voicemail greeting—Trenton here. Too busy to talk. Leave a message and I might get back to ya.—grated on me.

  Wannabe tough guy. If he’s why Sage’s gone, if he’s done anything to her, he’ll learn the definition of tough from me. I swear to God.

  My cell was almost dead. Great. I put my phone on the charger and was just beginning to pace in my crammed living room when my cell rang. Practically diving for it, I answered with a breathless, “Hello? Sage?”

  “Victoria? It’s Corinne.”

  “Corinne!” My voice sounded strained. I cleared my throat. “Have you heard from Sage?” My voice still sounded strained. Maybe it would until Sage was found. Blood rushed to my ears, and my heart pounded hard in my chest as I awaited her answer. Please let her have seen Sage or know where she is. Please!

  “Not in a week,” Corinne answered. “Sorry. I’ve been out of town. Jack and I went to the beach, and we found this cute little cove and—”

  “That’s all right,” I cut in. I really didn’t need to know what exactly happened in that “cute little cove.”

  Sage’s best friend had no filter. Corinne tended to go into great details about everything, and that included her sex life. I didn’t care to hear about that at all, and she wasn’t the best of influences on Sage, but at least she had never broken a law—outside of sex in public places—and she had never been in jail, so she had that much going for her. Considering I hated her boyfriend, I figured it was one of those pick your battles type deals. I was all right with Corinne if it meant Sage would stop being with Trenton. Not that that had worked in my favor.

  “Did she tell you about where she would be going?” I asked in a rush. “Did
she have a trip lined up and she forgot to tell me?”

  “Nah.”

  My heart sank, and my knees went weak. I sank to the floor, my phone still plugged into the charger. Corinne had been the last person for me to get ahold of. She had been my last chance at finding them. Well, outside of Trenton. I had really thought and hoped she had been with Corinne, or that Corinne would at least know where she was.

  So where the hell was she? Where had she gone? Why hadn’t she told Corinne? She shared every detail with her best friend. Why start to keep secrets from everyone now? Maybe it hadn’t been a planned trip. Sage could be a little impulsive at times, just never to this extent before. She always left me a voicemail or a physical note to let me know where she was. Her mom had disappeared too many times on her so that was one thing Sage had almost prided herself on. Even if she was going to a party she knew I wouldn’t approve of, she would still let me know she was going.

  So maybe it hadn’t been planned. Maybe something serious had come up. Like what, though? What would keep her radio silent for five whole days? It just didn’t add up. Something was wrong. Call it mother’s instinct.

  My growing fear kept me silent, but that never bothered Corinne. She just kept right on talking.

  “Sage and Trenton have no money. They planned on staying low key, far as I knew. Couldn’t even afford to go out to dinner or nothing. We, Jack and I, just got back, and I was about to call her, but then I got your messages and thought I’d call you first. You know, your voice goes kinda high-pitched when you’re upset. You sound like a—”

  “Try calling Sage,” I urged, even though I figured her calls would go straight to voicemail, too. I didn’t need to know what I sounded like. I needed Corinne to stay focused. “Maybe she’ll call you back, and this will all just be a big misunderstanding. I mean, she didn’t tell you anything to make you think that she’ll be leaving, right? She wasn’t home when I came back from work five days ago, and no one has heard or seen from her or Trenton ever since.”

  Actually, I didn’t know for sure about the Trenton bit. Maybe he was hanging around his place. Maybe he and she split, and Sage needed some time by herself.

  But still, why hadn’t she called me?

  And I was rambling. Corinne tended to ramble all the time. Who knew it would rub off on people.

  “Nope,” Corinne said. “I’m sorry. I wish I could be of more help. I haven’t a clue where she might be. Which is kinda strange. I mean, she tells me everything, even told me before she told you that she had gotten back together with Trenton this last time. Anyhow, I’m sure she’s fine—”

  “It’s been five days,” I growled, “with no phone calls or emails or anything. No communication at all. With technology making communication easier than ever, I’m freaking out and rightfully so. Sage isn’t like this. She doesn’t check in all the time, but she’s never been gone this long before, and I’m worried.”

  “Chill, Victoria.” Corinne laughed, but this was no laughing matter. Couldn’t she see that? “I’m sure she’s fine,” she repeated.

  “If you hear from her, will you call me?” I asked, almost pleading.

  “Of course. But seriously, stop being so uptight.” A strange smacking sound came over the line. Maybe she was chewing gum. “Get laid or something. You’ll feel better.”

  “Right,” I said dryly. Because that was going to happen. I didn’t need to spread my legs. I needed to find my daughter. “Can you call her and then call me right back, please?”

  She blew out a breath. “Fine, but you’re making a mole hill out of nothing.”

  I frowned. “You mean a mountain out of a mole hill.”

  “Nope. A mole hill out of nothing. There’s nothing here. So Sage isn’t answering your calls. Just means she’s busy, that’s all.”

  “Just call her,” I ordered, and hung up.

  I waited on pins and needs for Corinne to call back. Which she did. Almost immediately. Which meant…

  “Voicemail?” I asked without even saying hello first.

  “You got it. Still doesn’t mean anything,” she said.

  Sighing, I hung up again. This time, I called the police station, but they hadn’t gotten any farther than I had.

  “We’ll let you know,” the officer said, the same one who I had been talking to all along, an Officer Steve Jenkins. He was young and honestly didn’t seem to be that competent, or maybe I was being unfair. I couldn’t tell. “As soon as we make any headway, you’ll be the first to know.”

  “Are you sure I shouldn’t organize a search?” I asked, desperate to feel useful, desperate to do anything that might help speed up the process of finding Sage and bringing her home safe and sound.

  Ever since I first realized she was gone, I had been plagued by terrible nightmares. I’d see images of her body cut into ribbons, of her being throw into the river, of her being involved in a fatal car crash, of her being cold and scared and alone and terrified. Hell, I was scared and alone and terrified.

  “I advise against it, ma’am,” he said calmly. How could he be so calm? “You don’t want to impede our investigation.”

  What investigation? I wanted to scream. Were they even doing anything? I knew our small town in the south didn’t have a lot going for it, and that there had been a suspected murder a month ago they still hadn’t solved so they were more concerned with that, and rightfully so, but still. This was my daughter we were talking about.

  I basically hung up on the officer and sighed again, wearily rubbing a hand down my face. My stomach was all twisted into knots, and the heavy feeling in my chest wouldn’t go away. I had adopted her to give Sage her best chance at life. I wouldn’t rest until I succeeded.

  Running off with Trenton Young wasn’t her best option, if that had been what she’d done. Did she know that? Had she done it anyway? Did she not bother to tell me because she knew I wouldn’t approve? I knew she was nineteen, that she could technically do what she wanted, but she had always kept me in the loop. And she told Corinne everything. If Corinne didn’t know where she had run off to—and Corinne, bless her, couldn’t lie if her life depended on it—that made me fear she hadn’t gone off willingly.

  What if she tried to break things off with Trenton and he hadn’t taken it well? What if he had kidnapped her? If he had hurt her at all, he’d better hope I never found him, because when I did, I would make him regret it. I had told the police about her relationship with Trenton, how it was toxic, and they had taken down notes, but I didn’t know if they had followed up on that lead. Should I call back and press? Find out if Trenton had been seen recently?

  Regardless of whether or not Sage had gone willingly, I just wanted to make sure she was all right. I was bound and determined to get to the bottom of what happened to her. One way or another, with or without the police’s help, I would find her.

  Now that I had finally gotten ahold of Corinne and she’d turned out to be a dead end, Trenton Young and the Devil’s Horns were my best lead. Her disappearance most likely was because of the damned motorcycle club.

  Sage often went to an apartment complex called The Shades to be with Trenton. It was downtown and not at all in a good area, but that wasn’t going to stop me. I grabbed my cell—only about half charged—and my keys and purse and dashed out of the house and to my car. Traffic was brutal, and a car almost rear-ended me. I swore my luck was at a serious low point right now. It took me almost an hour to reach The Shades.

  I had never been here before and my heart sunk at the sight of it. It was a terrible building, with peeling paint, broken windows, and graffiti. No lines marked the parking spots, and the cars already parked weren’t in the best of shape with dents or duct tape and plastic to cover up a busted window. Around the side, some of the cars were nicer, and I couldn’t help but wonder if they belonged to drug dealers, because, man, did I smell some strong marijuana and other druggie whiffs as soon as I left my car. I never touched drugs myself, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t recogn
ize the scent of them.

  Sage had come here how many times to be with Trenton? The thought made my stomach churn even more. She deserved better. I’d never forget the first time she introduced Trenton to me.

  He’d been wearing a wife beater and holey jeans, way down low over his hips. He had tattoos, which wasn’t necessarily a bad thing—who doesn’t love a guy with some ink? Except his ink left a lot to be desired. If you couldn’t afford to have a decent tattoo artist, it was better to not bother to get inked at all, and Trenton was walking proof of that. I was talking about a misspelling and mousy-looking lion instead of a fierce one. A fierce lion could be hot as hell. His made him look like a punk.

  But Sage had been all smiles as she introduced him to me, and like a good mother, I held out my hand for him to shake. Not only did he ignore it, but he walked past me, into my house, and asked where the fridge was because he was hungry.

  Sage had given me a sheepish grin and trailed after him. She ended up making him a sandwich, and then he ate it all just as she finished making herself one. He took one look at it, and Sage wordlessly gave it to him, and he polished that one off, too, before she even could eat one herself. The man—he acted more like a kid than a man, but he was twenty-two so it felt weird to think of him as a boy—seemed like he should be back in the fifties. Wanted Sage to wait on him. Acted like he was the important one and she had to do his bidding. Gave her just enough attention for her to not realize what an ass he was.