by April Lust
Tears well up in my eyes. I’m so sorry, Dad, I think as a shuddering breath escapes from my lips. I’m so sorry I wasn’t a better daughter.
I’m no child beauty contestant, but I’m still a woman…and that makes me more vulnerable than ever.
The sight of Branden and Alan bursting through the front door is almost a relief.
Especially when I see the man between them.
“Landon!” I scream, trying to climb to my feet. Sharp, painful agony fills my body as I crash down again on my bad ankle, screaming as it rolls under my body. The ropes binding my wrists are cutting into the skin and my fingers feel tingly with pins and needles.
But at the sight of Landon, my beautiful blonde god, I don’t even notice how badly I’m hurting. His blue eyes are soulful and deep, just like I remembered. His blonde hair still grazes his chin and he looks scruffy, like he hasn’t shaved in days. My heart is filled with indescribable joy at the sight of the man I love.
I can only hope he feels the same way.
“Vivian.” Landon’s cry is more of a grunt than a scream. He tries to break free of Alan and Branden but they’re holding him too firmly. Knowing that we’re so close, and yet so far from freedom, makes my heart ache.
Branden’s lips twist into a nasty smirk. “Why don’t I leave you two lovebirds alone for a while,” he says, rubbing his hands together. I can only watch, breathless, as he binds Landon’s wrists behind his back. Landon doesn’t even flinch when they tie him up; he takes the pain like a man.
I wish I could say the same. Now that the rush of seeing Landon alive has worn off, my ankle has started throbbing once more. I have so many questions to ask him. I’m dying to know where they found him. Was he looking for me? Is my dad okay? And what about Blade and Robin?
My heart sinks when I realize that I’m going to have to tell Landon the truth about Robin. He’s going to be so disappointed. He’s going to realize that I’m not a strong person after all–that I’m not like him.
I swallow nervously. My mouth tastes like iron, and my stomach is twisted and empty and cramping. I still have to pee, but I try to ignore the urge and focus on how I’m going to explain about Robin to Landon. We have to figure out a way to make sure she’s safe before we think about ourselves. Alan and Branden are obviously dangerous, and I couldn’t stand it if something happened to her.
Branden walks over and looks down at me. He’s smiling like the cat who ate the canary, and an uneasy feeling stirs in my chest when I realize that he’s waiting for me to say something.
“So,” Branden says. “You happy, girlie?” He leans close and I try not to wrinkle my nose in disgust as his nasty breath washes over my face. “We brought you someone you wanted to see. Ain’t that right, Alan?”
Alan’s panting and grunting on the other side of the room. When I look up, I see that he’s binding Landon’s ankles. My heart sinks further in my chest. Not only are the ropes strong, the knots look complicated. Even if Landon and I can manage to free our hands, I have no idea how I’m going to get him out of those bindings.
“Yeah,” I say, not taking my eyes off Landon. He’s not looking at me and that alone is making me ache more than my broken ankle or the ropes behind my back. “Why did you bring him here?”
Branden spits on the floor. “Why indeed?” Branden drawls. “Well, we gotta find a way to give him a purpose, don’t we?” Branden turns to Alan, putting his hands on his hips. “What the hell do you say, Alan?”
Alan glances up. His eyes flicker over me before settling on his boss. He shrugs. “Dunno,” he mumbles. “We got them now, and that’s what counts.”
“So now my father can pay you,” I say loudly. “You’ve got what you wanted. Just ask him for the ransom money and everything will be fine. You can let us go.”
Branden laughs. The sound is so loud, so shocking that it startles me. “You’re a fuckin’ piece of work, you know that?” Branden leans down in my face. “You have the nerve to try to tell me what to do?” He shakes his head, seething with anger. His face is so garishly red that I can barely see the birthmark splashed across his cheek.
“Well, you got both of us,” I say, trying to keep my voice steady. Landon still won’t look at me, and that’s making me even more nervous. “Isn’t that what you wanted? Didn’t you want to make sure that we were both here, under your thumb?”
Branden shakes his head and whistles. “Girlie, are you in college?” Before I can answer, he laughs cruelly again. “Because you are one hell of a genius! Damn, Alan! She’s got it all figured out. Now that we got her and the grunt, we’re all done here. We might as well celebrate, have ourselves a little party.”
Alan bites his lip and doesn’t say anything. His doughy face shows that he’s obviously confused. Say something, I think desperately. Anything to let me know what he really wants. Please.
“Anyway,” Branden says. “That ain’t how this is gonna go down at all, you little bitch. As long as we’ve got you, we’ll make sure you’re good for something.” He gestures to Alan. “Come on, asshole. We gotta get more firewood.”
With that, Branden and Alan leave the room. Immediately, I shift my position on the hard floor and turn to face Landon, desperately hoping that he’ll finally speak. But his face is stony and cold, and his lips are pushed into a scowl.
My stomach twists into a knot. Why is he doing this? Does he somehow already know that I’ve betrayed Robin? Is he angry with me? What the hell is he acting like this for?
“Landon,” I whimper. “Landon, please look at me. Please talk to me.”
Landon closes his eyes and leans against the wall, looking utterly defeated.
“Landon, please!” I stare at him until tears prick my eyes. “Please.”
Landon sniffles. He stretches, testing the ropes that bind him.
When his eyes meet mine, I can’t help but falling into the bottomless pits of sapphire. He’s so beautiful–even when he looks severe and angry. He’s the most gorgeous man I’ve ever seen.
“Please talk to me,” I whisper. “We can’t say anything in front of them.”
Landon licks his lips and sighs. Despite the fact that he’s tied up and leaned against the wall, he looks majestic, almost like a lion.
“Why didn’t you tell me about the baby, Vivian?” Landon asks. His voice is hollow, dead.
Inside, I feel my heart start to break. Fresh tears well up in my eyes and even tilting my head back and looking at the ceiling does nothing to stop them from falling down my cheeks. My skin is so cold that my tears seem to burn, but I don’t even care. Soon, my nose and sinuses fill with what feels like liquid concrete.
“Landon,” I whisper. “Please, it’s not like that.”
But Landon’s eyes are closed, and I have a horrible feeling that he’s not going to listen to anything else that I say.
Chapter 29
Landon
From the first moment those two thugs drag me inside their shitty house, I try to start making an escape plan. At first, I’m not even sure they have Vivian. The house is dark and has obviously been abandoned for a long time.
It smells like rot. Like musty old leaves after they’ve been sitting in rainwater for weeks. Once, when I was a little kid, I stuck my nose into a moss-covered knot on a tree trunk. I’d forgotten all about that until now. Walking into the house is enough to make that memory come rushing back in full force.
When I see Vivian, it’s hard to keep from crying out. She looks terrible–her light brown hair is frizzed and tangled around her face, and there’s a hand-shaped bruise on one of her cheeks. Her eyes are tiny and round, like a doll’s, and her skin is deathly pale. It’s freezing inside the little house, and I wonder if these assholes keeping her here even know enough about starting and keeping a fire.
But I know I can’t show any emotion. Crying out her name is hardly in my best interest, but it’s impossible to see the woman I love in such poor condition. Her hands are bound, like mine. She’s sitting w
ith her legs awkwardly splayed, and that’s when I notice her ankle. It’s so swollen that it’s larger than her calf. Her shoe seems painfully tight around the wound, and my heart aches. She’s being so brave. I can tell that she’s done a lot of crying, but other than that, the look in her eyes reminds me of a warrior princess.
The only good thing is that her clothes aren’t too mussed. I can tell Branden and Alan aren’t that interested in Vivian as a woman, which is pretty much the only sense of relief I’m getting from this whole predicament.
Still, I can’t be too affectionate. I have to make those thugs think that Vivian doesn’t mean very much to me. They know we’ve slept together, but if I can convince them that she’s just another pussy, they’re less likely to hurt her.
It’s hard to stick to my resolve when Vivian starts crying anew, though. She keeps whispering my name under her breath like a silent prayer. As I watch out of the corner of my eye, Vivian’s head droops forward and her chin rests against her chest. She’s sobbing quietly and her face is moonlike and puffy from all the swelling. More than anything else in the world, I want to break free of these ropes and pull her into my arms.
I have to wait, though. I have to wait until I have a plan formed in my mind. I know I’m going to save us both, but I just have to think of how to do it.
“Why didn’t you tell me about the baby?” I growl. The truth is, I’m not even mad. I’ve never thought about what it would mean to be a father, but with Vivian, I realize that anything is possible.
Vivian bursts into a new storm of tears. Watching her cry breaks my heart. I wish more than anything else that I could comfort her and remind her that she’s important and perfect and beautiful and special.
“Don’t cry,” I tell her.
Vivian just glares at me. “Why do you hate me?” Vivian whispers.
Before I can try to explain why I’m acting so distant, Alan and Branden come back into the room. Branden looks at Vivian and when he sees that she’s crying, he grins. It turns my stomach.
I want to rip this jerk apart limb from limb. He’s not even a man. He’s like a scared kid, getting high off bullying the smaller kids.
“So,” Branden says. “Did we have a nice reunion, y’all?”
I sigh and roll my eyes. “Come on,” I say loudly. “Get to the fucking point. We know that you want us for a good reason. What do you want? Money? Drugs?”
Branden crosses his arms over his chest. “Something more important,” he says slowly. He walks over to Vivian and squats down right in front of her. When he puts his hand on her lower belly, it makes me seethe with rage.
“I can’t feel a heartbeat yet,” Branden says mockingly. “Vivian, how far along are you?”
The nervous way Vivian shakes her head and laughs makes my head snap up. Suddenly, I start to wonder if she was telling the truth. Vivian’s a smart girl. The kind of girl who would try to think of a line to use in a dangerous situation to get herself out of trouble.
The kind of girl who’d lie about being pregnant if she thought it would make her kidnappers treat her a bit more gently.
I try to listen to every word, every intonation without giving the impression that I care at all.
“Um, I don’t know,” Vivian says shyly. She blushes and I want to cheer her on, but I know that I have to stay silent.
“Well, sugar, it ain’t that hard,” Branden sneers. He leans even closer to her face and I see Vivian crinkle up her eyes and wince, leaning out of the way. “When did you last get fucked?”
Vivian’s cheeks burn even brighter.
“I think I’m six weeks,” Vivian finally says in a small voice.
That confirms it. Six weeks ago, we weren’t in the hideout together. Six weeks ago, my life was normal. I was riding and fucking club whores and doing my thing.
“That’s pretty early,” Branden says. There’s a nasty gleam in his eye. “Maybe I oughta call a doctor. He can come over here and check you out.”
“Yeah, boss,” Alan chimes in. He walks over and looks down at Vivian. “We gotta make sure she’s okay.”
No, no, no, I think, shaking my head. All I can hope for is that they don’t actually know anyone with real medical expertise. The Helldogs are a rag-tag MC. They don’t even take good care of their cars and bikes. I have no reason to believe there’s an actual doctor around to help them get patched up. Based on the way Alan and Branden look, I’d be surprised if either one of them had ever seen a doctor in their lifetimes.
Branden strides out of the room. When I hear his voice, my heart sinks. I can only hear snatches and snippets of what he’s saying, but it doesn’t sound good. Something about a doctor, a cabin in the woods, and a pregnant girl who belongs to Blacktop Chaos.
Vivian’s eyes meet mine and I stare at her intently. I’m trying to tell her that it’s going to be okay, that she just needs to trust me. But based on her panicked expression, I can tell she’s not going to believe anything that I say.
When Branden comes back in the room, he’s obviously pleased with himself. He’s rubbing his hands together and cackling under his breath. Together, he and Alan throw some crudely chopped logs on the fire and throw a match on top. When the wood starts to burn, it fills the whole room with smoke and for a moment, the four of us are coughing in a rough unison.
“Did you tell him where we are?” Alan asks Branden, poking at the fire with another stick. “Did you say we’re at the hideout?”
“Yeah, I’m not a fuckin’ moron,” Branden says. “He knows where we are.” Branden throws a quick glance over his shoulder and I close my eyes just in time. Maybe if he thinks I’m asleep, he’ll let something important slip.
“Well, good,” Alan says. I watch him shiver. “This place gives me the creeps, man. I don’t wanna fuckin’ stay here anymore.”
“Well tough shit,” Branden snaps. “This is the place Sal bought, and this is the place we’re gonna use.”
I rack my brain, trying to think of where I’ve heard the name ‘Sal’ before. Big Hill isn’t a big metropolis. It’s more of a small city with a quaint, town-like feel. And while Sal is a common name, I’ve never come across a man with that name…especially a man in another MC.
My hands are fucking killing me. It feels like all of the blood has somehow drained out of my fingers–it’s way past pins and needles. When my hands brush together, it’s like touching something that died years ago. I shudder, trying to curl and uncurl my fingers in a weak attempt to get the blood flowing once more. It’s painful, but I grit my teeth and rub my hands together until the tingling feeling starts to come back.
Branden and Alan aren’t paying attention to me. They’re bickering over the fire. As I keep rubbing at my hands, I shift my legs on the floor. My ankles are bound tightly by complicated knots, but it shouldn’t be anything I can’t take care of…at least, as soon as my hands are free.
Groaning, I bite the inside of my lip and try to pull one of my hands free from the rope. The rope tears and drags across my skin, burning a line that feels white-hot. I try to relax my jaw and lean against the wall, rotating my shoulder in gentle motions. Whenever I move, my hands strain against the ropes. Soon, I can tell that I’ve loosened them significantly.
Thank god, I think, sneaking a quick look over at Vivian. She looks even worse than before–her lips are bloodless and her eyes are swollen from crying. When she catches me staring at her, she opens her eyes wide. I want to tell her not to say anything, but I don’t want to risk catching attention from Alan or Branden. Instead, I twist my lips into a sneer.
Vivian blinks quickly and looks away, obviously stung. I hate hurting her, but if this is the only way I can keep her safe until I’m on my feet and fighting these assholes, it’s what I have to do.
“So,” Branden says, waltzing across the room. “Here’s what’s gonna happen. Vivian, a doctor’s gonna come and take a look at you. Now, you better be tellin’ the fuckin’ truth because if you aren’t, you’re really gonna regret it.�
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I can see fear flashing across Vivian’s face plain as day. It kills me to see that she’s scared, but I know that the fact she’s showing fear is helping Branden. He’s growing more confident by the second, and soon he’ll become careless with me, his less important hostage.
“What’s the doctor going to do?” Vivian says in a voice barely above a whisper. “Is he going to hurt me?”
“Not if you do exactly as he says,” Branden says in a nasty voice. “Now, you,” he says, turning to face me. I keep my arms as rigid as they were before with my back to the wall. If Branden sees that I’d managed to loosen the ropes, I’m a dead man.
“What about me?” I smirk. I’m still scared, but I know that I have to act one-hundred-and-ten percent cocky asshole. I have to make Branden think that I’m not taking him seriously.
“Shut the fuck up,” Branden says. He walks over and punches me square in the jaw. It’s not a very good punch. His fist is too limply curled to really be effective, but I let my head swivel out of the way and I groan for effect, spitting blood onto the floor.
