HOGTIED: A Dark Bad Boy Baby Romance (Satan's Chaos MC)

by Nicole Fox

  She jumped out of bed as he pulled on his pants.

  “Can I make you something to eat?” she asked.

  “I don’t really have time. I’m just going to take a quick shower.” He gave her a peck on the cheek before disappearing. It was a quick shower, though part of him said he better enjoy it, because it might be the last hot shower he got for a long time.

  When he stepped out, he smelled coffee and eggs cooking. He shook his head. She really was something, wasn’t she? She was the type of woman who would take care of him every day. He wanted that so badly. And now was the time to go fight for it.

  After he finished dressing, he went to the kitchen to find her. She stood at the counter in her cotton shorts and t-shirt, still rumpled from sleeping. He loved the way her blonde hair was still a little tangled from the night before, when he’d bent her over right there. His dick went hard and he wrapped his arms around her from behind, wishing he had time to bend her over again before he left.

  “I made you something,” she said. She turned and presented him with a foil-wrapped sandwich. “You can take it with you and eat in the car.”

  “Thank you.” He set the sandwich down and gave her a long kiss.

  She followed him to the door and kissed him one last time.

  “Oh, and this.” She handed him a cardboard cup with a plastic lid. “Good luck? I guess. I don’t know what else to say. Be safe. Be careful. I love you.”

  “I love you.” With one more kiss, he closed the door behind him and walked to his car.

  He peeled back the foil and took a bite of his sandwich. Hot egg and cheese melted over his tongue. How could anyone mistreat this woman like Jeremy had? What a monster he must be inside to do the things he’d done.

  The sandwich and coffee were gone by the time he reached his hotel room. Inside, he tucked his guns away. One in his ankle holster, one at the small of his back. Nicholas already had set up a hidden camera and microphone to capture the meeting. And that meant that he either had to make it look like self-defense or there’d be footage of him murdering Jeremy.

  He stood in the middle of the room, facing the door. All he had to do now was wait. Jeremy was usually punctual, and he still had a good twenty minutes before their meeting time.

  His mind wandered back to every moment with Vanessa. Their first meeting, their first kiss, their first time sleeping together. His heart ached for her and Opal. He needed them to be safe and come out of this alive and well. Then he thought of the conversation he’d had with Vanessa not long ago. Maybe there was one more thing he could do.

  He dropped down to his knees and folding his hands. He hadn’t prayed since he was a little boy and it felt strange to be in this position. He didn’t know if anyone was listening or not, but he spoke out quietly into the room, aware of the recording that would capture even this.

  “God, if you’re there, I know I haven’t been good, but this isn’t about me. Keep Vanessa and Opal safe today. Help me do whatever I need to do to make things better for them. Even if it means going away and not being with them, I’ll do what I have to do.” He stood up, then dropped back down to his knees. “Amen.” He stood again and paced a few steps.

  In that moment, it felt like all the years of abuse he’d suffered were somehow worth it. As horrible as it had been, what his parents did to him, even how his high school girlfriend lied and tricked him into killing her dad. If none of that had happened, he wouldn’t be in the position to meet Vanessa. He laughed to himself. What in the world would they tell people about their early dating life and how they met? Well, I was hired to kill her, but she was just too gorgeous and amazing, so I turned around and killed her ex instead. No one would ever know their real story, aside from those who already did.

  Knowing that he now had the love of a good woman and the heart of a child gave him the strength he needed to do this. To sacrifice himself for their sake. He felt, for the first time in his life, that he had purpose and direction. He had a reason to exist, a reason to wake up and keep going every day. He had to make their lives safe and happy. No matter what his life looked like to make it happen. And that alone filled his chest with warmth. It gave him the reassurance that everything would be okay somehow, because she loved him. She’d saved him from a life of loneliness and without love, and now it was his turn to save her.

  # # #

  Vanessa paced in front of the door. She had to stay here with Nicholas. Hunter had to be alone to do this. She knew that. Jeremy wouldn’t think he was still on his side otherwise. But she didn’t like not knowing. When would Jeremy get there? What would happen? Would everyone survive? The questions plagued her. Her stomach turned and she looked over at Nicholas.

  He sat with his hands between his knees, tapping them together in a rhythm as he also shook his leg. He might even be more nervous than she was. Though why, she wasn’t too sure. It wasn’t his child who was in danger. It wasn’t the love of his life about to walk into a situation that could end his life or land him in jail. What did Nicholas have to be nervous about? His job? Or did he know something she didn’t know?

  Someone knocked on the door, and Vanessa jumped. She almost screamed, but caught herself at the last moment. She looked over at Nicholas who was staring back at her with wide eyes, face paler than it had been.

  “Who’s that?” he whispered.

  “I have no idea,” she hissed back.

  “Pizza Warehouse!” came a voice from the other side of the door.

  Her and Nicholas exchanged looks again.

  “I didn’t order pizza,” she whispered.

  “Me either.”

  “No one ordered pizza,” she said loudly.

  This could easily be a trick, and she wasn’t about to open the door to find out.

  “What?” the pizza guy said.

  She walked closer, but stood to the side of the door. “I’m sorry. No one ordered a pizza. There’s some mistake.”

  “Are you kidding me?”

  She wondered how old this guy was. He sounded like he couldn’t be past his teens. “Sorry.”

  She listened as he grumbled to himself and finally walked away. She ran over to the window and carefully peeked out. After a minute, she saw a guy with a pizza get back into his car, talking on the phone as he did. There was no other suspicious looking vehicle parked down there.

  “What do you think that means?” she asked Nicholas.

  “I don’t know, and I’m afraid to find out.”

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Hunter

  The knock came. Three fast raps. Hunter took one final breath. This was it.

  He opened the door and made a show of looking around Jeremy and the parking lot before letting him inside.

  “Were you followed?” he asked.

  Jeremy glared back. “Are you kidding me? I’m the one who has people followed, not who gets followed.”

  “Right, and were you followed? Did you have your people follow you here?” Idiot. What did he think he was asking, if the cops had followed him?

  “My people are everywhere.”

  Sure they were. Asshole. He could barely stand to be feet from him and not punch him in the face. Every time he talked, Hunter pictured his hands tight around his throat.

  “You wanted me here to explain, so explain. This is taking too long,” Jeremy said.

  “I know, but I’ve never done a hit where there’s a child involved.”

  “I never asked you to kill the child. Just don’t shoot her when you shoot her mother. It’s not that difficult, but clearly you can’t handle it.”

  “I’m not going to shoot Vanessa with Opal in the room.” Picturing that made his chest tight with agony. “I think that would do a lot of psychological harm to her.”

  “Psychological harm? What do I care about that? You know what? Forget it. The deal is off. I know where Opal is, and I already have someone on their way to get her. I’ll have Vanessa taken care of in the meantime, and it’ll all be done by the end
of the day. You took too long, and you pissed me off. I’ll be expecting back the money I gave you as a down payment.” Jeremy crossed his arms and glared at him.

  Hunter swallowed and tried to keep his feet from dashing out the door. “I said I’ll do it. It just needs to be done right.”

  “Too late. She’ll probably already be dead by the time you make it back to the apartment,” Jeremy said smugly. “Oh, but that’s right. You won’t be making it back to the apartment.”

  Hunter watched in disbelief as Jeremy opened his coat and pulled a gun from his inside pocket. Hunter’s hand twitched. This was the perfect set up. It would be self-defense, no question. He never expected Jeremy to do something like this.

  He reached his hand to his back, but Jeremy pulled the slide on his gun. His years of training kicked in, and he saw Opal’s face flash through his mind before he acted. There wasn’t enough time to pull out his gun.

  Hunter lunged for Jeremy and collided with him hard, sending him to the ground in a crash. Jeremy still had hold of his gun, and turned it so that it pointed at Hunter’s shoulder. Hunter spun out of his aim.

  He threw his body over Jeremy and slammed his fist down on the arm holding the gun. Jeremy moaned in pain, but didn’t let go. Hunter considered reaching again for his own gun, but it would take too long, and the risk was too high.

  Jeremy tried to throw Hunter off him by twisting under him, but Hunter was too heavy for him. As Jeremy turned, Hunter grabbed the hand holding the gun. They struggled for several minutes—Hunter trying to get the gun, Jeremy desperately holding on.

  Hunter got his hand on the gun, and Jeremy lost his grip. He quickly got to his feet. Jeremy rolled out of the aim of Hunter’s gun, and scrambled to his feet.

  He ran at Hunter, jamming his head into Hunter’s chest and causing him to drop the gun. It hit the ground, and the men dove for it. Jeremy reached it first and closed his fingers over it.

  He pointed the gun again at Hunter. Before he could pull the trigger, Hunter slammed his hand down. The gun fired.

  For a moment, Hunter wasn’t sure what happened. Who had been shot. Was someone dead? This was such a messy way to do this, and all of his hits had been clean and simple. None of this fighting with the mark stuff.

  He didn’t feel any pain, and Jeremy wasn’t moving. Hunter carefully stood up. A hole was at the front of Jeremy’s chest and blood trickled out.

  Hunter ran out the door without another glance back, only one thing on his mind—get to Vanessa. Now.

  # # #

  She almost texted him or called him a few times, but she knew that would only make things worse. He was playing a role, pretending, and he couldn’t seem like he cared about her at all. But the wait was killing her. She needed to hear Hunter’s voice, know he was okay. She had a bad feeling about all of this and was terrified something would go wrong and someone would get hurt.

  She looked at her phone again. He was going to call as soon as he could. As soon as he was alone. Still nothing.

  As she put her phone back in her pocket, she turned to face the door, still pacing. The door flew open with a loud bang. She screamed as three men in black ski masks burst into the room.

  Her mind spun. What should she do? Could she fight back? Would they hurt her or take her or both? They had to be hired by Jeremy, but was he one of them?

  She looked at Nicholas. He was in the corner of the room, huddled into a ball, looking terrified. What a pansy. She wished Hunter was there. He would have pulled out a gun or his fist, and he would have defended her. Nicholas was useless. A whining little boy in the corner. It was up to her to defend herself. At least Opal wasn’t there to witness this. It would be hard enough trying to get away from them, if she had to get both herself and Opal out, it would be much harder.

  As she got into a fighting stance, she recalled her gun. She’d stashed it in the top drawer of the little table near the door. The one right by her side.

  Vanessa tore open the drawer and grabbed her gun. She pulled back the slide and pointed, then squeezed the trigger.

  Actually firing the gun was terrifying and exhilarating. As many times as she’d gone to the range to practice, this was very different. There was a person, a real live living person at the other end of her aim this time. But, this was a person who was coming to hurt her or abduct her. She had no choice.

  Her first shot went too far to the right and hit the wall. Drywall and plaster trickled to the floor in pieces.

  She aimed again, but in her panic and heightened emotional state, she was shaking. One of the men was close and swung at her. She stepped out of the way, fired again, and missed again.

  Another man grabbed her arm and had the gun out of her grip in seconds. She felt instantly defeated. She had failed miserably.

  She was lifted off her feet and thrashed around, trying to break free. “Nicholas, help!”

  But she didn’t expect him to do anything. She couldn’t see him, but she suspected by now that he was in tears, hiding under a bed.

  Her thrashing only made them hold her tighter. She screamed as loudly as she could. Maybe one of her neighbors would see or hear. Surely if someone saw three men in masks carrying her out as she kicked and screamed, they’d call someone, wouldn’t they?

  She kept screaming, hoping to alert someone, until one of the men shoved something into her mouth. She choked, and her eyes teared up. She fought harder, pulling at her arms and legs to do anything. To hit one, to break free, to gain any sort of upper hand. But with three of them and one of her, she was no match.

  If Nicholas had managed to get up and attack one of them, or use her gun to shoot one, maybe things would be different. The rage burned inside her chest every time she pictured him curled in the corner. She was trusting this man to have Jeremy locked up and keep Hunter out of jail, all while keeping Opal safe?

  She felt like everything was falling apart. Where was Hunter? Was Opal safe? What would happen to her now?

  One of the men put a cloth over her face. At first she thought, well that’s stupid, I’m already gagged. But then the room started to spin, and she realized it was something else. She felt herself being carried out of the apartment, and she heard sirens in the distance.

  The hallway twisted around her, and her arms and legs no longer responded to her brain telling them to move. She was limp weight.

  None of her neighbors’ doors opened. Apparently, someone cared enough to call the police or an ambulance or something, but no one stepped out to help her.

  She felt the morning sun on her face and knew then that the sirens were too far away. Help would not reach her in time. Blackness closed over her as she heard a van’s door slide open. She vaguely felt herself being thrown in before her remaining senses failed her.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Vanessa

  Vanessa’s head felt like it would explode as things started to form in front of her. She recalled being taken and being knocked out. That meant she was somewhere now that she didn’t know. She peeled her eyes fully open to get a view of her surroundings.

  The light was dim and shining in through cracks in wood planks. The floor was covered in bits of hay and dirt. It smelled of hay, too, and the lingering scent of some sort of animal. Were there still animals here?

  She didn’t hear any voices. Maybe the wind was blowing outside, but she wasn’t sure if she was hearing that outside or in her head. She was tied to a chair. Ropes dug into her skin at her wrists, which were secured behind her. Her ankles were each bound to a leg of the chair.

  She had to get free or she was dead. She pulled at the ropes, seeing if any were loose. Not one so much as budged. She thought about trying to crash to the ground and break the chair, but it was metal. It couldn’t break apart like wood.

  She tried to see the walls and space around her. It was definitely a barn of some sort, with stalls lining either side and an open section in the middle, where she sat. Was there anything sharp that she could rub against to break
the ropes? She tried to hop closer to one wall to get a better view. Even a loose nail could help, if she had some time to work at her ropes.

  She scooted once, twice. The metal scraped on the wood floor. But then another sound stopped her cold.

  She held very still to be sure, but she’d know that sound anywhere. Opal. Crying.

  If she was here, they’d taken her, too, from the safe house. They’d found her and found out all of their plans to keep things secret and safe. Was Hunter being harmed, too? Had Jeremy figured out that he wasn’t planning to kill her?

  Things were much worse than she’d even thought. Obviously, they could find Vanessa. She’d been sitting at home, looking like she was waiting for Hunter to come. And she knew that Jeremy knew where she lived. It wasn’t a real shock. But she’d thought the farm house with Mari’s parents was safe. If they’d found Opal, no one was safe.