by Ava Grace
I needed to know how many of them were in there. Was it the same two assholes or had they got reinforcements? What if she’d have come back here? Bile rose in my throat at the thought of what could have happened.
When I remembered the sight that had greeted us when Faith had been kidnapped and Coop and I had gone into her house, a wave of dizziness overwhelmed me and I had to put a hand on the wall to steady myself. Ryker had been on top of her with his pants down and his dick out. If that had been Violet? I closed my eyes and prayed for strength. How did Coop go to sleep every night without seeing that every time he closed his eyes?
Quietly, I removed the key from the lock then crept around to the back of the house to see if I could get a better idea of how many of them were in there. There was decking on the back of the house so I tiptoed up the steps to the porch, cursing under my breath when the wood beneath my feet creaked.
I froze and waited to see if they’d heard anything. When no one appeared at the back door to check on the noise, I made it to the wall by the window. I waited for a beat then peered inside.
The sight that greeted me made me blink and stare harder to ensure my eyes weren’t deceiving me. The two goons from earlier weren’t inside Violet’s house waiting for her to get back and that, at least made me breathe a sigh of relief. The little lamp beside the couch had been switched on and Adam, Violet’s scumbag husband was on his knees rifling through a bunch of paperwork. What the fuck? My anger returned tenfold.
I leaned back against the wall then retrieved Vi’s keys. I knew which key was for the front door now so the other key had to be for the back door. I headed for it, peering into the darkness for the keyhole. Once inserted, the lock opened quickly then I crashed open the door and rushed inside.
Adam shouted out in shock and fell back on his ass, putting his hands out in front of him to defend himself.
“Don’t hurt me!” he shouted.
When he saw that it was me who had come crashing inside, he looked as if he was about to piss himself.
“Luke?”
“What the fuck are you doing here?” I demanded, switching on the main light in the room so I could better see what the fucker was up to.
“This is not what it looks like,” he said, looking down at all the papers in front of him. “I’m not stealing anything, I swear.”
“Then what the fuck are you doing and how did you get in here?”
He averted his gaze. “I’ve got a set of keys,” he said in a quiet voice.
It was obvious he wasn’t supposed to have them.
“Give them to me.”
He hesitated.
“I said give them to me or I swear to God I will kick your ass and take them from you forcibly.”
He reached into his pocket, pulled out the keys then handed them to me.
“Now. You have two minutes to start talking before I call the cops and have you arrested for trespassing.”
“I’ve been trying to call her for days,” he said. “I’ve texted her too, but she won’t reply to me and I needed it.”
I scowled. “Needed what?”
“My passport.”
I blinked. “You’re trying to tell me you broke into your ex-wife’s house to get your damn passport?”
He nodded. “I’m taking my girlfriend on vacation. We’re leaving tomorrow night and when I went through all my paperwork at home, I realized it wasn’t there. Then I remembered that we kept our passports in this box full of paperwork,” he explained.
“So you thought you’d do a little breaking and entering?”
“She wouldn’t call me back!” he said. “What else was I supposed to do?”
I sighed. “Did you find it?”
He looked down at the mess of paperwork on the floor then lifted it. “Yeah, I got it.”
“Give it to me.”
His eyes widened so I took a step closer then leaned down. “I said, give it to me.”
He reluctantly held it out to me.
I flipped through the pages to check that it was indeed his passport then threw it back at him.
“Okay, you got what you wanted, now get the hell out of here. Or is your driver’s license here, too?”
He shook his head then got to his feet.
“Anything else here belonging to you?”
Another shake of his head.
“Good. And Adam? If I find you here again without Violet’s permission, I’m going to fuck you up. Are we clear?”
He nodded.
“Perfect. We understand each other. So where are you taking your girlfriend anyway?”
“Mexico,” he murmured.
“Ya don’t say? Are you sure it’s legal to take her out of the country without her parent’s permission?”
He scowled at me. “What the hell are you talking about?”
I shook my head in exasperation. “Dude, she looks barely old enough to drive.”
“Who?”
“Your girlfriend, you know, the young girl you were all over in the club the other night.”
Adam averted his gaze. “Oh. That’s not my girlfriend.”
I blinked. “Say again.”
“I said she’s not my girlfriend, okay? She was just some little slut that came onto me in the club.”
Jesus Christ, I really hated this man. “You’re a piece of work, you know that? So who is your girlfriend?”
He straightened his back and lifted his chin proudly. “Jessica Danvers.”
I blinked, then threw my head back and let out a loud roar of laughter. “Are you shitting me?”
“No,” he said defensively. “I’m going to marry her as soon as my divorce is finalized.”
Jessica Danvers was the biggest bitch in Creede and was personally responsible for countless marriage break-ups. She’d hit on practically every brother in the club, including me, but I wouldn’t have touched her with a ten-foot barge pole.
She was a skank.
I grinned.
“I’m sure you’ll be very happy together. Enjoy your vacation.”
I opened the front door then practically shoved him through it. “Remember what I said. I catch you here again, you’re gonna get the beating of your life.”
I stepped outside the front door and watched as he got into his car. As soon as he switched on the engine, I turned to go back into the house. I’d only put one foot inside when something that felt like a fist, slammed into the back of my head and I fell to the floor in a heap.
Chapter Twelve
Violet
“So let me get this straight,” Andrea said, frowning. “You’re in a relationship with my brother?”
I shook my head. “No, it isn’t like that. We’re not in a relationship. We’re just friends.”
Andrea, Libby, and Faith all stared at me as if I’d grown a second head.
Andrea blinked. “Friends?”
I nodded.
“But, you’re sleeping with him?” Faith asked.
I sighed. “Yes.”
Andrea winced.
“And you guys are going out to dinner together,” Libby added.
“Well, sure, but…”
“And he brought you lunch yesterday,” Andrea said.
When the girls all questioned me earlier, I’d caved and told them the whole thing. Well, not the whole thing. I might have failed to mention the sex against the wall part and just told them that he came to my house after the club.
I sighed again. “Yes, he brought me lunch, but that was part of his price.”
Three sets of eyes stared at me before turning to look at each other, their foreheads creased in confusion.
“His price?” Faith questioned.
“Yes. He said if I didn’t want a relationship, we didn’t have to have one, but if I wanted him to sleep with me, it would come at a price.”
“What price?” Libby asked.
“That we’d be friends,” I explained. “That he could take me out to dinner, and bring me lunch whenever he
felt like it.”
Andrea, Faith, and Libby all threw their heads back and roared with laughter as if it were the funniest thing they’d ever heard.
I frowned. “I don’t get it. What’s so funny?”
“Girl, you’ve been played,” Andrea said. “I’ve got to give it to my brother, that was slick.”
I folded my arms. “I have not. What do you mean?”
She stared at me, eyebrows raised then ticked off the points on her fingers. “You’re going out to dinner with him. Regularly. He’s bringing you lunch. He’s sleeping with you. Oh and let’s not forget that kiss goodbye we all witnessed just now.”
I nodded, slowly. “Okay.”
“Girl, you can dress all that up any way you like, and call it any word you want, but the fact of the matter is, you’re in a relationship with my brother.”
“Am not!” I denied.
“Are too.”
Libby and Faith nodded knowingly.
I stared at them, my eyes wide as I let the information sink in.
“Holy shit!” I exclaimed. “I’m in a relationship with your brother!”
“Yep.”
“How the hell did that happen?”
“They wear you down until you give in,” Faith explained as if talking from experience.
“They get under your skin,” Libby added.
Andrea pointed at me. “If he hurts you, I’m going to kick his ass.”
I leaned back and closed my eyes.
They were right.
I was in a relationship with Luke Chase.
And I hadn’t even known it.
Son of a bitch.
Luke said he wasn’t a player, but I just got played.
It might not have been in the way that I’d expected, but I’d been played none the less.
“Just wait until he gets back here,” I promised. “I’m going to kill him.”
Andrea patted me on the back. “I can sympathize. I’ve felt that way dozens of times about Luke.”
Chapter Thirteen
Luke
I fought like a motherfucker, but those bastards managed to get the drop on me anyway. I spat out a mouthful of blood and glared at the tall fucker, John, while Tom secured my hands behind my back.
John’s eye was already starting to swell from where I’d hit him earlier. Twice. His lip was split open and there was a bruise on his cheek. Tom was in much the same condition. John might have been a giant of a man, but I wasn’t exactly a small man myself and I’d been in enough bar fights over the years to know how to handle myself. I wouldn’t have gone down without a fight.
No fucking way.
There was pure hatred in John’s eyes as he stared at me. I didn’t think that Adam had seen what happened to me before he left and even if he had, I doubted he would do anything about it. It was obvious that he didn’t like me and I couldn’t say that blamed him. I detested the shit out of him. It would be a while before any of the brothers came looking for me so one thing was for sure. These sick fuckers were about to have some fun at my expense.
Whatever.
I could handle it.
“How did you find this place?” I asked, furious that they were in Violet’s house.
It felt like a violation.
John chuckled and pulled out his cell phone. He pushed some buttons on the screen then turned it to face me. It was a photograph of Violet and I coming out of Buck’s earlier in the evening. Libby and Mason were just visible in the background.
“Did you know that fear is a great motivator?” John asked. “You’d be amazed at what you can find out when you threaten to break someone’s legs. I’ve never even had to actually do it, of course. A few fingers are usually enough to make someone squeal like a pig.”
“There’s always a first time though,” Tom said, walking around to face me and glancing down at my legs.
John chuckled darkly. “Looks like you’ve inspired some violence in my friend here.” He leaned in and whispered. “And he’s usually the calm one.”
I tested out my binds but the fucker had used cable ties to secure my wrists so there was no way I was getting out of them anytime soon—at least not without slicing through my flesh.
John walked towards me and without warning, he punched me so hard that my teeth rattled.
“That’s for earlier,” he said. “Call it payback.”
I lifted my head and met his gaze. “You hit like a woman.”
That might have been the wrong thing to say.
He punched me again.
The second punch was harder than the first and caught me under the jaw. An uppercut. I was pretty sure he’d just knocked a couple of my teeth loose. I glared at him and spit out more blood.
Tom reached into his pocket and pulled out a packet of cigarettes, He lit one then took a long drag.
“This is a no smoking house,” I informed him. “You mind taking that outside?”
John backhanded me. It stung like a bitch. When I felt something wet trickle down my cheek, I realized he’d cut me then looked at his hand. He was wearing a heavy signet ring.
“Our boss hasn’t been offered any money,” Tom said. “So it seems our message wasn’t understood after all.”
John nodded. “No harm, no foul. We’ll just deliver another one.”
The next punch caught me in the center of my ribs and stole all of the breath out of my lungs.
I gasped for air and was still trying to drag some down into my lungs when Tom lifted the hem of my tee shirt and pressed the lit end of the cigarette into my stomach. I wanted to keep quiet while these fuckers worked me over, but a scream tore from my lungs unbidden. It would have been impossible to keep it in. When the smell of burning flesh reached my nose, I fought with my gag reflex.
I could take a beating, but one look at John’s stone-like expression and I knew that I was in for much worse. I’d never been tortured before, thankfully, but something told me that the next couple of hours were going to be a real test of my inner strength and endurance.
Chapter Fourteen
Violet
I checked my watch. It had only been thirty minutes since Luke had left and the drive to my house was maybe five minutes each way tops so I was starting to feel a bit antsy. After Ethan had arrived with Andrea, he’d gone straight into a meeting with Coop, but the both of them strode back into the room with purpose just as some sort of commotion started outside.
Hunter, one of the brothers came in, practically dragging a man in behind him.
“Found him nosing around outside,” Hunter said before he all but threw the man at Coop’s feet.
“Hey, get your hands off me!” the man shouted as he stood up. “I was doing you a favor by coming here.”
I recognized the voice in an instant—I should have done, I’d spent the past four years married to him.
“Adam?” I quickly got to my feet. “What are you doing here?”
He swung his head in my direction. “Violet?”
“Adam Miller,” Coop said. “To what do we owe this pleasure?”
I headed on over there. “What’s going on?”
Adam adopted a sheepish expression. He scrubbed a hand over the back of his neck and said, “Well, I was over at your house when…”
“Excuse me? What do you mean at my house?”
He sighed. “I had a spare key, okay? So I let myself in. I had to. I’ve been trying to talk to you for days. I’ve called you, left you messages, I even turned up at your door to speak to you for Christ’s sake, but you never got back to me and I was out of time, I needed my passport, so…”
His explanation came out in a jumbled rush, but I understood him loud and clear. “You let yourself in my house? How dare you!”
“I had to!” he defended. “You left me no choice!”
“Get to the point,” Coop said. “What has that got to do with why you came here.”
“Luke was there. At your house.”
I nodded. “I know that. I
sent him there.”
“Just as I got in my car to leave, I saw two men rush at him. One of them punched him then they bundled him into your house and closed the door. They must have been hiding around the corner when I came out. I didn’t know what to do so I came straight here.”
He glared at Hunter over his shoulder. “I thought you’d want to hear about it, but if I’d have known I’d get this sort of welcome, I wouldn’t have bothered.”
I barely registered anything he said after hearing that two men had punched Luke and bundled him into my house. The blood in my veins turned to ice. Coop was barking out orders to some of the brothers, but I couldn’t make out the words. I felt sick. And dizzy. I stumbled backward, but then someone grabbed my arms and helped me to stay upright.
“He’s going to be okay.” It was Andrea.
I nodded, but I didn’t quite believe her.
She couldn’t know that for certain.
No one could.
These men had put Ian in the hospital with internal bleeding. I’d learned since I’d been at the clubhouse that they had been sending a message to the club to pay fifty thousand dollars that Ryker owed to a drug dealer. If these could do that to someone just to send a message, what could do to Luke? They’d been furious after our exchange at the restaurant earlier. Luke had punched one of them. He’d humiliated him. It was obvious that they weren’t the sort of man who would just let that go. They’d want to send an even bigger message.
A wave of nausea hit.
“He’s going to be okay,” Andrea repeated like a mantra.
I wasn’t sure if she was trying to convince me or herself. Either way, I clung to her words and tried to let them sink in.
He’s going to be okay.
He’s going to be okay.
He was.
He had to be okay.
Because the alternative was just too horrible to conceive.
I couldn’t stand it if something were to happen to him before I told him that…
Told him what, exactly?
I wrapped my arms around myself and forced myself to relax. What would I have told Luke if he was there with me? I knew what I wanted to tell him. I wanted to tell him that I liked him. I liked him a lot. But I was scared. I’d been hurt once already. I’d lived through a broken heart and it had taken its toll on my psyche and on my spirit. I had used up all of my strength and resilience to claw my way back to a life that was something resembling normal. I didn’t need another person around me that I couldn’t trust. I needed someone I could count on—someone who could be honest with me and treat me with respect. Not just a lover, but a partner. A friend. I didn’t know if Luke could be that person. But I wanted him to be.
