Saving Ayden

by Muriel Garcia

  “Fucker! I’ll have a word with him next time I see him.” I frown.

  “Don’t. It’s okay. I just thought he was into me the same way I was, still am.” She shrugs. “I’ll be okay, I was just starting to get ready to date again, it kind of sucks.” She laughs, but there’s no humor in it.

  “I’ll still punch him for hurting your feelings.”

  “Suit yourself.” We both burst out laughing.

  “Thanks.” I will so kick his ass for hurting my friend.

  We pay for our food and do some more shopping before heading home. We are both tired and our feet hurt. I drive her back home and drop her off.

  “Thanks for today, Ayd. It really took my mind off of what happened with Aleck.”

  “Glad I could help sweets. If you need anything feel free to call me. I’m always there for you.”

  “I will.” She smiles and hugs me before getting out of the car and going in her house. I back out of her driveway when she’s inside and drive home.

  I had such a great day with Charline and this morning with Ant. I finally feel like my life is good and I’m where I’m supposed to be. I have amazing friends, my family back together and an amazing boyfriend. I can finally call him my boyfriend again. I know things haven’t been perfect since I came back but he’s making everything better and I feel safe. Nothing can break my happiness.

  I park in my driveway after the short drive from Charline’s place and park my car. I don’t see Callum anymore behind me, which is quite weird. I swear he was behind me a couple of minutes ago. I get out of my car, go to open the trunk to get my shopping bags. I feel a sharp pain on the back of my head and everything goes black...

  Chapter 26

  Anthony

  I’m glad she’s been letting me call her and check on her every few hours and getting updates from Callum. I really thought she would put up a fight this morning. I do like to rile her up but if we can avoid unnecessary fights, I’m all for it. Especially after last night.

  Making love to her was really a turning point for us. I know sex doesn’t define a relationship but with how things went between us, it was the one thing that would make it seem all the more real to us.

  I can’t wait to get back to her tonight. I hope she picked up on me wanting to make it more official and live with her. Her place would be perfect to start fresh, for the both of us. It’s in a good neighborhood and it’s perfect.

  The only shadow over our perfect life is Michael. The cops still haven’t found him. He’s nowhere to be found. There’s a country-wide search for him. Surely someone can’t just disappear like that. We just hope he won’t do anything to Ayden, or try to come mess with us. A couple of our charters are on the lookout for him too and I’m still surprised the Bastards from Hell would help us out with him.

  It’s the middle of the afternoon and I haven’t checked on Ayden in a couple of hours and haven’t heard anything from Callum. Last time I checked on her she was just finishing lunch with Charline. I walk out of the garage and call her. She doesn’t answer. I get it that she might be tired of me calling her every couple of hours but surely if anything she would have texted me. I try calling Callum but he’s not answering either. I’m getting a really bad feeling about this. I need to go check on her.

  I walk over to Gabe. “I’m going to check on Ayden. She’s not picking up the phone and Callum isn’t either.”

  “Shit. Go I’ll finish this car.”

  “Thanks brother.” I walk to my Harley and get on it, speeding to her place.

  I get this really bad feeling, you know when your blood turns to ice, where you feel lightheaded and have trouble breathing. When you’re not sure if the person is okay or not and you can’t help but get worried sick. That’s how I feel right now.

  I turn onto her street and my heart stops seeing her car parked in her driveway with the trunk open. I park by her car and everything is still in her car—her bag, her stuff. I go in the house using my key and yell her name.

  I look in every room but she’s not here. I go back outside and try to call her again hoping she will pick up, that maybe she’s just chatting with a neighbor but she’s still not picking up and I can’t hear her phone ringing from her car so maybe she has it on her. The tracker!

  I open the app on my phone and get to the tracker feed. It shows she was last here about two hours ago. The signal isn’t moving anymore. She’s in the middle of nowhere. I’m about to call Gabe when I notice some blood on the ground. I can’t believe I missed it. I rub my hand over my face. I was already pissed before this but now? Now I’m furious.

  I can’t believe it! He’s been around the entire time and now he has her. I’m going to fucking kill him! How he got past Callum is beyond me. Where the hell is Callum?

  I quickly call Gabe.

  “What’s up Ant?”

  “He has her.” I say, my voice strained.

  “Fuck!” I hear him bellow. “Where do you need us?”

  “Take your truck and go with Aleck to Saint Bernard. It’s the last house on the street. It’s in the middle of nowhere.

  “On our way.” As soon as he hangs up, I get on my bike and drive as fast as I can without getting into any trouble on my way to Saint Bernard.

  On the drive there, I have time to reflect on what has been happening and how I could have protected her more. I had Callum watching over her. I can’t believe she’s been kidnapped right under his nose. He was in the Marines—he knows what he’s doing and he’s very observant. She was just going to the mall for fuck’s sake! I thought she would be safe, I guess I was wrong and now I have to go and get my woman. I need to make sure she’s okay.

  I can’t let what happened to her in the past happen again. I could never forgive myself if such a thing would happen again. She’s so precious and I love her so much, she’s the only reason I’m happy in life. Sure the club life isn’t too bad. I can’t complain about that but fuck she makes me feel alive. I need her in my life.

  Now that she’s finally back we finally have a shot at being happy and having our happily ever after MC style, she’s taken away from me again.

  Her Mom, Josie, always told me to stop kicking myself over the fact that she left, that it wasn’t my fault but indirectly, it was my fault. What happened to her was because of the club and once again, I can’t shake off the feeling that it all happened because of me.

  For all I know, it might be the guy who took her years ago who’s still out to get her and to hurt her. What if he really was still watching over her to see if she would come back and rekindle what we had before? I don’t know who that guy is or who has her. I don’t know how much more she can take before she fully breaks to the point of no return.

  She’s not weak but she’s already had a lot to deal with. If anything like what happened years ago happens again, I’m afraid there will be no coming back from it and as selfish as it might sound, I’ll lose her forever, and I really don’t want that. I need her like she needs me even if she’s too damn stubborn to admit it!

  After driving for an hour, I slow down and park a block away. The place is in the middle of nowhere so that’s good, I can cut through small woods to get straight to the house and not have him hear me coming to take her back. I need to be really careful—he could snap and just kill her. I would never forgive myself if anything were to happen to her again.

  Chapter 27

  Ayden

  I wake up. It’s dark, really dark and I can barely breathe. My hands are tied behind my back and my ankles are tied together. I’m in the trunk of a car I guess and it seems like we are slowing down. An odd feeling of déjà vu hits me. This can’t be happening again! I have no idea where we are heading or who’s taken me but I have a good idea who’s behind it.

  What I was afraid of most, happened. Me letting go of the past and giving into my feelings for Ant and hanging out with the club got me into this hellhole once again. I try to get in a position for me to kick whoever took me and buy me some
time to try and escape.

  I am not going through this again. It nearly destroyed me once—I will not survive a second time. In this moment I have no time to be scared or even show fear. If I don’t show him how freaked out I am I might have a chance... or make things worse God damn it!

  The car stops I can hear a car door open and close. I hear footsteps on the gravel. Someone is coming to the trunk, I get ready to kick my kidnapper but I’m blinded by the light streaming into the trunk. I try to kick whoever is there but they whack my knee with something and I scream in pain.

  “That will teach you to try and hurt me you fucking slut!” A way too familiar and unwanted voice screeches.

  She grabs my legs and injects something in my thigh, making me fall asleep almost instantly.

  I slowly wake up in a room, it looks like a very old house, half of the room we are in has been burned.

  I’m still confused because of whatever she injected me with. I try to move but my arms and legs are tied to a bedframe.

  I see a shadow come out from a corner of the room and I stop breathing when I see who it is.

  “Michael?” My blood turns to ice.

  “Surprise Honey.” He beams, he actually fucking beams at me. “Missed me?”

  “What the fuck is this? Is this some kind of sick fucking joke?”

  “Stop swearing.” He slaps me. “A lady doesn’t swear Honey, you should know that.”

  “What do you want from me?”

  “I’m just taking back what’s mine. You’re my woman. Anthony took you away from me. Now it’s my turn to take you from him. You were mine first, after all.”

  “You’re crazy!” I scream.

  “Crazy about you Honey, yes. Don’t you remember our first time, it was so beautiful.” He smiles caressing my cheek. I’m disgusted and try to get away from him but I’m firmly attached to the bed.

  “What are you talking about? We never had sex—you tried to force yourself on me!”

  “Now, now Pretty Girl, don’t you remember our first time? Six years ago. It was fabulous. You were so tight, still a virgin. God it was heaven to be the first one to take you.”

  “W-what did you say?” I whisper my eyes going wide. This can’t be possible. Nobody knows, and that pet name. Fuck no!

  “You heard me, Pretty Girl. I’m sure you remember. I was your one and only. It was magical. Don’t you remember?”

  I’m speechless. My blood turns to ice. I’m feeling numb. Michael is the one who took me six years ago and raped me over and over again for a week. This can’t be happening again.

  “Say something!” Michael yells at me.

  “I… I remember.” I stutter.

  “That’s my Pretty Girl.” He smiles caressing my cheek. “You didn’t listen to me though. You went back to your little biker family a couple of months ago. I tried to keep you in the right direction but you were too stubborn to listen to me and pay attention to what I was offering you. All I wanted was to make you happy but no, you had to go and be friends with Anthony again. I told you that you should steer clear from them, that if you went back to them I’d take you back again. You should have listened to me.” He sits on the bed by my side. “You know why I took off and disappeared?” I shake my head, too scared to talk.

  “See, I found this on the ground.” He takes out one of my earrings from his pocket. “You should have been more careful, love. I found it and then noticed the file was missing. I have to say I’m surprised you had the guts to look through my stuff. What I don’t get is why you would do such a thing? You betrayed me when I did nothing but be a good boyfriend to you. You never treated me with the respect I deserved. But you’re going to respect me and love me now. We’re going to go away, you and I. We’ll start a new life together. It’s going to be perfect, you’ll see.” His phone rings and I’m so glad for the distraction. I don’t know what the fuck is wrong with him. This can’t be happening again. I can’t believe he’s the one who’s been behind all of the bad things that have happened to me.

  “I’ll be right back Honey.” He leans over and kisses my forehead before walking out to answer his phone.

  I’m left alone in the room, tied to the bed. I can’t fucking believe it, he’s been behind everything that went wrong in my life, how could I not see it! But why?

  I’m quickly brought back to reality when Angel walks back in the room.

  “Looks like I’m still going to win you fucking bitch. See, when Ant “saved” you a while back when Michael was groping you, Michael and I stayed chatting and see we became very close friends.” She smirks and continues. “Very, very close if you know what I mean. Anyway, since you seem to get all the men you want, and well I’ve been taking care of the man who wants you as well, I’m double winning here. Michael and I came up with the perfect plan for him to get you and get Ant out of the picture. It’s brilliant you’ll see. We’re going to love it, you on the other hand, probably not but oh well, it’s not like I care about you.” She winks at me and shuts up when Michael comes back.

  “Everything is going according to plan, we won’t be bothered again Angel.” He winks at her. “I love you Ayden. I need you in my life. You mean the world to me. Anthony won’t be bothering us. I took care of that, and your little baby sitter too.” He smiles, looking somewhat hopeful?

  “What did you do to Anthony and Callum?” I ask him, my voice strained.

  “It doesn’t matter what I did. Just know they won’t be bothering you anymore, don’t worry.” He smiles stroking my cheek.

  “WHAT DID YOU DO TO THEM?” I scream going crazy.

  “Do not yell at me!” He yells slapping me again. “You shouldn’t care about what happened to them—it’s just you and me now. Nothing else matters but us. Don’t you see that we are made for each other?” I nod softly—knowing that he hurt them both is shattering my world. Anthony is the reason why I’m still alive to this day. I can’t lose him.

  “Good girl.” He smiles and undoes his clothes and folds them neatly before coming back to me fully naked. “Now where were we?” He leans over and starts cutting my clothes in two with a pocketknife. I’m shaking from both the cold air and the shock of him undressing me again. I close my eyes and turn my head to the side, disgusted and freaked out.

  “What about me?” Angel screeches annoyed.

  “Go out for a walk or do whatever you want. I’m going to make love to my woman.” He says stroking my cheek.

  “I am your woman not that fucking slut!”

  “GO. NOW! I will not repeat myself again.” He growls.

  I feel the bed dip between my legs and he’s hovering over me, kissing down my neck and my chest. “So beautiful. Just like our first time.” He whispers against my neck. He keeps kissing lower, taking his time. Tears roll down my cheeks. I’m helpless and can’t do a damn thing to stop him. I just have to let it happen and it’s killing me inside. I try to block out what’s happening and think about the past, about Anthony and how we were happy growing up, about how happy we were just a couple of hours ago.

  I can feel his hands and lips on me, it’s making me sick and there’s nothing I can do to stop him.

  “What the fuck?” He growls and gets off of the bed. He puts on his pants and walks out of the room. “Angel, keep an eye on Ayden!” He yells.

  I let out a shaky breath. I have no idea what happened but I sure am glad he didn’t do anything else and was stopped in time.

  After a couple of minutes, I hear some noise coming from outside and loud footsteps in the house. I look towards the door and see Aleck and Gabe. Aleck walks towards me and covers me with a blanket while Gabe undoes the handcuffs and the restraints at my feet.

  “Anthony’s taking care of Michael. It’s going to be over really soon Little One.” Gabe says soothingly.

  “Ant?” I look at him confused. “He… he said he took care of Anthony.”

  “Here put these on.” Aleck hands me a shirt and some shorts. I try to get up but sway and nea
rly fall.

  “Wow, take it easy Ayd. Ant is fine, don’t worry.” Gabe says helping me find my balance.

  “BEHIND YOU!” I yell at Gabe. He turns around just in time to see Angel walking towards him pointing a gun.

  “You forgot the safety switch love.” Gabe smirks and takes out his gun. “You fucking betrayed us. All that’s been going wrong with the club and in private has been your fault. Your little friend from the Bastards from Hell, Blades, he ratted you out when his Prez found out he was giving someone information about us. You know what we do to rats.” He points his gun at her and pulls the trigger. One single bullet and she’s down. Falling to the ground.

  I’m dumbfounded, I knew she was fucked up but I never would have thought she would be ratting the club out and working with Michael. It takes me a minute to clear my head. “I have to stop Ant…”

  Chapter 28

  Anthony

  I sneak up to the house as quietly as I can and I see him, naked on the bed hovering over Ayden who’s attached to the bed. I’m seeing red. I can’t believe Michael would do that. I need to put a stop to this before he can go any further.

  I walk to the other side of the house, the part that burned down, getting myself ready to kick his ass. I step into the house and the wood creaks.

  “What the fuck?” I hear Michael growl. Good I got his attention. I lean against the last piece of the wall that’s up, waiting to sneak up on him.

  I only have to wait for a minute before he’s in the room. I shove him down on the ground.

  “Get up you sick fuck!” I growl, too gone to care what I could do to him and how this would end.

  “What the fuck are you doing here? You’re supposed to be dead!” he yells.