CLAIMED BY THE BAD BOY: A Dark Bad Boy Romance (Bloody Saints MC)

by Zoey Parker

  I got dressed in a pair of jeans and a long-sleeved t-shirt because I wanted to look as plain as possible. Then I grabbed a jacket. Going to the bathroom, I checked myself in the mirror one last time. I looked grim but determined. I hoped it would be enough.

  Before I left the bathroom, I grabbed the small bottle in the drawer and shoved it into my pocket. Then I hurriedly left before I could think too hard about what I was doing.

  I went downstairs to find Brody lounging on the couch, flipping through one of my fashion magazines. He was staring at it like it was either the Holy Grail or a monster waiting to eat him at the first opportunity—I wasn’t sure which.

  I cleared my throat to get his attention. He nearly jumped out of his clothes he moved so fast, tossing the magazine to the side like it was on fire. Wide-eyed, he stood there stock still, facing me. “I, uh, didn’t hear you come downstairs.”

  Putting on a sweet smile, I teased him despite my hammering heart and the pool of dread in my stomach. “I can see that. Doing a little academic reading?”

  He winced, then reached for the magazine he’d thrown hastily to the floor. “Sorry. I was just…um, keeping busy.”

  I nodded. “It’s fine. I was going to get myself some juice—would you like a glass?”

  He scratched at his head and for a second I thought for sure that he wasn’t going to take up my offer, and then what was I going to do? But finally he nodded and said, “Yeah, please.”

  I went to the kitchen and poured two glasses of juice. Then I glanced over my shoulder to make sure he wasn’t looking. He wasn’t. Taking out the bottle from my pocket, I dumped its contents on the counter. Grabbing the handle of the nearest knife, I crushed the little white pills until they were a powdery substance. Then I scooped it up and dropped it into the first glass of orange juice. I stirred it up quickly before carrying it out to the living room.

  I plastered on a sweet smile that he evidently bought, because when I offered him the glass full of ground up sleeping pills, he didn’t even hesitate to take it.

  “Thanks,” he said, then took a long drink.

  “Cheers.”

  I waited ten minutes before he yawned, then sat down on the couch again. After another five, he dozed off and I knew that he’d be out for a while. Later, I’d feel bad for doing that to him, but for now, I had a best friend to save.

  Chapter Twenty

  Kade

  It was getting dark, the sky turning those blazing colors until it looked like the whole world was on fire. A pretty evening for an early dinner date. And the woman sitting across from me was picture perfect on top of it. She had blonde hair that gently curled down to her waist and pretty blue eyes. It helped that she was dressed in a tight black dress that stopped mid-thigh and wore heels that almost made her as tall as I was.

  Almost.

  Her plump red lips were curved upwards into a sultry smile as she watched me from across the table almost hungrily, like she was a strong, slinky predator and I was her prey. She couldn’t possibly know that I was immune to her charms. We were sitting outdoors at a little café that did great burgers, but also had all those crazy Californian options, too—vegetarian, vegan, organic, the whole nine yards. I liked the place for the burgers and the fries, but also because it was casual and sold alcoholic drinks.

  “I’m glad you called,” the woman across from me, whose name was Julie something, said in a sultry tone.

  “Me, too,” I told her, though it was hardly for any reason she’d appreciate.

  Earlier that day, I’d found her number buried in my pants’ pocket. It was kind of a miracle that it hadn’t been washed, and I blamed that mostly on the fact that I’d spent the last day lounging around mostly naked with Abby.

  At first when I found the slip of paper, I was fully prepared to throw it in the trash and never think of it again. But before I did, something occurred to me. This was the only person I knew up to this point who had actually seen James Austin in person, seen his face. That made her the only eyewitness to Abby’s stalker.

  “I had kind of figured you were already seeing someone,” the woman continued, playing with the little umbrella in her drink. She’d gotten something fruity tasting that masked the two or three servings of alcohol in it, and I doubted she’d be able to have many more of them before she was completely tossed. Under normal circumstances, that would be fine with me, but tonight I needed this woman sober.

  “Why’s that?” I asked, trying to think of a good way to segue into talking about Abby’s stalker.

  She lifted a single, delicate shoulder. “You just didn’t seem all that interested. Most guys would have tried to get into my panties right then and there. But not you.”

  I shrugged. “Maybe I wanted to take things slow.”

  She laughed at me then, shaking her head a little so that her hair fanned about her shoulders and breasts. I had a feeling the tits were fake, though they looked lovely on her. “Slow? You don’t really look like you take things slow.” She lowered her eyes at me, letting her gaze drag across my body deliberately so that I knew she was checking me out.

  I did my best not to sigh. “Alright. Then maybe I was worried that you weren’t going to be in town very long. After all, you were staying at a hotel.”

  She thought about that for a moment before nodding her head. “That’s very true. But I was only staying there while they fumigated my apartment,” she explained.

  “I see. Just long enough to meet a crazy stranger?” I prompted.

  She laughed again. “You mean you?”

  I smiled lazily at her. “No, not me. I’m not crazy, am I? I was talking about that man who hit on you at the hotel restaurant. You know, the redhead?”

  For a moment, she just blinked, and I had this impression that she wasn’t very smart. That maybe she’d spent her entire life getting by on only her looks. Then she said, “Oh, him. Yeah, he was definitely creepy.”

  “Have you seen him since?” I inquired. “I mean, has he given you any trouble since then?”

  She thought about it, twirling a strand of blonde hair around her index finger as she did so. It made me wonder if her hair was naturally blonde like Abby’s or if she dyed it to look that way. Given my assumption about her breasts, I was willing to bet it was the latter.

  Not that it matters, I thought to myself, waiting for her to figure out whether or not she’d seen Abby’s stalker. I’m not looking for a replacement.

  Though that would be the smart thing. Thanks to my harsh words to Abby, there was little chance for the two of us. In fact, there was no chance, because even if I could convince her that I’d said those things only for her own good, there was no reason to even try.

  Caleb’s words still lingered with me, their weight crushing.

  Abby deserved better. I would never be good enough for someone like her and I knew it. Moving on would be the best thing I could do and maybe a fake facsimile like this big-titted, would-be starlet was exactly what I should be aiming for.

  Except that I didn’t want a facsimile. I wanted the real deal and I was worried now that nothing else would do.

  I refocused my attentions to Julie, though I decided quickly that there would never be something real between us. She smiled as she answered me, tilting her head to the side so that her hair revealed one side and her cleavage. “No, I really haven’t seen him again. He was so weird the first time around that I’m grateful, but not surprised.”

  “No? Why not.”

  She shrugged. “Well, we probably don’t show up in the same circles, you know? After all, my career’s about to take off any day now—I’ve got this great part in this TV miniseries, it’s going to put me on the map.” She beamed at me and I hummed appreciatively, encouraging, but trying to keep her on track.

  “He doesn’t seem the type to hang out with up and coming starlets?”

  She giggled at the compliment, smiling broadly at me. “No, not really. He was an accountant or something. I mean, what am I goi
ng to do with an accountant? Definitely dodged a bullet there.”

  I agreed, then excused myself. An accountant named James Austin. I was about to dial Caleb to tell him about the new lead I’d just gotten, but after being told that I was forbidden from seeing Abby and that I was no longer a Cruel Angel, it seemed like a mistake. Instead, I tried Jon, who I knew would talk to me regardless of what Caleb thought of me.

  “’Lo?”

  “Jon, it’s me, Kade.”

  “Kade, you’re a hot topic these days! Sleeping with the boss’s daughter, not really your finest moment.”

  I gritted my teeth, then took a steadying breath to calm myself. I wasn’t about to get into a fight with one of the few guys who might actually be able to help me. “Yeah, well, there’s plenty of other trouble going on, so don’t worry your pretty little head about me.”

  The man laughed. “Yeah, yeah, alright. Whatcha need?”

  “I need info on a guy—”

  Before I could even finish, Jon sighed and said, “Let me guess. James Austin.”

  Of course he would know what was going on, I admonished myself. Caleb would have called him first.

  “Yes. He’s an accountant in Orange County.”

  “Wait, I didn’t know he was an accountant. How come nobody ever gives me the whole story?” he whined, but I could hear typing in the background, telling me that he was already adding this new tidbit to his stockpile of information.

  “That’s because no one else knows. I only just found out.”

  “Hm,” was all Jon said for a while. “Look, this’ll take a while. There are a lot of accounting firms here. This is California after all. Let me call you back when I’ve got something solid.”

  I agreed, then hung up the phone. I went back to our table, my date looking a little peeved that I’d popped out on her so abruptly. If she’s peeved about that, she’s going to love this, I thought as I stood beside her.

  “Sorry to say this, Julie, but I’ve got to cut our date short. Emergency.”

  “What?” she demanded, blinking in surprise. “But I thought things were going really well.”

  I sighed and decided that the wisest decision was to be honest with her. No point in leading the poor thing on when it was pretty clear that I had no intention of meeting with her ever again. “You seem like a really good girl, Julie, but I’m not feeling it. I don’t think we’re the right kind of match. You understand.”

  Standing quickly, she looked at me indignantly, like I’d just shot her dog. “You’re an asshole,” she said, and slapped me across the face.

  I wasn’t having much luck in that particular department lately and my cheek was sore as hell, but I didn’t care. This date had served its purpose; I was one step closer to James Austin.

  ***

  I went home to wait for a call and do some research of my own. I wanted to figure out where this James guy was so that I could wring his neck, or at the very least call the cops on him. Right, because that’s definitely what I’m going to do.

  Regardless of what would happen afterwards, figuring out where he lived was one giant step toward getting him away from Abby, and that was my main goal, regardless of Caleb’s orders or how much Abby hated me.

  I searched the internet for the better part of an hour, going over what little information I had. I started with the name James Austin, doing a basic search for the name. Of course there was an ungodly number of hits, but I managed to narrow it down by location and then by job. I found a professional profile that showed a picture of a smiling redheaded man with freckles and otherwise pale skin. He looked…normal. Like someone you would just pass on the street without giving a second glance, and I almost thought it couldn’t be him.

  But the more I stared at him, the more I decided it was. Because stalkers were the sort of people who could blend in easily. The ones who got lost in crowds and were so forgettable that you didn’t even realize they were there.

  And this guy definitely fit the description.

  I was going to call Jon and let him know what I was looking at, but figured it was more a waste of time than anything. Jon was better at this crap than I would ever be, so if I found this after only a little bit of searching online, I could be sure that Jon was way ahead of me. Still, in case he wasn’t, I reached for my phone.

  A second later it rang in my hand.

  I glanced down to see that the caller ID read that it was Brody. I answered it immediately, demanding, “Brody? What happened, what’s wrong? Is Abby alright?”

  Brody sounded groggy on the other end, almost drunk as he slurred his words in an attempt to explain. “Abby’s…she’s gone. Like…I don’t know. Gone, gone. And…and I think someone put something in my drink…”

  I cursed. If Abby was gone, then there was only one place she could be. With James. I couldn’t say exactly how I knew other than gut instinct, but that was enough. Because Brody was drugged and Abby was missing. That was too big of a coincidence to assume anything other than that she’d been taken by him.

  I had to get to her.

  “Get ahold of Caleb. Now. Tell him what happened.” I hung up the phone before Brody got a chance to respond, but I knew he’d do as he was told, no matter how much trouble it was going to get him in.

  I’d worry about that later. Right now, Abby was the only thing I was worried about.

  I called Jon and demanded an update.

  “Alright, alright, don’t get your panties in a twist,” he said irritably, a little frazzled. “I’ve got two addresses for the bastard, but I’ll tell you right now, they’re in opposite directions. There’s an office, too, so I don’t know which one you want.”

  “Give me all three addresses,” I told him without preamble. He listed them off and I copied them down quickly, then told him to rally the other Destroyers. I told him very briefly what was going on because we didn’t have time to waste. We had to save Abby before it was too late.

  Grabbing my jacket, I slipped it on as I contemplated the three addresses listed on my notepad. One was for his office, and I decided that was the least likely place to take her given the circumstances. There would be too many people there, though as I glanced down at my watch I quickly decided that the office was likely closed already, which would make it empty. Still, an office building would have some sort of security. Maybe only cameras as opposed to security guards, but either would be effective in detouring someone, wouldn’t it? Even if they recognized him, they would see Abby, too. And they’d realize who she was and that she definitely didn’t belong with some boring accountant like James Austin.

  That’s what the other woman thought, too, I remembered.

  Looking at the list, I glanced over the other two addresses. They were residences. One was a condo or apartment. Frowning, I debated the two.

  If I went crazy and kidnapped someone, where would I take them?

  “A house,” I muttered to the empty room. An apartment would have too many neighbors and likely the walls were thin enough that taking someone and holding them against their will would be a dangerous gamble. But a house…there were a lot more rooms in a house and they were all likely to have walls a lot thicker than an apartment.

  Yes, it was a gamble and there was a chance that I was wrong, but I couldn’t do nothing, and this was all we had to work with.

  I only prayed that I was right and that Abby was being held in that house.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Abby

  I could drive. Although I usually had drivers who handled all of that for me, I could, in fact, drive. Uncle Caleb had taught me when I was only fourteen, saying that it was important to learn early so that when the actual test came around, I already had the basics down. Besides, he had told me, in case of an emergency, I needed to be able to get the fuck out of Dodge.

  There was a pretty good chance that he had thought the emergency was going to be him dying. Probably at the hands of those bad people he worked with sometimes.

  As a kid,
the thought had given me bad dreams. Nightmares that were so realistic I’d woken up crying, positive that my uncle was dead as a doornail. I’d walk down the hall and peek in on him just to make sure he was fine. And if it was one of those nights where he was out late, I would wait up for him and listen for the roar of his motorcycle as it pulled into the driveway.

  It wasn’t the best way to live as a kid, but I was grateful. At least I had someone who loved me. Family who would take care of me. I knew more than a few kids at school who weren’t so lucky.

  Now, I was grateful that Caleb had taught me to drive as young as I did, because it made me incredibly comfortable with it. Even with the crazy traffic and the hot summer storm that had come out of nowhere. The windshield wipers were going furiously, trying to keep my windshield clear enough to see through, and everyone was driving like an ass.