Thumbelina's Virtue

by Geri Glenn

  Running as fast as my legs will carry me, I take off for the fence line separating the freeway from the motel property line. I make it over easily and glance back, just as Javier’s head pops out the window I’d just escaped from. I watch in terror as he looks from side to side, but it’s not until his searching gaze finds me that the scream rips from my throat.

  He’s gone in an instant, back inside the room, and I know they’ll be out here in a matter of seconds. Sticking out my thumb, I stand at the side of the road, one eye on the motel at all times as my heart thrashes inside my aching chest.

  Vincent is the first one around the side of the motel, heading in my direction. He’s followed by Javier and two other men, all of them with guns in their hands.

  I should have chosen the woods. I’m a sitting duck here. The road cuts me off on one side and they’re on the other. I’m trapped. Screeching tires sound from behind me, and I turn to see an older model, grey sedan, pulled to the side of the road, the driver waving me over through the open window.

  My captors are closer now, so I don’t hesitate. Running to the car, I rip the door open and climb inside. “Go!” I cry to the driver, my eyes on the men coming full steam ahead behind us.

  The car starts moving and I lean forward in my seat, watching in the side mirror as Vincent and his boys get smaller and smaller. It’s not until they’re out of sight that I turn to my new savior.

  “Thank you,” I say, my hand on my chest as I try to catch my breath.

  “Not a problem, darlin’.”

  The relief I was feeling at my last second rescue melts away as I take in the man beside me. He’s tall and broad, his face scruffy with an unkempt beard, and his eyes are devouring me like I’m a burger and he hasn’t eaten in a week. I swallow back my fear and force my voice to keep from quivering as I look him dead in the eyes. “May I please use your phone?”

  The man chuckles, and the sound is cold enough to send shivers down my spine. “Sure thing, gorgeous. Trouble is, my phone is at home. Guess you’ll have to come with me.”

  Cory

  “The website has her going live in two minutes.”

  I step over to where Butch sits with his laptop open to the page that is running Astor’s auction. Just seeing her pictures on there has me cracking my knuckles, just itching for a chance to get my hands on Vincent DeCarlo to rip his fucking head off.

  As a group, we sit and watch the timer to the live feed count down from two minutes to ten seconds. It seems to take forever, and watching the last ten seconds tick by is the longest ten seconds of my life. I just want to see her. I want to lay eyes on her and see that even though she’s been taken—twice now—she’s okay.

  When the number reaches zero, the camera turns on, showing the bed in what looks to be a hotel room, but there’s nobody there. Silence comes from the laptop speakers, and then, “She’s on the freeway!”

  I watch, wide-eyed, as Vincent and another man run by the bed and out of the room, and the sounds of men yelling in the distance is all you can hear. And then…more silence.

  I lift my gaze to Butch. “I don’t get it. What’s going on?”

  Butch grins at me and stabs a finger at the screen. “That, my friend, was your little Thumbelina making a getaway.”

  Astor

  This time, I’m not afraid. This time, even though this guy has succeeded in creeping me out, I’m mostly just angry. How on Earth does one woman get abducted three times in a row? Three! It’s ridiculous!

  “Look, mister,” I say, turning in my seat to fully face him. “I’ve had a rough couple days. Just let me out here.”

  The man chuckles. “On the side of the freeway?” He shakes his head. “Shit. That wouldn’t make me much of a gentleman at all, now would it?”

  His attempt at being cocky and intimidating just makes me roll my eyes. “Whatever,” I huff, flopping back into the seat with my arms folded across my chest.

  We drive for almost an hour with him talking, and me ignoring him. He tries a variety of different methods to get me to engage. He starts out with creepy, even though I think he’s attempting to be nice. Then he moves to insults, and finally anger. Now, we’re onto demanding.

  “You’re not a very nice girl,” he says. “Even after I stopped and picked you up on the side of the road, you won’t talk to me. Pretty rude.” His hand lands on my thigh, his thumb slowly rubbing. My body freezes. “Seems to me, you owe me a little thank you, don’t you, sweetheart?”

  As his thumb creeps higher, I concentrate on my breathing.

  He exits the freeway, never taking his hand away. Quaint little houses run along the road, and as we pass, I devise my plan. I don’t move an inch as his thumb gets closer and closer to my most private place.

  A stop light looms in the distance and I hold my breath, internally counting to ten as the car slows behind the others in front of it.

  Just as the small car comes to a complete stop, I reach down, grab his thumb and yank back on it as hard as I can. The pop of the bone breaking echoes throughout the car, but is muffled by his howl of pain. I don’t stick around to count the colorful names he calls me.

  I hit the ground running, but don’t know where to go. I consider approaching a house, but knowing my luck, a pervert will live there too, and lo and behold, Astor gets kidnapped a fourth time.

  Instead, I just run. I run as fast as my feet will allow me to go, and I don’t stop running until I come to a small diner. I can barely breathe as I step inside and collapse at the feet of a waitress. Her mouth forms the shape of an ‘O’ as she stares down at me, gasping for breath on the floor in front of her.

  “Phone,” I gasp. “I need to use your phone.”

  Cory

  My phone rings, just as I’m walking out of the empty motel room. Vincent and his band of merry men are long gone, and there’s no sign of Astor. I tug my cell from the belt clip and lift it to see Astor’s mother’s name on the caller ID.

  “Mrs. Bloom?” I say, lifting it to my ear.

  “She’s safe,” she cries, her sobs muffled through the connection. “She’s at a diner in Radley, and she won’t go anywhere until you come and get her. She doesn’t even trust the police, she says. I told her I’d send you straight away.”

  Radley is just over an hour from here, and I waste no time getting to my bike. “Thank you, Mrs. B. I’m heading there now.”

  Mrs. Bloom cries even harder. “I gotta go now, ma’am. I’m gonna go get our girl and bring her home, yeah?”

  “Yeah, Cory,” she whispers. “Bring her home safe.”

  Cory

  I’m alone when I hit the diner. I’d sent the others home to relax, all of them happy to hear that Astor was okay. It’s dark outside, and the parking lot is nearly empty. As I walk along the front window toward the entrance, I see her.

  She’s staring at me, her hair hanging limp around her face, where a bruise is across her cheek. As I pass, she lifts her hand and presses it to the window, her eyes never leaving mine. Stopping in my tracks, I lift my own hand and press it to hers. The only thing separating us is a thin sheet of glass.

  I watch her crumble then. Her shoulders shake and her tears flow freely down her cheeks. She’s saying something that I can’t hear, and I don’t stick around to try and figure it out. Rushing inside, I barely make it three steps before her tiny body collides with mine, her legs winding around my hips and her arms encircling my neck.

  “Oh, Cory,” she sobs. “I never thought I’d see you again. I didn’t think I’d see anyone again.”

  I can’t bring myself to speak. I just spear my fingers into her hair and hold her as close to me as I can. “It’s okay, baby. I’ve got you now.”

  Astor

  “He’s really gone?” I ask, not sure that I really want to know the details, but wanting to know for sure that I would never lay eyes on Tommy Todd or Vincent DeCarlo ever again. After everything went down, Vincent went into hiding. His men protected him heavily, but the Bastards were d
etermined. It’s been two months since the day I got away.

  “They’re all gone,” Butch says with a sympathetic smile, as Cory pulls me closer to him. “This is a don’t ask, don’t tell kinda situation, Thumbelina, but I will tell you that neither one of those men will ever bother you or any other woman ever again.”

  I look around the room at my unlikely new friends. A room full of rough-and-tumble bikers, all of whom had gone above and beyond to find me, and each one had worked hard to help the other women that Vincent had held captive. They were all heroes in my eyes, and I was their Thumbelina—a road name that had once been an annoying nickname given to me by Cory. Now, I wear it with pride.

  “Thank you,” I whisper, making eye contact with every single man in the room. I’m rewarded with tough guy nods and chin lifts.

  “Okay,” Cory announces, looking around the room. “Enough of the heavy shit. If y’all will excuse me…” Before I can brace myself, he stoops low in front of me and tosses me over his shoulder. “My woman and I need a little alone time.”

  This earns us hoots and hollers and as he carries me down the hall, butt to the ceiling and face to the floor. I lift up and wave at the guys, just as we disappear around the corner. As soon as we get into his room, Cory sets me on my feet.

  His hand is on my cheek, and his eyes search mine as he whispers, “You sure you’re okay?”

  I press my lips together and nod. “I am. I hate the violence, and I never want to know what you did to get rid of them, but I’m glad those terrible men can’t hurt anyone else.”

  Cory’s hand squeezes the back of my neck, and his lips graze mine. “Nobody will ever hurt you again, Astor.”

  I grin up at him and wiggle my fingers in front of his face, admiring the sparkle of the large diamond resting on my ring finger. “I know,” I say. “Haven’t you heard? My fiancé’s a big, bad biker, and he can kick some major ass when it comes to protecting his lady.”

  Cory throws his head back and laughs. “You got that right, little Thumbelina. But you’re forgetting something.”

  This makes me frown. “What’s that?”

  “He’s also pretty good at pleasing his lady too.” His words set off an eruption of butterflies in my belly, and when his lips cover mine, I know without a doubt that Cory O’Neill is my happily ever after.

  Other books by Geri Glenn

  The Kings of Korruption MC series

  Ryker

  Tease

  Daniel

  Jase

  Reaper

  Bosco

  The Satan’s Wrath MC series

  Dirty Deeds

  Hybrids

  Novellas

  Reinventing Holly

  All That Glitters

  Acknowledgments

  To My Family – A.K.A, my reason for living. I love you.

  To Jacqueline Sinclair – I will likely never be happy with any book until I get feedback from you first. I love you hard, girl. Thank you for always being honest and getting invested in my stories even though you have your own calling your name.

  To Amanda DiPierro – You spend an incredible amount of time promoting the shit out of these books, and for that, I thank you. You are a wonderful PA, and I’m lucky to have found you.

  To Nicole Lloyd – I love you pimping queen.

  To Rebel Edit & Design – Dana, thank you for always squeezing me in at the last minute. It’s how I work, and you let me be me and just polish up my words until they’re perfect.

  To Kennedy Kelly at Cover Crush Designs – I gave you a simple idea, and you came back to me with this fantabulous cover that I am totally in love with! To many more projects together!

  To Ena at Enticing Journey Promotions – Thank you once again for another successful release blitz. You make my life so much easier at release time! Never stop doing what you do.

  To Shannon at Shanoff Designs – No matter how much time passes between projects, you’re always there, doing gorgeous work in record time. You rock, lady!

  To The Bloggers – Everyone of you that took the time out of your busy schedule to post, review and/or talk about my books, thank you. A million times thank you! An indie author needs you amazing people to find readers, and I’ve been blessed to have so many of you support me.

  And lastly, To The Readers – For every one of you that took a chance on me and bought my book, thank you! For those that left a review, double thank you! It’s readers like you that give me the courage to keep writing, and improving my skill, hoping to bring you the best story I can. I thank all of you for making it possible to live my dream of writing full time. For any of you that have spread the word and shared my posts or told someone about my books, you keep me going! I love each and every one of you for whatever support you’ve given me! Thank you, thank you, thank you!

  About The Author

  Geri Glenn is the internationally best-selling author of Kings of Korruption MC Series.

  Geri and her family just recently bought their dream home in her hometown of Brockville, Ontario, Canada. She is a military wife, the mother of two gorgeous, but slightly crazy little girls, and is a full-time writer of the ultimate alpha male.

  Geri has been as avid reader for as long as she can remember. When she isn’t writing or adulting in some other fashion, she can usually be found curled up in a comfy chair, reading on her iPad both day and night. Geri is an incurable night owl, and it’s not uncommon for her to still be awake, reading at 4 am, just because she finds it hard to put the book down.

  Geri loves all genres of fiction, but her passion is anything romantic or terrifying; basically, anything that can get her heart pumping. This passion has bled out onto her laptop and became the Kings of Korruption, amongst others.

  Writing that first book in the series knocked off the #1 thing on Geri’s bucket list, and publishing it was just the beginning of living out her dream.

  Stalk her!

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