by Kat Cameron
This was somewhere I didn’t want to be. I wanted to let Reese take over. I wanted it so badly but I couldn’t. I needed to be strong for myself and keep going until I could either kill this man myself, or someone would eventually find me. Reese was surprisingly quiet, almost as if she was hiding away.
Getting up to pee was excruciating in itself. My back was on fire. I knew he dressed my wounds because I could feel the gauze moving around and the tape pulling my skin with every movement.
When I sat back down on the bed, I looked over towards the window and noticed it was open now. It was just about to be April and the weather was starting to turn into a cool warmth. It was sunny outside and the breeze that blew through the window brought in the smell of fresh rain. How on earth the smell and sight of the sun brought tears to my eyes, I won’t ever know. Bright sunny days like this are meant to be happy. They were supposed to be bright and fun. Something like going on a hike or having a picnic because it wasn’t too hot yet. Unfortunately that wouldn’t be happening anytime soon for me. Being in this situation also had me wondering what I did so terrible in my life to have this happen to me. I sat there pondering over my sad and depressing thoughts when Nameless came through the door. I really didn’t want to go through what I did yesterday so I kept my mouth shut. He came in and took my bucket, I guess to clean it out, so there was that. He came back in with a tray of food and the bucket came next. Something at the window caught his attention.
“When I first thought to kidnap you, I never intended for it to turn out like this. I have been watching him hover over you like you were some damn prized possession, and thought you needed help to break free of his overbearing protection, just like I did. Wouldn’t you know it, you actually liked it. What the hell is wrong with you? Don’t you want to be free? I could give you that freedom.”
The only thing I got from that was he had been watching us. How? It wasn’t like we had been out that much. Did that mean he had someone in the clubhouse keeping tabs on us? Was there someone else we didn’t know about? Fuck. Was it Rubble? I didn’t know any other way out of this, unless I could play along and he would go with it. That could be dangerous, but what the hell? It couldn’t fucking hurt, I guess.
“You know what? Now that you put it like that, it makes sense. I guess I didn’t see it before. I didn’t realize how trapped he made me feel. Shit. Maybe that was why I have been feeling so depressed lately.” I had to play this right or he would see right through the act. He whipped around so fast I thought his neck had broken with the snap it made.
“You’re serious? Even with what I did last night, you are okay with me?” His face had the look of half shock and half suspicion with a dose of hope. I felt fucking terrible for doing it this way. There was nothing more I hated than being mean or rude to someone that didn’t deserve it. Did he fuck up and hurt me terribly? Yeah. But I don’t think he even realized how sick he was.
I nodded to answer his question and put my hand out to him. Shit, this was going to be terribly fucking hard to play along, but it was the only way I could see out of this. He took a few steps to get to my bed and took my hand. His hand was clammy and rough. Palming the side of my face with the other hand, he said, “My beautiful, Riley. We will be free together. I promise no one will ever again keep us locked away from living our lives.” He pulled me up so quickly that some of the stitches he put in my back pulled and I could feel the blood dripping down slowly. Shit, that fucking hurt but I kept the grimace in. To my sweetest relief, he opened the door and pulled me out into what looked like a living room. “You go sit on the couch and watch some TV. I am going to whip something up for us to celebrate.”
Doing what he told me to, I sat on the couch but only just. My back was literally screaming at me to just end it. My whole body was aching at the feel of the pain scorching through me. Looking around to distract me I noticed the walls were painted a color that might have been called light coffee brown but the paint was faded and chipped. The carpet was an ugly brown thing that looked like it needed to be ripped up.
Deciding I needed to do something about the blood running down my back, I followed the sound of the pans clinking. On my journey, I noticed there were pictures on the walls in the hallway. What stopped me and had my blood running cold were that these pictures weren’t just of any family. No. They were of Axel’s family. Him, his twin, and their parents. Their father did not look happy by any means. There was something dark behind those eyes and considering Axel had yet to tell me his story, or why he never mentioned any family, it didn’t look like he had a good childhood.
Their mother, however, was a different story. She looked at her boys like they were her life. Her eyes were shining with happiness but looking closer at the picture, you could see the bruise mark peeking out from underneath the collar of her shirt. It was almost as if her boys were her world and nothing could take her happiness away from her, as long as they were around. Not even an abusive, piece of shit husband.
Looking at the rest of the pictures, I saw some of them were of the boys in their school pictures. There were multiple photos but the ones that stood out the most were the ones with their names in the corner of the pictures. Finally, I had a name for this son of a bitch. At that same realization, I had the sudden sense that this was their childhood home. I didn’t know why, but it just felt right. And that little piece of information made me feel slightly better about everything.
“JP.” His body turned to stone as soon as the words left my mouth. There was no denying that he didn’t want me to figure out his name. Must be why he had me sit on the couch. There were no pictures in there, now that I thought about it. It was just a couch and a TV on a stand.
“You weren’t supposed to be snooping. There was a reason I told you to stay on the couch. Now you have ruined everything.” He turned around and the look on his face was downright terrifying.
“I don’t understand why you didn’t want me to know your name. I could have already heard about it from Axel. Although you already figured out that I didn’t. This doesn’t have to change anything at all. You promised me the right to a free life now, and damn it, I want it. You are going to give it to me,” I demanded. I couldn’t believe how strong the words coming out of my mouth sounded right then. It was almost like I meant it. No, I didn’t actually fucking mean it. I just want to get the fuck out of here and back to my life with Axel and Stana.
He was fully facing me now, with a pensive look on his face. He looked as if he was trying to see through my facade but I was letting nothing show. My face was as blank as a brand new sheet of printer paper. No more tears would fall from these eyes in the presence of JP. Which reminded me, “Does JP stand for something?”
“No, it is just JP, now stop saying my name. You are making this entirely too personal for me. Just go sit back down on the couch and wait for me to finish making you food,” he ordered.
“I need the bathroom. Some of my stitches pulled,” I told him. He pointed me toward the bathroom with a “hurry the hell up in there” and went back to doing what he was doing. In the bathroom, I fixed everything with my back that I could.
Heading back out to the couch, I smelled something like bacon. Which was strange because not once has he ever made me anything but those shitty dry sandwiches. When I made my way to the living room it seemed my nose wasn’t deceiving me. There was a plate filled with scrambled eggs, bacon, and toast. There were multiple ways I could go about this but the only obvious one was to eat everything in sight. My stomach was growling at the scent of bacon.
Scarfing the food down like I was a starved woman that hadn’t eaten in weeks, my stomach was now protesting at how full I was. It felt like I gained ten pounds.
“Now let’s get you in a bath,” he said. I was so startled, I jumped. I guessed I was in a food coma and my eyes shut sometime after I was done eating. A bath sounded great but I prayed that he wasn’t going to suggest helping me. I didn’t want to anger him or make him do anything that wo
uld be worse than what he had already done.
“I think I can manage on my own, if you wouldn’t mind,” I suggested, since I didn’t think it would be wise for me to demand anything at the moment. We were at a somewhat peaceful position at the moment.
He nodded and said, “Okay. I will leave clothes for you in the bathroom.” Huh. That was easier than I thought.
The bathtub was gross, to say the least. It looked like it hadn’t been cleaned in far too long, but I didn’t have much of a choice. I needed to get JP’s guard down around me long enough for me to finally be able to slip away. Although with his tracking abilities, I most likely wouldn’t get that far. Some part of me knew I would most likely never get away on my own.
Stop being such a negative fucking Nancy. You are better than that and you will be fine. Whether it is getting away by yourself or with someone’s help, it doesn’t matter. You will fucking survive this! Do you understand me?
Her sudden appearance scared the shit out of me. It appeared I was quite jumpy these days, with good reason. I was in the bathtub by myself as I whispered furiously, “Where the hell have you been? I thought you disappeared on me!”
I wouldn’t ever disappear on you. I just needed time to sort out that you might not need me as much as you did before.
“Yes, well while you have been sorting out your feelings, I have been trying to figure a way the fuck out of here. Now I have JP thinking I want to run away with him and live in this fantasy “free” world he was blabbing about!” I was so fucking angry with her for leaving me. I got why she did, since I didn’t let her out to bear the brunt of the brutality I faced, but there was a time I needed to stand up for myself and actually deal with the world. I couldn’t keep relying on her for everything and always sticking up for me.
As I stewed in my anger for Reese temporarily running away, it annoyed me that I was angry at her. It wasn’t really her I was mad at; I was mad at myself. Usually I was so careful because of my father and my ex husband always having people watching me. It should have been second nature for me to look over my shoulder even while using the bathroom in a diner. Unfortunately that wasn’t the case this time, and I screwed up spectacularly. As life would have it, I wasn’t done being fucked with yet.
Bullet
I was in the hotel room that Knuckles reserved for me. There wasn’t a damn thing pleasant about this place. The carpet was orange and the walls were fucking brown, while the ceiling had brown leakage spots all over the place. TV channels were scarce but I wasn’t planning on actually watching it. It was just background noise to block out the couple fucking on the other side of my wall.
As I laid on the most uncomfortable mattress known to man I was thinking about the time that Riley and I were cuddled up in bed after an explosive roll in the sheets. She was laying on my chest while my fingers were running through her hair. She always smelled faintly of blueberries and maple syrup. Her fingers were tracing my tattoos when they stopped on the certain one of a brightly colored palm tree.
It was a little thing in the midst of much bigger ones. She asked why I would have a colorful palm tree in the middle of all my black and gray ones. It was a painful memory but it was something I could give Riley since I hadn’t yet given her any of my background story.
“My mom loved palm trees. They were her absolute favorite thing. She had palm tree everything; tablecloths, curtains, oven mitts, towels and purses. You name it, she had it. After she passed, I felt it necessary to get one for her. To know she would always be there with me. The reason it is the only colored one of mine is because she was the only color in my life when we were younger. No matter what we were going through, when my world was filled with black and gray, she made it colorful.”
Riley looked up at me then and kissed me softly, telling me, “That is the most beautiful thing I have ever heard. Thank you for letting me in a little bit. I wish I could have met her.”
The alarm I set on my phone was blaring. I must have dozed off last night thinking of Riley. I was in the same clothes I was last night, which made for an uncomfortable sleep. My eyes were barely open when I left the room, but I stopped to get a coffee and a breakfast sandwich to get me going. The rest of the day was just me sitting in my truck at this gas station, waiting for my brother to magically show up. Finally around five in the evening, I needed to do something else so I drove around town.
An hour later, I found myself in a town I never thought I would be in again. Driving slowly, I rolled down the road that I used to call home. I couldn’t believe I found myself here or what drove me to come here. After everything happened, the reminder of the life we once lived was too hard. As I drove past the house, I saw that the yard was overgrown and there was shit all over the yard. The once white fence was damaged in multiple places and some of the windows are shattered in the front room. The front door that was once red was now peeling, while the siding of the house was now dirty as hell instead of the nice tan it used to be. The house had definitely weathered over the years.
I doubt anyone lived there since we had been gone. There was no car in the driveway either. We left that night and never came back. Who knows if someone came in and cleaned up all the blood on the floor or the homemade noose JP made in the bedroom. Driving away, I swore I saw someone move the curtains in the bedroom that used to be mine. It was probably just the breeze that we had today. There was no way anyone could live there.
Feeling more hopeless than I had since the day she was taken, I went back to my hotel room and packed my shit. Not that there was a lot, since I didn’t bring much for only one night. I haven’t heard jackshit from Knuckles or Snake either. I opened the door and turned around, once more double checking I didn’t forget my phone charger. Satisfied that I hadn’t forgotten it, I went to walk out the door when I noticed who was standing directly in front of me.
It never seemed to amaze me how strange it was looking at someone that was identical to me. Although, now seeing JP here in the flesh in front of me was something else entirely. Nothing was the same. His face was hard and brutal while his eyes held something akin to a never ending abyss. They were so dark it actually scared me for Riley. I didn’t know what he was capable of anymore and that downright terrified me.
“I saw you drive past the house. You pull that shit again and she will be dead. She doesn’t want your life of overbearing protectiveness anymore, now that she’s had a taste of the freedom I can provide for her. By the way, tell Hailey I said thanks for her help.” With that statement, he sucker punched me and it was lights out for me.
I woke up to a woman, I think an EMT, judging by the jacket she was wearing, shining a flashlight in my face. After making sure I was fine, she let me go and I made my way back to the clubhouse. I can’t fucking believe I didn’t turn around and check out the house after I saw the curtain move. I was so close to her. Now I was on my way home an hour and a half away, we needed to figure out a game plan in order to get Riley back. There was no way what that little shit said was true. And what the fuck was that shit he said about Hailey? Did she have something to do with this shit? If so, she didn’t have long to live. We didn’t touch women but we knew someone who did. She went by Lexi and she was one of the cruelest women I ever met. Lexi was someone who was on her own but she took care of her own shit and then some. Plus she helped us in situations like these so there was that.
I finally pulled into the club parking lot and made my way in, once again finding myself in Snake’s office. Trying to keep my chill while telling him what happened was not easy. Knowing where Riley was and having to drive away from her again was the hardest thing to do, but I couldn’t do this alone.
“You are telling me your twin brother has Riley shacked up in your old house. One that you drove by, completely dismissed, and just drove the fuck home? Are you fucking kidding me, Bullet? I thought you loved her, you stupid son of a bitch!” Looks like we had an eavesdropper among us but I couldn’t blame her. Stana was just as desperate to get her si
ster back.
When I turned around and she got a look at the black eye I was sporting, she shut right up. Crow looked close to tying his woman up so she would stop getting herself into trouble. As he hauled her off to their room, Snake was shaking his head with a small smile on his face. “Damn women. They just don’t quit. Don’t matter if they are carrying a small babe in their belly or not.”
I couldn’t help but chuckle myself. It was just the little bit of laughter we needed to get us off our angry streak and into planning mode. As Snake and I got the rest of the club in on it and Crow up to speed, we set a time for when to leave and go get my woman. The plan was not simple because my brother was not a simple kid that didn’t know what he was doing anymore. He knew exactly what he was doing now. His plans were incredibly thought out and precise. Speaking of which, Snake called Lexi who pulled up outside about ten minutes ago.
“Here is your package. As always, I deliver. Want me to bring her to the basement?” Her voice was surprisingly girly for such a badass bitch. Her hair was closely shaved to one side of her head and just long enough to reach her shoulders on the other side. Her body was skinny but she had muscles that were lithe and feminine. Brown eyes shined with amusement as she dragged Hailey towards the basement door.
“I will get her ready while y’all discuss whatever it is that y’all boys discuss.” She waved her hand at us as if she were waving us away. That woman was all fire and gasoline. I have heard of her torturous ways but I had never been able to witness them myself since I was just a probate.
