by Bella Jewel
She smiles at me. “I appreciate that, but we have to get this moving, as Alarick said.”
“He’s secured,” Zariah tells us. “I’ve double-checked. You’ll be safe. We’ll be at the door the entire time, one sound of distress, and we’re in there.”
Aviana nods. “It’s cool. Let’s go.”
I keep my frustration in and follow them as they go towards the room where they’re keeping Benedict. I don’t know what he wants with Aviana, and I don’t like it at all. He’s very likely going to try and convince her that he doesn’t belong here. Luckily for him, she’s not stupid. Still, men like that, they have gotten as far as he has in life by being very fucking good at what they do.
I don’t like it, but I don’t get a choice.
“Dial me, and then put your phone in your pocket,” I say as we reach the door. “Best we hear what he’s sayin’, too. It might be information we need to hear too, can’t risk anything bein’ missed.”
Aviana nods, pulling out her phone and dialing me. I answer it, and she slips it carefully back into her jeans pocket before giving us a thumbs up. “I’ll be fine!”
Then she goes inside and closes the door.
We stand on full alert, waiting for any sign of something going wrong. I’ll fucking break his neck. There is absolutely no doubt about it. One wrong move, I’ll finish that motherfucker.
“Well,” Benedict says, his voice croaky. Probably from the touch-up Alarick and Kendric gave him earlier, trying to get him to talk. “I’ll give it to you, Aviana. It has been a long time since someone has fooled me so effortlessly.”
“I guess you figured because I was a girl, I didn’t have it in me. That’ll teach you for thinking girls are nothing more than toys.”
Fuck. I adore her.
Benedict grunts. “Perhaps it will. I don’t appreciate being thrown around by a bunch of dirty bikers.”
Aviana snorts. “Dirty bikers, you are so set in a certain way, aren’t you. Right now, those dirty bikers are far cleaner than you are. Did you piss yourself, Benedict?”
Kendric chuckles, low in this throat. “She’s fuckin’ good.”
I nod.
“You do know that someone is going to have seen you leave with me on security footage, and when I don’t show up, they’re going to come for you. You do know that, don’t you, Aviana?”
“I’ll take my chances. I’ll be long gone by then, and so will you.”
“What do you want from me?”
“I’m sure you know exactly what we want by now, but you’re refusing to give it to us, so without it, you’re useless to our cause.”
Benedict chuckles, low and throaty. “What are you going to do, kill me?”
There is a pause, and then in a calm voice, Aviana says, “I’ve done worse, I suppose. You can blame my captor for that. He sucked my soul right out of me. If you think I care what happens to you, Benedict, you’d be wrong.”
“You kill me,” he growls. “You’ll die. You will fucking die.”
He’s breaking.
Fuck.
She is good.
“Death wouldn’t be such a bad vacation,” she says, and then her voice grows chipper again, “now, are you going to play nice, or are you simply worthless to us?”
Benedict falls silent for so long. I figure he’s shut his mouth and isn’t willing to say another word. Then, after a few moments, he offers her a deal. “I’ll do you a deal. I’ll give you exactly what you and your little club want in return for my freedom.”
“How do you know what my little club and I want?”
“You want Blanche, Peter, and Dax? Am I correct, Aviana? You want to take down that operation, thinking you’re going to be saving the fucking world if you do. You do know that there are thousands more like them out there?”
“I do, but those particular ones have something we want. Not to mention, they have ruined many people’s lives. We have a biker who needs Dax, so he doesn’t go to prison, we have bodies lined up that they’ve taken from us, we have a young girl who doesn’t fucking belong with them.”
“I’ll give them to you to do with as you please. I can have that entire operation annihilated in a matter of hours. You let me go; I’ll give you that.”
Aviana snorts. “You think I believe that if we let you go, that you’ll just hand over an operation and people that are making you millions, and let us deal with them and go on with our lives without ever hearing from you again?”
Benedict’s tone is serious when he replies with a firm yes.
“Why would I ever believe that?” Aviana questions.
“They’ve been causing me problems for a while now, and if you think the money they’re bringing in is worth anything to me, you’d be wrong. It isn’t worth even a small percentage of what I earn. They are nothing but thorns in my side. You want them gone? I’ll make that happen. You want the girl back? I’ll have her returned. As for me, you let me go. You and your little club will never hear from me again. Do we have a deal?”
“You know I can’t make decisions for the club, Benedict. They’re never going to believe you’re going to just hand them everything they want.”
“I will not speak. You kill me; you kill the information that comes with me. You’ll never take down the operation I’ve got running there. You’ll all be killed. I have the manpower to do it, without even a glitch. You simply do not. Do you want to see those people die?”
Aviana falls silent.
“Go and speak to them. I’ll wait for your answer.”
Aviana leaves without another word. We step away from the door, and she walks out, glancing at us. Alarick puts a finger to his lips, silencing her, and then we all make our way to his room where the others are waiting before speaking.
“No fuckin’ way,” Kendric says first. “Second he’s gone, he’ll have us all killed.”
“I have to disagree,” Zariah says. “I think his life is far more important to him than those people. I think he’ll help us.”
“I do, too,” Aviana nods.
“It’s fuckin’ risky,” Alarick murmurs. “If we trust him, and he turns on us... he’ll take our entire fuckin’ club down.”
“Then we have to be smart about it,” Aviana suggests. “We have to make sure that it’s done in a way that he can’t take us down without it hurting him, too.”
“How are we goin’ to do that?” I murmur, crossing my arms.
“By taking something he loves the most and holding it until we have what we want.”
“That man doesn’t love a single fuckin’ thing,” Alarick mutters.
“You’re wrong. He does,” Aviana grins. “He loves his daughter very much.”
“Wait,” Zariah says, her smile widening. “He has a daughter?”
“Indeed, he does. Not many people know about her, it’s to keep her safe, but I happened to find out about her. I know her name, too.”
“You’re fuckin’ genius,” I grin at her.
She shrugs. “What can I say? I’ve learned a few tricks...”
“Any idea where we might find this daughter of his, quickly?” Alarick asks.
Aviana nods. “I have an idea or two.”
“Well then,” he extends an arm. “Lead the way.”
“THAT’S HER, RIGHT THERE!” Aviana says, her voice a frantic hiss. She points to a girl who is walking down the street after leaving a café that she works at. We have been waiting for hours for her shift to end, and finally, it has.
“So what are we gonna do, follow her home?” I ask Alarick, sitting in the idling truck.
“We’re goin’ to have to. Can’t abduct her from the street.”
“Where are we going to take her?” Aviana asks.
“Somewhere he can’t find her, but safe. Zariah knows a place and is getting it set up so we can hold her there until Benedict delivers.”
“I kind of feel sorry for her,” Aviana murmurs. “Poor girl hasn’t done anything wrong.”
I turn
and glance at her. “We have no intention of hurting her. She’ll be okay.”
Aviana nods and stares at the young woman walking down the sidewalk. When she gets into a car and pulls out, we follow her. She lives not too far away, at a small apartment complex. We park right behind her, and Alarick gets out. Here’s hoping she doesn’t fucking scream. I get out, too.
We approach her as she goes to the passenger side to get something out. When she turns around, we’re right there. Alarick is pointing his gun at her. “Don’t scream, or I’ll shoot. We’re not goin’ to hurt you. We need your help.”
“Who are you?” she gasps, face white as a ghost.
“Friends of your fathers.”
“I can’t help you,” she shakes her head, “I don’t even speak to him, I swear. I can’t stand that man. Please, don’t...”
“Get in the truck,” Alarick orders. “Again, we’re not goin’ to hurt you.”
He waves the gun at her, and she obliges, climbing into the back of the truck. I get in the passenger side, and Alarick stands at her door until I can turn and point my gun at her while he goes around and gets in. She’s white as a ghost and staring at Aviana, no doubt figuring we’ve captured her, too.
“It’s okay,” Aviana says, her voice soft and careful. “Nobody is going to hurt you, I promise.”
“I find that hard to believe when he’s pointing a gun at me,” she says, her eyes going to me.
“It’s only so you don’t run. I’m not goin’ to use it.”
Alarick turns and takes over the job of watching her so I can drive.
Aviana said she knows about Benedict’s daughter from the time earlier in her life when she spent a few months with him. She said he had pictures of her, and she saw her name on one of those and knew she lived locally. Benedict had told her their relationship was strained, but he would do anything for her. It was a good fucking call, and I can only hope it all goes to plan, and he is more inclined not to turn on us if he knows we have his daughter.
“What do you want from me?”
“We don’t want to hurt you, Angelica. Your dad has something we want back, and we’re just holding you to make sure he returns it,” Aviana explains.
“How do you know my name?” Angelica asks, her voice shocked.
“I have heard your father speak of you.”
“Well, that must have been a rare time; he doesn’t give a crap about me now.”
Here’s hoping that isn’t the truth.
“I think you’d find that’s not true,” Aviana explains. “Either way, we have no intention of hurting you. You’re just something we need to ensure he does as we’re asking.”
“What has he taken that you want so badly?” Angelica asks.
“A daughter, who has never met her father,” I tell her from the front seat.
“Oh,” she says, her voice soft.
“Please, don’t be scared. We’ll have you home soon, I promise you.” Aviana assures her.
Angelica doesn’t say anything more.
We drive to the location Zariah has set up to hold Angelica, and when we get into the small house, we lead her to a cool, clean room in the basement. There is a television, a bed, and a bathroom. It’s nothing fancy, but it’s clean and tidy, and she’ll be safe here. Angelica looks around and then faces us once more. “How long do I have to stay here?”
“A couple of days.”
She’s scarily calm. It makes me wonder if this isn’t the first time she’s found herself being taken for something her father has done.
“After this, I’m changing my name,” she mutters, sitting on the bed. “Can I have a book, please?”
“Of course,” Zariah says. “Anything you need, you let me know.”
We walk out of the basement, locking the door. Zariah has secured all other entries and exits to make sure she can’t get out. Kendric has done a full sweep of the place to make sure there are no weapons she can use when we go down there.
“She’s calm,” Zariah says when we’re at the top of the stairs, and the door is closed.
“Guessin’ it’s not her first rodeo,” I mutter. “How did you find this place?”
“I know a lot of safe houses, joys of being a cop. Or...formerly, I guess. Now, let’s go and tell Benedict the great news.”
I nod. “I’ll go over with Aviana, and we’ll have him facetime her so he can see we’re not bluffing. Keep it short and sweet; hang up quickly when you’re done. We don’t want him seeing that she’s not distressed.”
Zariah nods. “On it.”
“Let’s fuckin’ do this.”
Finally, it feels like the end might just be closer than we think.
Fucking finally.
20
NOW – AVIANA
Benedict glares at us when we walk into the room, his face tight, his eyes narrowed. He doesn’t trust us, but that’s fine – we don’t fucking trust him either. Still, he’s our only chance to get out of this alive. No war. No fighting. No guns. No death. That’s what we want more than anything. To return those we love home safely and end this war once and for all. The only way we can do that is through this man right here.
He looks to Cohen, and then his eyes move back to me. “This is what you settled with? After everything you’ve been through, you pick a biker?”
I’m offended, to be quite honest. He thinks because he has money, and nice things, that he can have any girl he wants, and they’ll just do as he asks without hesitation. Not me. I’m not going to be that girl, nor will I ever be.
That’s exactly what he likes about me, and the only reason he keeps coming back for more.
I don’t take his crap.
“This biker,” I say, crossing my arms, “has done more for me in the past few weeks than anyone else in my life. I’d say I’m pretty damned lucky. But we’re not here to talk about me, are we...”
Cohen looks at me, and the expression on his face makes my heart flutter. My words meant something to him. Hell, they meant something to me even if I didn’t realize it when I was saying them.
“What do you want? Did you come to accept my offer?” Benedict asks. “If so, can you uncuff me because this isn’t comfortable.”
“Poor baby,” Cohen mutters, his voice more than a little sarcastic.
Benedict shoots him a glare. “Why is he here?”
“He is here because I want him to be,” I say, crossing my arms. “Now, I did discuss your offer with the club, and they don’t trust you, which is to be expected.”
“You’re making a mistake!” Benedict cuts me off before I’m done.
I put up a hand. “I wasn’t finished. They don’t trust you, but we would like to take you up on your offer, so we’ve secured something to ensure you don’t turn on us...”
Benedict’s face goes a touch lighter. Just a touch. I think he already knows exactly what I’m about to present. Cohen pulls out his phone and dials Zariah, who answers immediately. She doesn’t show her face. Instead, she has the camera right on Angelica. Benedict jerks in his chair when he sees his daughter sitting on the bed, staring at the camera. He doesn’t get the chance to speak to her. The phone goes dead.
Exactly how we wanted it.
Cohen puts it back in his pocket, and we both stare at the man sitting in front of us, his face wild with anger.
“We have no intention of hurting her,” I say, my voice calm. “However, if you so much as attempt to go back on your word or try to do something to harm anyone in my family, we will harm her. I promise you that. You want your family safe? So do I. She will be released safely the moment the job is done. Do we have a deal?”
“If you so much as harm a hair on her head...” he growls, jerking in the cuffs.
“You do right by us; we’ll do right by you. She will be released safely. I give you my word. Now, do we have a deal?”
He glares at me but nods sharply. “We have a deal. I will eliminate the problem, return your girl safely to you, and then we’ll all
go our separate ways never to fucking cross again.”
It’s rare to hear Benedict swear, which tells me we’ve done the right thing taking his daughter. He’s worried, he’s angry, and now I’m far more likely to believe he’s going to keep to his word, which is exactly what we need.
“If you wish me to finish this, you’ll need to release me,” he goes on, voice tight, “I’ll need to make calls, get this set up.”
I nod. “I’ll have some men come in to watch you.”
Cohen and I turn and walk out, closing the door behind us.
Cohen spins quickly, grabbing me and pressing me against the wall, kissing me with a ferocity I’ve never felt from him. His mouth is hard and rough, and he is ravishing my lips like a man who will never taste a woman again. I whimper and curl my fingers into his hair, kissing him until my mouth hurts. Then I pull back. “What was that for?”
“You are the strongest, most fuckin’ beautiful woman I’ve ever laid eyes on. Seein’ you like that, takin’ charge, fuck me...it does things to me.”
My cheeks heat. “Really?” I say with a sly smile.
“If I had time right now, I’d fuck you so god damned hard you’d lose your voice from screamin’, but unfortunately, we’ve got a little girl to save and a war to finish.”
“You’re right, we do. To be continued...”
He chuckles. “Oh, it’ll be continued.”
I pull out my phone and dial Alarick to give him the good news. He organizes for Samson and Zariah to watch Angelica, not wanting Samson anywhere near this. Then he sends Kendric, Bohdi, and Mykel to the room to watch Benedict while we get this started.
It feels like we’re so close.
This is nearly over.
God, please let this go to plan.
If we deserve something, anything in the world, it’s this.
The club needs this to be done with.
I need this to be done.
We all just need this to be over.
“YES,” BENEDICT SAYS, phone held in his hand on speaker so everyone can hear what he’s saying.
That was another condition of our deal, we have to be able to hear everything he’s saying, and if he wasn’t willing to do that, then we wouldn’t agree.
