“Well, you look happy,” Hannah says as she walks in with her makeup bag.
“Why wouldn’t I be?”
She shrugs. “Just double checking that you’re not having second thoughts.”
“No way,” I tell her, shaking my head. “Noah and I are made for one another.”
“Gee, I wonder who told you that like, I don’t know, a month ago.”
I throw a pillow at her. “Shush.”
“So, what are we thinking for your makeup?” she asks as she lays tools and makeup out on the bed. I glance up at my dress, hanging from the closet door, and purse my lips.
“How about a purple smokey eye?”
“Ohh, I love that.”
She starts organizing things on the bed as I turn back to the mirror and smile. I can almost picture what everything is going to look like when it all comes together and I really hope it’s going to knock Noah’s socks off.
The motion alarm goes off and I jerk forward in my seat as Hannah gasps, looking up at the door.
“Are any of the boys supposed to be coming here?” I ask and she shrugs. Standing up, I reach for the gun before remembering I left it on the kitchen table as I whisper a curse. “Shit. Stay here.”
“Kady,” she hisses, ducking on the side of the bed as she tries to grab my hand but I shake her off me. Quinn and Carly are still in the living room and I need to get to them. Just as I’m about to step into the living room, they round the corner of the hallway with their hands over their ears.
“There’s two guys coming up the driveway right now,” Quinn says, fear filling her eyes.
“Go hide with Hannah,” I tell them. Carly shakes her head as Quinn takes off for the bedroom. Jeez, guess she doesn’t need to be told twice.
“What about you?”
I point to the kitchen. “I’m going to go get my gun. Call the boys.”
She nods and follows Quinn down the hallway as I creep out into the living room. The alarm cuts off and my eyes flick to the gun on the table as the front door slams open. I jerk into action, going for the gun but someone tackles me to the floor before I can get to it. We struggle and I try to get away from him but he straddles my waist and slams my head into the floor.
“Well, well, well,” a voice says that sends a chill through me and I fight the urge to shiver as fear snakes through my body. “Fancy running into you here.”
“Go to hell,” I spit as the man on top of me rolls me to my back and Oliver walks into the room. He stops right next to me and smiles down before turning to the guy holding me down.
“Tie her up.”
The man climbs off me before yanking me up and dragging me over to the wooden post that separates the living room from the kitchen before he ties my hands together behind me and ties my whole body to the post as I struggle against him. When he’s finished, he stands next to the door with his arms crossed in front of him. The girls stumble out of the bedroom with the other guys on their heels and a gun pointed at them.
“Don’t hurt them,” I growl, glaring at Oliver and he sighs.
“Put them back in the bedroom and watch them.”
He nods before grabbing Quinn and spinning her back to the bedroom as she cries. Hannah and Carly follow her lead as the guard pushes them down the hallway and I turn back to Oliver, a roar filling my ears as I clench my teeth. He grabs a chair from the kitchen table and positions it in front of me before sinking into it with a sigh.
“Oh, Kady… What are we going to do about the little situation we’re in?”
I arch a brow, struggling against the ropes. “Are you referring to this hostage situation or something else?”
“Don’t play dumb, sweetheart. The club.”
“What about them?” I ask, scowling,. He pulls a gun from his waistband and lays it on his knee with his hand still on the grip. What is his deal with the club now? His beef has always been with Noah, not them so what’s changed all of the sudden?
“You see, when Noah led me to you after he was released, I started wondering how you had managed to escape from me all those years ago. I always assumed Bobby felt bad for you but then I find out that he was a devil. The club took you from me and someone has to pay for that.”
“He left them before he came looking for me. The club didn’t even know I’d gone missing until Noah got released.”
“Either way,” he growls. “They did take my new toy from me.”
I shrug, feeling protective of a woman I’ve never met. It doesn’t matter. If she’s been through anything like I went through with Oliver, she deserves my protection. “And? Are you telling me she’s what you really want?”
“No…” His voice trails off and he leans forward, brushing his thumb over my cheek as my stomach churns and I fight the urge to close my eyes. I hate when he touches me but if I look away, if I let a tear slip, he’ll know that he’s getting to me and I can’t stand the thought of that either. I’ve fought for too long and too hard to give into his tactics. Sighing, he pulls his hand back and leans back in the chair. “Which brings me to my main problem.”
I glance outside, checking for the boys but everything is quiet and I sigh as I turn back to him. “Which is?”
“You…” He smiles. “But you see, I’ve been thinking about this a lot and I’ve realized that it’s not enough to just take you back home where you belong because Henn will just keep coming for you… again and again and again.”
“So, what? You’re going to send him back to jail?”
He shakes his head, his smile growing. “No. It’s time we get rid of all distractions, don’t you think? So we can finally be together the way we’re meant to be.”
“What does that mean?” I whisper as my stomach sinks at the gleam in his eyes.
“It’s really pretty simple. Noah needs to be out of the picture… permanently. Then, you and I can finally start our life together.”
“No,” I answer, tears welling up in my eyes. “You’re going to kill him? Are you really that delusional? I don’t want you, Oliver. I never have and it doesn’t matter if you kill him. My heart will always belong to Noah.”
“First of all, you little cunt,” he hisses, losing control of his patience as he drops down to his knees in front of me and grabs my face. “I don’t give a shit what you want. I want you so I’m going to take you - it’s really as simple as that - and you can’t stop me from killing him to take what’s mine.”
I try to rip my face out of his hand but he just holds me tighter and my jaw starts to ache. “No.”
“Oh, yes. In fact, maybe I’ll take that heart of his that you’re so fond of and put it in a jar on our mantel so you can have him with you always. How does that sound, baby?”
My stomach churns and I suck in a breath to keep myself from gagging as he laughs. The motion detector goes off and he jerks away from me, turning toward the door as more bikes than I can count roll into the driveway. I smile as I turn back to him.
“It’s over for you, Oliver.”
“Biche!” Noah’s voice booms through the cabin and I turn back to the open door as he steps into view, looking downright dangerous as rage contorts his face. His gaze immediately finds mine and relief washes through me before he looks away. “Let’s end this, you son of a bitch.”