Damn! There’s no one in here.
Then, very softly, I hear a whimper. I grab my phone, turning on the flashlight, and I see him tied to a chair, his mouth’s bound, and his eyes are wide as he stares at us.
“Andy,” I say, stepping in.
Marley follows and shuts the door, making the room go dark apart from my light.
Reaching for my knife, I untie him, and Andy barely manages to stand. “What did they do?” He lifts his shirt, and I see the slashes marring his body. My body tightens at the thought. The same thing happened to Marcus—scars now line his body from the wounds he suffered—but his were from our mother. I remember cleaning them when he slept to keep the pain at a minimum.
“They know you own that club. They think it’s you encroaching on their territory,” he says.
He isn’t wrong, but it wasn’t him I wanted to keep an eye on it was her, she fascinates me even when she shouldn’t. But Cane is a piece of shit and he can keep thinking what he wants. Fucker.
“Marley, get him out.”
“Not without you.”
“Take him out,” I growl.
He nods and takes the prospect, who winces as he’s carried out. I reach for my phone and see Snow hasn’t messaged me. Sending him a quick message that we have Andy and to meet me out the front, I go back the same way we came in. The guy who was fucking that woman is now banging on the door, clearly pissed that he’s been locked in there with his two-minute penis.
“I knew you would come,” a voice says from behind me. I hear the click of a gun’s safety and know it’s close. I look up to Marley, who’s a fair distance away, hoping they haven’t spotted him, and he keeps going.
Turning around, I raise my hands with my gun in one.
“Of course I came. You tried to take what’s mine.”
He has a beer in one hand, a gun in the other. There are no women anywhere, just his crew, and they all have guns. I could shoot my way out. It might work that way. But the odds of me not getting shot or killed are low.
“You are nothing but trouble, Blaze,” Cane says, shaking his head.
“As my mother used to say,” I mock him.
He steps forward with his gun raised as his lips turn into a flat line, and his eyebrows pinch together. “I will take your women, and fuck your sweet manager, after I bury you.”
“That may not happen,” Snow’s voice comes from the side as he walks through with a woman in his hands, and a gun to her head.
Cane looks to her, his eyes going wide, his weapon moving from me to Snow. “Let her go. Now.”
“What? Like you let my man go?” I ask him, my head dropping to the side.
The woman, or better yet the girl in Snow’s arms, cries louder.
“Daughter, I’m guessing?” I walk over to Snow and touch the girl’s hair, lifting a dark strand and smirking. “Tell me, girl, what’s your name?”
Her eyes flick to Cane, and Snow grips her tighter. “Jean,” she whispers.
“Jean,” I say while taking a look back at Cane, whose gun is still raised. “Is this bad man your daddy?” She nods fast. “Lower your gun, Cane, if you want her to live.” I lift my own gun and place it to her head.
She cries harder and sobs loudly.
Cane’s inner turmoil is evident as his eyes flick from mine to hers.
“Tell me, should I keep your daughter the way you kept my man?”
“No,” he replies.
“Okay, so I should maybe fuck her the way you threatened one of mine?” I bite back, thinking of his threat toward Katarina.
“I’ll end you,” he says.
Marley comes up behind us with his gun also raised. “I’m taking her.”
I nod to Marley and Snow passes her to him. All of our guns are raised, and they could still win if they started shooting, as they outnumber us. But they would risk killing his daughter. She is at least eighteen at a guess.
“No, you ain’t,” he spits, looking at his daughter.
“I’ll drop her at the club. Maybe…” I reach for another piece of her hair, smelling it and licking her cheek. “If you’re good.”
“Daddy,” she whimpers.
“You can call me Daddy if you wish,” I say with an evil grin.
“Drop your guns,” Cane says to his men. “What do you want?”
“I want you to stay away from my club. Stay in your area. Because if you don’t, Cane… well, put it this way, I now know what means the most to you, and I know how to play games as well.”
The girl continues to cry.
“I won’t enter again,” he says through gritted teeth.
I pull the girl toward me. “I’m still taking her. You could change your mind easily.” I start backing away, keeping her with me.
Cane watches me with anger evident in his eyes. He doesn’t move as we make our way out, and when we get to the bikes, I put her in front of me and ride to the clubhouse, stopping out the front.
Her tears have dried now.
“Give me your phone,” I say, holding out my hand as I let her off the bike. She hands it to me, and I pass it to Marley, who pockets it. “Is your mother alive?”
“No, just Dad.” I’ll know if she is lying soon enough—you can learn almost everything about someone from their device. We are going to pull everything from her social media, and soon, we will know where she goes and what she does. Even if he doesn’t come after us straight away, when he does, at least we will know all there is to know about his daughter. And if it were me, I wouldn’t be happy about that, or the risk to her.
Let’s hope he’s the same, and not stupid.
Chapter Twenty
Kat
Mitchell stands at the entrance. I haven’t let him in yet. Over the last two weeks, he’s been buying things for Annabelle and calling every day to see if we need anything. He’s been persistent, and today he wants to meet my family and apologize. I’m nervous about him doing so, but this will be the test to see if he really does stay. Mitchell could leave, and my daughter will be none the wiser because I haven’t let him in her life yet. And that’s a big yet.
“Should I be worried?” he asks.
“You’ve never met my family.”
He scrubs his face. “I know, one-night stands tend to make that happen.”
“True.” I look back to see my family gathered at the table, waiting for us to join them. We decided to meet at a restaurant. It’s the safer bet because that way there will be no yelling. Hopefully. I choose to wait outside for him, instead of throwing him to the wolves.
“They have raised Annabelle with me, or should I say have been a major part of her life. My family is small, but we stick together.”
“My family only cares about money. You’re lucky,” he says, and I feel a pang of regret from him.
“Do they know about Annabelle?” I ask.
“I’ve mentioned her, but honestly, I don’t want them to know her just yet.”
I nod. That’s his choice.
“Okay, let’s do this.” I turn, and he stops me by touching my arm, so I look back at him.