We have to think strategically.
Watching as the afternoon turns to evening and then to night, I try not to think about how hungry I am, about how Trista is still bound. Thankfully, she’s fallen asleep on my shoulder. I don’t mind, I’m happy to be her pillow since I’m the reason she’s in this mess.
“I would pull over to sleep, but I can’t trust you cunts,” my father states.
I don’t respond. There is no point. All I do is watch the blackness of the night from the window and wonder where Wilder is and if he’s on his way home to me yet. If he’s going to be upset that I’m gone or relieved.
Then I think about Taz and Trista. That is a man who is going to be devastated that his woman is gone. She won’t be for long though. I will die trying to get her to safety. Trying to get her home to him, to her family, to the people who love her.
The sun slowly rises and dawns on a new day. I’m not sure what that means for us, except for another day to hopefully plan some kind of escape. I’m not sure what the future will bring or where this car is taking us.
My father doesn’t stop though, he doesn’t slow down. No food, no drinks, not even coffee—nothing. I have no clue what is in California for Trista, or who rather. All I know is that anyone who would be in dealings with my father is not any decent member of society.
“Almost there,” he announces, almost excitedly. He is fucking excited for what’s about to happen and that makes me really, really nervous.
A sign appears that we’re entering a new city. Santa Rosa. Trista makes a noise next to me. I look over and her eyes are wide and scared. She shakes her head, mumbling behind her gag.
“Oh, she’s figured it out. I knew that she would. This is going to be so much fun. I wasn’t planning on it, but I think that I’ll stay and watch. You can too, Leighton. It’ll be great.” He chuckles.
I want to do something, but if I try to run us off the road, it could hurt my baby. Tears prick the backs of my eyes. I don’t know what to do. Do I attempt to save my friend and possibly put my baby in danger? Or do I let all three of us be in danger? There is no right answer here and my body begins to tremble in fear of what’s to come.
When we reach our destination, I know what that is, what’s to come. I realize it without even having to be told. He’s going to give her to a rival club. It has to be. And it’s a club that she knows, and it’s one that is really really no fucking good.
The gates open up. My father doesn’t even have to talk to the guard. They know him, which means this probably isn’t the first time he’s dealt with them. I have a feeling that the girls I saw going in and out of his house, this was possibly one of the suppliers.
He parks the car and roughly tugs us out of the back seat. Trista is shaking, she’s not even trembling anymore, her entire body is practically convulsing. This is so bad, so damn bad. I start to tremble with fear too as I walk beside her.
Looking around, I notice the men coming from all different directions. They aren’t as handsome as the Savage Beasts or Sinister Skulls. Their faces are set hard and angry. They all scowl as they watch us, that is, except their eyes. Every set of eyes is glinting with excitement. Now that is terrifying.
“I won’t let this happen,” I whisper beneath my breath as soon as my father walks toward a man who appears to be the ringleader.
Trista doesn’t even make a single noise. I can tell in the way that she’s standing, she is giving up the fight. That’s okay, I have fight in me enough for the three of us. I’ve lived my whole life being complacent.
Even when I ran, I didn’t live, I was just waiting to be scooped up again. I did not live twenty-five years in hell to find a slice of happiness and have it ripped away from me before it even began.
Fuck. That.
I have a beautiful life waiting for me. I have a man who wants this, wants me, and will treat me a hell of a lot better than I’ve ever been treated, even if he ignored me, it’s still better than what I had. And it’s only been a few days, but he’s already trying to be better, he’s trying and that’s more than I’ve ever had in my entire life.
TRISTA
Well, this is it. This is how I die. The Donkey Punchers are going to end me, and isn’t that just fucking fitting? After we went through that gas station, and they chased us out. A war almost began and it was practically my fault. Here I am again, in the middle of this shit.
Riot’s eyes shift to meet mine and I watch as an ugly, creepy, and just plain mean smile appears on his lips. My entire body is trembling, it’s shaking so hard that I can’t control it. This is the end. I’m going to die here and Taz will be left all alone.
I have no idea how he’s going to make it in this world. I’ve loved him my whole life. All I ever wanted was to be his Old Lady and I finally am. Now this shit. I snort, just fucking fitting. The icing on the cake would be if my mother came back from the dead and laughed in my face.
Karma is a fucking bitch—a cunt. And she’s been after me for years, giving me doses here and there, and here she is again rearing her ugly goddamn head.
Then something catches the corner of my eye. I turn my entire attention to the side. My eyes widen and that’s when I realize that it’s real. It’s really real. It’s really fucking him.
Jaguar stares back at me.
Jaguar—Jaguar.
Shit.
Holy fucking shit.
MOUNTAIN
My brother grins at me. “When I found out it was you that turned down Bianca, I had to see if it was true. If it was really my little brother.”
“What the fuck do you want?” I snap.
He tilts his head to the side, his lips curving up into a smile. “Not so fucking tough these days, with only two men as your backup, are you?”
“So, you want to compare dicks, is that what this is? Or are you angry that I didn’t fuck your whore? I’m a little confused, did you want my cock inside your snatch? Is this some roundabout way to actually fuck me? I just don’t know what you want from this.”
He growls, his words completely gone. He’s still the same stupid bastard he was all those years ago. The difference is, now I’m a full-grown fucking man and he can’t best me. He couldn’t even if he tried.
“I want to see you die, little brother.”
“Why?” I ask.
I’m genuinely curious. He won’t see me die. It will be the other way around and honestly, I should have done it a long time ago. I should have never let him leave town, I should have ended him right then and there.
It is one of my few true regrets in life, one that I am going to rectify today. Waker is not going to make it out of this basement alive. I should have known that a contact from the old neighborhood, a guy I knew growing up, was a mistake to trust. I should have known, but the Beasts were in a bind.
“I always hated you,” he sneers.
Crossing my arms over my chest, I let out a laugh. “No fuckin’ shit,” I bark. “Didn’t feel much brotherly love for you, or coming from you, so that doesn’t surprise me. It also shouldn’t surprise you that I could give a fuck about you, Waker. I’d hoped you’d met your fate already, but it seems I’m going to have to help fate along.”