The cupboard door right next to the washing machine slammed open and I slammed both my hands over my mouth to stop the terrified whine that wanted so desperately to escape from my mouth.
“She’s not in the fucking house.” The searcher growled to someone else out there.
“He said she would be here. Our informant won’t lie. He knows we’ll kill his wife if he does but only after we’ve had our fun.” Another scary voice answered. “The bitch has to be hiding here somewhere.”
Oh God. I knew those voices. They weren’t going to leave until they’ve turned the house upside down. They were going to find me.
“When we find the little bitch we’re going to have the fun we missed out on. I’ve wanted to fuck that little ass since the very first time I saw it.” The filthy bastard gave a creepy little chuckle.
“She’s choice and the boss didn’t say anything about not having a bit of fun before we delivered her.” The scary voice agreed.
Oh. My. God. The horrible creepy raping bastards.
Not only was I going to die I was going to be violated first.
“No one is going to touch her.” A cold emotionless voice interrupted them. Relief shot through me when I recognised the voice.
The searchers weren’t given a chance to answer him.
There was a string of strange phutt-phutt-phutt-phutt sounds followed by groans and two heavy thuds. Then silence descended. A silence broken by the sound of footsteps coming closer.
I think he made a noise on purpose.
“Tori, you’re safe now. It’s safe to come out, babe.” He called softly as he moved the appliances.
Thank you God. I very awkwardly slid out from my cramped hiding place and came to a sudden stop at his feet.
I lay on the laundry room floor and looked up at one of the most beautiful men I have ever seen. Dominick Maingarde was that man. But he was dead inside and it showed in his empty but still beautiful blue eyes. His thick black hair was cut very short to tame the wild curls he shared with his sister. Thick black lashes framed blue eyes set under arching black eyebrows. His lips were full but right now they were pulled in a thin line and muscles moved under his scruff covered cheeks as he looked down at me.
The only time those empty blue eyes showed a tiny flicker of life was around Pixie, his sister. Not that they saw each other very often. Dominick kept a distance between them that had baffled me for years. Now I knew why he did it. It was to keep her safe.
Pixie had run away from her awful grandmother when she was sixteen and never looked back. She warned me about them when I told her about my plan to approach Dominick for funding.
“Don’t ask Dom for funding, Tori.” She had said. “Those people are killers.” She had said. “We’ll find the funding somewhere else, please don’t do this.” She pleaded.
I had scoffed at her. Joked about her family being killers. I blithely marched off to an appointment to see Dominick Maingarde, the CEO of Maingarde Enterprises.
And look at me now. Her words had become my truth.
Here I was on the kitchen floor of a safe house looking up at an emotionless Dominick Maingarde who had just killed two men to save my life.
My life as I knew it was now so freaking messed up.
“Get up, Victoria. We don’t have a lot of time. I’ve found you a better hiding place. No one will be able to get to you there. Once I’ve cleaned this mess up it will be safe for you to come back home.” The soft tones in his voice were gone, leaving it cold, clipped and emotionless. The way he always sounded. He wasn’t disturbed at having to shoot those thugs. Not. At. All.
He held a hand out to me.
And oh shit, he had used my full name, it meant something. I just didn’t know what. Taking his hand I slowly and painfully got up and because of my damned short ass had to look up at him.
“Thank you for saving me.” I whispered.
Yes, I whispered like a bloody little wuss.
“We’ve got no time to stand and chit-chat, Victoria. I brought some things to tide you over for a week or so and will arrange for more should it prove necessary. I’ve made arrangements for an orthopaedic specialist to look at your leg when we get to our destination. Let’s go, we don’t have much time.”
With that said he stepped over the dead guys as if they weren’t even there and walked out of the bloody kitchen.
Things? What things? Where were we going? What the hell was happening to my life?
Questions that remained unanswered for the next few hours.
Painfully dragging my injured leg I limped around the dead guys, avoiding the blood, and did what he said. I did not chit chat but I was moving too slow for him and once again he picked me up and carried me out to the waiting SUV. When I saw the leg brace and crutches on the back seat I could have kissed him. But of course I didn’t. One did not touch Dominick Maingarde without his express invitation. Not even Pixie did.
When we arrived at our destination, which happened to be Johannesburg, Dominick took me to an orthopaedic specialist and thankfully the injuries weren’t as dire as I had thought they were. I had a follow up appointment to assess the injury to my leg and to see if surgery would be needed, but that would only happen after the swelling has subsided. The specialist was cautiously optimistic that the damage was superficial and surgery wouldn’t be necessary.
Now we were here. In front of a huge intimidating black steel gate. A gate with the emblem of a snarling dog biting through chain links on it. A gate that was guarded by men with automatic weapons that they had trained on us.
I knew that emblem. Had traced it with my finger. Admired it on his ripped chest.
Dearest virgin queen my life sucked big smelly hairy balls.
I did not want to be here. I did not want to be forced to face the man who had meant the world to me before he ruthlessly broke me. Ballet and Ilya’s friendship had healed a small part of the hurt, but not all of it. There was a place deep inside that would always ache. It ached because he had been the one.
If I was really lucky the black hearted bastard was no longer with this chapter of the club. But the way my luck has been running lately that was highly unlikely. Somehow I just knew he was going to be here and I would have to face him and I was so not prepared for it.
I gritted my teeth against the pain as I lay under the black fleece throw on the back seat of the SUV.
The fates did not like me. Not at all. I was about to face my past, whether I wanted to or not.
CHAPTER TWO
Kid
Saturday Night
Kid waited impatiently as Dom spoke quietly to the woman lying on the back seat of the SUV, even though he tried he couldn’t hear what was being said. He moved in when the bastard nodded at him to help the small woman out of the vehicle. He moved her very carefully but she still gasped and moaned softly in pain. Fuck. She was fucking tiny, smaller than DC, and she couldn’t have weighed more than about 40 kilos, she was so light. It was impossible to see what she looked like because her face was grossly swollen and bruised black, blue and purple. What he could see was a tangled mess of brilliant red hair pulled into a haphazard bun on top of her head. Her eyes were lost in the swelling around both. Her bottom lip was split and had been closed up with two tiny stitches. Whoever had done the sewing had obviously tried to minimize scarring to her lip. It looked damned painful. Another cut above her right eyebrow had been taped closed with butterfly strips. On her left leg was an intricate brace encasing her leg from the thigh down to her calf. She wore soft stretchy yoga pants, the left leg cut open to accommodate the brace around her injured leg. Thick socks covered her feet, no shoes.
If her fucking face and leg looked like this he could only imagine what her body looked like.
It fucking pissed him off.
“My name is Kid, sweetheart. I know it hurts but it can’t be helped. I have to get you up to your room. Hold on to me and I’ll get you there as quick as I can. Okay?”
The little one gave
a pained little nod and with a small sigh relaxed her tiny body against his chest.
“Zig, brother, get her shit then get the doors for me please. Let’s get her upstairs before anyone notices we’re gone or someone sees her.”
“I got you, brother. Damn, baby, you’re seriously fucked up, aren’t you?” Ziggy said as he looked at the tiny woman in Kid’s arms. “But don’t you worry, sweetness, no one is going to get to you here. We’ll keep you safe.”
“I’ll sort the shit in Cape Town, Victoria. You’ll be able to come home soon, I promise.” Dom growled through the open door.
“Thank you, Dominick. Thank you for saving my life and taking care of me.” The little one said in a soft pained voice. Her accent was South African with overtones of British upper class.
Zig didn’t wait for Dom to answer. He took the small black bag and crutches from the vehicle, made his way to the side door and had it unlocked and opened as they approached. Kid followed him up the side stairs to the secure guestroom at the end of the passage. He waited as Zig unlocked the door then opened it wide.
Thank fuck the room hadn’t been made available to any visitors during the day.
“Zig, pull the duvet down, brother. I want to get her as comfortable as possible. I think we need the doc to come up and look her over.”
“No.” She disagreed instantly. “You don’t need to do that. Dominick’s doctor examined and stitched me up and I’ve seen an orthopaedic specialist. I’ve got meds in my bag. I’ll take them and sleep. All I want to do is sleep and put the last two days behind me.”
Kid didn’t say anything as he set her down on the bed. While he made her as comfortable as possible Ziggy went through her bag and pulled out her meds and set them on the bedside table.
“You need some water, babe. I’ll just run down to the kitchen and bring a couple of bottles up.”
Ziggy left to get the water and Kid looked through her bag to find something more comfortable for her to sleep in. He pulled out what looked like sleep shorts with a matching tee. Pink with black butterflies all over it. So fucking girly.
“Let’s get you into your pj’s, baby girl.” Kid said then grinned as her eyes went wide and she slowly shook her head.
“Not going to perv on you, sweetheart. You’re hurt and you need to be comfortable so you can get some sleep.”
Not giving her a chance to protest he carefully and meticulously undid the brace and set it to the side. Pulling her thick socks off he frowned at her feet. They weren’t what he had been expecting at all. They were fucking ugly, callused with bent toes. Her toenails were painted a deep red and to him it looked weird. But he didn’t have time to worry about her fucked up feet.
Not looking up at her he pulled her yoga pants down and threw them to the bottom of the bed, then carefully slipped her sleep shorts up her legs. She moaned in pain when she lifted her hips to help him get the shorts over her ass. Kid couldn’t help but get a really good look at the tattoo close to her black lace clad pussy and the bruises that covered her lower abdomen and thighs. He carefully checked her bandages and strapped the brace back on then arranged cushions underneath her leg to ensure it stayed elevated. Helping her to sit up he slipped her tee off and clamped his mouth shut so as not to lose it when he saw the damage to her torso. Not saying a word he silently slipped the pj shirt over her head, undid her bra, slipped it off and threw it with the rest of the discarded clothes at the bottom of the bed. He carefully slid her arms through the arm holes and pulled the shirt down over her belly.
Throughout the process she gasped and moaned softly. Kid slid his arm behind her back and lowered her down against the cushions he had stacked behind her back. As he pulled the duvet up over her chest she gave a small sigh of relief. He was shaking out two of her prescribed pain pills when Ziggy walked back into the room.
Zig opened the bottle of water and they both watched as she swallowed the pain pills and with a heavy sigh relaxed against the cushions.
“We have to get back to the party, baby girl, but I’m leaving a prospect here to watch over you. If you need anything just let him know and he’ll get hold of either Ziggy or me. I’ll be back later to check on you. Okay?”
Their charge just mumbled something unintelligible and slipped into medicated sleep. Her pills were damned strong.
After confiscating her phone Kid followed Zig out of the room and pulled the door closed behind him.
“Who are we going to leave with her? She’s been beaten to shit, brother.” Zig said with a worried frown.
Kid sighed. “I’ll get Sam to watch her. I helped her into her pj’s, brother. Whoever did this, they fucked her up but good. She’s covered in bruises and marks and they fucked up her leg.”
“Was she raped?” Ziggy growled out low.
“Saw no bruises on her inner thighs, I checked, so I’d say no.”
“Thank fuck for that at least. I’m going to my office, going to do a deep dive on her. Give me her phone, I want to be sure there’re no trackers or shit on it plus it will help with her background check. I’ll come find you if I find something.” Ziggy took the phone and disappeared down the stairs to his office.
Kid stood in the passage staring at the little one’s door for a minute or so before he left. For some reason he felt wildly protective of the tiny woman behind the door. It was strange to feel so protective of someone after years of feeling nothing at all. He ordered Sam to sit with her before he returned to the party and nodded at Hawk. Letting him know the woman was settled in and safe.
She was now under his protection and no one would fucking touch her, ever again.
Beast
Beast and Sin marched the crazy bitch out of their underground sanctuary with a solid black hood over her head, ensuring she didn’t see a thing. Spider opened doors ahead of them and made sure the coast was clear. They did not need to be seen escorting a female prisoner out of the clubhouse. As they came down the passage towards the side door he saw the back of Kid disappearing up the stairs with someone in his arms. The woman they had to keep safe was obviously hurt or he wouldn’t be carrying her. He couldn’t see any part of the woman except part of a sock covered foot. A very small foot.
Hearing the hidden side door click open he turned back and saw Sin had also been staring at the disappearing back of their brother. He raised his eyebrows and Beast just shrugged and pushed the crazy bitch out the door and quick marched her to the garage where Dominick Maingarde stood waiting with his arms crossed over his chest, leaning against his vehicle. The bastard was supposed to have waited in the vehicle. Fucker.
The motherfucker was dressed in a dark suit as usual and his lifeless blue eyes watched as they brought the bitch to a stop in front of him. Loosening the ties of the hood he lifted it just enough to show the man that the bitch was gagged then pulled it back down and retied it.
Maingarde didn’t say a word, just nodded then gestured to one of his men to load her. Beast, Sin and Spider watched as she was summarily tossed into the loading bay of the SUV and handcuffed to a very handy steel ring attached to the body of the vehicle. Her legs received the same treatment. They weren’t taking any chances on her escaping. Out of the back of the seat a slider was pulled down over her and locked in place and then the back door was slammed shut. For all intents and purposes she was locked in a box in the back of the SUV. Invisible to inquisitive eyes.
Jesus. Dominick Maingarde was scarily efficient.
“Tell Hawk and Ice the problem will be taken care of. I’ll be in touch about my package as soon as I’ve got shit sorted. Don’t let anything happen to her, she’s very important to me.”
With a curt nod he slid into the front passenger seat of the SUV, joining his two men already in the vehicle. The two blacked out SUV’s waiting outside the gate fell in, one in front and one behind, as they drove through the gate.
“That was fucked up, dude.” Sin mumbled as they watched them leave.
Spider stood with his hands in his pock
ets and nodded. “I need a shot after that shit.”
“Yes, me too. Let’s get back to the party. Those friends of River’s are seriously hot and I want to get in there before they are snapped up by another brother.” Sin said with a lascivious grin.
“Dude, you have no chance.” Beast smirked. “Those bitches are on to you. They won’t fall for your shit. I have a better chance of scoring one of them.”
Spider and Sin burst out laughing. “Not happening, Beastman. Those bitches took one look at the size of you, the wild black beard, black beanie and black eyes and about pissed their panties this morning.”
“Bullshit, they saw all this and were struck speechless.” Beast teased as he waved a hand over his body.
Sin laughed, slapped him on his back and shook his head. “Keep on dreaming my brother. The only pussy you’ll be getting is if Chris gives it to you.”
Beast shook his head. “Not going there. I’m never tying myself to another club girl ever again, brother. I’ve learned my lesson the fucking hard way. Chris wants more than I’m prepared to give so I’ve been staying away. I don’t want to give her the wrong idea.”
“I’m glad you noticed, brother. She’s a nice girl and it was very obvious she was into you but you weren’t into her.” Spider threw over his shoulder as he started walking back towards the party.
Beast was struck silent. He hadn’t thought anyone had noticed the way Chris had been acting lately. Seems like he had been wrong. Shit.
Following his brothers he walked back into the party and cast his eyes around the women. There wasn’t one who stirred him and even if they had he wouldn’t do anything about it, not tonight. His babies were with a babysitter at Bulldog’s house and he would be leaving to pick them up soon.
Following Spider and Sin to the bar he slammed back the shot they had waiting for him. Leaning back against the bar with Spider they watched as Sin made his way over to the women. And the bastard didn’t strike out at all. Very soon he had his arms full of a smiling pretty woman on the dance floor.
Black Heart And Red Redemption (Iron Dogz MC) Page 2