I gasped, crying out in terror when I saw the kids lunge at each other. They couldn’t have been older than fifteen…sixteen maybe, and they weren’t wearing gloves, they didn’t even look like they had eaten in days. I heard Juan laugh, and the others clapped and cheered as the boys took punches.
I was screaming, even though I couldn’t hear my own voice. I saw the blood pouring down the kid's foreheads, wounds slashing open on their bodies as they tried to knock each other out. The kid who won the fight would be the one getting food tonight, and a paycheck worth a few bucks. Both of them were as desperate for blood. It was natural human instinct, fight to survive.
My throat ran dry; I couldn’t scream anymore.
That was when I realized that my wrists weren’t tied anymore. One of the men had untied me at some point, confident that I wouldn’t be able to escape in a place like this, surrounded by hundreds of my enemies.
Trying to even my breath, I gulped, and my eyes fell on the cell phone sticking out of Juan’s pocket. His crotch was at level with my face as he stood beside me. I looked up at him; Juan was grinning manically at the ring, cheering on for the kid he had placed his bets on. None of them were staring at me anymore.
I reached for the cell phone, repeating Papi’s phone number over and over again in my head. All I needed to do was warn him. To let him know that I was kidnapped and that they were going to come for him.
When my hands touched the phone, I looked up at Juan again. He hadn’t noticed. I tried to slide it out, and he still hadn’t moved. I was so close if I could have it for just a few seconds. Just enough to send a text.
“What the fuck do you think you’re doing!” one of the other guys had seen me. I felt all the blood drain from my face.
I screamed when he grabbed a fistful of my hair and yanked me back in my chair. Juan was alerted now, and he glared at me with his nostrils flaring.
“Valentina, that was a big mistake, my girl,” he said and grabbed my shoulders and lifted me off the chair. I screamed and struggled in his grip as he plonked me down forcefully on the ground.
None of the other men in that warehouse batted an eyelid. They didn’t turn to see what was happening to me.
Nobody except the Muerte Viviente men saw the punch that Juan landed on my jaw, throwing me back a few feet with force. I slumped on the floor, tasting the metallic flavor of blood in my mouth. I could feel my limbs aching and tears gushing down my cheeks. But I was glad I tried. I would try again if I had the chance. These men were not going to break me so easily.
Chapter 5
King
I remembered the warehouse well. I was standing exactly where I was standing the last time we were here, except this time, it was more than just the three of us. Elwood had sent twenty-six of the Club members with my brothers and us, and I was armed and ready to invade.
I never went in for a war without saying a prayer, and my brothers respected me for it. So now, I stood with my eyes closed and my head hanging down as I said a silent prayer to my God. The kids needed to be rescued, and my brothers needed to walk out of there with their lives intact.
From inside the warehouse, we could hear sounds of the ongoing fight. By day, this place wouldn’t have caught anybody’s attention. It looked like any other derelict, abandoned warehouse from the area, but right now, it was thumping with metal music and the loud cheers of people inside, with every punch that a kid took.
I clenched my fists, gritted my teeth and tipped my head at Commando. Elwood had given me the order to lead the raid, and so I took the first step.
We burst into the warehouse, our guns clicking in the air. A quick survey of the place told me that at least eighty percent of the Black Skulls were in the place and there were also some faces that I didn’t recognize. Ahead, in the clearing, the ring had been set up as before, and two kids were lunging at each other. Blood was coursing down their faces, turning them unrecognizable.
The Black Skulls turned to us, while I stood at the head of my Club. The music continued playing in the background, but the cheers had died down. Despite the fact that the Black Skulls outnumbered us, we had the element of surprise on our side. A lot of them, I was hoping, would not be armed or prepared for the bloodbath I was going to rain on them.
I fired the first shot into the crowd, and the men growled.
Commando, Girth, and Slade were by my side as we plunged ourselves into the depths of the Black Skulls. We fired as much as we could, there were wounded men on the floor before my gun was knocked out of my hands. One of them had come up from behind, wound his arm around my neck and was in the process of crushing my windpipe. I clawed at his arm, elbowing his gut till his grip weakened. He was pulled away from me, and when I whipped around, I saw Girth standing there, grinning.
Someone came at him, and I jumped, forcing the weight of my body on the fucker till I had him pinned to the ground. I punched his face, bruising my knuckles till there was blood pouring from them. He was knocked out cold, his jaw hanging loose and someone grabbed me by my shoulders and lifted me up.
I growled as I took a swing and missed. My hands came up at level with my face; I was glaring into the eyes of a Black Skulls member with a scar right across his face. He was sporting a mad smile like he was enjoying it. Nobody was enjoying this as much as I was. I was on a mission, and he had no idea. I was trained to be a fighter in a ring just like this one.
I leaped at him and punched his gut. His hands flew to his stomach, and I socked his jaw till his head flew backward, and he stumbled to the ground.
“What do you guys want?” he growled out at me when I stood over him. I grabbed his collar with both my hands and lifted him off the ground.
“All these kids go free, or you all are dead,” I said and knocked my forehead against his. The force made him jerk back to the ground, where his head hit the concrete, and he was out cold. I was going old school now. No guns, no weapons, just pure fists.
I looked around me. My brothers were neck and neck with the Black Skulls. Some of them still had their guns in their hands while some of the others had been overpowered already. I growled and ran towards the two guys who were holding Slade by the neck.
I ripped them off him, knocking skull against skull, taking punches blindly till Slade was pulled free from their grip. He found his gun on the floor and used it to shoot bullets into their legs. When our eyes met, he tipped his head in acknowledgment.
That was when I saw her.
She was sitting on a chair, guarded by two men on either side, with her eyes fixed on me. In the first few moments, I was surprised to see a woman in this place. And then, I was confused by her role here. She was sitting calmly enough, except that her body was shuddering when I looked more closely. I could barely keep an eye on her, while men fought and struggled in front of me, but I had already started rushing towards her. Ducking under punches and walking through bullets that somehow missed me each time.
I couldn’t focus on anything but her.
She was in a pair of tight gray jeans with slits on the knees where they were frayed. A tight crop top the color of dusty roses, which revealed a slender torso and a flat belly. She was petite and yet curvaceous at the same time, and her breasts were large, stretching the material of her top tightly. Her hair was long and luscious and brown, falling in messy waves around her shoulders. Some time ago, she might have had perfect makeup on, but now they were running down her cheeks. Mascara mixed with eye shadow and smudged pink lipstick around plump pouty lips.
It had taken me several seconds to recognize her, but when I did, I had forgotten everything else. What was Valentina doing here? I never thought I’d see her again.
xxx
I watched in horror as Valentina parted her lips. She had recognized me too; I didn’t think I was still recognizable. That skinny, malnourished boy had turned into a muscular man with bulging biceps, and six pack chiseled abs. My hair was as long as always, but these days, I tied it in a ponytail at the back of m
y head. But she saw me, and she was using her eyes to warn me about something.
I didn’t care if she didn’t want me getting any closer to her. There was no way that I wasn’t going to get her out of this place. I knew instantly that she was being kept captive. I could see it from the panic ridden eyes of the assholes that were standing beside her, keeping guard.
They saw me when I was finally, only a few feet away from her.
“Back the fuck off. We are not a part of the Black Skulls. Leave us out of this shit,” one of the guys said and stepped in front of her.
“Jesus! Go! Don’t come near me!” I heard Valentina scream and it only boiled my blood more.
“Step away from her,” I grunted through gritted teeth, and the two guys looked at each other. They came at me at the same time, coordinated in their actions and I put myself on them. One of them punched me in the stomach while I grabbed the other one’s neck. When I went down to the floor, I took him with me.
The other one’s boot was over my face, coming at me but I rolled away. When I jumped up, I sprang at him again, catching him by surprise and I fell to the ground with him. My punches were hard and quick, and the second guy had by now made a run for it.
I didn’t stop hitting him though. I hit him till I felt his jaws crack open, till I knew he wouldn’t be able to get up off the floor.
When I looked up, Valentina was standing up from her chair, her hands were clasped to her mouth, and there was terror in her eyes. I stumbled as I got up from over the guy I had knocked out. Cries and gunshots and grunts were raging around us as I walked towards her.
With every step I took, Valentina’s eyes grew larger. She dragged her hands away from her mouth, and I saw that her lips were still parted. It was like time was standing still, and we were the only two people in that warehouse. I saw her gulp, something like a smile fluttered at the edge of her lips. Her breasts were rising and falling, and I was close enough to touch her.
But I stopped. I knew nothing about her anymore. I didn’t even know what she was doing here. Maybe I had made a mistake; maybe she wasn’t their prisoner, maybe she didn’t need to be rescued.
“Jesus…” she breathed my name out in a whisper as I stared at her.
“Valentina…” I said, her name catching in my throat because I hadn’t said it aloud in so many years.
“What are you…” I began to ask, but she cut me short.
“I was kidnapped,” she cried and threw herself at me. Valentina fell into my arms, and our bodies pressed together as I held her. I felt like this was another one of my dreams…that she wasn’t there. But maybe it was a nightmare because she was crying and she was hurt. I’d noticed the bruise on her jaw.
“King!” I heard Commando’s voice behind us and Valentina wriggled out of my arms. I grabbed her wrist as I turned to him, tugging her with me as I joined him a little distance away.
“We have most of them. We can get the kids out now,” Commando told me, and we nodded at each other.
“How are we going to do it?” I asked him, and I saw Commando’s gaze drift to Valentina, but only for a moment, he was looking at me again.
“The boys and I can take care of it here; you can leave if you need to be somewhere else. Get her out of here?” Commando said, and I heard the knowing tone in his voice. He had no idea who Valentina was, but he had noticed the grip I had on her hand. He could tell that she meant something to me. If there was anyone, out of all my brothers who would understand, it was Commando. Not too long ago, he had to save Ava from captivity as well.
I tipped my head at him and then turned to Valentina.
“Let’s get you out of here,” I said to her, and she took in a deep breath.
We ran through the dimly lit warehouse, jumping over knocked out bodies and ducking every time we heard a bullet ringing in the air. I covered her head with my arms as I guided her out towards the open exit of the warehouse. I didn’t care about what was happening, even though coming here had been my plan and I should have been back there with my brothers, getting the kids out.
I would have been the first one to put my life at risk here, and I had, but now that I had seen Valentina, nothing else mattered but her safety.
We burst through the exit and into the night air. In the distance, I could hear the rumble of motorcycles. Some of the Black Skulls who had managed to escape were making a run for it.
“Where are we going to go, Jesus?” she asked me and I turned to her. We were both panting, both relieved to have made it out of there.
“To my place,” I said and still holding her hand, I led her towards my parked Harley. I only let her go when I had her seated safely on the back of my bike. I could sense her eyes on me, watching my every move.
“I’m so glad you’re here,” I heard her whisper in the dark as I took my place in front of her.
Chapter 6
Valentina
I was shaking like a leaf when Jesus opened the door to his apartment, and I stepped in. I was still in shock over everything that had happened. The kidnapping, being forced to watch those kids beating each other up…seeing Jesus again.
We had spoken very little since we left the warehouse. There were ten years of silence that we needed to overcome and I still couldn’t believe that it was actually him. That he had saved me from my captors.
Jesus switched on the lights of his apartment, and I looked around the place in awe. That skinny boy I used to know from ten years ago, who had nothing, not a penny to his name…now lived in his own place. It wasn’t a fancy place, in fact, it was quite sparse, but it was neat and clean and had everything in its place.
“Sit down, Valentina. We need to clean you up,” he said, and I whipped around to look at him again. We stared at each other in silence for a few moments. He looked different now, his bronze skin was tougher, and his body was buffed up. His hair looked healthy and long, and he had it tied in a ponytail. His chest was broad, stretching the thin material of his t-shirt, and with every step he took, I noticed the powerful muscles of his thighs. Jesus had come into himself. He had turned into a sexy piece of meat, and I did not doubt that he had a long queue of women drooling over him all the time.
I nodded my head quietly and sat down on his leather couch, and then he vanished somewhere into the house.
Where were we supposed to begin? How was I going to explain everything to him? In fact, he didn’t even seem curious. He had barely asked me any questions. It was as though his top priority had been to get me to safety.
When Jesus returned, he was carrying bandages, ointments, cotton balls and some band aids. He arranged everything on the coffee table in front of me, and then walked over to the kitchen cabinet and brought back a small bottle of vodka.
“This might sting, but we need to disinfect that gash on your jaw,” he said, and I stared at him as he knelt down in front of me.
This up close to him, I couldn’t drag my eyes away from him. I used to know this face so well, every inch of his body…and now, he was nothing more than a stranger to me. Just a ghost from my past.
I watched as he dabbed some of the vodka on a cotton ball and brought it close to my face.
“Ready?” he asked, in a softer gentle voice and I bit down on my lip. When the cotton ball touched my bruise, I felt a sudden sting, and I winced. Jesus’ free hand reached for my knee, and he squeezed it. His touch was warm and comforting, the kind of comfort I had missed all these years. I didn’t even know I needed it, but I did.
“Just a few seconds more,” he said and dabbed the cotton ball on some other scratches and bruises around my neck and shoulders. I stared at him as he did this, with rapt concentration, like I could have been anyone. Then he started cutting out pieces of the bandage and sticking it to the wounds.
“You might not like the way it looks, but just keep it on for a few days, just until the skin starts healing,” he told me, and I peered into his eyes.
“Can we talk about what’s happening?” I blurted ou
t, unable to stop myself before the words came out. He snapped his head up to look at me; his dark eyes were stormy and intense. I watched as he clenched his jaw and then straightened up.
“You told me you were kidnapped,” he said and turned away from me, closing the cap of the vodka bottle.
“And you, believe me, right?” I asked him, and Jesus took a few seconds before he nodded his head.
“Of course, I do, Valentina, you’ve been hit, you have bruises,” he said and turned to me again. He was standing over me, over the couch, and our gazes were locked.
“Then why aren’t we talking about it?” I said, in a quiet embarrassed voice. He took in a deep breath.
“Why are you back here? I didn’t think you would ever come back,” he said, and I licked my lips. His voice had risen now, and he sounded angry about something.
“That was the Muerte Viviente who had you, weren’t they? Why would they hold captive the daughter of their own leader? Are they punishing you for running away? For being with me?” Jesus had stepped away from me, running his hands over his face in frustration. His eyes were bloodshot, and there was rage dripping from his voice.
I stood up from the couch to reach for him, but he took a step away from me.
“You shouldn’t have come back here, Valentina…it isn’t safe for you. Why have you come back here?” he growled, and I could feel my nostrils flaring. I couldn’t believe he was mad at me for coming back, while my soul was melting because I had seen him again.
Jesus glared at me with his jaws clenched.
“What do you want, Valentina? Why are you here?” he repeated the same questions as we glared at each other. He was blaming me for being kidnapped!
“Papi is sick. He’s going to die soon. I wanted to see him before he did!” I screeched, losing control of myself. How could he blame me for this? “I didn’t come back for you, Jesus!” I added for good measure, and I watched as that grimace on his face drooped, and his eyes became wider.
Say Yes, Senator: A Best Friend's Little Sister Political Romance Page 27