by Nikki Groom
He drops his head. “We knew about that.”
“You knew!” My nostrils flare with fiery anger as I look over him coldly. “You knew, and you let him walk around on this earth to do it to another child and to continually beat his wife, and you did nothing about it? You’re as bad as him.”
“Hey, what happened between him and his wife was none of my goddamn business,” he says with a frown, reaching out to grab my arm. “We had a plan—we were watching, waiting, Dev was gonna have at him afterward.”
“Who’s Dev?” I ask, tearing my arm from his touch. “And after what? What did you want with him?” I look at him, closer now than before. He sighs, looking up at the ceiling and letting his head drop back.
“You know what?” He stands abruptly, rubbing the back of his neck with one hand. “You need to go. You can go.” He motions to the door.
“What?” I shout at his abrupt change of direction. “You said you wanted answers. For fuck’s sake, I want answers too!” I must be fucking crazy. I should be running. I should run as fast as my legs can carry me out of that door and never look back. This is fucked up. He’s fucked up and dangerous. I’m not so naïve that I don’t see that, but he brought me here and hasn’t killed me, in fact, he hasn’t really hurt me at all, which he could have done by now if he wanted to, and fuck me, I want to know what the hell is going on.
“Well, you’re not gonna get answers. You’ve had a few hours to recoup, you’ve only got a mild concussion, and Lia cleaned up all your road rash. I’ll get Tex to drop you off wherever you want because you’re sure as shit not going to be able to get anywhere with your motor. It’s fucked,” he says with a flick of his wrist as he turns his back to me.
He jumps to his feet and starts to walk away, his shoulders slightly rounded, and the way he carries himself makes him look …tired, defeated even.
“Why did you bring me here?” I yell, throwing my arms out wildly and getting to my feet. “Why didn’t you just get your friend, Tex, to pick you up and leave me in the wrecked car? What’s so important about Donny fucking Carden that you had to whisk me away before anyone came?” I screech the words out in a torrent of frustration, and Ramsey pauses with his hand on the door handle.
He turns to face me slowly, his head low on his shoulders as he looks up through his lashes at me. “Do you have any idea what you got involved in tonight, little girl?” His voice is low, dangerous, and for the first time since I woke, fear taps at each bone as it trickles down my spine and he moves closer. “I might not know your name, but I do know what you’ve done. What are you, some kind of femme fatale? You on a mission to rid the world of all the bad guys?” He chuckles to himself then stops with his body flush to mine. I hold his gaze, refusing to back off, feeling the fire in his eyes burning through mine. He strokes a finger lightly along my temple and down my cheek. “You got daddy issues?” he whispers.
“Fuck. You.” I shove at his chest, but he doesn’t budge an inch which only increases my frustration.
“Oh, sweetheart, usually I would take a girl up on such an offer, but—”
I bring my hand up to slap him, but he catches my wrist and grabs the other one in a flash, roughly pinning them to my side. “Oh no, you don’t.” He laughs under his breath, but his gaze is anything but humorous. “You got a lucky shot in last time. That kinda luck doesn’t happen twice.” He leans in close, pushing my hair from my face gently with his cheekbone and settling his hot breath over my ear. “Now, we can do this the easy way, or the hard way. I’m not above binding you again—” He pauses, letting a few heated breaths brush across my skin. “So tell me, are you going to bend and comply? Which will make it so much easier for you, or am I going to have to wrangle your twisted little soul into submission?”
He holds me tightly while waiting for me to answer. His hands wrapped firmly around my wrists, his cheek next to mine, his hot breath fanning over my skin and making me shudder out of pure anger and an explosion of lust which has hit me like a freight truck that’s come out of nowhere. I’m pissed at him. Pissed that he caught me off guard, pissed that he wrecked my car, and above all, so fucking confused that he’s made me feel like I want to kiss him before I kill him. Make no mistake, if I had my gun, I would kill him… wouldn’t I?
“What’s your answer?” he asks, straightening up, breaking me from my thoughts, and looking me so deep in the eyes, I’m sure he can see even my deepest, darkest secrets.
“I’ll comply,” I whisper. I’ve not lost my mind or given in to his twisted charm, but rather, I’ve chosen to keep my enemy close. At least that’s what I keep telling myself.
“Good girl,” he says, and I almost smile with his praise. “I’m going to release your hands, and you’re going to sit back up on the bed so we can talk, okay?”
I glance around the room instinctively, looking for an escape route, a weapon, anything that I could use to my advantage. “I—”
“And don’t even think about trying to hit me or hurt me. It ain’t gonna happen. It’s just you and me in here. No one can hear you cry out.”
I shudder at his words, feeling way out of my depth. “Okay,” I nod. I’ll stop here a little longer, play whatever weird game he wants me to, tell him a few lies then get the fuck out. He releases my wrists slowly, and I rotate them as if they were sore, implying that I’m weaker than I am.
Lure him in. Lie to him. Get out.
I sit on the edge of the bed and straighten my shoulders. “What do you want to know?”
He stands right in front of me, looking down with his head tilted a fraction as he visibly scrutinizes me. I can’t tell what he’s thinking, and that irks me. Every man I’ve come across in my life thinks they’re good at hiding their thoughts and emotions but have been easily readable. Well, except for Vaughn, my stepfather. He’s the exception to every rule. I learned from the best.
“What’s your name?” he asks, and I frown. What a weird question to start with.
“Pollyanna,” I say, looking from his ruggedly handsome face down into my hands to hide the smirk that’s tugging on my lips.
He takes a step towards me, making me jump back on the bed. “Don’t fucking lie,” he growls.
“Fine,” I huff. “My name is Sadie.”
“Sadie,” he repeats, caressing my name with his tongue. “And where do you live, Sadie?”
“Are you out of your fucking mind? Do you think I’m going to tell you my name and where I live? Maybe you’d like the name of my parents, the name of my childhood best friend, what my first pet was called, and oh yeah, how about my banking details, yeah?” I laugh. Does this guy think I’m a fucking idiot? “Well, you’re all out of luck. I ain’t telling you shit. I don’t have any fucking parents anyway, and the only thing I have that was of any importance to me was my car, which you fucking wrecked,” I spit at him.
He stands there quietly. Letting me yell at him, again, without interruption. “Did I catch you at the wrong time of the month?” he asks, clearly amused at his own joke and barely able to suppress his laughter. I shuffle forward, propelling myself off the bed to shove him away, but I stop before my ass leaves the mattress. He’s laughing now. Not a manic laugh, a real deep belly laugh, and it’s hard not to laugh with him. I contain myself for a few seconds, but resistance is futile, and I let out a little chuckle, which leads to a fit of hysterics from both of us.
When our laughter subsides, Ramsey looks up to me and offers a smile. “Sadie …” he says, rubbing the back of his neck. “I know I’m hotheaded, and I guess you’re just as stubborn as me. I didn’t bring you here to hurt you. But you have to understand that you fucked up shit for us tonight, and I need you to cooperate with me so that I can get back on track with things.”
Does he think I’m fooled by this kind façade he’s putting on? Either way, I’ll play him at his own game. “And you’re going to keep me here until I cooperate?”
“No.” He shakes his head and indicates to the door with his hand. “It’
s unlocked. You can leave any time you like. I’m not that desperate that I have to tie women up and drag them to my room kicking and screaming. There’s plenty of willing women on the other side of that door. All I have to do is click my fingers.”
Cocky fucker.
“Where exactly are we?” I ask.
“My HQ,” he answers vaguely.
“And this is your room?” I question, none of it making much sense.
“Yes.”
“Because you can’t afford a place of your own?”
Amusement dances in his deep blue eyes, “I have two places of my own, actually. This is just a base.”
“Oh.”
“Tell me why you killed Donny.” And just like that, the pleasant, normal, easy conversation is over.
“Because he deserved it.” I tighten my teeth together, pressing my jaw hard, a pressure that keeps me focused.
“You killed him because you thought he deserved it,” he states, and I can almost hear the cogs churning in his mind.
“Yes. Because he deserved it. Let me tell you something about dear old Donny.” I fight to suppress the rage I feel when I think about men like Donny and what they’ve done. I get up off the bed, standing tall and breathing in deeply through my nose. “He gave in to the dark, depraved fantasies in his head, without a care for anyone else in the process. Donny Carden kidnapped a young girl, he took her kicking and screaming from the street where she played with her little dog, he taped her mouth and bound her arms, then he raped her over and over again until her little body couldn’t take any more of the pain and shock. He violated her in the worst way possible, and he got off on the fear and the screams of a twelve-year-old girl. She was someone’s daughter. Someone’s sister, and she could have been someone’s mother one day if he hadn’t messed her up so badly inside her body, and inside her head that she took her own life because she couldn’t handle the nightmares.” Tears stream from my eyes as I feel excruciating pain for that little girl. A familiar pain. I move closer to Ramsey, who’s hung his head low, unable to look at me as I recall the reality of why I killed that man without mercy, without regret. “I never knew that little girl or her family, but I knew something had to be done to stop him from inflicting that life sentence on another poor child. I have nothing to lose, Ramsey,” I shrug. “And everything to gain.” I wipe the tears from my cheeks with the back of my hand and let out a shaky breath.
“Why do you care so much?” he asks. My stomach starts to churn, and I can’t bear the thought of telling him about my past. I hate the thought of anyone knowing that about me. I’m not prepared to let anyone see a broken, young girl. It doesn’t define me, but it does consume me. “Sadie,” he says quietly, his voice soothing and kind. “I know you did the world a favor. Donny was scum, and yes, the world is better off without him in it, but you can’t just go around killing people because …”
“Because what?” I stamp my foot impatiently, my anger growing by the minute.
“You can’t just kill people because you want to.”
“Isn’t that what you do?” I bite back, not liking his comment.
“No!” he barks, clearly conflicted at my challenge.
“What then? Is it one rule for you and another for me?” I ask, my voice rising with every second that passes. “One rule for the girls and one for the guys, huh?” I don’t give him time to answer before I’m in his face, staring him down, looking so hard at him that I can see the fear in his eyes as he realizes I’m seeing into his soul. “How many people have you killed?”
“What kind of question is that?” His eyes dart around me. He looks over each of my shoulders, unsettled, unsure, and unwilling to meet my gaze.
“It’s a valid question in this argument.”
He tilts his head back, closing his eyes slowly. “Too many to count,” he says quietly.
“Is that why you went to Donny’s tonight?” I say, quieter this time now that he’s not pushing me. “Are you pissed off that I beat you to it?”
“No.” He shakes his head softly and opens his eyes to look at me. “I went to find out some information. He knows things that we’ve been trying to find out.”
“What things?” I demand.
He sighs. “I’m not all bad, Raven.”
“No?” I tilt my head, perusing the badges sewn on to his leather cut.
Vice president. Reno. 1%. SSMC. SFFS.
“No,” he answers softly.
“What do all those letters on your cut mean?” I ask.
“They mean…” he huffs and breaks away abruptly. “I should never have brought you here, and it’s time for you to go.”
Chapter 4
I stride over to the door and hold it wide open, staring at the ground while I wait for her to take the fucking big hint. I forced her here, never gave her a choice, and if she knows what’s good for her, she will do as she’s told and leave of her own free will before I tie her up again and …nope, if I tie her up, I won’t want to do anything but use her as a plaything for the night, and as much as I can’t think of a better way to spend a couple of hours, this girl asks too many questions. She’s not like the other women in the club—only after my cock. She’s a thinker. She wants in my mind, and that thought terrifies me. I’m not willing to let her in and dig about in there for fear of what I know is hiding in the shadows.
Definitely no tying up.
“I’m not leaving,” she says defiantly, standing in the same spot with feet firmly planted on the ground and her hands on her slender hips.
“You only get one chance to leave of your own free will. If I were you, I’d do it the nice, easy way and use those dainty little feet of yours to walk yourself right on out of here before you regret being such a stubborn little bitch.”
Despite my insistence, she stands her ground. “I’m not leaving until I have answers.”
“I’m not telling you anything, so you’re wasting both of our time.” I hold out a hand and motion for her to leave. I’m actually surprised at my patience with her so far. I’m not known for my patience, let alone with demanding women. That’s why I don’t have an old lady. No promises, no commitment, no headache.
She crosses her arms and juts her hip with a defiant expression painted across that perfect, pretty face of a killer. “Well, I’m not leaving until you tell me what’s going on. I have all the time in the world.”
I look away from her, taking a deep breath and trying to rein in my building frustration. I don’t like to have to repeat myself. I don’t like to be dictated to, and I don’t like having a tiny little scrap of a bitch fuck up my entire evening and then tell me what to do. I count to five slowly in my head while staring at the floor where the dark carpet from my room meets the hardwood floor of the hallway.
“This is your last chance, little girl. Time. To. Go. Home,” I growl, narrowing my eyes at her.
She raises her perfectly arched brows and smirks but doesn’t budge. If I weren’t so fucking angry, frustrated, and confused, I would stop a second to admire her tenacity. But now I’m just plain pissed off. I shake my head and cross the room back to her in three long, fast strides. She gasps at my sudden movement and starts to shuffle back, rethinking her insistence and for a split second looking like a frightened little girl.
Good. She should be frightened. I hope she's fucking terrified.
I haul her up over my shoulder before she can blink, and she squeals.
“I gave you a fucking chance. Several chances, actually,” I tell her, gritting my teeth and holding on to her wildly thrashing legs tightly behind her knees so she can’t get upright again. “Scream all you want, sweetheart, Dev’s room is next door, we’re used to screams filling the corridors.” I chuckle. Dev likes a screamer. We all thought he might be into some weird S&M shit and might be torturing the girls that so willingly flock to his room, but turns out, they leave with a smile, so I guess he just likes the loud ones and we’re all used to it now.
“Put me down!” she yel
ls, pummeling her fists into my back as I march back upstairs, and through the bar. “You’re a douchewank, and I’m gonna put a bullet in your dick if you don’t let me the fuck down!” Her rants amuse the rest of the guys in the bar and Ruck comes over to me.
“Need a hand, Bro?” he asks, with a smirk.
“Open the back of the van for me would ya?”
“Sure. Where you taking her?” He quickens his pace at my side to keep up.
She finds a new wave of energy and tries to twist her body while kicking her legs as fast as she can. “Let me the fuck down before I—”
“Before you what?” I laugh, gripping her tightly with one arm and swatting her ass hard with my hand. The residing crack travels around the room as my hand connects with her jean-clad, tight little ass, and all the boys start to cheer.
“You bastard,” she yells, pushing herself up as far as she can manage and sinking her teeth into my shoulder. She doesn’t just give me a nip. She bites as hard as she can, clamping her teeth tightly around muscle until I can’t stand it any longer.
“You bitch,” I hiss, swinging her upright in a flash and dropping her to the ground with a thud in a mass of mussed shiny black hair. Her face is beet red from being hung upside down, but she looks like she’s just been fucked good and hard. If only that was what I’d done to her, I’d be a damn sight more satisfied than I’m feeling right now.
“Fuck you. Silly bitch.” I throw my hands up in the air. “You can fucking walk home for all I care.”
I swing my boot in her direction but not close enough to connect to her body in any way. I'm not that cruel, but it makes her curl up into a ball, her hands coming up fast to protect her face. I roll my shoulder to ease the muscle, and glare hard at her. She looks at me sideways over her shoulder, her eyes darting nervously around the room while keeping to her protective form. She’s surrounded by outlaw bikers—big hairy fierce men dressed in black leather and all carrying weapons of some description. Despite her bravado, her nostrils flare, and her pupils dilate, showing she doesn’t know what to do next. A cornered animal that doesn’t know where to run.