Capturing a Renegade's Heart

by Nicola Jane

  ***

  Ryder groaned and rolled onto his side. Damn his head hurt. He touched it lightly to feel dried blood matted in his hair. Memories began to flood his mind, Harlee screaming and her horrified expression right before he was hit hard over the head. Sitting up quickly he gripped his head in his hands to try and stop the spinning. “Neve,” he yelled knowing she wouldn’t answer. Using Harlees bed, he pulled himself up onto his knees and then eventually to his feet. Holding the wall for balance he made his way back to Neves bedroom to find it empty as he’d expected. He picked his cell up from the bedside table. He had a tracker on Neve’s mobile, he’d be able to find her. He opened the tracker app and yelled out in frustration, it was showing her mobile at home which meant she didn’t have it with her. The one time he needed her to have it. Instead he dialled Griff’s number.

  “Brother, where are you yah dirty stop out,” came Griff’s sleepy voice.

  “Griff, I need you,” mumbled Ryder. He felt like his words were jumbled, he couldn’t think straight because of the pain in his head. “Neve’s,” he managed to whisper before falling onto the bed unconscious.

  ***

  Morning soon came and Neve had seen every minute of it since she laid her head down. There was no way she could sleep with everything going through her mind. She needed to know Ryder was alive. Harlee stirred and then began to cry. Neve held her tight and whispered words of reassurance.

  “I want to go home,” sobbed the little girl.

  “Me too baby,” sighed Neve, kissing her daughter on the head.

  “Will Daddy hurt us?” Tears filled Neves eyes, but she hid them from Harlee, not wanting her to think that Neve couldn’t protect her, she needed to be strong.

  “No sweetie, daddy loves us. I think he’s just feeling unwell at the minute.”

  “That big man hurt Ryder.”

  “He did, I’m sure Ryder is fine though, he’s really big and strong.”

  A light tap on the door followed by the key unlocking it made them fall silent. Mary entered with a trolley on wheels. “Breakfast,” she muttered. When she noticed the little girl looking at her scared, she sucked in a breath. “Sorry I didn’t know there was a child.”

  “This is Harlee.”

  “I’ll go grocery shopping later today. Have a think and I’ll bring you a pen and paper to write a list of what she likes.” Neve nodded and smiled gratefully.

  “I’m allergic to fish,” said Harlee quietly.

  “I’ll make sure that you don’t have any fish then Harlee,” smiled Mary. It was the first real smile Neve had seen on the woman and it gave her hope that she was human.

  “Is Finn around this morning?” asked Neve cautiously. She wanted to see him to plead with him to release them both or at the very least, let them leave this room. There was nothing in here to occupy Harlee.

  “Yes, he said he’d be up after breakfast.”

  Neve couldn’t eat a thing. Mary had made sure there was plenty of choice, fruit, yogurt, toast and bagels but Neve felt sick to her stomach. She just about managed an orange juice but longed for a steaming cup of coffee. She was pleased to see her daughter eat some fruit and toast, hoping that this meant she wasn’t too traumatised by the night’s events.

  When the bedroom door opened again it was Finn. Neve’s stomach began to fill with nerves, she knew how unpredictable he could be and there was no telling which Finn she’d be faced with today. He lowered onto the chair that sat under the window. “Good morning my beautiful princesses. Did you sleep well?” Harlee snuggled into Neve’s back and hid from Finn. “Harlee why are you hiding from me?” he asked, his voice clipped.

  “She was scared last night Finn, it’ll take some time for her to forget that.”

  “Well maybe that’s your fault for pushing me to behave in such an extreme way.”

  “I’d rather not talk about this in front of Harlee.”

  Finn pulled out an iPad with headphones and handed it to their child who took it without a second thought. She placed the headphones on and settled back onto the bed to watch her favourite show.

  “No more excuses.” Finn almost looked smug and Neve wondered whether Harlee was distracted enough to ignore any violence, because she sure as hell wanted to punch him hard. “Now, rules,” said Finn with a smile. “Number one, you can’t leave this house. There are guards everywhere, camera’s everywhere and windows and doors will be kept locked. If you leave the guards are instructed to shoot.” Neve laughed at the absurd situation she’d found herself in.

  “To shoot me, what is this, some kind of movie? I don’t understand what the hell’s going on. Will they shoot me if I have your five-year old daughter in my damn arms?” hissed Neve angrily.

  “Run outside and find out Neve, I dare you.”

  “What is this all for, what do you want out of it? You don’t want me and Harlee you never did.”

  “But I don’t want him to have you either. You’re my girls and you belong to me. Of all the men in this fucking world you had to fall for that piece of shit. Just like fucking Alice!”

  “Jesus, this has to be a joke.” Neve groaned and rubbed at her forehead. “Finn you’ve lost your mind. You have to see how ridiculous you’re being.” She let the Alice comment go, mainly because she wasn’t sure what he meant by it. Finn was the prosecution in Ryder’s case, but his comment seemed personal.

  “All I see is that you fucked my enemy and now you let him control you just like I did. When will you make your own decisions Neve, it’s pathetic.” His expression told her that he pitied her.

  “Ryder doesn’t control me…” she began but he cut her off with a laugh.

  “You don’t even see it do you, men walk all over you and you think that you’re in control. He told you that he was staying with you and he told you that you weren’t to call me every night. We’ve been speaking every night since we broke up, who’s he to come in and tell you that it has to stop.”

  “Ryder was right, it was wrong. Whoever I take home has nothing to do with you, you didn’t want me, you moved on.”

  “Rule two,” he continued, ignoring her comment, “If you attempt to break rule number one then Harlee will suffer.”

  Neve got to her feet angrily, Finn did the same and met her chest to chest, “Don’t threaten my daughter,” she growled, and Finn grinned down at her.

  Running a finger down her cheek hard enough to hurt her he smirked, “OUR daughter Neve, well, for now anyway.”

  Neve took a deep calming breath, reacting to him would only leave her hurt and she needed to be strong and fit to work out how to get her and Harlee out of here. “Why can’t you just walk away from us and get on with your life?” she asked, desperation in her voice.

  “I’ll leave the iPad with you for Harlee, there’s no internet, the movies are pre-downloaded so don’t even think about trying to contact anyone on the outside. The sooner you accept this life the better. I’ll leave the door unlocked so you can explore but remember what I said.”

  Neve watched him leave, her mind racing. She had to get out of here. She took herself to the window and looked down to the grounds below. Finn wasn’t kidding, it was heavily guarded with men walking around the large area. Some with dogs and others with guns. The walls and gates were high, too high to jump over, especially with a five-year-old.

  CHAPTER TEN

  Ryder woke to an irritating beeping sound; the bad headache wasn’t helping matters. He opened one eye and then sat up quickly causing his head to spin. “Easy boss, take it easy.” Griff was by his side in a second.

  “Where the hell am I?” growled Ryder.

  “Hospital, you’ve had a major bleed on the brain.”

  “How long have I been here?”

  “Three days. We found you at Neve’s place passed out. Luckily, we had Doc with us, and he advised we get you straight here. How are you feeling?”

  “Like shit. Three days in here when I should have been looking for Neve and Harlee.” Ryder
swung his legs over the edge of the hospital bed, but Griffin stopped him.

  “We’re on it Pres. We know that Finnegan Lawrence took them, but we don’t know where he’s keeping them. We’ve put a man on the inside, Finn was asking around for security, he upped his men by double the number and offered good money. Our man on the inside said that he isn’t where Neve is, Finn made sure he kept trusted and loyal men for that, however he’s at an address this evening where something big is going down. He’ll be in touch once he knows what it is.”

  “And we can trust this guy, can we?” asked Ryder, still angry at himself for being laid up for days while this all went on.

  “Yeah, he worked for the police force for some time, he’s a good guy and a good friend of mine. I wouldn’t have put him on it if I wasn’t one hundred percent sure I could trust him. I’ll get the doc.”

  “Don’t bother, I’m going home.” Ryder stood up and began unhooking himself from the beeping machines.

  “Pres that’s not a good idea. The bleeds stopped but one knock and who knows. You need rest and time to heal.”

  “I am not lying in bed while my old lady is hold up fuck knows where going through fuck knows what. I want her back and I want the fucker dead.”

  Griffin laughed, shaking his head at his brother’s stubbornness, he’d be the same so there was no point in arguing. “Okay, I’ll get the discharge papers then.”

  ***

  Three days, they’d been here for three damn days with no sign of a chance to escape and no sign of the MC. Neve’s mind wouldn’t let her think the worst, but her heart squeezed whenever she envisioned the possibility that Ryder didn’t make it. What if the MC thought she’d killed their president and then gone on the run. Maybe they were out searching for her right now, to kill her though, not to rescue her.

  “Mary do you like working here?” she asked as she peeled a potato.

  “Neve you know we can’t talk about things like that. If Finnegan overheard, he’d be mad.” Another of Finn’s stupid rules, no getting to know the staff. Neve guessed he wanted to avoid her becoming too friendly and them helping her which her actual plan was but at this rate it’d never work. Mary gave her a pitying look and then smiled, “I’ve worked here a long time. Since Finnegan was a small boy.”

  “You knew his parents?” Neve was excited at this snippet of news, it meant Mary wasn’t bad and she didn’t choose to work for Finn, she was already here and felt obliged.

  “That’s enough chit chat, chop those potatoes.”

  “I didn’t know Finns parents. When we married, they weren’t at the wedding.”

  “They died, a long time ago now.”

  “Oh, Finn didn’t tell me that. Do you have children?”

  “Miss Lawrence, please,” she muttered.

  “Sorry, I’m lonely.” Neve hadn’t seen Finn for two days which wasn’t a bad thing, she secretly hoped he was dead. “Can I do anything else to help?” Finn would lose his mind if he found her in the kitchen helping but she was so bored in this large house and she needed to do normal things just to keep her sanity.

  The front door slammed, and Finn’s voice filled the air. Mary gave Neve and alarming glare and Neve made a run for the living room, diving onto the couch and grabbing a magazine from the coffee table. “What do you mean it went wrong. Somebody had to have tipped them off because the police don’t randomly show up at the fucking docks in the middle of the night. I want a name!” Finn was yelling and then he marched into the living room. He shoved his mobile back into his pocket.

  “Where’s Harlee?”

  “Having a nap. She isn’t well.”

  “Stand,” he growled. She did so immediately. So far, he hadn’t laid a finger on her and she didn’t think he would now. He’d made it clear he didn’t want her. “Your boyfriend is out of hospital,” he said, taking her hand and tugging her towards him. “I’ve sent him some flowers to wish him a speedy recovery.” He ran a hand down her arm and rested it on her tiny waist. “It’s been a while since I held you.” Neve was confused, something felt off but as he pulled her towards him, she wrapped her arms around him, brushing her hand over his pocket to find his cell sticking out of his jacket. She lifted it carefully and held it tight in her hand. When they pulled apart, she stuffed it in to the back pocket of her jeans and smiled up at him innocently.

  “I haven’t seen you. I’ve been bored.”

  “I have work to do right now. We’ll have dinner together this evening.” He turned and marched towards his office. Neve’s heart thumped hard in her chest. She made a run for the stairs, if she could get to her bedroom, she’d be able to hide the phone and call Mya, it was the only number she knew by heart. Her foot landed on the top step when Finn’s voice caused her to freeze. “You stupid little bitch.”

  She turned as he ran up the stairs two at a time until he reached her, forcing her to walk backwards until she hit the wall. “Sorry, I just wanted to look up Harlee’s symptoms on the internet Finn,” she said quickly. “She was feeling a little off earlier today and she’s napping way more than normal.” Finn smirked and held out his hand. She placed the cell in it, and he tucked it into the inside pocket of his jacket. Reaching to the side of her he pushed open his bedroom door and gave her a shove, she fell into the room with a thump.

  “I thought we’d finally turned a corner today, you actually looked pleased to see me when I came home. I told you what would happen if you broke the rules Princess.” The first blow was a shock, it took her breath away and she winced, gripping her stomach. After the third blow she lost count but each one burned until she closed her eyes and took herself to somewhere else. She was on the beach with Harlee and Ryder, his arm held her close to him and they were happy.

  Neve felt herself being lifted, the smell wasn’t Finn, she hated his spicy smelling aftershave, this one was musky, and it was mixed with the smell of alcohol and sweat. She prized one eye open, the other refused to budge through the swelling. The man holding her was large, his head was large, his hands were large, and he carried her effortlessly. Down the stairs they went and through the kitchen towards the door that was always kept locked. Mary held it open and they breezed past her, Mary kept her head down, avoiding eye contact.

  They descended the stone steps; the air became cooler the lower they went. A dim light lit up the cellar. There were three beds, all dirty and damp looking. There were no windows, no source of fresh air or natural light. The man dropped her onto a bed, and she cried out as pain ripped through her ribs. “Wait,” she croaked, “What about Harlee?” He didn’t give her a second glance as he strolled back up the steps. The door slammed shut and she heard the locks go back into place.

  Neve looked around the large space. Apart from the three beds there wasn’t much else. A black bucket sat in the corner of the room, another low light hanging over it, she assumed this would be her toilet for however long she was down here. She began to shiver against the cool damp air, and she reached for one of the blankets even though it looked just as damp as the air surrounding her. She screwed her nose up at the mouldy smell, but she was too cold not to wrap herself in it. She lay on the thin mattress and closed her eyes. She thought back to the day she met Finn and how charming he was back then.

  “I’m Finnegan, your husband to be,” he’d announced confidently. Neve had laughed at the corny chat up line, but she let him kiss her hand anyway, it wasn’t often a man in London took your hand to kiss the back of it.

  “Neve,” she’d replied shyly. She wasn’t usually so shy, but this man was dressed in an expensive suit, he was handsome, and he was staring directly into her eyes with a piercing panty melting look.

  “Neve, I like it. Let me buy you a drink and then we’ll make plans for our wedding.”

  He’d led her to the bar, purchased a bottle of Champagne and told the bartender that they were celebrating an upcoming engagement. Neve had blushed, he was so forward and confident and it turned her on. She’d thought it odd that he di
dn’t have friends with him, just big burly looking men that he referred to as security. Mya had encouraged her to approach the guy, telling her to accept a drink and enjoy being spoilt by an obviously rich man, neither of them suspected anything odd but then they’d been swept up in the world-wide Christian Grey hype and were all on the lookout for a rich billionaire boyfriend.

  Four months later he was true to his word, they got married. It was a fairy-tale that Neve hadn’t really been expecting. She was still young, and the thought of marriage scared her but everyone around her convinced her she was lucky. The sex between them was constant, a little too much for Neve but she accepted that Finn had a high sex drive and that he had particular tastes, his violence in the bedroom would be contained there and afterwards he was like the Finn she first met, charming and sweet. It was a shock to her when she fell pregnant, it was unplanned, but she felt happy, after all, most of their relationship had been a whirl wind and this was natural progression. Finn didn’t see it like that. He was furious and it was the first time in their short relationship that he brought violence outside of the bedroom. He then disappeared for weeks. When he returned, he had become distant and practically ignored her. She was sure by then that he’d met someone else, he’d stopped having sex with Neve and avoided her like she was diseased. Eventually he told her she had to leave, he didn’t want her or the baby. She left that night. That was that and he seemed fine with it. Neve was relieved, the few weeks they’d spent apart gave her clarity and she saw the relationship for what it was. If he’d hit her once, then he’d do it again and again.

  Of course, it wasn’t that simple. Finn would turn up unannounced at her home. He’d call all the time and their night time calls became a thing with him flying off the handle if she didn’t pick up. She put up with it for a quiet life and she found that if she answered his calls he didn’t pop and see her as much and so it became a habit, answer his calls, answer his questions and then he’d leave her alone.