Protected (Divided Loyalties)

by Lilah Blake

  He had just started hiking her skirt up along her thighs when the sound of the back door opening startled both of them.

  “Nick, let’s go,” the biggest of his buddies said as he stepped out the back door. “We’ve been summoned.”

  Nick cursed as he quickly smoothed her skirt back down and briefly met Alexa’s eyes. He turned quickly to shield her from the view of the other men.

  “Whatcha got there?” the smaller of the three crooned as he tried to peek around Nick. “Don’t you know you have to share?” he laughed.

  “No, I’m not sharing anything,” Nick barked. “Just give me a minute, I’ll meet you out front.”

  “Aw,” the biggest guy smirked at Alexa behind Nick’s back. “Picked the wrong one sweetie, I’d give you much more than a minute.”

  “Shut up, Lou,” Nick snapped, and then suddenly lowered his eyes. It was clear from the reaction of the three men that Nick speaking up in such a way was a bit of a mistake.

  Alexa was regretting ever getting herself into this situation, and kicking herself for letting her libido make her choices for her. The guys seemed a bit rougher than she had anticipated and a whole lot less harmless.

  “I have to go, anyway,” Alexa smiled sweetly, trying to diffuse the situation. “Thanks for the fun, Nick,” she cast him a wink and started to walk past him towards the door.

  “Now wait a minute,” Lou warned as he blocked the doorway. “You can’t just leave our guy hanging there, can she, Nick?” he laughed darkly and looked at Nick. “You want to tell me to shut up, now you’re gonna watch me take her, got it?”

  Nick’s jaw clenched and his muscles tensed. Alexa began to relax her stance, preparing for a fight. Nick opened his mouth to come to her defence but before he could, she was already speaking up for herself.

  “Listen, I’m going to give you guys five seconds to get out of my way, before I teach you a lesson,” she said calmly and with such confidence that it drew the attention of all four men.

  “You’re going to give us five seconds?” Lou shook his head and looked at the two guys that were standing next to him. “We’ll take as long as we want,” he replied.

  “Enough!” Nick demanded. “Come on, we need to get going.”

  Lou lunged forward and slammed Nick hard against the back wall of the alley. “You better watch your mouth,” he hissed right into his face.

  Alexa shook her head and did her best to sidestep the violence. She was just about to head for the door when she noticed the jackets the men were wearing. Each one had the death adder snake on the back.

  Her eyes widened as she took in the sight of the men. They weren’t just some lonely drunks hanging out at the bar, they were members of one of the most ruthless motorcycle gangs ever formed.

  Alexa felt her breath leave her lungs as she watched Lou hand Nick his jacket.

  “Now put it on, and act like a man,” he demanded.

  Nick rolled his eyes and pulled on the leather jacket.

  Alexa could barely believe the mistake she had just made. Not only had she placed herself into some serious danger, but she had almost let a member of the Death Adders have his way with her in a dark alley. How would that look on the police report?

  Even though she was more than a little terrified, she was also rather elated. She had the opportunity to see some of the most elusive gang members first hand. Lou was one of the most famed enforcers, responsible for countless deaths. She guessed that the two other men with him were the infamous Dern Brothers, who used very persuasive torture techniques to get the information or payments they were seeking.

  “Oh, hey, I’m a big fan,” she smirked as she looked over their jackets. “I didn’t mean to offend you or anything, really,” she jutted her hip slightly outward, which she knew was an alluring gesture to most men. If she could get them to trust her, she might be able to learn more about their gang. Of course, there was only so far she was willing to go. She was walking a thin line between getting good information and getting into a situation that she could not get out of.

  “A fan, eh?” Lou chuckled. “Well, that makes things even more interesting.”

  “Don’t,” Nick warned as he met her eyes. She barely paid any attention to him, she had already made one foolish choice because of his intoxicating looks.

  “Sure, of course,” she said, acting as if she was some sort of motorcycle gang groupie. “My friends and I all watch for your bikes to roll by. We love the sound.”

  “Friends?” one of the Dern brothers perked up.

  “Just leave her alone. We’ve got to go, right?” Nick reminded Lou, only in a more respectful tone. He had been a little too caught up in his passionate experience with Alexa to remember his place.

  “Shh,” the Dern brother said. “She’s got friends!”

  “No, Nick is right,” Lou said firmly. “We have to go. We’re already late.”

  Alexa felt a mixture of disappointment and relief. She wanted to know more about them, but she had been a little afraid they might decide to take her with them.

  “So, we’ll just come over later,” Lou suggested out of the blue, and reached for her purse. “What’s your address honey?” he tugged lightly at her purse.

  Alexa began to panic as she knew that her badge was inside. She knew if they found it, they would likely kill her right then and there.

  “Oh, I’ll just tell you,” she said swiftly and tried to pull her purse back. In the slight struggle that ensued the well worn fabric of the purse tore, and the contents spilled out on the alley floor. She lunged downward, reaching for her badge, hoping to disguise it before anyone saw, and at the same time she reached for the slender weapon she always kept strapped to her ankle. It was hidden by her calf-high boot.

  “What’s this?” Lou asked, when the badge skidded across the ground and struck the side of his steel toed boot.

  Alexa had her gun in her hand as she stood back up, in the same moment that Lou was picking up her badge.

  “Oh, shit,” he muttered as he lifted his eyes swiftly to Alexa. “Grab her, Nick,” he barked. Nick was slightly behind her, and the Dern brothers were creeping in on her. There was no way to get the upper hand when she was surrounded on all sides, and her only escape routes were blocked by the alley walls.

  She could hear the releasing of the safeties on the guns that the Dern brothers held. Then she felt Nick’s warm and firm hand curling around her arm.

  “Put the gun down,” he said calmly. Just minutes before she had been drooling over the sound of his voice, the warmth of his touch, but now she heard them as if they were the last sounds she would ever hear. She knew the moment she put down the gun, she would have no way to defend herself. Would they kill her fast, or would they make it slow?

  Chapter 4

  “Goddamn, Nick, you know how to pick ‘em!” Lou shook his head as he continued to glower at Alexa. “Put down the gun girl, you’ve got five seconds.”

  Alexa considered her options quickly. She was sure she could take down the Dern brothers. Lou would be harder since he was massive, but he would go down hard. Nick was the problem. Nick was in her blind spot, and she would have to take care of him in the same moment that she took care of Lou or she would be shot dead on the spot. There really was no way out of this situation. However, when she was backed into a corner, that was when she did her best work.

  “All right,” she said quickly. “All right, I’m sorry, I didn’t know who you guys were, I was just out for a drink, like everybody else,” she said as calmly as she could. Slowly, she started lowering her gun.

  “Really, Lou, it’s not that big of a deal is it?” Nick asked.

  “Not that big of a deal?” Lou smirked as he studied her driver’s license. “I guess it’s no big deal that Alexa had her tongue down your throat, hmm, Nick? How’d you like kissing a pig?” he flung her license at Nick, which bounced off the side of his head.

  Alexa took the opportunity to spin in Nick’s grasp. She crushed her
body against his, with his hand tightening on her arm, and struck him hard in the stomach with her weapon. It made him double over in pain and release his grasp on her arm. In the same movement she slammed one foot outward, towards the ogling Dern brothers. She managed to knock one off balance which made him collide with the other. She landed on her knees with her gun still in her hands, and aimed it upward toward Lou.

  Before she could pull the trigger, she was staring down the barrel of Lou’s gun. He had it pointed right at her forehead, and she knew that if he even moved his finger slightly, her life was going to be over.

  As she knelt frozen before him, the other men began to get to their feet. Nick was roaring as if he was enraged when he stood up, and seemingly oblivious to Lou’s weapon pointed at her head, he jerked her hard toward him, practically dragging her across the pavement of the alley.

  “Stupid move, Alexa,” he shouted directly into her face, his dark green eyes flashing with fury.

  Alexa was just relieved to be out from under the weapon that had been trained at her forehead. Lou reached out and wrenched her gun from her hand before she could use it. Then he grabbed her by her long strawberry blonde hair and jerked her upward off the ground.

  “Oh this one’s just a little crazy,” he growled and glared at Alexa when she tried to spit at him.

  She was starting to panic. She had been disarmed, and there was no back up coming.

  “Shame to kill her,” one of the Dern brothers muttered. “I mean, right away,” he clarified as he grabbed a strand of her hair and gave it a slight tug.

  “Yeah, really, killing a cop, Lou. That’s some bad business. Not something the boss needs coming down on his head right now,” Nick pointed out. “Let’s just knock her around a little, send a message.”

  “And what message would that be, you idiot?” Lou demanded as he glared at Nick. “A message to take right back to her cop friends covered in our DNA so they can frame us for whatever they want?” he demanded. “God, sometimes I don’t even know why Randy keeps you around, Nick, you’re such a damn fool.”

  Alexa knew that Lou was right. Nick was staring at her hard, as if he was trying to make some kind of decision.

  “You made this mess,” Lou said. “Now you clean it up.”

  He handed Alexa’s gun over to Nick. Nick took the gun in his hand and looked at Alexa again. Her hair was spread across her features, her eyes widened with panic, as she knew that the next second would mean a bullet would tear through her body, and yet still, she felt as if she would make it.

  “Maybe we could offer her,” Nick said quietly, his dark hair falling forward as he tilted his head down, “to Randy, as a gift.”

  “A gift?” Lou asked thoughtfully. “She is wrapped up nice,” he considered, and smirked when Alexa tried to wriggle out of his grasp. “And feisty. Randy does like ‘em feisty.”

  Alexa didn’t know how to react. She was glad that they weren’t going to shoot her right then and there, but what would come next? What exactly did it mean, for her to be a gift?

  “From me,” Lou said firmly, his eyes locking with Nick’s. “Don’t you even think about taking credit.”

  “I won’t,” Nick promised and licked his lips lightly as he looked over Alexa.

  “What about her car?” one of the Dern brothers asked. “She’s a cop, they’re gonna be looking for her.”

  “Take the car,” he looked at Nick. “You and Paulie take her in her car. Make sure she doesn’t see anything,” he barked. “Then we’ll strip it.”

  “Sounds good,” Paulie growled and reached out to grab a handful of Alexa’s right breast. Lou smacked his hand hard. “She’s for Randy,” he growled. “Don’t touch her.”

  Paulie pouted, but he nodded.

  Nick roughly pulled her toward the parking lot. “You make a sound I’m going to have to hurt you,” he hissed in her ear. “You show anybody that anything bad is happening, I will have to hurt you.”

  Alexa did not doubt he would as his hand was so tight around her arm that she was sure he was leaving marks. She couldn’t believe that she had been so wrong about him, but she had more important things to be concerned about. Randy Lucot was the king of the Death Adders. He was known for being extremely violent and had been rumored to rape or otherwise assault every female member of his gang, or the girlfriends or wives of his gang members. As far as she knew, he was one of the worst human beings to ever walk the planet, and she was about to be given to him as a gift.

  She tried to think clearly. Maybe it would be better if she was shot right there in the parking lot. She sneaked a glance over at Paulie who was walking on the other side of her, and then back at Nick. She was just about to open her mouth and scream, when she heard a gunshot ring out. Nick’s grasp got even tighter. She tensed and tried to look over her shoulder.

  “What was that?” she asked fearfully.

  “That was the end of Mary,” he said and shoved her up against her car. “Open the door.”

  Alexa felt her cheeks burn with anger at the injustice of the situation. Mary had just been doing her job.

  “Why did he kill her?” she demanded, refusing to open the door to the car.

  Nick grabbed her by the base of her neck and pushed her hard against the car. He did not squeeze her hard enough to hurt her, but he certainly had her attention.

  “Because Alexa, when your cop buddies come looking for you, they can’t know that you left with me, and Mary saw us. If you don’t keep your mouth shut and start doing what you’re told, you’re going to end up just like Mary.”

  As wrong as it was, Alexa knew that Nick was only warning her. She knew he only had so much power, and he had already wielded it in an attempt to keep her alive. She didn’t know why he wanted her alive, but it didn’t matter. In the end she would end up just like Mary.

  She searched his eyes for any sign of mercy. “You could just let me go,” she whispered. “I can take Paulie out. I can be out of here in a second.”

  “A second is too long,” he murmured and released her neck long enough to trail his fingertips down along the curve of her cheek. “Besides, you’re going to make a nice present for the boss.”

  She opened the car door. He shoved her inside the back seat, with Paulie climbing in next to her. She cringed as he reached out and slid his hand up along her thigh, his dirty fingers squeezing against her skin.

  “Don’t, Paulie,” Nick warned. “Just hold her down.”

  Alexa stared up at the two men as Paulie pinned her down on the back seat. She was sure she was about to be assaulted or worse, and she had no way to protect herself. All thoughts of Nick trying to protect her for some reason fled her mind. He probably just wanted a chance to be with her before they killed her.

  Nick pulled off his shirt revealing his thick chest and washboard abs. Were it a different moment, Alexa would have savored the sight of them, but now they only seemed to mock her, as if accusing her of asking for this to happen just because she was attracted to the wrong man. He wound his shirt up into a tight rope and then leaned into the car. He grabbed her by her hair and pulled her head up so he could wrap the band tightly around her eyes and tie it snug at the back of her head. It was so tight it hurt. She could feel the material pushing against her eyes.

  “Can you see anything?” he asked.

  “No,” she replied, her voice full of fear.

  He went silent, and the next thing she knew, she felt his lips hard against hers. She swung her hands in an attempt to strike out at him, but Paulie was still holding her down.

  “Just checking,” she heard Nick mutter and then the car door slammed.

  Alexa lay still, knowing that if she tried anything she was going to be killed. Really, she was having to face the truth, that she was going to be killed either way.

  When Paulie began rubbing her thigh again, she kept her mouth shut. She didn’t move. She tried to focus on the direction the car was taking, the sound of the road, and any sounds outside of the car. If
by some miracle she got her hands on a phone, she might be able to tell someone where she was, if she could figure out where the car was heading.

  Nick looked in the rearview mirror and caught sight of Paulie’s wandering hands. He reached into the back seat and smacked the other man hard across the face.

  “Hands off, Paulie!” he growled. “She’s Randy’s merchandise.”

  Chapter 5

  When the car pulled to a stop, Alexa could barely breathe. She knew this could be the end of the line for her. Maybe Randy wouldn’t want a live gift, maybe the whole point was to let him be the one to kill her. She knew if she did not make a break for it when she got out of the car, she might never have another chance. She lay compliant in the back seat while Nick parked the car, and then climbed out. When she heard the car door open, she knew that her feet were close to him. He was standing inside the door, and even though she could not see him, she could feel him leaning close to grab her. She waited until he would be slightly off balance from leaning over, and then shoved her head hard up and into Paulie’s stomach. At the same time, she landed her foot where she thought Nick’s crotch would be, but instead it glanced off of his hip. It was still a painful enough blow to send him reeling backwards and to the side. Paulie released her arms to clutch his stomach in pain and as soon as Alexa felt freedom, she lunged for the door. She barrelled right past Nick, who was recovering, and reached up to tear off her blindfold. All she saw was an old warehouse before Nick collided with her waist and pinned her down to the dusty ground. He jerked the blindfold back down over her eyes as he straddled her back.

  “You’re going to have to get smarter if you want to live,” he growled into her ear. Then he sat up and pinned her arms against her back, holding them firmly as she squirmed and struggled to get out of his grasp. With his free hand he loosened his belt and pulled it off. He slid the leather material beneath her wrists and then looped it. He pulled it as tight as he could and she cried out when her skin pinched in the leather.