Captive: A Bodyguard Romance (Hollywood Guardians Book 1)

by Heather Ashley

  I’m seething, but even as my heart thumps uncomfortably hard in my chest, I know I can’t go in alone to get her. I need Savage and his bikers to back me up, so I have no choice but to listen to him.

  That doesn’t mean I have to fucking like it.

  “I have to make a call,” I bite out, snatching my phone up off the bar and taking big strides to get outside as fast as I can without running. The air in this room has suddenly gotten stifling, and when I burst through the doors and into the clear, evening air I suck in lungfuls of oxygen and try to calm my racing heart.

  My phone buzzes in my hand, and I startle, but when I look down, it’s only Ronin. “What?” I snap, not wanting to tie my phone up with business bullshit when I might miss a message from Gigi.

  “Hello to you, too,” Ronin drawls, and his snarky tone ratchets my anger up. All that breathing to calm down goes right out the fucking window.

  “I’m assuming you need something?” I grit out between clenched teeth, and he chuckles.

  “Look, I know this situation’s fucked up, so I wanted to see if you need anything. I can be out there in a couple of hours, less if I hop on a plane instead of drive. I’m more than happy to back you up.” I blow out a breath, feeling my heart rate steady and calm. Ronin’s a good guy, the only one on my team that’s seen me at my worst and can bring me back from it. He also has his own demons, but having him here would be a good move.

  “Actually, yeah. That’d be helpful. Dress for bloodstains. Do you know how to ride a motorcycle?” I can’t remember if I’ve ever seen him on a bike.

  “Dude. Do you not remember our trip to Mexico?” he laughs. “Shit, what am I saying? Of course, you don’t. Yes, I know how to ride. I’ll skip the plane and hop on my bike. Give me four hours.” He hung up, and a little of the tension I’ve been feeling over the past few hours lifts off me. Ronin knows how to handle this type of situation better than even I do. He’s also wicked with a machete, not that he gets to use that particular skill very often anymore.

  There’s a strong possibility he’s coming out here not just because he wants to back me up but because he senses violence in the air and wants in on it. He’s the closest thing to a best friend I’ve got, and I know he won’t judge me for whatever might go down when we get Gigi back.

  Checking my messages, I breathe one last sigh of relief when I see Gigi’s sent more before I go back inside. Savage needs to know to expect Ronin because the last thing we need is more hostility right now.

  The distant rumble of a motorcycle engine has us all on edge, but when I step outside and see Ronin pulling up, some more of the tension I’ve been carrying around slips away. He climbs off his bike looking every bit like he belongs in a place like this with a giant fucking machete strapped to his back. The grin he gives me is practically feral as he saunters up to me and pulls me into one of those back-slapping bro hugs.

  I barely avoid the machete.

  “Thanks for letting me join the party,” he says in that casual, drawling voice that makes him seem like he isn’t taking things seriously, but I know him better than that. He’s already figured out where all the threats are hiding, at least three potential exit strategies, and spotted probably five things minimum he could use as a weapon if he’s disarmed of his.

  I smirk at him in complete understanding. We were forged on the battlefield, and that desire for violence doesn’t just go away when you rejoin the real world. In our line of work, we get to unleash it from time to time, and convincing him of that is how I got him to join my team. He’s just as passionate about keeping people safe as I am and the bad guys getting what they deserve, but now he gets to do it in a more personal way, and he seems a lot happier than he ever was as a cop, even if I know something’s been eating away at him lately.

  Hopefully, getting to punch and hack his way through some piece of shit bikers will perk him up a bit, and I’ll get my friend back to his old self. The wild look in his eye when he spots Lola and the other two sweet butts heading into the bar has me raising my eyebrows.

  “What the hell was that?” I ask.

  He shakes his head. “Just need to get someone out of my head. I thought I might blow off a little steam while I’m here.”

  I narrow my eyes. “Who do you need to get out of your head?”

  “Nobody, forget about it. She’s not interested, so I need to stop wasting my time waiting around for her to figure out what she wants.” Damn, when did Ronin get hung up on a girl? And when the fuck did he start talking about his feelings with me? Have I been gone that long?

  I must be looking at him like he’s lost his fucking mind because he chuckles uncomfortably and rubs the back of his neck. The funny thing is now that I have Gigi and know what it feels like to be completely obsessed with the woman you love, it doesn’t bother me to talk like this with him. I’m just caught off guard because Ronin’s always been the type who laughs off whatever’s bugging him and the last guy who’d ever open up about how he’s feeling.

  “No, I need a distraction. Tell me what’s going on and why you’re so desperate to forget about her you’re thinking about fucking one of them.” I jerk my head in the direction of Lola, Chastity, and Candy. Lola’s nice enough, but I’d never stick my cock in girls who value themselves so little. At least not anymore. I like to think I’ve grown beyond that.

  My phone buzzes a few times in my hand while we walk over to the bar. Since the room’s mostly empty except for Saint, Ruin, Grim, Savage, and now the sweet butts, no one bats an eye at Ronin as he takes one of the barstools. Lola’s working behind the bar now, and she winks at him before sliding over a beer without asking. I check my messages before setting my phone on the bar so I can see it while also giving him my attention.

  He takes a swig of his beer and drags the back of his hand across his mouth before setting the bottle down and starting to pick at the label instead of looking at me. “I fucked up and caught feelings for a woman who hasn’t ever bothered looking twice at me. Honestly, I think she’s just oblivious, but I want someone who actually wants me back. It’s like she doesn’t even see me no matter how often we run into each other at functions. Sure, she knows who I am, and she’s nice enough, but it’s a sweet smile, and she’s moving on to talk to someone else.”

  My mouth falls open, and then I close it again because who the fuck is this guy, and where’s my friend Ronin? Ronin’s the type of guy who’s always cocky as fuck with so much swagger, girls flock to him. Guys want to be his friend. When he walks into a room, everyone stops to look. Yet here he is, acting like he’s got zero confidence in who he is. It’s fucking with me.

  “Who is she?” I finally ask after a sip of my own fresh beer.

  “I don’t want to say because you know her.” Now I’m intrigued, and I see my phone light up out of the corner of my eye, so I glance down at it and forward the messages to Sebastian.

  “Okay, well, the better question is what the hell are you doing? Have you asked her out or even told her you’re interested?”

  He shakes his head. “She might say no.”

  “Uh, yeah. Yeah, she might, but at least then you’d know instead of whatever this is,” I say, gesturing vaguely in his direction.

  “I don’t know if I can deal with knowing for sure she’s not interested, but I’ll think about it.” He finishes pulling the label off his beer and starts tearing it into pieces. “Enough about my lack of a love life. From what the guys have been telling me, you’ve been busy since you’ve been here.”

  “You could say that.” My lips tilt up into a grin as images of a naked Gigi underneath me roll through my mind just as another text from her hits my phone.

  “She doing okay?” Ronin asks, eyes slanting toward my phone. I pick it up and scan through her latest messages—more audio clips, a video clip with Bomber talking to who I’m assuming is a Death King, and photos of Tiffany’s injuries.

  “She’s incredible. Look at what she’s doing,” I say, handing over my phone. H
e looks through all the messages and then sits up straighter.

  “You have enough here. There’s so much evidence; even if a couple pieces of it got thrown out, you’d be covered. It’s more than enough for them to open an investigation at the very least. I think you should go get your girl out.” He’s finishing off his beer and sliding off his stool in the same motion, handing my phone back over.

  Ronin checks the machete on his back and the gun in the holster at his side before he looks around and then at me with a what the fuck expression. “What are you waiting for? Who do we need to talk to, to get this shit going?”

  His energy is at the let’s go fuck shit up level, and I’m right there with him. I stand up, too, and glance around for Savage. When I see him leaning over Saint’s computer, I head over to them. Grim takes one look at the expression on my face and tips his chin up at Ruin before coming over to join us. When the six of us are gathered around the table, I say, “Ronin says we have more than enough to move in. It’s time to bring my girl home, and I don’t care if you’re not ready. We’re going.”

  Savage studies me and then side-eyes Ronin before nodding. “Okay. If you say it’s enough, we’ll do this now, but we’re taking a small crew—just the six of us. We’ve been talking strategy, and if we ride in with half the club, they’ll hear us coming miles away. It’ll be more stealthy this way. Ruin’s bringing the van to haul the traitors and the girls back with us, so if you have weapons or supplies that won’t fit on your bike, load ‘em up. We leave in ten.”

  Savage turns to Ronin. “You’re the cop?”

  Ronin glares back. “Not anymore.”

  “Close enough. You’re calling it in. It’ll take them at least an hour to get out there. It’s in the middle of fucking nowhere.”

  “You realize if I call my contact at the FBI, that place is going to be swarmed. You really want me to make the call before we even get there and assess?” Ronin looks at Savage like he’s a moron, and I bite back a laugh.

  Savage smirks at Ronin like this is all just part of his plan. “I know what I’m doing. Make the goddamn call.” He turns and walks out the door with his three officers trailing behind.

  Ronin and I look at each other, and I shrug. “All I care about is getting Gigi out. Whatever the fuck Savage wants to do with his men is on him. We get Gigi, and we get the hell out.”

  Ronin nods in understanding, and we follow Grim, Ruin, Saint, and Savage out to our bikes. Ronin steps to the side and makes the call to his friend, giving me and then Savage a nod that it’s done before climbing onto his bike. Ruin steps up into the van, and Savage starts his engine.

  The rest of us follow his lead and tear off into the night toward the shitty rundown shack where the woman who means everything to me is being held prisoner. It’s a race against the clock, and as we slow down to pull onto the lot where the house sits, my heart feels like a kick drum beating against my ribs.

  Instead of moving faster, time seems to slow down as it always does when I’m in life or death situations like this. A calm washes over me as I park my bike and wait for the others to do the same.

  My gun’s out of my waistband and in my hand, and the rest of Savage’s crew has their weapons out, too. Ronin moves up to join us, sliding his gun out of his holster. His machete’s still in its sheath on his back, but I have no doubt if shit goes sideways, he’ll put it to good use.

  It’s quiet out here—maybe too quiet. Last we checked on Saint’s camera feed, there were only ten guards, but no one has come to intercept us. It’s eerie as hell, and the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. “Watch for booby traps,” Ronin hisses as we break off.

  Saint, Grim, and Ruin head for the front of the house, and Ronin, Savage, and I go for the back where we think the girls are being kept. Savage takes point, and when we step up to the storm cellar door, he reaches to open it, and I grip his cut and yank him back. “There’s a fucking tripwire,” I whisper and turn on the flashlight on my phone to show him.

  Ronin grabs a rock and throws it at the wire, igniting a stream of fire from a torch rigged up to it. “Jesus,” Savage mutters from beside me.

  Gunshots ring out from off to the left, but it’s dark as hell, and I can’t see shit. Now that the tripwire’s been disarmed, I grab the handles and push Savage toward them while firing off rounds in the direction of the shots. Once he’s down the stairs, I yell for Ronin to go down next, and I follow behind him, walking backward to cover everyone.

  When we get down the stairs, there are a dozen women in various states of captivity—from cages to chains—and most of them are in rough shape. They’re battered and bruised, malnourished, and the smell of urine and body odor makes me gag. Some of them I can’t tell how long they’ve been here, but from the looks of them, it’s been a while.

  While Ronin and Savage are incapacitating the four guards down here—plus Bomber and Poison—I frantically scan the faces of everyone until my eyes collide with a pair of bright green ones, and everything inside me settles.

  “Connor!” Gigi shouts, and I yell for Savage or Ronin to find the key to unlock the shackle wrapped around her ankle. There’s a red welt underneath it, and I clench my jaw. Her face is bruised like someone backhanded or punched her, and I’m barely holding myself together. My body begs for violence, to make every guard down here pay for every mark on her bruised skin, but I think I hear sirens in the distance.

  Ronin tosses me a set of keys, and I open the lock with shaking hands. Gigi falls into my arms, and I bury my face in her hair, breathing her in and holding her so close she lets out a little gasp and then laughs and smacks me. “I can’t breathe.”

  “You’re never doing anything like this again,” I growl because right now, it’s the only thing I can think of to say. I’m on the brink of losing control and showing the Death Kings and the Reign of Chaos both what vengeance looks like, but we need to get out of here.

  I’m also struggling not to rip off her shorts and fuck her right here in this filthy room just to remind myself that she’s really here and that she’s okay, but most of all that she’s mine.

  She wiggles against my dick, making me even harder, and I groan, my bloodlust replaced with just straight lust. “Okay, little demon. We need to get the fuck out of here. Now.”

  Her lips turn down in an adorable frown, and her forehead wrinkles. “We can’t just leave them.”

  “We’re not leaving them; the FBI is on the way. We need to go before they get here, but they’ll make sure everyone gets home.”

  “We’re at least taking Tiffany, Crystal, and Jade.” She lifts her chin staring at me defiantly and daring me to tell her no, which makes me grin.

  “Okay, baby. Whatever you want. Go unlock them.” I hand her the keys, and she rushes off, and not a minute later, they’re all loose and following us up the stairs.

  Savage has an unconscious Poison thrown over his shoulder, and Ronin’s dragging Bomber kicking and screaming up the stairs. He stops to punch him in the face a couple of times, knocking him out, before he smiles up at me. “He wouldn’t shut the fuck up.” Then the smile drops off his face. “I didn’t even get to use my machete.”

  I chuckle because I know he’s serious. It’s going to piss him off he didn’t get to use it, but there’s always the next client. After we load everyone into the van, and Grim and Ruin toss Vandal and Brutal inside, we take off back to the clubhouse.

  Gigi’s on the back of my bike where she belongs, and I’m surprised to find I’m satisfied with how tonight ended up. It feels like justice the way everything went down, and it shocks the hell out of me to admit that Savage and his guys aren’t half bad.

  Am I looking to join up with the Reign of Chaos on a more permanent basis? Fuck, no.

  But I’ve decided I’m not going to tear this place down on my way out. Not if he keeps running it the way he is with some level of integrity. Right now, all that matters to me is I have Gigi back, and she’s safe. Tomorrow I’m taking her home.

>   Someday, when she’s walking down the aisle to me, I want her brother there to give her away, and with that in mind, I’m happy to leave the Reign of Chaos the way they are. Savage may be a criminal, but he’s not all bad. Life’s not black and white, and sometimes in the grey is where you find the best parts.

  "Everybody shut the fuck up!" Benson yells over the mass of chatter going on in the bar. I'm pretty sure they'd typically hold meetings like this during that church thing they do behind closed, soundproof doors, but since so much shit happened yesterday, I imagine it's easier for him to get the word out to everyone all at once.

  He's standing on an overturned wooden crate Lola dragged out from the storage room, looking every bit the badass president of a motorcycle club.

  At my brother's words, the room goes silent. I can tell people are holding their breath, and there's this intense electric anticipation in the room. Whatever's about to come out of Benson's mouth will be a big fucking deal, and we all know it.

  "I have a few things I need to say. There's been a lot of shit going down behind the scenes around here that's come to an end, and now that it has, you all have a right to know what it is." He gestures to Connor, who's been a wall of muscle and heat at my back, his arms wrapped around me protectively while this whole thing goes on.

  He kisses my temple before letting me go and weaving through the crowd of leather-clad bikers to join my brother at the front of the room. He wedges himself in between Savage and Grim, who stands to his left. Beside Grim is Saint and on my brother's right is Ruin. They make quite the intimidating group, and it's clear they've got my brother's back no matter what goes down right now.

  It doesn't matter that all these guys have pledged themselves to the club; they could choose to revolt. If they decide not to buy into the new way Benson plans to do things, the whole organization could come crashing down around him. The tense set of Grim's shoulders, the way Ruin's eyes narrow and dart around the room just go to show how concerned they are my brother's news may not be well-received.