What’s she doing here? Is she the one who did this to me?
She had to have help!
Looking back and forth and listening very hard, I hear nothing and see nothing. So, I start to roll over and make my way to anywhere but here.
If they left me here, they’ll come back here to do whatever else they have planned for me. So here is not a place I want to be.
Cuddles follows me as I roll over and over and I find myself in the great room. Cuddles walks in front of me, her gait is way off. She must’ve been drugged by the big chick.
I guess I was too. I don’t feel where I was hit to get knocked out. And now that I’m becoming more and more aware of things, I can smell something odd.
I suppose they used some type of thing to knock me out. Maybe chloroform or something like that. Cuddles begins to whine and I try to see what she’s whining about.
A dark figure is lying on the floor in front of the fireplace. I roll over to it and find it’s not moving and I think it might be a man. And he seems to be tied up too.
One more roll has me close enough to see. Cuddles licks the man’s face and I can see it’s Gage.
Great! The only two viable males in this house who could possibly protect the rest and we're both tied up and one of us is still out!
How much worse can things get?
I bite my tongue as the thought crosses my mind. I shouldn’t have even thought that.
Angel’s still handcuffed, up in our bedroom, naked as the day she was born and completely vulnerable. I have to get up and get to her. But how?
I roll over and hit Gage with as much force as I can and hiss, “Gage! Wake up!”
Nothing.
Cuddles is licking his face like crazy and it’s not doing a thing to wake him up. So I lean over and bite his shoulder. I give him a good bite and he stirs a bit.
“Ow!”
“Gage, wake up!” I whisper as loud a whisper as I can.
I don’t need us getting found.
“What the hell?” he mumbles. “Why am I tied up?”
His eyes flutter open and his pupils are dilated.
“Gage, someone’s in the house. I need your help to get untied. Angel’s alone in our bedroom and I have every reason to believe it’s her they’re here to hurt.”
He shakes his head to clear it. “Fuck!” He coughs a little.
“Shh,” I hiss at him. “We have to be quiet.”
With a nod, he says, “Yeah. It’s Melissa and some blonde woman here. I remember now. I came down to grab a bottle of water and found them with Cuddles. Melissa was holding her and that other chick was holding a rag over her little face.”
“Then they got you, huh?”
He nods. “Only, I ran out of the kitchen and they caught up to me in the great room.” He looks around. “Yep. Right about here is when the big one tackled me and then something was placed over my nose and mouth and here I am.”
“How good are your teeth, Gage?”
He looks confused. “They’re okay. Why?”
“I’m going to move around and you try to get my wrists free using them.” I start to move around the best I can and manage to get my bound wrists near his face.
I feel him trying to loosen the bond. Then he stops and whispers, “It’s a bungee cord, Blaze. Try to pull against it. I’ll never be able to bite through that rubber.”
“If I could get on my feet, I could hop over to a door and use the handle to stretch the cord then I might be able to get out of it. I’m going to need your help,” I tell him as I roll around to try to use his body to help get my ass off the floor.
Together, we manage to get me off the floor and I start hopping to the closest door knob. My robe is all messed up and parts of me are hanging out, I’d rather not have doing that. Hooking my wrists over the door knob, I pull and the cord stretches but it hurts like hell.
I have to keep thinking about what the hell they’re doing to my Angel to keep pulling them against my skin and finally I can get one hand free.
That’s all I need. I pull the cord off my wrists then my ankles and rush to set Gage free.
“We need something to level the playing field against these bitches, Gage. Maybe a couple of long knives. And something to hit them with,” I say as we hurry to the kitchen and I adjust my robe to properly cover myself again.
I grab a couple of knives out of the wooden block on the counter and Gage goes into the laundry room and brings back a broom and a mop. “These will work to knock the shit out of them with.” He looks down at Cuddles who still looks kind of loopy. “We should put her up. She might get hurt.”
“Stash her in the laundry room,” I tell him.
After he puts her up, we take off to go upstairs to see if the women have found Angel yet. I have no idea how long I was out so I’m worried about what we’ll find. Or won’t find.
I notice all the bedroom doors are closed as we pass them. All except Gage’s. “Gage, is your cell phone in there so we can get the police coming this way?”
He nods and we go into the room. He grabs his cell off the dresser and calls 911. With a quick description of what’s happening and the address, I end the call and we leave the room to get to Angel.
I’m praying we make it to her before it’s too late. I have this terrible feeling in the pit of my stomach.
We stop in front of our bedroom door and I try the handle.
“Fuck! It’s locked,” I whisper and lean my ear against the door to try to hear anything.
My eyes go wide at what I hear and Gage leans in to listen too.
“God damn! What the fuck is happening in there, Blaze?”
“We have to get inside!”
Chapter 2
ANGEL
I can hear the two sets of feet making noise against the tiled floor of the bathroom as they take steps away from me. I have a feeling they’re about to push me into this scalding hot water they’ve filled our deep bathtub with.
Obviously, I can’t let that happen so I’m gearing myself up for a fight where I’m at a distinct disadvantage as my hands are cuffed in front of me and I’m also blindfolded.
Here they come, running at me and I duck just as they get to me and take a few steps back. I hear one of them shriek and some water splash as they must’ve hit the hot water.
The other has turned and I take a swing at her with my bound hands. They connect with what feels like her face and she makes a loud grunt as I knock her backward.
The other girl grabs me by the hair so I throw my hands at her and hit her in the face too. Then I hear the other girl running at me so I do a little hop and kick one foot straight out and it hits her in the stomach.
I can hear the air leaving her lungs as she falls back. The other girl isn’t letting my hair go so I give her three quick whacks with my bound hands in succession then she finally lets it go and I take off running as fast as I can to get to my bedroom door.
It’s not very fast as I can’t see and have to be careful not to fall down or they’ll have even more of an advantage over me. A sound comes from the door. It sounds as if someone has hit it.
Then I’m yanked back by the hair and a fist hits me in the face. It infuriates me and I manage to get my cuffed hands over her head and pull her over my shoulder where she lands at my feet with a hard thud.
The girl is big, and that was hard but I managed it and stand up to try to catch my breath. Then the other, girl, who’s smaller, runs up behind me and wraps her legs around me as she hits me in the head over and over with her little fists.
I move backward with her until I come to a wall and ram her into it then squish her between me and the wall. The big girl makes a sound like a bull and I can hear her running toward me.
The sound of wood splintering fills my ears then I hear Benny and Gage yelling, “Stop!”
I’m hit by the big girl as she mashes my body between hers and the other girl’s. The small girl shouts, “Fuck! You’re killing me, Donna! Stop!”
Then the big girl is pulled off me and the blindfold is removed and there’s Benny. “Thank God!”
He pulls me into his arms and picks me up and carries me into the bathroom. “I’m shutting you in here while I help Gage. Just wait here, Baby.”
I nod and he turns and leaves, shutting the door behind him. I sit on the closed toilet and try to catch my breath. My hands are still cuffed but at least I can see again.
After a few loud whacks and several screams, Benny comes back into the bathroom with my white robe. He pulls the little set of keys to the pink cuffs out of the pocket of his robe.
My hands are finally released and I throw my arms around him and start crying like a little kid. “Benny, it was horrible.”
He holds me and shushes me as he rocks me back and forth. “It’s okay. We have them tied up and the police are on their way.”
“I was so afraid,” I cry as he holds me. His strong arms feel safe and I’m not sure how long it will take before I can leave them.
Then I hear sirens and know the time is at hand for him to have to let me go. “Here, let me get this robe on you.” He lets me go and I find I’m shaking like a leaf.
I look at him as he puts the robe on me then runs his fingertips over the place on my face that’s beginning to hurt. “One of them got in a hit,” I tell him.
He smiles. “It’s amazing there’s only one. Want to see what they look like, Pumpkin?”
I nod then he takes my hand and leads me out of the bathroom. The first thing I see are the two bitches who broke into our home, lying face down on the floor. Their hands are behind their backs and tied with bungee cords.
It’s Sandy and the chick from the bar who I knocked out!
I stop shaking as I grow furious. Walking in between them I look them over as they lie there. Both have quite a few red and swollen places on their faces.
“I don’t know how I managed to do that much damage. But I’m glad I did.” I squat down next to Sandy and pull her back by her hair so she has to look at me.
“Fuck you, bitch,” she says then attempts to spit at me but I hold my hand over her mouth before she can.
“No, mam.” I press her mouth hard with my hand. “Now you listen to me. We’re pressing full charges on you both. Attempted murder is what you’ll be charged with amongst other things. You see, you dumbass, you broke into a house full of lawyers. Not just any lawyers either. The lawyers of the prestigious New York law firm, The Worthington Law Firm. So you can expect to be sent away for a very long time.”
I remove my hand to give her a chance to speak but she chooses the wrong words as she says, “Fuck you!”
“No, fuck you, Sandy. Now I need you to tell Gage the truth about things. Tell him how you are the one who ran him off the road that day,” I say and yank her head around so she has to look at Gage.
Her eyes go wild as she asks, “How did you know about that?”
I laugh and so does Benny. Then he answers her, “She didn’t. You just confirmed her suspicions.”
“Fuck,” she mumbles.
I look up at Benny as I drop her head and she face plants into the carpet. “So there’s two counts of attempted murder then.”
He smiles and takes my hand as the first set of police officers comes to our bedroom door with their firearms drawn. “Everyone okay in here?” the taller one asks.
The three of us nod then I see Benny’s parents, my grandmother with his grandfather, and the two drivers looming in the hallway behind the cops. “Maybe I should let them in on what happened,” I say and leave Benny and Gage to explain things to the officers.
One of the officers takes me by the arm and asks, “Are you okay, mam?”
I nod. “A little shaken up. It takes more than a couple of dumb tramps to take me out.”
He nods and touches the place underneath my eye. “When the paramedics get here, have them look that over, will you?”
“I guess so.” I walk away to talk to the people who I hope one day will be my family.
My grandmother hugs me as she whispers, “What happened?”
“Those women tried to kill me. No big deal, let’s all go downstairs. I need something to drink. A lot of something to drink.” I lead the way down to the kitchen and pull out a bottle of Jack Daniels from the cabinet Benny keeps it in and drink straight out of the bottle.
It burns going down but stops my body from the internal shaking it’s been doing for far too long now. Everyone takes seats at the bar and stares at me. I don’t know what to say or where to start so I just look back at them.
Finally, Benny’s grandfather asks, “Did you take both of those women on alone, Angel?”
I nod and take another drink then say, “I did. I had to. They were going to throw me into a tub of scalding hot water and drown me. Plus, I was handcuffed and blindfolded.”
My grandmother’s hand goes to her chest. “They cuffed and blindfolded you?”
I scratch my head and wonder if I should tell them. Then it dawns on me that I’ll have to tell the cops that too and possibly tell a judge and jury that as well. So I weigh my words before I say, “Not them.”
Benny’s grandfather rolls his eyes and his mother looks confused as she asks, “Then who did cuff and blindfold you, Dear?”
I take another long drink and the whiskey is finally beginning to work as I answer her, “Your son.”
She kind of looks like she might faint and her husband wraps his arm around her and frowns as he looks at her and says, “That sort of stuff has to come from your side of the family.”
I laugh and shake my head then say, “What a night!”
Chapter 3
BLAZE
The Manhattan fall air is crisp in the open air section of the church my family attends. I wait at the altar with my grandfather. I never pictured this day would come, or that I’d be the one standing next to him.
The music wells up into the air, surrounding us all with the sounds of a harp and piano as an old song is played. It’s what she wanted and since my grandfather met her, she has always gotten what she wants.
On this day my grandfather is making Angel’s grandmother his wife. Seems the two were smitten with each other from the first time they saw one another. Kind of like me and Angel were.
My grandfather moved a hell of a lot faster than I have, though. He asked Rebecca to marry him after only a week. She left her home and went back home with my grandfather.
Gage moved into her house and is taking care of her many animals. She told him he could have the small farm house and the animals. The man is in hog-heaven with them all.
We didn’t give him Cuddles but Rebecca had an old bloodhound and Gage loves the thing. They’re like best friends.
We go check on him once a week and hang out with him. I’m paying for him to get physical and mental therapy to help him make what all hope will be a complete recovery.
He’s making a living selling the fresh eggs the chickens lay and milk from the three dairy cows she had. I pay the bills for the house so any money he makes is all his.
He seems pretty happy since he has his truck and now Angel’s old motorcycle she gave him, since she rides with me on my bike or in her new truck I bought her. I look for things to go fine for the guy. And having somebody to take over her little farm has made Rebecca happy as well.
Rebecca’s presence in my grandfather’s life has certainly softened the old snooty fart. It’s made life with him a lot easier. And business too for that matter.
With Rebecca’s gentle influence, Grandfather finally saw the wrong in helping that asshole, Bain, with his endeavor to keep the AIDs drug at the high price he set. The government was able to make him lower it so that problem is history.
I stand by his side, holding the wedding ring he’s going to place on her finger and watch as Angel walks down the aisle. She’s her grandmother’s maid of honor and I’m my grandfather’s best man.
I thought for sure he’d pick my brown-nosing
brother to be his best man, but he shocked us both by asking me. I had to accept. At least that’s what Angel told me I had to do.
She’s helped me to see how much of a chip on my shoulder I really had. It’s made it a lot easier to do the things I want to without thinking I need to stick it to my family at the same time.
So we still ride motorcycles. I’m still in the biker club and Angel and I still like to get rough with each other. But I don’t make any of it about showing my family that I can be who I want to be. I just am who I want to be.
Seems they have no problem accepting that now. I think Angel and her grandmother are the reasons why. They have an air about them that makes people comfortable.
It’s odd but a great odd.
Angel has on a peach colored dress her grandmother picked out. Her long dark hair is put into a fancy up do, strung with tiny burgundy roses. She looks delicious and I can’t wait for this to be over so I can eat her up.
She gives me a nod when she makes it to her place then the music picks up as her grandmother walks down the aisle. I watch my grandfather’s lips curve into a smile. A thing I’ve seen more of since he met Rebecca than I have in my entire life.
Angel was more than surprised when her grandmother found my grandfather just as compatible with her as her first husband was. She’d thought her first husband was the only man who could make her feel so special.
Seems my grandfather can too!
The only thing bad about that is now Angel thinks we should take more time and see other people to find out if what we have is real. She’s making me nuts with her idea and I’ve yet to come up with the right words to make her stop being crazy.
She’s told me after today, she’s moving into her own place again and giving what we have a break. But there’s no way I’m letting that happen. Not ever!
I have two rings in my pockets. The right pocket holds my grandfather’s ring, and the left holds the one I’m giving Angel after this is over.
I’m not only going to make the engagement official but also extremely short.
ANGEL
As my grandmother gets to me, she hands me her bouquet and I take it and hand it back to my younger sister who’s gotten up to take it from me. She’s very pregnant with her third baby and has already been hounding me that her kids need some cousins.
Hot Nights in Sturgis The Complete Series: A Billionaire, Bad Boy, Motorcycle, BDSM, Romance (Billionaire Romance Novels) Page 19