“Too late for that Deja, Matt put a reward out for you. It’s rather a healthy one. I plan to be the one to collect it. Get in.” He flashed his gun at her.
She stopped dialing Fire and got in the car. One of the things she knew about Don was that he liked to use his gun. Personally, she thought it made up for inadequacies in another area.
“I was hoping to find you with your boyfriend. You’re going to regret that Deja.”
“Don, what I regret is Matt.”
Well at least she wouldn’t be sleeping in the dog park, but there was no guarantee she would make it through the night. She settled back in the car for the ride. Matt lived in Mount Lebanon, one of the richer more affluent neighborhoods.
Don pulled up to his house. It was a new construction with a large porch with columns on either side of it. The first time Deja saw this house she’d been blinded by the splendor of it. She gave herself a pass when she thought of the past with Matt. He loved her, or so she thought. Her dreams were of them having a family together and living in splendor.
It took her a while to come to her senses, she’d rather live with Enzo and Ven in a garage apartment than to be with Matt. Don parked the car and motioned her to get out with the end of his gun. He left the car and placed the gun inside his coat where he could still access it. They kept things on the down-low here so their neighbors wouldn’t know that one of the biggest drug lords in the city lived next door to them.
Don followed her up the porch, stepping in front of her he rang the doorbell, stepping back he waited for the door to open.
“You found her. You always seem to be the lucky one.” Jim said as he opened the door.
“I think his luck may have run out Jim and yours too,” she said before she crossed the threshold.
The house was so regal on the outside, but it was gaudy on the inside. She had overlooked that in the beginning, thinking it was just furnishings, they could be changed. What couldn’t be changed was the man that owned the house.
“This way he’s in the theater room.”
She stepped in front of Jim. “I know the way.”
She walked down the hallway that led to the back of the house it skirted the kitchen and came to a door on the left that led to the theater room. Matt loved this room. He had a chair in it that made him feel like a king.
Matt was lounging in the chair one leg was hanging over the arm. His long blonde hair was flowing behind him. He turned to face Deja. His blue eyes lit up when he saw her. His lips a little on the thin side curled into a smile. His sharp cheekbones made her wonder what she saw in him. The one thing in his favor was that his body was thick. It used to be with muscle, but over the year he’d let himself go.
The room was done in red because it needed to remind him of going to the theater. He had oversized chairs in here so his friends could sit in comfort. There was a bar in the back and a large screen in the front. The walls were painted black.
“Have a seat baby I missed you.” He gave her his patented smile, the one she used to think was sexy.
“Your goon abducted me at gun point because you put a bounty on my head.” She was furious and trying to reign it in.
“Don’t be like that baby. I was giving them some incentive that’s all. When someone loves you like I do…well, I’m sure you understand how much I’ve been missing you.”
“You’re delusional, Matt. You and I have been over for a year or longer.”
“Deja,” He stood up and came to her. Which was quite a concession on his part. “It was a misunderstanding. I know I wasn’t completely honest with you, but that’s no reason for you to throw what we had away.”
No, he wasn’t completely honest with her. He forgot to tell her he was a drug dealer. If that wasn’t enough, he sold drugs in her neighborhood and used young children to move his product. She wandered by accident into a drop site. Don was giving an eleven-year-old hell about his not moving enough product. She walked in when he was hitting the kid. He called it motivation. She’d be dead right now if it weren’t for her connection to Matt.
Matt bought her silence with the lives of the child and his parents. He said he would kill them, and she believed him. Besides what good would it do, it was her word against his. He thought it was over, and they would go on as usual. When he came home the next day her things were gone, and she was back in her little apartment. The place she wished she never left.
He threatened her and everyone she knew, but on this she refused to budge. They were over. In the end, he left her alone only threatening her now and then until lately.
“Why Matt? What do I have that you want?”
“I want that family now with a respectable girl. You’re that respectable girl. We’ll have children and live here and grow old together.”
“Will our children be out on the street selling drugs for you when their eleven? Will Don rough them up if they don’t sell enough? Is that how you’ll introduce them to the family business? Get one of the women you’ve been flaunting to be your baby momma. I’m not interested.”
“You don’t have a choice, Deja. I pick you, and you're going to do what I want including dropping your thong and opening up your legs so I can get my dick wet. Just so we're clear, there will be no one else but me. Of course, I’ll hit whatever turns me on. Take her upstairs you know what to do.”
Chapter Sixteen
Enzo was sitting on the side of the couch he considered his. There was a space for each of them. Ven sat on the other side of the couch, and Deja sat in the middle. She was the glue that held them together, and she was missing. It was after eight am and as far as he was concerned she was two hours late coming home.
The door opened, and Ven walked in. He shook his head no while his shoulders slumped. Ven had gone to look for her while Enzo waited at home they didn’t want the apartment to be empty if she showed up.
“I went up to the dog park where she threatened to move. There was no sign of her. I combed the neighborhood, went to the all night spots she showed me on our walks, nothing. It’s like she never existed.” Ven walked into the room and slumped onto his side of the couch.
“Maybe she went to her friend’s house,” Ven ventured.
Enzo nodded his head, but he didn’t believe that for a minute. She would have told them, called them on the phone’s she insisted they get so they could stay in touch. He had balked but gave in eventually. Even Declyn and Cole had a phone now. Soon they all would have one because of Deja and her mission to make their lives better.
His smile slid away. She was missing, and he was worried, they hadn’t been together long, but he knew Deja wouldn’t leave without telling them. Something had happened to her that’s the only thing that would keep her from coming home.
“Did you call her?”
“I called several times then I stopped.” He had a weird feeling that if he kept calling her, he would put her life in danger. It didn’t make any sense. As far as he knew the ability to sense your mate was all fiction, something they held onto because it legitimized who they were. But some swore to it. Whether it was true or not Enzo wasn’t sure, but he wouldn’t risk Deja’s life because he was having trouble accepting how he felt.
The phone rang, and two pairs of eyes focused on it like it was the enemy. The second ring had Enzo diving over the side of the couch to answer it.
“Hello?” Please be Deja.
“Enzo it’s Cole.” He looked at Ven and shook his head; it wasn’t Deja.
“What’s happening Cole?” There was no reason for him to be up this early or calling.
“There’s a female outside of The Wolves’ Den. She’s banging on the door and demanding to be let in. I think she knows Deja since she said her name at least ten times. I thought you might want to know. I’ve kept her off the relays, so no one knows, but I’m sure Declyn has seen her. The fact that he’s not here tells me he is going to let you handle the situation, but I think you need to hurry.”
Cole hung up without sayi
ng goodbye. Enzo stood up the long gashes in his side opening to allow blood to flow. Ven looked at him but didn’t say anything as Enzo wrapped it tight and headed for the door. Neither of them had come out of last night’s fight unscathed but until they found Deja they wouldn’t be trying to rest or heal.
“She must be Deja’s friend,” Ven said as he followed Enzo out the door.
“I agree, so we need to be careful. We also need to remember that the shield let Safire in.”
Ven stopped before his long legs caught up to Enzo again. “Do you think she’s like Deja?”
“I do, but we don’t have time for that now.”
Ven agreed all that mattered was Deja.
They stopped when The Wolves’ Den came into view. Standing on the porch banging on the door was a female that had glorious curves that reminded him of Deja, but she wasn’t Deja.
“Enzo, Ven come out I need to talk to you.” She yelled loud enough for the whole neighborhood to hear.
Everyone knew she was here but no one came out, and that was a testament to what Deja meant to them. They wouldn’t risk scaring away her friend.
They walked to the bottom of the steps.
“Safire?” Enzo called out.
She stopped beating on the door and turned around. There were two males standing at the bottom of the steps. Two very handsome males. One was to young, she dismissed him and turned to the other. Now this one could start her engine revving but for some reason her body said meh when she looked at him. He must be Enzo, and the other one would be Ven.
“Enzo?” She walked to the edge of the porch and looked down.
“I’m Enzo. How can I help you? Deja’s not here right now.”
A look of panic came over her face as she descended the stairs.
“I know. I wasn’t sure who to go to after I got her message from last night. It was you or the police, but she trusted the two of you more than she trusted the authorities. I’d blame it on the current political climate, but in this case, it has more to do with the police turning a blind eye to Matt.”
They both looked at her not understanding what she was saying.
“That doesn’t matter, listen to this I got it when I woke up. I went to bed early last night, and my phone was in the kitchen. Something I never do.”
She opened the phone and played a voice mail back. Deja could be heard clearly as well as a second voice that demanded she get into the car
“He’s the one who was in the car the night I brought Deja here,” Enzo said his voice low and deadly.
“He’s the one that said he only wanted to talk to her that first night I followed her home,” Ven added.
“Where is she?” Enzo turned to look at her his eyes were glowing. The green of them eerie looking.
Safire swallowed hard as she turned to look at Ven’s eyes. They were almost the same both of them glowing, but Ven’s eyes were blue. For a minute the scary twins they always use in horror movies tickled at the back of her brain. Then she remembered Deja’s voice saying her guys would never hurt her, and Safire was under their protection.
“Matt lives in Mount Lebanon. I know where his house is although I’ve never been in it.” She thrust any lingering fear to the side. Matt was crazy and getting progressively worse. She wasn’t sure he wouldn’t hurt Deja.
“I can take you there.” She watched as they both shook their heads. They did look like twins. “How are you going to find it without me?”
“You’re going to give us directions and the address, and we are going to use these phones that Deja made us buy to get more directions.”
“I have to go with you.” She raised her voice needing them to hear her.
Enzo reached out and placed his hands on her arms. A loud growl made him take his hands off fast. Someone was claiming her, but he didn’t have time to find out who.
“Listen to me Safire, Matt, and his men have guns. It won’t matter to them if you get hurt in the crossfire, what they want, who they want is Deja, and they’ll kill to get her.”
“Matt is crazy, but…”
“They abducted her at gunpoint. This was their third attempt not the first. I know men of war and that’s what he is. He won’t care if you live or die, but Deja will. I can’t take you into that situation. I promise I’ll have her call you when she’s free.”
“All right, please be careful. Deja won’t be happy if anything happens to either of you.”
“How’d you get here?”
A frowned crossed her face wrinkling her nose. “I drove, but about two blocks away the darn thing stopped working, so I walked the rest of the way.”
“Ven,” Enzo turned to look at him.
“I’ll walk Safire to her car and make sure that next time it doesn’t stall out at the barrier.”
“We’ll get her back.” Enzo watched as Ven escorted her out. Once she was out of earshot, he let out a low grumble that moved through the neighborhood touching everyone, sending a warning. “She’s under my protection don’t forget that.”
There was no reply as he made his way back to the garage.
The car was out and ready to go by the time Ven got back. He slid into the front seat buckling his seatbelt. Enzo had to smile because his seat belt was also on. The possibility of them getting hurt in a car crash was so slim they didn’t even take the time to calculate it.
“We got company,” Ven said.
A charger was coming to a stop behind them. It was a reverse of Enzo’s. Declyn’s was red with black accents. When you saw the two cars together, they could take your breath away.
Declyn was in the driver’s seat, and Cole was riding shotgun. In the back were Caden and Xander. Both of them were customers at The Wolves’ Den. Xander was the male that challenged Deja. Now he was her strongest supporter.
Enzo put the car in gear following the directions Ven was reading off the phone.
“Do you think he hurt her?” Ven asked they had been driving in silence for close to thirty minutes and according to the navigation on the phone, they would be there in roughly five minutes.
“I don’t know, but it doesn’t matter.”
“It doesn’t?”
“Deja belongs with me.” Enzo glanced at Ven quickly. “She belongs with us, and for that, he’ll pay.”
“He’ll just keep coming after her if we let him go.”
“I know.” Nothing was going to stop Matt now that he was focused on Deja, so Enzo would have to stop him.
They drove casually by the house Safire said belonged to Matt. There were two cars parked in front of it and one in the driveway.
“Don’s car is there,” Ven said as he turned his attention to the house.
It was one less person that Enzo would have to track down and one less threat to Deja. He circled the block three times while they got a good look at the house and the surrounding areas. Finally, they parked down the block deciding to walk in.
They climbed out of the cars silently. Declyn let off a small sound, and they disappeared into their surroundings. Each one of them naturally adapted to battle mode. Four hundred years wasn’t enough to take a lifetime of training away.
Enzo and Ven took the front door. Declyn and Cole headed towards the back door while Caden and Xander stood guard around the perimeter. Enzo rang the bell and stood back hoping the smile on his face was not threatening, unlike Ven whose smile promised death.
Don opened the door and smiled when he saw Enzo and Ven. “Perfect timing, now I don’t have to go hunt the two of you down. Come in I wouldn’t want to shoot you on the front porch.”
Enzo ignored Don and the threat as he entered followed by Ven.
“Where’s Deja?”
“That desperate to die? Don’t worry I’m taking you to her now. She’s with Matt.” Don snickered and motioned them up the stairs in front of him.
Enzo could hear Deja. Her breathing was faster, and little sounds were coming out of her. Then he heard Matt.
“You like that don�
�t you? Want me to do it again?”
Again he could hear her breath pick up as if she was panting and little mewling sounds came from her mouth. Pain or pleasure he couldn’t be sure because something sounded off with her voice.
The last sound she made sounded like a muffled high-pitched scream. He kicked the door down.
Chapter Seventeen
Deja was handcuffed to the bed. Handcuffed. It was a reflective action one he’d seen Deja use with Ven before. He placed an arm in front of Ven keeping him from killing the men in the room. A man he hadn’t met had a gun aimed at Deja’s head. They couldn’t risk an accident.
She was naked. The clothes she wore had been torn off her body and were rags around her. Enzo was having trouble keeping his form. The animal in him wanted to come out and rip the head off of every male in the room.
Earth men didn’t understand the importance of a female. They were too abundant on this planet. Every male could have one if he wanted one. It wasn’t like that where Enzo came from at least not for his people. To be allowed to lay with a female was something males like him didn’t take for granted. They knew there would be no mate or children so to have one willing to take care of their needs meant a lot to them.
Enzo had few rules; he was a warrior born and bred to kill. One of those rules was you never hurt a female. That hadn’t changed when they came to earth
Matt laughed when Enzo stopped Ven from advancing.
“That’s your secret weapon. The man you talk about like he’s a hero. He’ll be pushing up daisies by the end of the day, but the other one looks like he’d make a good seller or should I use him as an enforcer.”
Matt stepped away from Deja, moving closer to Enzo. “Get a good look at her because she’s mine. She knows the deal. I plan to marry her, get her pregnant a couple of times and if she’s good with the kids I’ll let her live. You, on the other hand, will die today.”
Matt moved back to Deja’s side. His hand snaked out, and he hit her across the face. Enzo and Ven snarled. The men in the room looked for animals before turning to look at Enzo and Ven.
Enzo: The Wolves Den: A BBW Scifi/Paranormal Romance Page 10