Priest sat in the beat-up leather chair behind the desk. He looked up at Hunter and invited him inside, but the moment Hunter crossed the threshold, the door slammed shut behind him. Tooth leaned against it with a grim face, his hair a mess, as if he had just left his bed.
“Is this about Ray?” Hunter asked, looking between the two of them. “Because I’ve got something much more pressing that I need to talk about.”
Priest slowly rose from the chair and walked around the desk to face Hunter. His face seemed calm, but there was a tension to his jaw and the crow’s feet around his eyes. “What exactly do you want to tell us about? Maybe you should kneel for your confession?” he asked, and in the exact same moment, a powerful kick in the back of Hunter’s knees brought him down.
He hissed when his knees hit the floor but looked up at the two men. Something was going terribly wrong here. “I came to say …” Hunter had to take a deep breath. Getting into a fight was one thing. Telling your girlfriend’s dad that you got her pregnant—quite another. “I’m the father of Asty’s baby. Our baby.”
Tooth growled and rubbed his face. “Oh, shit ...”
Priest grabbed the front of Hunter’s jacket and punched him so hard, his brain seemed to have rattled inside his skull before he lost his balance and fell, pushed to the floor.
“Motherfucker. Who told you that you can sleep with my baby? No one even knows you here,” hissed Priest, descending on Hunter with a strength he didn’t expect from a man his age.
Hunter covered his head, trapped between a visceral need to fight back and the logical thinking that if he hurt Priest, his president and Asty’s dad, he’d be even more screwed. He and Ray were here under observation in the first place.
“It’s complicated!” He yelped when Priest grabbed his neck with his thick fingers.
“No, it’s not.” Priest leaned over him as his thumbs pressed against Hunter’s Adam’s apple so hard it felt like Priest was close to breaking something inside Hunter’s throat. His red-tinged face was in stark contrast to the grey hair, and as Hunter’s vision became slightly blurred, Priest’s twisted face looked like the image of the Devil himself. “She’d never go behind my back like this without someone coercing her into it.”
When Hunter started choking, his instincts kicked in. He grabbed one of Priest’s wrists, working on pulling it away, and put his hand on Priest’s face in an attempt to distract him. “It’s nothing like that!” he managed to squeeze out.
“Shut up,” hissed Priest and delivered a quick punch, slapping Hunter’s head against the floor, but at least it was possible to breathe again, even though it felt like the punch had just cracked his skull. “You thought you can just avoid responsibility like that? Under my nose? Well, tough fucking luck.”
Hunter looked up for help from Tooth, but with the man standing there with his arms folded and a murderous facial expression, he wouldn’t be getting any. “I wanted to come out about it sooner,” he said with a taste of blood in his mouth.
Priest gave an unpleasant laugh. “Sure you did. What a fucking relief. Only my daughter wouldn’t ever be interested in a biker, so what did you do? Get her drunk?” he muttered and punctuated the sentence with yet another punch to Hunter’s jaw. The pain radiated all over his teeth so intensely that Hunter couldn’t keep from yelping in pain this time.
“We met before she knew I was a biker.” Hunter was gasping for air that brought no relief from the pain. He stopped himself from saying that she had invited him for an anonymous fuck. He didn’t need to antagonize Priest any more than he’d already had. “And I want to own up to everything. I want her, I want the baby.”
Priest pulled him up by the collar, gritting his teeth so hard it jarred in Hunter’s ears. “And who told you, you can have them? After you got her pregnant while hiding your face? I know all about that, you sick fucker!”
“Please, sir. You need to hear me out. There are more important things I need to talk to you about.” Though not much now felt more important than the throbbing pain in his jaw. “Maybe we can get her here? I did not force her into anything!”
A low growl left Priest’s throat. “I’m gonna cut off your balls.”
Hunter stilled and felt blood drain from his face. It was all getting too real for his liking. He had a vague concept of Priest getting aggressive toward him once he found out, but he never thought things would escalate this fast. Hunter was sure they’d talk it out man-to-man and shake hands by the end of it.
He turned around in an abrupt move to surprise Priest and Tooth and elbowed Priest in the face on the way. Opening the door with two of them in the office was out of the question. It would take too much time and would give them a chance to grab him. He crawled far enough to get out of Priest’s grip and kicked him for good measure. Just as Tooth blocked the door with a snarl, Hunter jumped on the desk, covered his head, and flung himself through the dark-tinted window between the office and lounge, hoping that his leather jacket would absorb as much potential cuts as possible.
Tooth’s roar echoed in Hunter’s ears as the glass gave in, parting in the way of Hunter’s weight. Instead of smoothly sliding through the air as he expected, Hunter dropped like a dead weight just behind the wall that he crossed. Thick shards broke into even smaller pieces, and as he tried to prop himself up and run, his palms screamed in warning. Dazed by the impact, he rushed forward, trying to shake off the haze, but out of nowhere, a wooden chair flung itself at him and broke as it hit his side.
Hunter was now like a hunted animal, fixated on survival. He’d have to help Asty on his own.
He fell to the floor. He got up again, wiping blood that drizzled into his eyes from his forehead, only to cut his nose with a shard stuck in his hand. He could try to climb the gate if he only got to it fast enough. Or he could take the route to the empty area, run to the building that was being built on the site. But then he’d be stuck and they would get reinforcements. They’d find him.
Gate then.
Someone grabbed at his collar and pulled him back so hard he choked.
“You are going nowhere,” growled Tooth, pulling one of Hunter’s hands back.
“If you only talk to Asty, she would tell you I didn’t coerce her into anything!” He managed to pull one of his hands away, but Tooth instantly grabbed the other and after a short struggle, cuffed Hunter’s wrists. He was trapped now. They could do anything to him, without a single witness.
“Of course, you did. That’s why she’s scared to tell me who the father is,” hissed Priest, pulling Hunter across the lounge. Between him and Tooth, they were dragging Hunter over the floor.
“She was scared because you try to police who she dates,” Hunter spat, wriggling in their hold.
His captors stalled on their way, and Hunter heard Tooth harrumph, “That’s kinda true.”
Priest exploded with anger. “This is such bullshit! I just recently suggested someone, and it’s her who wasn’t interested. But she’s clearly not thinking straight and needs some guidance. All the guys who gravitate to her are deadbeat fuckers, who are gonna hurt her eventually!”
“I would never,” Hunter said and dug his heels into the floor uselessly when they continued pulling him into the corridor leading to the members only area. “I’ve been here four months. I always answer my phone, I do whatever shit needs to be done, I’ve been on club runs. I’m fucking dependable!” It was hard to think with all the different kinds of pain attacking his body, but he tried as hard as he could.
Priest snorted as they stopped at a door that wasn’t labeled in any way. “I’ll show you dependable,” he said, just when Tooth pulled out a key and opened the door into a narrow staircase leading into the cellar, which Hunter thought this building didn’t have. The scent of wet ground and mold hit his nostrils, prompting him to again try to flee, but it was futile. Each movement hurt.
A vague idea about what that cellar held made cold sweat trail down Hunter’s back. “Sir, please. If we can just
get her here. That’s why I came. You don’t even know what she’s dealing with right now.”
Priest stopped and his grip on Hunter became harder. “What she’s dealing with is single fucking motherhood. At twenty, you stupid fuck.”
Tooth sighed as they stopped at a landing. “Maybe just have Prince drive her here from home.”
Hunter’s jaw trembled, and that sent painful vibrations all the way down to his toes. If Priest didn’t hate him yet, he would now. “She’s not home,” he uttered.
Priest pushed away Tooth and pressed Hunter against the wall, forcing the glass on his hands even deeper into flesh. “What? Where is she?” he hissed, eyes wide. “What did you do to her?”
“She’s safe! We—we went to a hotel for her birthday, and … things got out of hand.” Hunter swallowed, growing nauseated from the pain. “That’s why I came. She’s … I wanted to talk to you first, sir. I was worried she’d do something stupid, so …” Oh fuck, he didn’t want to get punched again. “The keys to her cuffs are in my pocket,” he whispered.
Priest pulled away, and if it weren’t for Tooth, Hunter would most likely slide down the stairs. “You cuffed my daughter?”
“Priest, let’s just get this ov—” started Tooth, but Priest had already flung his fist into Hunter’s stomach, making it clench and send bile up Hunter’s throat.
He spat some of the bitter liquid, and some of it landed on Priest’s shoes.
“Take him down to the chair,” Priest said, heaving as he pulled out the keys to the cuffs and to the hotel room from Hunter’s pocket. A part of Hunter was glad the name of the hotel was on there and he wouldn’t have to speak right now, because he would struggle. “And get him ready. I’ll have Prince get Asty, and I’ll be right down.”
Tooth sighed and pulled Hunter down the stairs, clearly trying to keep away from the shards in Hunter’s clothes and flesh. “Just try and calm down and see what she says,” he muttered.
Priest shook his head and rushed upstairs, slamming the door shut. For a second, they drowned in complete darkness and Tooth swore, but then he hit the light switch, and when the innards of the room downstairs emerged, Hunter screamed and tried to crawl back up the stairs, but with Tooth’s steel grip, it was no use.
Asty
Asty stopped screaming for help long ago. The tape on her lips was surprisingly resistant and didn’t let all that much noise come through. Having lost hope for catching the attention of the staff, she tried to wiggle her wrist out of the cuff that seemed a bit wider on her, twisting and pulling to the rhythm of an old Britney Spears song that played on the television. The metal already chafed her skin, but she kept going, unable to think of anything else but what Dad would do to Hunter once he found out the truth. Finding her vibrator under the pillow as she wiggled around didn’t make her situation one bit better. Why didn’t Hunter hide something that she could actually use to go and save him?
Tug after tug, the cuff dug into her flesh, but somehow, her thumb wouldn’t dislocate to let it pass through. What was she doing wrong? A brief thought made her shudder in fear. If Hunter died, maybe at least leaving the rest of her family behind wouldn’t be so painful, but it only ended up with her sobbing, which wasn’t the greatest idea with her mouth blocked.
She told Hunter too early. She led herself to believe he was ready, that he’d understand the logic behind her words, but his upbringing must have reared its ugly head and made him refuse all her claims without question. She’d never see him again. But even as she struggled, the question he asked kept coming back. If the body growing inside her would become Bell’s, what would happen to the baby she and Hunter had created together? She loved Bell so much, and yet she loved that little thing too, even if she hadn’t heard its voice yet.
The sudden sound of the door opening made her groan in both relief and anger. She didn’t manage to free herself, but at least Hunter was back and they could talk this out. Her heart stopped when instead of Hunter’s face, she saw Prince’s pale beard.
“Oh, fuck. Asty … I’ll get you right out of those,” Prince said in that ridiculously polite-sounding accent of his and kneeled on the bed next to her with the key to her handcuffs. The pink vibrator rolled into his lap, and when he looked at it, his cheeks went aflame.
Asty rattled the handcuffs against the bed frame, screaming at him, so he finally leaned down and freed her hand. When the cuff opened, her chest sagged with relief, and she tugged on the tape, only to find out it was glued firmer than she expected. She eventually succeeded, even though the pain of it made her hiss.
“Fucking hell.” Prince shook his head and quickly tucked the vibrator under the pillow, as if he intended to pretend it never rolled out of there. “I can’t believe that scumbag would do this to you. No wonder your father’s gone mental.”
Asty had to hold on to him the moment she stood on her feet. “He didn’t do anything ... fuck ...” she uttered and grabbed her phone out of the bag, already rushing into the corridor. By the time she reached the elevator, the automated voice told her that her dad was out of reach, which only heightened her anxiety.
Prince was right on her heels. “Wait! Asty! Come on, don’t make this hard on me. I need to take you to the club.”
She pushed the elevator button like a maniac. “That’s where they are?” she asked, watching an elderly couple get into the glass-encased elevator a floor above them. The elevator began to rise up again, and she hit the wall in anger.
Prince scowled. “Um … maybe?” He knew but he wasn’t supposed to tell her. No one would ever tell her anything, but she wasn’t a child. She knew damn well about many things that went on in her dad’s club. She was a good listener. She also knew where Tooth got his nickname. And it wasn’t, as the official version stated, because he used to apprentice at a dentist’s.
Asty clenched her teeth and looked up at him. “You will take me where they are, or there will be hell to pay,” she barked at him, watching the numbers of the floors gradually light and dim on the console by the door.
“I will, but let’s just get your coat, okay?” He tried to pull her back to the room, but she was having none of that.
“Let go of me. Who told you, you can touch me?” she hissed, even though there were tears pushing at her eyes. She hated being pregnant. It was as if her emotions were constantly thumping on her skin from the inside. “This is gonna take forever,” she hissed and quickly rushed down the stairs next to the elevator.
Prince groaned, but followed her just as fast. “There’s no need for this. You’ll get to talk to Priest soon. A few minutes won’t change anything.”
“Yes, they can. You know they can. What did they do to him?” she asked and once again tried to reach her Dad’s phone. When that didn’t work, she tried the stationary phone in the office, but no one was picking it up either.
Prince rushed past her once they got down to the underground parking and led the way to a club-owned car. “I didn’t see anything, I had gate duty.” Yet another lie. He must have seen or heard something, especially on guard duty.
“Of course, you didn’t,” she said and quickly ran up to the car. There shouldn’t be much traffic at this time of night. Maybe they could be back at the club soon, and she could somehow intervene. The constant negative answer she was getting on her phone was making her delirious with worry. It was squeezing around her throat and not letting her breathe right. “Just take me there. We need to hurry.”
Prince didn’t even answer, just sat in the driver’s seat and switched on the engine as soon as she closed the door on her side.
*
Asty’s skin was numb with anxiety by the time they reached the clubhouse. She hopped outside, rubbing her arms frantically to chase away the freezing cold as Prince unlocked the gate. She choked on the cool air when she saw the familiar van standing alongside two bikes that belonged to her dad and Tooth. She couldn’t wait anymore as her heart drummed despite the lethargy brought upon by the cold, and she pushe
d past Prince before he could grab her. Ignoring his shouts, she ran to the main door, glad she chose flat platform shoes that day. Each step on the asphalt pushed a cloud of vapor out of her lungs as she all but flew across the front yard and burst into the dark lounge. She hit the light switch instinctively, and the lamps blinked two times before illuminating the whole room.
“Dad? Hunter?” she yelled, running inside with her heart up her throat. “Where are you?”
Prince was there in seconds. “Seriously, just wait in the office, okay? I told you he’ll be here.” He pointed to the office, and Asty froze at the sight of glass from the inner window all over the floor, some even bloodied. “Um … We were chasing a cat,” Prince mumbled and curled his shoulders briefly, when their eyes met.
Asty swallowed and started slowly backing away, even though she felt as if she were to lose balance any minute from the sudden lightheadedness. A red streak drew a crooked line on the floor, most likely left by someone’s hand. Hunter’s. She closed her eyes and exhaled, trying to calm down despite all the alarms ringing inside her body. “Of course. I’ll wait. Just get him here quick.”
Prince waited to see her walk into the office before turning toward the lounge. “You can make some coffee in the meanwhile!” he yelled to her before the door of the office slammed behind him.
She unzipped her shoes behind the desk, where he couldn’t see them through the broken window. The pulsing in her ears could have muted her footsteps, but as she skirted toward the door, she hoped Prince couldn’t hear her as well. Taught by experience how to sneak out while her parents were home, she grabbed the handle with both hands, pulled the door harder into its frame, and slowly pushed down. Relief flooded her chest when it turned out it was well oiled and didn’t really make much noise, but this was only the beginning. Asty ran out of the office on her toes and made a large circle around the glass, hoping no lost shard would get into her skin, but her thoughts drifted somewhere once she reached the entrance to the members only area where she saw Prince disappear to. The door was only halfway closed, and when she looked through the opening, Prince’s tall form came into view before disappearing behind the turn of the corridor. He wasn’t quiet either, stomping forward and making himself an easy target to follow in the silent clubhouse.
Split - Coffin Nails MC (Contemporary New Adult Erotic Dark Romance) (Sex & Mayhem Book 7) Page 21