by C. M. Owens
I’m off the bed in the next instant and pulling on my clothes, while also grabbing one of my bags.
“Can I ask where you’re going?” she asks from behind me.
“Nope. I don’t trust my brother not to send my ex after me again. I wanted to help out, but I have my limits. Rush is off his damn rocker, and I don’t think he particularly likes me.”
“Really? I sort of thought he was obsessed with you,” she says like she’s confused.
I glance back over my shoulder as I get my second shoe tugged on, after a series of indignant hops.
“Yeah, well, he’s the kind of guy who gets hung up on control. He’s not so much obsessed with me as he is obsessed with controlling me. It’s best that I make a clean break. Is it safe to sneak out?”
I peer through the small crack I make in the door, finding the clubhouse mostly empty, with only a few drunks staggering in during the lunch hour.
“They’re in a meeting, so you better hurry. I’ll keep Drex distracted.”
I turn around, taking a deep breath. “Will Drex hurt you for this?”
She looks at me like I’m insane. Okay…then.
“No. Besides, he’ll never know it was me. He doesn’t think I’m brazen enough for a stunt like this. You should go. They won’t stay in there long because Snake has to take his shift at the hospital in less than thirty minutes.”
I nod like that’s all the motivation I need, and I walk the catwalk without acting suspicious, while also moving quickly.
A flashback hits me as I hurry down the stairs, trying not to draw attention.
The more things change, the more they stay the same.
Axle’s roller skating bride from Loonyville stops in front of me. She gives one look over my shoulder, darts a gaze to my bag, and skates out of my way without saying a word.
Just as I emerge to the outside, she’s suddenly there again, skating down the newly paved sidewalk, and I do a double take, wondering how she did that so fast.
“Go to the tat shop across the street. You don’t have long enough to get away, but Drake is a master of deception,” she tells me, gesturing over her shoulder to the rough looking ink shop.
I give her a nod, hoping I’m not an idiot for trusting her. Rush seems indifferent toward everyone, aside from Sledge, from what I’ve observed.
Still…I hesitate…
This is my one shot at escaping—
“Drex just came out, and he looks pissed. The others won’t be far behind, and their moods will likely match his,” she tells me in a cool tone.
I barely glimpse my brother through the crack she’s made in the door. It’s all the motivation I need to get over my trust issues and dive toward the tattoo shop.
The lone tattoo artist looks up from his ass-cheek tat and frowns at me.
“I don’t have any room to work in unscheduled appointments, and my lazy apprentice is taking her safety a little more serious these days, due to recent events. However, if you’ll give me a moment—”
“Maya said I could hide in here,” I tell him, interrupting his little monologue.
He gives me a dead look. “These fucking women are determined to get me killed. Whose girl are you?”
I glance at ass-cheek-tat guy and hear him snoring, so I decide it’s safe to spill some beans.
“I’m Drex’s sister, and I know that’s probably a scary thing. But I swear I’m not—”
“Oh,” he says with a semi-concerning grin. “In that case, head on back to the room on the far end. I’ll come chat with you between clients and we can get to know each other better.”
He waggles his eyebrows at me, but…he seems harmless enough. I take my chances, but pause when I spot a framed cocksucker daisy. It looks just like the tattoo I heard people whispering about.
The one my brother had covered up…
I dart a look back over my shoulder to find the suicidal tattoo artist happily whistling as he enthusiastically works on the butterfly tattoo for the fella passed out on the reclined chair.
Alrighty then.
I find an excellent hidey hole inside a closet with a false panel, and I tuck myself and my bag into it. Then I quickly pull the false panel back into place, and I casually glance through the phone I swiped off the table on my way through so that I wouldn’t be bored while waiting this out.
I’ll wait until a convenient time to escape to somewhere farther from the clubhouse, and I’ll—
I hear the jingle of a door chime, and my breath stills as I wait to see who has just come in.
“If you want ink, you’ll have to schedule it like everyone else. I’m getting a little tired of the club thinking they can just prance in here—”
Drake’s words cut out, and I listen intently as something drops to the floor.
The next thing I know, I hear a wheeze of sound before there’s a loud crash, and a groan accompanies that.
“What the fucking hell?” Drake snaps.
The sound of heavy footfalls come down the hallway, and my breaths get steadily heavier as they near. I actually end up holding my loud breath in the otherwise silent compartment when I hear the door to the room open.
“Fuck’s sake, Rush, what the hell is going on?” Drake snaps. “Why did you just fucking throw me across my own damn ink shop?”
The footsteps move through the room, and I chance replacing the old breath with a new one.
“Where is she, Drake? I’ll only ask this once, so choose your answer carefully. I’m not Drex. I’m not Axle. I don’t really give a shit about you at all.”
“That sort of hurts. I’ve done half your ink—” His words cut out and he makes a nervous sound of laughter. “You really are fucking insane. I don’t know, man. I told her to come back here, but the window’s open. Maybe she went out that way.”
My curious nature begs me to look out and see what’s going on, but I’m not a slave to my curious nature. I keep my ass silent and still.
“This window has been open for half the day. She came in, and she hasn’t left. Where is she?”
How does he know I came in here? How does he know I haven’t left?
Those little cameras spring to mind, and I half wonder if he hasn’t rigged the whole damn block with them to counteract any of my escape plans…
He really is crazy controlling.
“I genuinely don’t fucking know.”
“Tell me the secrets of this room, Drake. Or I’ll tattoo your fucking forehead, and then I’ll tattoo your fucking dick.”
“My dick and forehead already have tattoos,” Drake deadpans. “I don’t fucking know. This room is just a room. There’s the one closet you’re already inspecting, and—”
His words cut off just as the false panel is ripped away right in front of me, and my eyes collide with cold blue ones. Rush doesn’t exactly act surprised to find me, but a smugness hints at the corners of his lips.
Well, this officially sucks.
Drake pinches the bridge of his nose. “Fucking crazy motherfuckers over there,” he mutters as he turns and walks out of the room, leaving me alone with my captor.
“You’ll learn I’m not the same dumb, naïve kid anymore, Kara. Stop thinking you’re smarter than me. Things have changed,” he tells me as the false pretenses of amusement drops. “Maybe you’ll appropriately thank me for saving your fucking life when this is all over.”
I’m starting to feel like a fool for ever thinking this would be simple. He’s not just a few steps ahead of me. The bastard has thought of every way possible to keep me right where he wants me.
My eyes lock onto his, and he gives me a dark grin.
“Come,” he says as he holds out his hand to me.
Since I’m not left with much of a choice, because it’s not like I’m going to stab him, I take his hand and let him pull me out.
He doesn’t let go of my hand. Instead, he threads our fingers together and briskly starts pulling me with him. Drake has already resumed his butterfly tattoo on
the man who is still snoring as we pass through.
He gives me an apologetic shrug, but we’ve been outmatched. I’ll thank him at a time when it won’t possibly get him punched just for being a decent human being.
Rush doesn’t glance back at me, and I work to keep up with his strides, fearing what my new punishment is going to be.
Chapter 19
KARA
Well, this sucks.
I’ve been essentially hogtied—naked—with my ass in the air, and my feet and hands tied to each other in this awful position. Also, I’m firmly tied to the bed to keep me just like this, with a precariously intricately woven pattern for full effect.
What the hell has this place done to him?
“She’s mine, and if you have a problem with it, I’ll take her and we’ll leave without helping you with Herrin,” Rush snaps to…Drex.
Yeah…
This argument keeps escalating.
My brother is just outside and losing his shit about the fact Rush has completely claimed me as his full-time captive.
“You twisted son of a bitch. What the hell have you done to her?” Drex growls very loudly.
This won’t end well. But kudos to my brother for finally sticking up for me. I was starting to wonder if he cared at all.
“Get by me, and you can have her,” Rush challenges.
“Fucking hell, Rush. He’s our president. Watch your tongue before he has it cut out for you,” Sledge snaps.
“Let him try. He failed her. I won’t.”
There’s silence for a minute, before Drex curses, a slight scuffling happens, and the door crashes open to reveal…me in my face-down, ass-up, hogtied glory.
Sledge, Drex, and Axle all look in at me with horrified expressions.
“I’d wave, but my hands are a little tied up at the moment,” I state dryly.
Rush shoves them away from the door, quickly shutting it. “Do you think she wants everyone to see her fucking naked?” Rush snaps like he gives a damn about what I want.
He’s snapped. Completely snapped.
“You’ve spent too much time with Sarah, you crazy ass motherfucker,” Drex barks.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about. I’m keeping her safe, while also reminding her who has the power in the relationship this time.”
Ahhhh. So that’s what this is.
I had all the power last time because I was Herrin’s daughter, and he was president. Now I’m Drex’s sister, and he’s president. Rush is simply ensuring I know my place…in his own crazy way.
“I’m not in a power struggle. Does that mean I get untied?” I ask through the door.
No response comes.
“Just let me talk to her and give the girl some decency,” Sledge says like he’s talking Rush off a ledge.
“No, you can’t talk to her. And she’s got plenty of decency so long as I’m the only one who sees her that way. You fuckers need to mind your own damn business. I haven’t told any of you what to do with your women,” he goes on.
“You stuck your nose in my business with Eve plenty of fucking times,” Drex grinds out. “And Kara is my motherfucking sister.”
This argument continues for…about the longest ten minutes in history.
“No one goes near her without my permission, or I’ll start removing body parts from the ones who disobey my rules regarding her. No exceptions,” Rush says before he slips in without opening the door much and locks it behind him.
He cuts those lethal eyes toward me, and I give a tentative smile. “Just curious, but when exactly did your damage escalate to this level?”
His eyes narrow. “This wouldn’t be an issue if Eve minded her own fucking business. She knows she’s untouchable. Even if I was a heartless bastard, I couldn’t kill someone as fucking pathetic as she is,” he grinds out as he starts shoving a dresser in front of the door…
“If you’re barricading us in here, I think it’s time we had a rational, meaningful conversation about what steps you plan to take next. Maybe…find a saner approach to handle this? Conflict resolution is a huge tool necessary to have in any and all relationships.”
“Stop talking to me like I’m some lunatic who just escaped the asylum, Kara,” he bites out as he starts putting one of the small tables atop the dresser.
“Sure. Sure. No problem. Just stop acting like a lunatic, and I’ll stop treating you like one,” I assure him.
He glares over his shoulder at me for a brief moment, but then quickly resumes piling shit back on top of the dresser until the room is mostly emptied and completely blocking the door.
“How do you plan on feeding us?” I very reasonably ask.
“I have a fridge in the closet that will get us through for the next five days,” he says like he’s thought this through. “We’ll go sparingly until they cool off and show a bit more understanding for my point of view.”
“Am I going to be tied up like this the entire time?” I ask, mostly because I’m losing feeling in my legs already.
He walks over to me, and he quickly undoes the top two ropes that release my legs. The relief I feel is immediately squashed by the sinking sensation that he’s scratching his head a lot.
It’s a nervous habit. Rush being nervous is never a good thing. He doesn’t deal with nervousness very well.
I’m sincerely worried just how fucked up this place has made him, when he was already fucked up enough when he got here.
“If you’ll untie my hands, I promise I won’t do anything stupid.”
He gives me a disbelieving look.
“You choose what we do with my freed body parts for the next thirty minutes. Completely your choice,” I offer, deciding that calming him down is definitely my top priority.
He narrows his gaze on me before slowly undoing the bindings on my wrists. The second I’m freed, I twist my wrists, working out the kinks, as I study him.
“Let me fucking sleep for a few hours with you the way we used to sleep, and I’ll leave you untied the rest of the night,” he says.
I’m surprised and confused, since I expected the thirty minutes I offered to be used for sexual favors.
“O-okay,” I stammer as he tugs his shirt over his head.
My mind goes back to how long he watched me. I thought it was just because Drex sent him. Now I almost wonder if he’s slept very much at all during that stint of time, because he certainly knows an awful lot about everything I’m doing before I do it.
Eve’s words drift through my head.
I thought he was obsessed with you.
“Rush, what’s going on?” I ask more seriously.
“The arrangement was sleep. Not chitchat,” he murmurs as he quickly grabs my hand and jerks me down on him.
I don’t fight him as my head gets tucked under his chin, and I wrap my arms around him as he presses me fully against his body.
He’s down to just his boxers, which is unusual for him. Usually, he at least keeps his jeans on so he can be up and out of here at a moment’s notice.
His arms come around me, holding me as close as possible, as his breaths slowly begin to even out. It’s probably a bad decision, but I kiss his chest, because I hate that he’s acting so lost right now.
His next breath comes out harshly, but his body relaxes all the more.
“I would have come with you if you’d told me you were leaving,” he says so quietly I almost miss it.
My eyes shut, and I release my own shaky breath while kissing his chest again.
“I wouldn’t have left without you if I’d known that then,” I assure him.
“You’re just telling me whatever in the hell I want to hear right now because you think I’m fucking insane. I’m not a fool anymore, Kara. Stop treating me like I still am.”
My leg inches farther over on his waist, and I settle in closer to him. “I think you’re batshit crazy, but I don’t think you’re a fool. I promise.”
He snorts, and the warm breath tickles my sca
lp through my hair.
“Everyone is batshit crazy. It’s how they handle it that defines their level of crazy,” he says, quoting the young version of me.
There’s not enough therapy in the world to reverse the severe damage that’s been done to him by this point in his life. He had a horrific childhood that was so bad that the club was a better option than his home or the shitty streets of Halo.
“I said a lot of things as a kid. Stop treating it like it’s gospel,” I point out.
“You were smarter as a kid than you are now, because now you’re trying too fucking hard to fit in with the normal people who have normal problems,” he sleepily murmurs.
“I know, right?” I ask, even as my own eyelids get heavier.
His arms tighten around me, and he kisses the top of my head so affectionately that I almost question if I dreamed it.
“It’s okay to be fucked up, so long as we understand our damage,” I murmur as it all gets darker and darker and…
Chapter 20
RUSH
I’m going to start shooting people if one more person tries to break through my door while Kara is sleeping soundly against me. I have her right where I fucking want her, and they’re trying to mess it all up.
“Rush, I just want to talk,” Sledge says from the other side of the door, his voice muffled by all the things I’ve added to block the door.
Kara stirs, her arms tightening around my middle, as her leg slides up higher on my waist so that she can move in closer.
Some light bickering erupts, everyone trying to figure out how to handle this situation. Drex is the crazy motherfucker who took in a good girl, who prostituted herself out during a desperate financial crisis her family was suffering. And he enjoyed every fucking second of it until he somehow managed to make her think she was in love.
Sledge fucked a manipulative bitch, who led him around on a metaphorical leash, and he kissed her ass until he killed her for being a manipulative bitch.
Axle is dating a straight-up crazy ass mafia chick because no other woman can tackle the gruesome amount of scars that are coupled with his non-existent personality, and he’s the most normal of the bunch.