by Lane Hart
"Missing something?" I ask, not bothering to disguise my voice. I want him to know who it is.
"Not that I know of. What the fuck have you got, Fury?"
Either Hector Cruz is lying, or he really doesn't know Lexi is missing yet, which is...surprising. I thought he would have goons on her at all times, even in the club, waiting for me to come after her to get to him. If he left her unprotected then he’s an idiot.
Answering him, I say, "A slutty little brunette whose name rhymes with sexy."
I hear his gasp clear over the phone line. So he hasn’t heard she was kidnapped yet.
"Y-you have her?" Hector asks. “No, you’re lying! You killed her months ago you son of a bitch!”
What the fuck?
“I didn’t kill her. Yet. I’m standing here looking at her in her little stripper costume,” I reply while staring down at the frightened expression on her face. She should be fucking scared. “Talk to him,” I say when I lower the phone to Lexi’s mouth.
She looks up at me in silence for several long seconds.
“Tell him!” I order, putting the gun to the side of her head again.
“It’s…it’s me,” she says, keeping her gaze on me. “I’m…I’m okay.”
“Lexi?” I hear her father say, then, “I don’t understand. Where the hell was she all this time?”
“Where else? The stripper capital of the world,” I reply, unable to stop myself from letting my eyes lower to all of the many areas her tan skin is showing thanks to the skimpy outfit. I really do need to put some clothes on her.
“Vegas?” Hector says in surprise like he had no idea.
“Where’s the flash drive, Hector?” I ask. “She has it, doesn’t she?”
“No,” he answers right away. “I have it.”
Damn, so she was telling the truth. Or maybe he’s lying for her. No way for me to know now.
"I want the flash drive and all other copies destroyed. And if you ever want to see her again, it’s gonna cost you. So tell me, how much is your only daughter worth?” I ask him, knowing damn well that the son and wife he took from me were fucking priceless.
Hector's silent for a moment before he says, "A million?" Like he's asking me if Lexi's worth that much.
"Come on, you greedy fuck. To start with, I want every penny you took from me plus substantial interest. Then add on the amount for her."
I don’t give a shit about the money. No amount in the world can bring back Kennedy to me. But all that cash he blackmailed from me should go to the Kings before I’m gone.
"What does it matter?” Hector asks. “We both know you're not gonna return her alive."
"That's a chance I guess you'll just have to take," I tell him. “She’s alive for now.”
"Fine. Five million, and that's it."
"Deal," I reply, even though I expected him to go to ten for his daughter. "Seventy-two hours is all you get. I'll text you the wiring instructions and then the meet-up location for you to hand over the flash drive and money for her. There better not be any copies."
"You can have the flash drive, but I can't get that much money wired in three days. I need three business days at least and it's Thursday!"
"Tuesday at noon. Work fast," I tell him.
"Fuck you, Fury," he says before hanging up on me.
So, I've got five days of hauling around his bitch in case he wants to talk to her again. And we'll have to constantly be watching our backs. It’ll be a pain in the ass, but in the end, the payday will be worth it for the MC.
Next week at this time, Hector will find out how it feels to lose someone he loves, then I'll end that son of a bitch.
And when that’s all finished, I’ll finally put a bullet in my own head to end the constant agony I’ve been in for months.
Chapter Four
Lexi
"Um, Torin?" I ask into the silent, now dark room.
I'm not surprised when there's no response. I mean, this is the man who carelessly chucked me across the van, almost shattering my freaking hip. At least he left the gag off of me after he talked to my father. I really wish he wouldn’t have called that evil man. All this time hiding, and now he knows where I was living. If my father follows up, he could even find….no, I can’t worry about that right now.
"So, um, I need to go to the bathroom. Should I use the floor like a dog, or can I maybe use a toilet?" I ask. While I really do have to go, mostly I want to see the layout of the rest of the room, so I can try to plan my escape. Hopefully there’s a window in the bathroom…
I hear a muttered curse, but then there's the sound of movement in the darkness. A moment later, I'm scooped up from where I hit the ground hours ago. He carries me over his shoulder the few feet to where the bathroom light flicks on, and my bladder nearly cheers in celebration.
My bare feet are lowered to the cold, tile floor, but it’s hard to get my balance thanks to the awkwardness of standing with my ankles restrained so damn closely together. But I need to get my shit together in here because now it's time for Operation Seduce My Kidnapper.
"So, I, ah, can't exactly pull my panties down with my hands behind my back," I tell the big, hovering man whose handsome face is pinched in annoyance. I probably could shimmy my thong down myself, but I want to get him to do it. The more he touches me, the better chance of making him want me again, right?
"Goddamn it," Torin grumbles. His big hands come down on either side of my hips and then yank the string of my thong down without even trying to cop a feel.
"Thanks," I say sweetly. "Now, can I have some privacy?" I ask.
He makes a deep, growling sound of irritation before responding with actual words. "I'm gonna turn around for thirty fucking seconds. That's all you get.”
"Great, I appreciate that," I say as I start to try and lower myself to the toilet. "Oh, but how am I going to, you know, wipe?"
"Drip dry," he replies.
"What? I can't! That causes bladder infections, and they hurt like a son of a bitch," I whine while clenching my thighs together to hold off the urge to relieve myself that’s getting stronger every second now that I’m standing.
"Oh, my fucking God! Quit being a pain in the ass!" he complains.
I want to tell him that if I'm such a hassle why doesn’t he just let me go. My father must have promised him some sort of ransom and restitution for killing his wife. I don't know how much; but if it's more than a thousand, I call bullshit. I’m probably not worth that much to my father. He cares about his drugs and his money more than he ever cared about me.
Suddenly, I'm spun around, and my hands are being set free with Torin’s knife. Hell yes! Although, at the moment there's no way I can get past the man’s massive frame to escape out the small door. And I have no doubt that he still has that big gun on him too.
"If you make one move to try and run, I’ll blow your head off, got it?" he asks, confirming my assumption.
"Got it. I'd really like to keep my head," I agree right before he turns around so that I can sit down and finally relieve my full bladder.
I've never gone to the bathroom in front of a man before, and it's oddly...intimate to be doing such a thing in front of a kidnapper. And extremely gross.
Finished, I stand back up and pull my thong up my legs, before changing my mind and reversing course, lowering the scratchy lace material to the ground instead, along with the garter belt. "Okay, I'm done."
"What the hell are you doing?" Torin asks in a rush when he turns around and I’m naked from the bottom of my corset down. He definitely takes a nice long look at the smooth, bare flesh between my legs.
"I'd prefer to leave those off. Have you ever tried sleeping with a piece of string digging into your ass? Believe me, it's uncomfortable."
"Why are you a fucking stripper?" I'm surprised when he asks such a random question out of the blue, as if he actually cares or something. “Do you like having a bunch of assholes looking at you and trying to feel you up?”
; Torin was one of those men for several nights in a row back in Emerald Isle.
“It’s not my first job of choice, but it frees up my days while still paying the bills,” I explain to him. “And it’s nice to feel wanted.”
Torin wanted me. He wanted me bad the night he got a private dance and more.
Without further comment, he slices the plastic around my ankles to let me slip the annoying pieces of fabric off.
Trying to flirt with him because having him want me rather than kill me is the better option, I reach down and pick up my abandoned panties, dangling them on the tip of one finger. "I seem to remember you begging me to take my panties off for you, so I guess you didn’t mind me being a stripper before," I say as seductively as possible.
Jerking the panties out of my hand, Torin then spins me around by my shoulders and grabs my wrists, jerking them behind my back again. Shit. This time, instead of rope, he uses my thong to tie them together.
"Wow. That's actually a much better use for them," I say to him honestly over my shoulder.
I hear a thud. And then, when I glance behind me, I see his jeans are unexpectedly pooling around his feet.
Oh, god. What the hell is he doing?
When his black boxer briefs go down and his shoes are removed a second later, I start to panic. I told myself I could suck it up and do what needs to be done to screw these guys, but now...not so much. I may not get a choice in the men who watch me dance naked and try to touch me, but Torin is the only one I’ve ever actually been with. The first time hurt and I don’t care for a repeat while he’s on the verge of killing me…
"Put these on," he says, picking up and offering his boxer briefs to me.
"Ah, excuse me?"
"Put them on. Now," he growls.
I pick a foot up and he slips them on the first leg, then the other. He then pulls them up my legs until they're at my waist. Of course they're too big, so he bunches and folds the elastic waistband over a few times until they're tight enough to stay on. Unfortunately, he then pulls out a zip-tie to restrain my ankles back together again.
"Thanks, I guess," I say, still in shock at the strange gesture.
"If Cooper tries anything with you, you yell for me, okay?" he asks.
Does that mean he thinks that Cooper will mess with me? He never stepped a toe out of line when he was my boss at Avalon. Would he actually do something like that? At least Torin says he won't let him, which I appreciate. I even breathe a little easier. Death I can handle, because then it's done and over. It's the other bad things that could happen that have me worried. Horrible things like I’ve heard my father does to torture people before he kills them.
"Um, sure. Thanks, Torin.”
"Yeah," he says with a sigh.
“Do you think…could I please make a phone call?” I blurt out while he’s in somewhat of a good mood. Or as good a mood as he gets. I need to call Joanna and tell her to pack up our shit and leave town…
“No,” he answers without even considering about it.
“I don’t want to call my father. I just need to call my–”
“What part of no don’t you understand?” he snarls at me “Oh, that’s right. It’s not a word you fucking recognize, is it?”
“What…” I start to ask when he slaps his big palm over my mouth and lowers his face so that it’s right in front of mine.
“Not another fucking word about the shit that happened between us, or I’ll gag you continuously for the next five goddamn days,” he growls.
After I nod my agreement, he bands an arm around my waist and lifts me up none too gently. He doesn't set me back down again until I'm on the bed.
Oddly, even after he yelled at me, I feel less scared than before after our talk. Getting as comfortable as I can with my arms behind my back and no shirt or covers, I'm actually able to curl up on my side and fall asleep.
…
Torin
I’m so damn tired I can barely hold my eyes open or my head upright in the motel chair. Guess that means it's time to trade off with War. There's no fucking way I'm going to get any sleep while leaving Coop with Lexi. Not that I think he would ever take advantage of her. Quite the opposite. I'm more concerned that he’s too soft with Lexi because they worked together. This girl will no doubt try and seduce any or all of us to try to get away. Cooper doesn’t need to get any more attached to her. If he does, he'll fight me even harder when it's time to do what needs to be done. Not that he knows what I plan to do. I can't afford for Cooper or War to get in the way of my revenge or try to talk me out of it.
I pull myself up from the chair and head through the adjoining doors to the other dark, quiet room. When I figure out which sleeping form is War, the wider and bigger one snoring like the grizzly bear that he is, I shake him awake.
"Yo, War," I say. "Your turn to keep watch."
He's had about six hours of sleep, so he should be good to go while I get some shut eye for a couple of hours.
War stretches his arms over his head before finally sitting up. He rubs his hand over his black high and tight haircut and then his scruffy jaw before covering a yawn, taking his sweet ass time.
"Don't cut her ties unless she has to go to the bathroom, then tie her right back up with some duct tape. Got it?" I say to him. “We’re out of plastic ties.”
"Yeah, yeah, yeah," he mutters. "I'm hungry."
"Wake Coop up in a few minutes and send him out," I tell him, and he grunts his agreement.
Finally, War climbs out of bed, scratches his hairy stomach and pulls on his jeans.
When he starts to walk through the adjoining doors, I think to call out, "Don't let Coop lay a fucking finger on her," in warning.
Chapter Five
Lexi
When I hear movement in the hotel room, I crack my eyes open but remain completely still on the bed. It’s not Torin but one of the other guys, the bodybuilder looking one, heading over to the tiny kitchen where he fixes a pot of coffee. It smells warm and delicious. God, I would love some coffee or some water, anything for my dry mouth. I watch as the man pours the dark liquid into a disposable cup and then adds a few packets of sugar.
As he wanders over to the extra bed, he blows on the steam before sitting down on the edge of the mattress right in front of me. That’s when his eyes finally meet mine.
“Oh. You’re awake,” he says in surprise.
“Yeah, not easy to sleep with your arms behind your back,” I remark. His eyes momentarily lower to my breasts that are about to pop out the top of my corset before coming back up to mine.
“Sorry,” he says, and I’m not sure if he’s apologizing for looking at me or for my predicament.
"Right,” I reply as I glance around the room that’s only lit by the bedside lamp. I need to move to give my shoulders and wrists a break. "Could I maybe use the restroom?" I ask, even though I don’t really need to go.
"Yeah, sure," he says before getting to his feet.
I swing my legs around to the side of the bed, but then tell him, “Walking isn't really feasible with my ankles tied together.”
“Sorry,” he replies before he easily picks me up in a gentle fireman’s hold, unlike Torin’s, and totes me to the bathroom, flipping on the light after he sits my feet back down.
He reaches for my wrists, and then I feel a tug on the string.
“What the fuck?” he mutters from behind me.
"Oh, ah, yeah, that’s my thong," I inform him. "Torin, ah, he used it to tie me back up after I went to the bathroom last night."
"Why the hell did he do that?" he asks.
"I don't know," I answer with a shrug.
"And are you...are you wearing men’s boxers?" he asks.
"Ah, yeah. Torin gave me his."
"Torin gave you his boxers and used your thong to tie your hands?” he asks. “That's...odd."
"I guess he doesn't want me flashing you guys," I reply.
“Hmm,” he mutters.
He must hav
e a knife on him too because my hands are quickly freed.
"I'll wait for you out here," he tells me.
"Thanks," I reply, which is strange since they’ve kidnapped me against my will. At least he’s letting me use the bathroom without staying in here with me. Besides, the old saying is that you catch more bees with honey, so the least I can do is try to be nice to my captors.
I quickly take care of business and flush the toilet. It’s not easy with my ankles restrained together, but I manage to waddle over to the faucet to wash my hands. When the water starts running, the guy says, "Are you thirsty? There's some hotel coffee. It’s actually pretty awful, though,” just before I can start pouring handfuls of the nasty sink water down my throat.
"I'd just like to have some water if that would be okay?" I ask when I look over my shoulder at him with pleading eyes. That tends to work on most men, with the exception of my father.
"Sure," he answers right away. I step out of the bathroom and watch as he grabs a plastic bottle of water from the mini-fridge and hands it to me.
I screw off the lid and then guzzle the entire thing because I feel like I’m dying of thirst. Once it’s all gone, I hand the empty bottle back to him and wipe my mouth with the back of my hand. That’s when my stomach decides to let out a growl that’s loud enough for the neighbors in other rooms to hear.
Have I considered yelling for help? Of course I have. More than once. But then I decided that getting killed for trying would probably defeat the purpose even if it worked.
"I'll, um, get Cooper to go get us some breakfast in a little while," he says, having obviously heard the rumbling.
"Oh, good," I say on an exhale, glad that they’re not planning on starving me at least.
“I already know Cooper, but what’s your name?” I ask, figuring it can’t hurt to get to know him on a first name basis.
“War,” he replies.
“I’m Lexi,” I say. “But I guess you already knew that?”