"I'm so sorry this happened to you." I cried, my eyes filling with tears.
She shook her head. "It wasn't your fault, honey. Martin had us both fooled." We stepped out of each other's arms.
"Sweetheart-—" We both turned toward Sax, who'd stopped near the still-open door. "You need anything?" His question was meant for Holly, the look in his green eyes revealing a little more than just casual interest. I glanced back to Holly, taking in the change in her expression, the softness in her eyes. They clearly had something going on.
"Not right now, thank you, Sax."
He backed out and closed the door.
Holly's gaze came back to me, a smile spreading across her face when she noticed my raised brow. "What? He's a nice man."
I couldn't agree or disagree with her, because I didn't know Sax. Come to think of it, neither did she, but that wasn't important right then. I took her hand and led her to the foot of the bed where we both sat down.
"What did they do to you?" I asked softly, needing to know.
She took a breath. "Nothing, really. Martin was waiting for me outside my work, said that you'd been in an accident and that he would take me to you. I didn't even question it, Bailey. He looked so stricken, and I was in such a rush to get to you that I got into his car without asking any questions. I think I must have been in shock or something. On the way to what I thought was the hospital he offered me a bottle of water. That's the last thing I remember until I woke up tied to a bed."
"He must have put something in the water," I murmured. That would explain how he'd managed to take Holly so easily when she knew karate. "He took you to a brothel."
"I found that out later," she admitted. "At first I thought he'd kidnapped me to put me to work there," she laughed, but it held little humor. "Then he told me that it was up to you if I made it out of there alive. They kept me drugged up and tied to the bed."
It didn't sound as if they'd hurt her, thank God. "When we leave here we're going straight to the police," I said firmly. "Let them do their job."
"Honey-—" Holly's tone sounded sad and unsure. "I'm not sure I could even identify anyone, I was so high all the time. I barely remember anything."
"Well, we at least can report Martin." I wanted him to go to prison for what he'd done. "I'm just glad that they didn't hurt you." No way was I going to tell her that Martin had threatened to kill her, that she could be dead now if Moody hadn't sent his friends in to get her.
"What did Martin want you to do for him?"
"He wanted me to find something for him at the Naked Lady. He thought it might be in the office, and if not there, than at the owner's house."
"The owner of the Naked Lady?"
I nodded. "Yeah. Beckett James, or Moody, as he's known. Martin knew I'd worked there. He thought I'd have a better chance of getting into Moody's office or his house than he would."
"What did he think would happen if you got caught?" she frowned. "Or didn't he care?"
"I guess he thought I could use my womanly wiles to get out of trouble. He certainly doesn’t know Moody if he thought the man would be swayed to forgive someone who he caught going through his office or home.”
"Well, what did he want you to find?" she asked.
"Some SD card. I don’t know what's on it, so don't ask."
"An SD card!" she huffed. "Talk about looking for a needle in a haystack. Did you find it?"
I shook my head. "No, but somebody else did, and Martin says it wasn't him. Moody caught me snooping around in his house, and I told him the whole story."
"Oh, my God, honey! I bet he was pissed. And he didn't have you arrested?"
I laughed. In the little time that I'd known Moody, I’d realized that he liked to do things his own way. "That's not Moody, honey. He's going to take care of Martin in his own way." And I dreaded to think what he'd do when he found the person who'd actually taken the card. "He wants that SD card back." It suddenly occurred to me that Holly didn't know how much she owed Moody for her safety. "It's because of Moody that you got rescued, Holly. He's friends with the Desert Rebels."
A ghost of a smile flittered across her face, and I swear her eyes got all dreamy looking. Was she thinking of Sax?
"When they broke into the room I was being held in I thought that was it, that they were there to kill me. Sax was the first one to reach me. He was so gentle and caring, Bailey. I was still high on something, but I remember the sound of concern in his voice. He cut me from the bed and carried me all the way to his bike, and when he got worried that I wouldn't be able to hold on, he found a car to take me away in."
Found a car? I'm sure “stolen” was more accurate, but I didn't say anything, because I didn't care what they'd had to do to get Holly out of there safely. I also didn't say anything about her obvious infatuation with Sax. It appeared to be two-sided, and who was I to warn her about his kind of man? Look at what I’d done with Moody. He was every mother's nightmare for her daughter. We couldn't help who we were attracted to, though, and time would tell how everything worked out.
Holly's hand was on the bed next to my thigh, and I picked it up and gave it a squeeze. "I'm so happy that you're okay."
"Same here honey," she said, with tears building in her eyes. "I didn't know what Martin was doing to you or forcing you to do." She shook her head. "How did we let him fool us like this?"
"Look at him, Holly. Why wouldn't we trust him? Or should I say, we were stupid enough to trust him because of his clean-cut good looks? He was friendly, charming, and helpful, why would we suspect he was anything other than what we saw?"
"What he wanted us to see," Holly corrected. "I heard Ted Bundy was all of those things, too," she quipped in a low tone.
We both shuddered.
I shook my head, agreeing with her. "Scary, huh?"
"So what now? We go home, report it to the police, and go back to the way things were?"
I honestly didn't know how to answer Holly. I felt like our lives were in someone else's hands right now. Moody wouldn't let me return home because of Martin's threats, which secretly pleased me. Plus, I didn't think that he completely believed I'd been innocent in my involvement with Martin. I had to assume the same applied for Holly. If Sax was feeling all protective of her, he wouldn't willingly let her go home until it was safe. How had our lives gotten so messed up in such a short time?
"It might not be safe for us to go home right now," I finally admitted. I felt safe with Moody. Well, safe from everyone but him. "Martin is still out there, and the last time I had contact with him he demanded the SD card, and admitted that he wanted me, too."
"But if we report what happened to the police, surely they'll offer us protection until he's caught."
"Holly, I don't know." I thought of my last interaction with Martin and shivered, feeling my face turn hot.
Holly missed nothing. She knew me too well. "What's wrong?" she asked with concern.
I met her eyes. "He touched me, Holly," I whispered. Her eyes grew big at my confession. "He put his finger inside me. There isn't much that scares me, but Martin scares me. I hate him for what he did to you. For what he did to me."
"Oh, honey!" She wrapped her arms around me. "Maybe we can get one of these big, bad bikers to protect us," she offered, hugging me tightly.
I laughed with her. "Like Sax?"
She shrugged, but there was a sparkle in her eyes. "I wouldn’t mind."
"You're so obvious. Just be careful, honey. These men seem to be a little wild and dangerous."
"The kind we used to fantasize about," she reminded me.
I was laughing when there was a knock at the door, and then it opened. Sax came into the room, carrying a tray, his gaze zeroing in on Holly as if she were the only one in the room. "Know you said you didn't want anything, sweetheart, but you haven't eaten today. I had one of the girls fix you a little something." He set the tray down on top of a small dresser.
"That was very thoughtful of you," Holly gushed. Was she blush
ing?
Sax's eyes moved to me. "Wasn't sure about you, so I had them fix a little extra." He was thoughtful, and not bad looking either. I gauged him to be around our age, about five-foot ten and muscular. Not big and bulky, but lean and athletic. His reddish-blond hair hung just below his collar in a shaggy look that suited his whiskered face. He was different than any man Holly had been attracted to before, but I couldn't blame her. He appeared bad-ass all the way in his biker clothes and boots, and alluded to a dangerous sex appeal that couldn't be ignored.
"Thank you for looking out for Holly."
"Been my pleasure," he grinned. "I hope she'll be around for a while."
I got to my feet. "Do you mind keeping Holly company for a few minutes? I need to find Moody. Do you know where he is?"
He rubbed his chin. "Last I saw, he was at the bar with Prez and a couple others."
"The bar we passed when we came in?" He nodded. "Thanks."
I made my way back the way we'd come, passing a couple of men and women coming around the corner as I was heading down the short hallway. They reeked of alcohol and pot, and were laughing crazily as they stumbled to what I could only assume were their rooms. When I stepped out into the main room I braced myself for anything. I was overdressed compared to most of the women there, but I could still feel the eyes crawling all over me. I did what Moody had recommended and kept my eyes downward as I aimed for the bar, but suddenly, and without warning, a pair of dirty biker boots appeared before me, and I came to a jerky halt.
"Well, hey there, baby. You must be new."
I raised my gaze to the man and returned his smile. I couldn't help it. He was a biker, and the patch on his cut revealed that he was the Enforcer, but surely that was a joke. His smiling blue eyes, the softness around his friendly grin, his perfect white teeth, and his Godly handsomeness immediately set me at ease. Until I remembered Martin, and how he'd won me over in much the same way. My smile died.
"Not new. I'm with someone."
His brows shot up with obvious surprise. "Who, darlin'? The man's a fool for leaving you to wander around here alone."
My eyes shot to the bar in search of Moody. I found him, and he wasn't alone. Some nearly naked slut with bottle-blonde hair was draped all over him. Jealousy reared its ugly head, before I quickly squashed the feeling. We were nothing to each other, and he'd already warned me that he was going to grab a woman and take her to a back room. So what that he wasn't acknowledging the whore who was clinging on him at the moment, he wasn't pushing her away either.
I took a calming breath and returned my gaze to the tall, well-built man in front of me. Jet black hair, shaved on the sides and longer on top, framed a strong-boned face that was near-perfect. "You," I found myself saying before I could stop myself. I forced a smile and linked my arm through his. "I was on my way to the bar. My name is Bailey, what's yours?"
He smiled down at me as we walked in the direction I'd been going. "Cole, pretty lady."
"Cole?" My gaze skimmed over his raven hair. "In reference to your hair?"
He laughed, "No, it just worked out that way." His blue eyes shot to the bar and back. "You come in with Moody?"
He knew! I nodded. "Yeah. I'm not with him, though," I was quick to point out. "He already warned me that I was on my own. Asshole."
Cole laughed out loud, drawing the attention of several people close by, including Moody. I pretended not to notice that he was suddenly glaring at us. "You can relax, baby. I won't let anything happen to you while you're here." We sided up to an empty spot at the bar, and Cole addressed Moody. "Bailey here tells me that you've thrown her to the wolves, brother. Don't worry, I've got her." He slipped his arm around me and pulled me against him.
"Good to know, brother," Moody snapped back, before swallowing what was left in his glass and slamming it down on the counter. What was he so angry about?
The woman hanging onto Moody was clearly a slut. Her breasts were all but exposed in her bikini top, big, round, fake breasts that looked as if they were about to pop. She was thin; I could see her ribcage and her hip bones above the tiny skirt she was wearing. I figured that she had about five pounds of makeup on, and her hair was done in what I'm sure she thought was a sexy, messy bun. It looked as if she'd over-teased it into an old fashioned beehive.
"Moody, baby, let's go somewhere and fuck," the woman whined, seemingly oblivious to everyone else around them. "I haven't seen you in a long time."
Moody ignored her, staring at me. "What the fuck you doing out here?"
I forced a smile. "Always so sweet." Laughter followed my comment. "Maybe a good fuck will put you in a better mood."
"Sounds like a fucking good idea," he growled, and the next thing I knew he'd grabbed the woman's hand and was pulling her from the room. I could hear the woman squealing and giggling long after they’d left the room.
God, why had I said that? He was going to fuck that slut, and it was suddenly eating me up inside. Why? I didn't even like the man! He was a cold, unfeeling pig, but, lord, he knew how to fuck. I felt myself getting wet just thinking about it. I'd fooled myself into thinking that what he'd done with me had been more than a mindless fuck, but now I knew that it had meant absolutely nothing to him. The man really had no heart, and it seemed that he was content to go through life alone, with only his memories.
"Drink, baby?"
Cole's friendly tone pulled me back to the present. I met his eyes and smiled while feeling sick inside. I could see understanding on his face. He knew what I couldn't hide. "There's no saving Moody, Bailey. He doesn’t want to be saved, and you're too sweet for him anyway."
"What happened to him?" I asked. "I've never met a man so brutal and cold inside. It's as if he hates being alive."
Cole nodded, drawing the attention of the person behind the bar. He held up two fingers, getting a nod from the bartender. "You could say that."
"Did the passing of his wife change him?"
Cole looked a little surprised. "You know about that?"
I nodded, but I didn't admit the few details I knew about it in case he kept talking.
He shook his head. "It wasn't losing Maggie that changed him, though. It was losing his son, Jacob."
Oh, God, I'd already guessed something like that had happened, but having it confirmed still caught me by surprise.
"Maggie took both their lives by carbon monoxide poisoning. She parked her car in the garage behind their house and left it running. Moody found them two days later after he returned from a road trip."
She'd committed suicide? Oh, my God. I didn't even try to hide my tears as I thought about what Moody had lived with and lost. I couldn't imagine losing a precious child. I reached for the beer the bartender placed in front of me and took a long drink.
"You said you knew," Cole scolded lightly. "I can tell by your expression that you didn't know all of it."
"I'm sorry," I said softly. What more could I say? After a while I asked, "How long ago did this happen?"
"’Bout ten years. Jacob was two at the time." Cole's gaze held mine captive. "Maggie suffered with depression. Moody took her to doctors, they tried different meds, but she either hid them or said that she was taking them, or they just didn't work. No one knew it was as bad as it was until it was too late."
I acknowledged that I was listening with a nod. I couldn't speak, too many emotions running through me right then--guilt for tricking Cole into talking, anger over a mother taking her child's life, sorrow for Moody. After all of the times I'd seen that kind of thing on the news, I just couldn't fathom any parent taking their own child's life.
"Speak of the devil."
His tone drew my attention, and the direction of his gaze caused me to turn. Moody sauntered back into the room, alone, and looking furious. I couldn't tell by looking at him if he'd just had sex, but the thought of him and that slut fucking filled my head with an unwelcome image that I couldn't handle right then. I put my eyes on Cole, desperation causing my words to come
out fast. "Can you take my friend Holly and me away from here?"
He didn't even contemplate it. "Sorry, baby, no can do. It's not my call."
I frowned. "What do you mean not your call? We're adults and can decide what we want to do." Truthfully, we didn't have a plan; I just knew that I had to get away from there, and away from Moody.
He pressed his lips and shook his head, an expression on his face that I couldn't read. Regret, maybe? Finally he said, "You came in with Moody, and we rescued your friend for him."
"He doesn't own us," I scoffed with disbelief. "I would think that he'd be glad to get rid of us."
Cole's smiling eyes roamed over me. "I can't imagine any man in his right mind wanting to get rid of you." I blushed warmly at the compliment in his eyes. "Sax has already got his sights on your friend."
Alarm shot through me. "What's that mean?"
I wasn't sure that I liked Cole's crooked grin. "It means that your friend isn't going anywhere."
I stared at him, trying to comprehend what he'd said, and then I was trying to dissect it to where it made sense. I knew that Sax and Holly were interested in each other, which had been obvious from the way that they'd acted around each other, but what Cole was suggesting seemed kind of extreme. Holly had a life, she had a job, and I couldn't see her giving it up for an attraction that was probably more about lust than emotion.
Cole was wrong.
Wasn't he?
Chapter 16
Moody
I had every intention of fucking the club pussy that I'd dragged away from the bar to some place private. I pushed her up against the wall so that she was facing it. She knew the score, knew that I only fucked from behind, but instead of going for my pants I hit the wall in anger. I didn't want her. Christ, I didn't even know her name, and yet I'd fucked her more than once in the years since I'd been coming to the Desert Rebels' clubhouse.
Furious (Nomad Outlaws Trilogy Book 3) Page 12