“We’re not a biker—”
“What would you know about family?” she continued, her voice growing more stringent and mocking. “Do they even know where you are? Do they care? Or do they worry about you? Are they somewhere, their hair turning gray, waiting for word from you, wondering where the hell you are?” She rushed on, her face flushed red with emotion, her eyes glassy with tears. “Well, I’ll tell you one thing. I belong to a family that cares about each other, and right now, I promise you, they’re worried sick!” Her voice broke. “So please, let me go! Let me go back home! I won’t tell anybody what happened here. I promise!”
He wanted to believe her. He truly did. He pulled out one of the metal folding chairs from the card table and placed it in front of the couch where she sat, turning it so that he sat backward, knees almost touching hers, arms crossed over the back of the chair.
“You can get off your high horse, Nikki. I have a family, but I didn’t turn my back on them. They turned their back on me.”
“Why? Because you were difficult? Belligerent maybe? You got into drugs or trouble with the law?” She shook her head. “You’ve spent time in jail, haven’t you?”
He frowned, her judgment cutting surprisingly deep. “You know nothing about me.”
“Well, then, who the hell are you, Seth? Why should I tell you anything about me when I know nothing about you? You want me to trust you? I don’t trust anybody right now. Not you, not your fearless leader, not any of your gang . . . or club, or whatever the hell you want to call it.”
“You want to know a little bit about me? Okay. Here goes. I’ve always been the black sheep of my family. Not because I got into trouble, which I admit I did sometimes. Mainly though, it was because my stepsister and I didn’t get along.”
“Why not?”
“Because she’s a bitch. A lying, conniving, bitch.”
“Let me guess. Her dad came into the picture and of course favored her and her mom over you?”
He sighed impatiently. “It’s a little more convoluted than that, Nikki.”
“I’m not going anywhere.”
He stared at her. Did she really care? What the fuck did he have to lose at this point? Maybe he had to give a little piece of himself to get a little piece of her back. “My dad died in a car accident. A few years went by, my mom couldn’t cope and turned to drinking, I’m sure you can picture it. I pretty much took care of her after that. She drank a lot, closing herself up in her room.”
“She grieved for him, for the life she lost . . .”
“Yeah, but see, I was grieving too, but she was so wrapped up in her own pain that she had nothing left for me.”
“So what happened?”
“She met Darren. I don’t know how the hell they met because as far as I knew, she never left the house, but one day there he was, sitting at the dinner table. My mom looked nice, more with it. I was pleased until he moved in with his daughter. Jessica was fourteen at the time. Let’s just say that things went downhill fast from there.”
“Why?”
He sighed, running a hand through his hair. This was the part he didn’t want to get into, the part he tried never to think about, but he had to get her to trust him. “Because I knew that he only latched onto my mom because my family had money. He wanted it.” He shrugged. “It’s pretty simple, and it was obvious, but when I tried to tell my mom, she didn’t believe it. Of course, she told Darren, and from then on . . .”
“Let me guess, you rebelled? Got into trouble? Did everything you could to piss them off, just because?”
He frowned. “Not all the time. Actually, I just minded my own business for the most part. Jessica got away with bloody murder. She started hanging around with the wrong crowd, smoking, drinking, drugs, you name it.”
“And Daddy turned a blind eye?”
He offered a chuckle, one that lacked humor. “One day she went into my room and hid her drug stash in there. Before I could get rid of it, the cops came. I’m sure she’s the one that called them and tipped them off. There we were, standing in the living room, my stepdad holding a search warrant, the police telling us that coke, meth, and prescription drugs were being sold out of our house.” He shook his head, the memory digging into his gut even now, years later. “Long story short, I got thrown in jail. Darren didn’t offer to bail me out. Neither did my mom. He told me I was garbage, a no-good loser, that I’d never be welcomed in his home ever again.”
Nikki fingered the bottom of her shirt and then looked up at him, her eyes surprisingly damp. “I’m sorry, Seth. I shouldn’t have said those things. I shouldn’t have assumed that just because you’re—”
“Just because I’m in a motorcycle gang?”
“Club,” she said with a small smile.
“I wandered around for a bit, and then I hooked up with Levi. I’ve been with the club ever since. Family.” He straightened, squaring his shoulders and giving her the hardest look he could manage. “So don’t be giving me any shit about family, belonging, or sob stories. We all have a past, Nikki, but some of us are more fortunate than others.”
She said nothing for several moments. “Have you ever gotten in touch with your family since you got out of jail?”
“No,” he said. He stood, gesturing. “Come on, Levi’s waiting.”
Minutes later, he and Nikki joined Grady and Levi in the upstairs room. Levi asked Nikki a bunch of questions, and she stumbled over some of her answers, such as what she had done to provoke the attention of the Jokers. There had to be more than her simply seeing a chop shop. It was obvious to him, and to Grady as well as Levi, but she still held back, even when Grady told her how he’d found out her last name, seen her articles in the Albuquerque paper. Why? What was going on?
“Look, I know you guys don’t believe me, but that’s not my problem. I want to go home.”
Was she playing them? Levi wasn’t buying it, not one bit.
“So if I let you go right now, what would you do?”
She looked at Levi as if he had two heads. “Haven’t you been listening? I’d go home! What do you think?”
He stared at her until she shifted uncomfortably beneath his gaze. She turned to Seth, but he kept his expression neutral, not giving anything away. Levi looked at him, then at Grady, offering a small shake of his head.
“Take her back to your cabin, Sticks.”
“Wait a minute,” Nikki protested. “I don’t want to go back there! I want to go home!”
Levi stood and approached Nikki, who stood tense beneath his glare. He stopped a foot away from Nikki, his eyes boring into hers. “Tell me the truth, lady, or you’re not going anywhere.”
She exploded. “What the hell does it matter to you why the Jokers had me? Why the hell do you care? You have no right to keep me here! You’re no better than they are!”
“Get her out of here, Sticks.”
“I’ll do some more digging,” Grady said quietly.
Before Seth could move, Nikki reached out and shoved Levi. Hard. Levi had apparently been expecting something like that and only took a step back as Seth reached around and grabbed Nikki around her waist, trapping her arms to her sides. She lashed out with her feet, catching Grady on his shin. Grady muttered a curse, stepped back, and opened the door. Seth had Nikki wrapped in his arms while she lifted her feet, swinging at anything she could hit, cursing a blue streak, prompting him to carefully counterbalance her weight.
“Knock it off, Nikki,” he threatened.
“Or what?” she grunted in response.
With a quick movement, he spun her around in his arms, bent down, and heaved her over his shoulder, her legs dangling in front of him, his arm wrapped around her hips. She pounded on his back, his ass, thrashing with her legs as he headed out the door. Grady chuckled, then slammed the door behind them.
“Put me down!” she screamed, arms and legs thrashing, threatening to spill them both down the stairs.
He smacked her hard, right on the ass. Not exactly the way he h
ad imagined it, but the sharp slap cracked like a pistol shot in the sudden silence of the room downstairs. Laughter rang out below. Nikki grew still and limp, as if she’d fainted, but he knew she hadn’t. Likely embarrassed, she gave up her fight, for the moment. Still, he had no doubt that once they were in the privacy of his cabin, she’d let him have it with both barrels.
He looked forward to it.
16
Nikki
Never in her life had she been so humiliated. This wasn’t the same as being kidnapped and tossed into the back of a truck and hauled across state lines. No, that was terror. This, being carted from the main structure ignominiously slung over Seth’s shoulder like she was nothing more than a sack of potatoes was abjectly humiliating. Horrified, frozen, she grew quiet and still the moment she heard the eruption of laughter from the men downstairs. She kept her face turned toward Seth’s back, not wanting anyone to see her red cheeks, her tears, and her misery. She clamped her lips shut as Seth strode out of the building and into the hot sun, his boots crunching on the gravel and sand as he made his way back to the cabin. Once inside, he deposited her gently on the sofa.
Nikki said nothing. Her chest heaved as she blinked back tears, struggling to get her emotions under control. Seth, for his part, turned away to thankfully give her at least the illusion of privacy as he stepped into the kitchen and started a pot of coffee brewing. The man infuriated her! How could he be such an ass one moment and then offer a sweet gesture the next?
She cast a surreptitious glance his way, but he purposely ignored her. God, she had to get the hell away from the Steel Kings. After that interview with their leader, she knew for sure no one trusted her. With the hell did they think she was involved in? Even more concerning, what would happen when Seth and the others found out who she really was and what she was doing with the Jokers?
She couldn’t tell him the truth. She couldn’t! He wouldn’t understand. With his family history, at least the brief part of it that he told her, he wouldn’t understand how devoted she and her sister were to one another. His own sibling rivalry and what had happened with his family would cloud any claim she made that she would do anything for her sister, that she was willing to allow herself to be kidnapped by a Mexican gang, all because she felt so desperate to find her.
Seth said nothing as the coffee brewed, his back to her, hands leaning against the counter. She felt so alone. She couldn’t allow herself to trust him, to tell him the truth, no matter how tempting his body was, how much he called to her. She had to figure this out for herself. But how?
The gurgling of the machine stopped, and the aroma of coffee wafted through the air. She watched him pour coffee into two mugs. He brought her one, setting it down on the table next to the sofa. She didn’t reach for it as he stood, staring at her, sipping his.
“You write gossip articles for an Albuquerque newspaper.”
“It’s not gossip,” she snapped. “It’s for the lifestyle section.” She looked up. “How do you know that?”
He shrugged. “Doesn’t really matter, Nikki. But we talked about it. We could understand you being in danger from the Jokers if you were writing an exposé or something about them, but you’re not. So what do they want with you?”
He had no idea how close to the mark he really was. If she allowed herself to really think about it, Nikki was terrified that her side investigation had been what brought the Jokers to Stacey’s door. She forced any expression of terror or worry from her face. “How the hell should I know?”
He sighed, shaking his head as he sipped his coffee. “Cooperate with me, Nikki, just a little bit. If you do, I can let your family know that you’re all right.”
His words stunned her. At first she felt grateful, but then anger took over. She snapped at him. “Oh, thank you, kind sir,” she sneered. “What the hell is the matter with you? Who do you guys think you are? You have no right to keep me here. In fact, if you don’t let me go, I’ll find a way to escape, and when I do, you can bet your ass that the first place I’m going to go is the police station. I’ll charge you with kidnapping. Don’t think I won’t.”
“Is that what you told the Jokers, too?”
“No!” She shut her mouth. Dammit, she had to start thinking before she spoke, but he just got her so frustrated, so angry. She shook her head, crossed her arms over her chest, and looked everywhere but at him.
“Why did the Jokers take you, Nikki?” He lifted a hand. “Before you tell me it’s because you saw a chop shop, you should know that I don’t believe it. None of us do. So what’s the truth? Who are you to them?”
“I don’t know!” she shouted. “I know you don’t believe me, but I really don’t give a damn. I can’t convince you to believe me, and frankly, I don’t have the energy. So tell me, Seth, what you plan on doing with me? Keeping me here for a day? A week? A month? You tell me because I can guarantee . . . and I’m promising you, that the minute I get a chance to escape, you can bet your sweet ass that I’m going to. And you know why? Because I don’t belong here! You can’t keep me here against my will!”
“You don’t seem to think that you can be a danger to us,” he said softly, sipping more coffee.
That stopped her short. What the hell did he think she could do to them? Twenty or more big guys, many covered in tattoos, and all who swore more than dockyard workers. “What the hell are you talking about?”
You already threatened us by claiming that you’ll go to the police and tell them we kidnapped you—”
Oh. Shit. “If you let me go, I won’t, promise,” she said.
He stared at her for several moments, like he was going to say something, but he simply turned, placed his coffee cup down on the kitchen counter, and left the cabin. Frustrated, growling low in her throat, she stood and stomped toward the door, opening it. He stood on the other side, watching, arms crossed over his chest, an eyebrow raised.
“Going somewhere?”
She slammed the door in his face.
She stared at the door for several moments, wondering why she felt . . . relieved? Impossible. She couldn’t put her finger on the emotions suddenly surging through her. She wanted to tell Seth the truth. If she was completely honest with herself, she would have to admit that she wanted him to help her with her problem. She needed support. She needed . . . could she do this alone? For the first time, doubts assailed her. For the first time she felt like a complete and utter fool. Why did she think that she, single-handedly, she could confront a huge Mexican gang that worked for a cartel?
She didn’t like this feeling of guilt sweeping through her. Didn’t like where that guilt led. Her sister. What would happen to Stacey if she gave up? She couldn’t! To tell Seth the truth or to try to deal with this on her own? Those Jokers back there at the warehouse, where Seth had rescued her, might’ve just killed her right then and there after they had their way with her. There was no guarantee they were even the group that had kidnapped Stacey. Or that any of them would let something slip about her whereabouts. Her Spanish was okay, but she wasn’t fluent, and a lot of them had spoken in dialects that were difficult to understand.
“You’re an idiot,” she mumbled. “A fucking idiot.” Nevertheless, she didn’t know what else to do. The longer she stayed here, the longer she was kept here, the greater the chances that Stacey would slip out of her grasp forever. She had to do something. Tonight. When they least expected it.
She moved to the front window and peeked outside. She didn’t see Seth standing there anymore. He probably figured she was scared out of her wits and wouldn’t try to escape again. But he didn’t know her. He didn’t know what drove her, what filled her with a nauseating desperation, stomach curdling need to escape. Foolish or not, stupid or not, ridiculous or possibly futile, she had to try. She wasn’t about to give up on her sister. And because she wasn’t willing to give up on her sister, she couldn’t give up on herself.
She would have to—
The sound of motorcycles and a vehicle
or two revving fast in the night, accompanied by shouting and hoots and hollers broke the stillness of the air. Followed by more, the sound of car doors slamming. More shouts, a man yelling in Spanish, then more laughter.
She moved to the door of the cabin, the light from the living area spilling around her and into the area in front as she stared wide-eyed in dismay at a cluster of motorcycles surrounding a pickup truck. She frowned. That truck . . . No, it couldn’t be the same as the one that brought her here, but as she watched, her mouth growing dry, her eyes wide, she eyed several Steel Kings, Seth among them, reaching into the passenger side of the truck to drag a man out. A yelling, kicking, and violently cursing man. Her stomach jolted and her spine straightened as she recognized him. The bald head, half his left ear missing, the handlebar mustache, but most of all, the tattoo that decorated half of the left side of his shaved skull.
17
Seth
Seth stood beside Grady, reached inside the truck, and grabbed the Joker by his shirt front. He yanked him out, cursing at him under his breath. His heart pounded and his head throbbed with a desire to wrap his hands around the Joker’s throat and throttle him. A flash of movement from his cabin caught his eye and he turned, a grunt escaping his throat as he saw Nikki standing in a pool of light in the open doorway, watching.
Shit.
He should have confronted her with his newfound knowledge, but he’d wanted to see if she would volunteer it herself. Damn it, why hadn’t she? Why couldn’t she trust him? Then again, why should she? But didn’t she see that he was just trying to keep her safe? That he wanted to help her but in order to do that, she had to trust him? Believe that he could help?
Did she think she could do this alone? He knew better. She’d end up getting herself killed if she didn’t start thinking straight. She was damn lucky that hadn’t happened already. But he knew more than anyone that you could lead a horse to water, but you couldn’t force it to drink. That was on her.
Confession (Steel Kings MC Book 2) Page 12