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CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

ALINA

I was bound and gagged. Those are two words I would have never thought I would ever be in my life. Yet here I am, with a nice slap to my face to add to it. Star glances my way, her face set to stone, refusing to show any fear. I try to follow her lead, but I can’t help but feel the fear that is pulsing through me. What if they hurt my baby? It’s something I have wanted for so long. Please God, don’t let them hurt my baby.

We are shoved into a barn, and the strong smell of hay and horse shit surrounds us. A guy walks in, and immediately my eyes narrow. Mother fucker. He smirks cockily at me as he leans down and yanks the cloth down from around my mouth. I spit in his face, making him flinch. Star cackles with laughter next to me.

He slowly wipes my spit from his cheek before he swiftly backhands me, making my head whip to the side. Star shouts behind her gag in protest.

“Now, that wasn’t the greeting I was hoping for,” Agent Pryor sneers before he looks to Star. “Now, if I remove your gag, are you going to play nicely?” he asks as he crouches down and removes her gag. Star rears her head back and slams it back into his face, her temple crashing against his nose. “Son of a bitch!” he hisses, cupping his nose. He slaps her hard across the face with such force, it knocks her to the floor. She groans, but a deep, throaty laugh escapes her as she eases herself back up.

“Keep hitting me like that. I enjoy it.” She smiles at him, blood coating her teeth. He hits her harder this time, followed by a kick to her stomach. She gasps for breath.

“Stop!” I cry out. Agent Pryor stops and looks at me, holding a piece of cloth to his busted nose.

“I will, but only because you brought an extra gift. You see, Eugene and, well, me too, didn’t take too kindly to your interference at the station. If it wasn’t for you, no one would have looked twice, at least not for a couple of weeks, but by that time they would have already been killed while in jail. So all we needed was a reason to get you back into your office. You have been absent for a while. I wonder why that is. Told to lie low, were you?” he scoffs.

He didn’t know I was Hap’s, and he didn’t know I was pregnant.

“We knew from your history of clients that you were a sucker for a wounded woman. That’s where Hillary came in.” He smiles. My gaze darts to the left, where Hillary stands with a smug smile on her face. “Sorry, I mean Debra.” He smirks.

“Alright, I get it. I did my part; now can I have my money?” Hillary asks. No, not Hillary. Debra. As she holds out her hand, I notice as her sleeve rides up her arm, there is a trail of track marks. I glance back up to her eyes, noting how drawn out and sunken they are. How in the hell did I not notice it before?!

“With a bit of make-up, a wig, and a change of outfit,” he states, reading my thoughts. “We knew you’d buy it. I mean, it was the icing on the cake that she got that black eye. It really sold it home. But then you surprised us by bringing the President’s ol’ lady with you. I mean, not only did we bag the golden egg, but we got the golden goose to boot! Fuck, Eugene will be so pleased when he sees you,” he beams. “Definitely a promotion for me.”

“Now, I’m going to go get Eugene and tell him the good news. Just sit tight, and if you think about running, there are two armed guards outside that have strict orders to shoot on sight,” he sneers before he walks out, closing the door behind him with a click of a lock.

I shuffle to Star, still with my hands bound together in front of me. With her hands tied behind her, I can only gently lift her up. She hisses in pain as I sit her upright.

“Why did you taunt him like that?” I whisper.

She smiles. “Kept his attention off you, didn’t it? You’re pregnant. We don’t want them finding out. Fuck knows what they will do if they do,” she adds.

“Thank you,” I say softly. “What are we going to do?”

“We are going to sit here and wait to meet the infamous Eugene that has nearly destroyed the people I love, then hopefully if he doesn’t kill us, the club will get here to save us,” she breathes, wincing. “I think the fucker cracked a rib.”

“How the hell are they going to know where we are?” I hiss, looking around to make sure no one is listening. Star smirks, and I cringe as blood drips down her chin from her busted lip. She shimmies her breasts at me. “What? I don’t think you can knock them out with your breasts, no matter how impressive they are,” I point out.

She rolls her eyes. “No, dumbass. My phone in in my bra,” she whispers.

“Oh,” I say, looking at her boobs. “You want me to get it?”

“Well, that would be good considering my hands are tied behind my back. I’m talented in many things, but that is not one of them,” she says sarcastically.

“Pity,” I mutter, a smile playing on my lips as my bound hands edge towards her cleavage.

“Oh shit, your hands are cold,” she hisses.

I arch my brow. “Would you like me to withdraw from your bosom and warm them up for you?” I snort back a laugh. Why the fuck am I laughing right now? I’m being held hostage by a mad man who probably wants to kill us.

“You’re good, please continue.” Star grins.

I wiggle my hands through her cleavage, feeling for the phone, which is actually harder than it looks when your hands are bound together. “Wow, your boobs are silky soft. What moisturiser do you use?” I ask.

“Cocoa butter. I also treat myself with a bit of body oil every now and then,” she answers.

I lean forward and sniff. “You’ll have to tell me what body oil you use, because that smells divine,” I compliment.

Star coughs out a laugh and instantly hisses in pain. “Right now you would have all the club wanking with joy, but can you please just find my phone?”

“Got it!” I cheer quietly.

“Thank God I didn’t tuck it down my trousers. Although, I have a feeling I would have at least gotten off on it,” Star teases.

“If you can hide a phone in your pants and I can’t find it, I would say you need to see a doctor,” I joke.

Star rolls her eyes at me. “Hold my phone up to my face so I can unlock it,” she gestures. I hold the phone to her face, and thankfully, it unlocks. “Just hit the call button,” she whispers.

I press call, not putting it on speaker, listening quietly as we wait for Ghost to answer.

“Darlin’,” he growls.

Star speaks. “We are in a stable, and we are fine. I don’t know where we are, but Eugene is here,” Star whispers.

“We know where you are, and we are coming to get you,” Ghost states.

Hope rises within me. “Agent Pryor is here,” I add.

“Mother fucker,” Ghost growls. “Sit tight and don’t give them any reason to hurt you,” he warns.

I glare at Star, but she just shrugs. “Okay, love you,” she whispers, and then I disconnect the call.

“Sorry, can I?” I ask, gesturing to her chest, so I can bury the phone back in her bra.

“Knock yourself out.” She winks. “Oh, that hurts. Guessing I’m due a black eye, as well as a busted lip.” She tuts.

Once I think it’s hidden enough, I sit back. “Do you think Rage is okay?” I ask as the memory of him being shot replays in my mind. He had charged at them like a man possessed.

Star nods. “Rage is incapable of dying. Plus, I’m not sure, but I think he hacked off one of the guys’ hands,” she says, shuddering. I shudder with her, but before I can say anything else, the sound of voices and footsteps approaching the barn. “Don’t show them any fear,” she whispers before they enter. We sit shoulder to shoulder waiting for them, whoever they are, to come in.

The large doors open, and in walks a man. He has a cane, and as he gets closer, I realise he has a patch covering one eye. I also notice that his hair is the same colour as Elsie’s. How can this frail-looking man cause so much pain and destruction? His one working eye looks from me to Star, and when I look at his hand, I notice there are also fingers missing.

What kind of accident was he in to look like that? I think to myself.

“You are admiring my scars, I see. Courtesy of the Black Hearts MC.” I gasp in horror, but Star doesn’t react. “Oh, you didn’t know what they are capable of? How na?ve of you. They tortured me, kidnapped my daughter, and then when I escaped, they hunted me down to kill me,” he states.

I stay quiet, assessing him. I’m not stupid in believing that they are angels, but I’ve come to know them well enough to know their stories. What he did to Elsie, to Scar, and to Acid, maybe he deserved all of it.

“You deserved everything and more that they gave you. You don’t deserve to be breathing,” Star hisses.

“We are supposed to not want them to hit us,” I murmur in her ear.

“He killed Bambi, a young kid. He had his whole fucking life ahead of him, and you fucking killed him,” Star spits with such hurt and hatred in her voice. I instinctively place my hands on her leg in comfort. She swallows and blinks before looking at me.

“Ahh yes, he was an idiot. That’s what happens to idiots. Now I’m a smart man, and I can tell that Star here is the stupid one; therefore, she should be disposed of first.” He grins. One of the men at his side steps towards her, and she kicks and screams, threatening him, but he overpowers her easily and drags her to her feet.

I move to step in, but Star gives me a subtle shake of her head not to move. He moves her to a large hay bale and forces her face down. Her eyes stay on me, causing tears to sting my eyes. My heart thumps in my chest as panic and ice-cold fear run along my spine.

“You see, since your men tortured me, I have been unable to pleasure myself. Unable to get an erection,” he states.

I curl my lip in disgust, my stomach tightening at where he’s going with this.

“Pfft, don’t worry. I doubt anyone will notice the difference,” Star quips.

How the hell is she still able to do that? I’d be a mess of tears and begging if I were in the position she is in right now. She keeps her eyes on me, giving me a soft wink, as if she’s reassuring me it’s going to be okay.

“Yes, very funny. Well, don’t worry, because Ninety-Nine here is going to make up for that. I don’t know if you know Terrance, but he is currently wanted for rapes up and down the country.” Eugene grins. “Actually, come to think of it Ninety-Nine, you’ll have to change your name after this.” Eugene laughs at his own joke.

I feel sick to the pit of my stomach. The guy he calls Ninety-Nine smiles as he glides his hand over Star’s behind. No, no, no. This can’t happen. I won’t let this happen to her. Ninety-Nine pulls a huge blade from behind his back and runs it up the top of her thigh. As he runs the tip under the edge of her shorts, Star continues to remain completely still with her gaze on me. She’s not there. She’s already mentally checked out. With a flick of his hand, he slices through her shorts and underwear, baring all of her to him.

My heart is thumping in my ears. I have to act, do something. I can’t just sit here and let her suffer through this. My gaze flits to Eugene and his cane, observing his unsteady gait. Before I can think too much about it, I launch myself up and charge toward Eugene, roaring like a Viking at war. I ram him with my shoulder, making him tumble to the ground. Not sparing a moment, I quickly snatch the cane with my hand and charge across to Ninety-Nine. I manage to throw him off as I slam the cane down on him over and over.

It’s as if it’s all happening in slow motion. Star yells and kicks him in the balls. As I’m grabbed from around my waist and dragged back by another guy, I scream, kick, and throw my head back in an effort to break free. He doesn’t let go, but instead he slams me into the wall.

All air escapes my lungs from the impact, and I drop to the floor with a thud. Star screams my name, and I blink, turning my attention to look at her being held back. Eugene is holding a gun to her head, and as large booted feet enter my vision, I look up and see an angry Ninety-Nine looking down at me with his large knife in his hand. I roll myself to crawl away, my body aching in pain, and it’s then that I hear Star’s desperate scream.

I look back, and her eyes are wide with fear. It’s then that I feel the searing, blinding hot pain that impales my upper back as he slams his blade into me. A blood-curdling scream erupts from my throat, and I feel the moment he yanks it free. My vision blurs as I try to continue to drag myself to the exit, but the pain is too much. My head spins, and I don’t make it very far as he presses his booted foot onto where he stabbed me.

A scream rips from me again, and he releases his foot, only to then kick me onto my back to face him. I pant, fighting to stay awake, fighting to survive for me and my baby. He smirks as he lifts the blade up high. I close my eyes, not wanting him to be my last memory.

My mind fills with memories of Hap holding me, laughing with me, bossing me around, protecting me, and loving me. It’s then that utter regret washes over me. I never told him that I love him. He will never know that no matter how much I tried to fight it, no matter how much I tried to shelter my heart from him, it is completely and irrevocably his.