Page 31

Nikki

I should’ve gotten a fucking Uber.

That thought ran rampant through my mind as I walked down the dark, barely lit street that took me away from Logan’s place. That had been the plan when I left, to grab an Uber and get on with my life, but I wanted to get a few blocks away to avoid fighting with him about it. I shouldn’t have left without telling him, but I was so mad at how my life was spiraling out of control. I wanted this one piece of autonomy, as crazy as it sounded.

While he was showering, I ended up having a minor freak-out. I wasn’t in the mood to get pressured into living with him, not when I knew it was a mistake. This afternoon proved that staying under the same roof as him was a recipe for disaster, even if my needy body disagreed. Sex with Logan was the same as it always was, hot and intense, and more pleasure than I’d ever had in my life. But sex that good warped a girl’s mind, made her believe things that weren’t true, and I was too damn old to believe in fairytales. The best we could hope for was civil co-parenting. Once I got back to the clubhouse, then I’d text him, and we could have a discussion about how we handled this situation going forward. Somewhere where we were surrounded by people, and I didn’t have to worry about my traitorous body.

I stopped and got out my phone to order the rideshare. If Logan rushed out before they got here, I would just stand my ground. I found the app and tapped my screen until the car was ordered. And then I waited.

The sound of motorcycle engines in the distance made me immediately tense. My entire body froze as the sound drew closer. I turned back towards Logan’s house, walking a little faster as my fight-or-flight instinct kicked in. Within seconds, the bikes were a full-on roar right behind me.

“Hey baby, want a ride?” The voice was clearly male and sounded very young.

It’s just stupid kids, I told myself, but still, I walked away. “No thanks,” I called out, knowing that ignoring certain men was more dangerous than rejecting them.

“Oh, come on baby. Let me show you a good time.” He laughed and another male voice joined in, which forced me to glance over my shoulder.

I groaned. They weren’t members of the Blood Fangs MC, but they were bikers, and they wore matching vests. A different biker gang, I assumed, and picked up the pace a little more. What the hell? Was I some magnet for bikers all of a sudden?

“Hey man, isn’t that the bitch the Blood Fangs are after?”

My heart pounded so hard it kicked at my chest, and my thigh muscles burned, but I walked as fast as I could. Had the Blood Fangs put the word out to other gangs?

“Looks like that radio bitch, and there’s a bounty.”

There was a beat of silence before the other one spoke. “Let’s do it.”

I took off at a sprint, not the smartest move in heels, but I had to get away from these guys as quickly as possible. I didn’t know a lot about how bounties worked, but I knew that money was one hell of a motivator, and I didn’t want to be caught up by those guys.

“I love a good chase,” one of them shouted.

The noise of the bikes stopped, but heavy footfalls sounded behind me, coming closer and closer. I ran as fast as I could, trying to get to Logan’s house, ignoring the stinging in my throat, the sweat that spilled into my eyes, and the ache in my feet. I couldn’t let them catch me. I just couldn’t. “Ow!” I cried out when a set of hands pressed my back and sent me flying face first to the ground. My hands and knees hit the concrete first which caused a sharp pain to shoot through my body.

“Not much of a chase,” one of them laughed.

Then I felt someone grabbing me by the arms and lifting me onto my feet—or rather dragging me backwards.

“No! Stop!” I shouted those two words over and over, hoping it was just early enough that someone would hear me and call for help.

“Shut up bitch. This is happening.”

They looked young, but the guys were surprisingly strong, pulling me easily even when I refused to bear any of my weight. “You don’t have to do this. It won’t end well for you.” Logan might hate me for running off, but he’d kill these guys when he found out, I was sure of that.

Then why did you run from him?

That was a question for another time, if there was more time, which I didn’t think there would be because a dark-colored van pulled up to the curb and they dumped me inside, ignoring my protests. “Stop! Let me go! Don’t do this!” Over and over I shouted, but it didn’t help.

“Cover her fuckin’ head, dumbass.”

Suddenly, a dark cloth went over my head, blinding me to anything but a few flashes of light.

“She’s hot as hell,” one of them laughed. “Maybe we could have a little fun with her before we hand her over.”

I shuddered at the thought of what they considered ‘fun’ as far as a kidnapped woman was concerned. A hand touched my leg, and I kicked out in all directions, as hard as I could.

“Leave her alone,” a different voice shouted. These weren’t the same men on the bikes, at least I was fairly certain. “Blood Fangs will pay more if she’s alive and unharmed.”

I tuned out their conversation after a few minutes as fear threatened to overwhelm me. It was stupid to leave Logan’s house and now I was in a position that meant I might never get to see Livvy again.

I couldn’t say exactly what awaited me with the Blood Fangs, but I could damn well guess. Beatings and torture. All manner of assault.

I closed my eyes even though it was unnecessary and tried to stay calm, to keep my wits about me while the van drove and drove.

***

I wasn’t sure how long we drove, maybe an hour, before the van came to a stop and the doors opened. A pair of hands yanked me from the van, and I fell onto my hands and knees once again, surrounded by multiple pairs of feet.

A cloth went over my nose and mouth and within seconds I passed out.

When I woke up again, the first thing I noticed was the cold. It was ice cold, which brought me to the second thing I noticed. My lack of clothes. There wasn’t a stitch of clothing on my body and when I tried to cover myself, I noticed the third thing, I was chained to a bed.

Holy shit I’m chained to a bed.

“Help! Somebody help me!” I opened my eyes only to be met with darkness.

The cloth was torn from my head, forcing me to blink rapidly until my eyes adjusted to the light. “It’s about damn time, I thought they’d killed you.”

“Would’ve ruined your plans if they had?” My heart raced inside my chest, but I was laid bare—literally—so there was no point playing the shy damsel.

“Meh, I would’ve made it work. It’s what I do,” he said and flashed an arrogant smile. “I’m Thrash, and this is my MC, and you have caused me a lot of fuckin’ trouble Nikki.”

This couldn’t be the man behind the campaign of terror. He looked so… innocent. So nondescript with his dirty blond hair and plain brown eyes. He was lean, more lanky than muscular. He wore a pencil-thin mustache that was more gross than terrifying, which pissed me off for some reason.

“You haven’t shut up and now you have nothing to say?” He crossed his arms and arched one brow skyward.

“I haven’t caused any of your troubles, Thrash. Your misconceptions have.” Don’t poke the bear, Nikki. You have to make it out of here alive.

He flashed another disarming smile and nodded. “I agree, but the questions you started asking have too many other people asking questions now, and that shit is bad for business.” His jaw clenched but it wasn’t anger I saw on his face but fear. He was worried.

I couldn’t decide if that was better or worse for me. “And your reaction, the constant and very public threats only gave credence to what was nothing more than a few questions. And those questions weren’t about you, but the man who is paid by the taxpayers.”

His eyes narrowed in my direction. “You have a smart fucking mouth, you know that?”

“Yeah, and I’m not wrong.”

Thrash flicked his head towards me and five men appeared seemingly out of nowhere, long leather straps in their hands. “Right and wrong don’t fuckin’ matter, you’ll see.” I watched him walk away, completely oblivious to the hell that was headed my way.

“What’s going on?”

Thrash stopped and turned to me with a coy smile. “Bad girls get punished, Nikki.”

One of the men hit me with the leather strap across my thigh. Another raised his arm high in the air and whipped the strap down, slashing it across my belly. The other three joined in, whipping me from all sides until I cried out in pain and tears streamed from the corners of my eyes. I was bound to the bed so there was no way to shield myself from the blows, all I could do was take it.

Pain seared through every inch of me. After the first fifty blows, I wondered if they would beat me to death.