“I want fifty thousand dollars.”
I don’t hold back. I say it how it is, so we can get straight to the point. He’s going to want something in return, they always do, so I might as well start the negotiations.
He stares at me, and for a moment, I think he might just laugh. Instead, he just watches me, for a good long time. Then he finally says, “What for?”
I had a lot of things to offer when I came in here, but decided, to try one last time, to tug at his heart. I mean, I am his daughter. He has to love me a little, right? If not, I’ll offer something else...I’ll work for him for a while, whatever it takes to keep Boston safe. But for now, I’m praying, just praying, he’ll open some piece of that steel wall for me.
“I’m pregnant.”
He blinks at me. Then he just stares, and stares, and dammit, this isn’t going to work.
“You’re pregnant?” he finally says.
“Yes, I’m pregnant. With a wonderful man.”
Who doesn’t yet know.
And is a biker.
“So, what do you need fifty thousand dollars for?”
“A house,” I say, probably a little too quickly, but I’m running out of time. “I want to buy a house.”
“How come your wonderful man doesn’t buy one for you?”
I clench my jaw. I was an idiot for thinking this would work.
“Because I want to buy my own house,” I say. “You know me, I don’t like relying on anyone else.”
“And yet you’re here, asking me for money. I’d class that as relying on someone.”
My heart is racing. And I feel like I’m going to vomit. I just need this money, dammit. I need to get Boston out. I need to know he’s okay.
This is wasting time.
Enzo could be doing anything to him.
Anything at all.
“Yeah, I am. Because I deserve it.”
My father raises his brows. “How so?”
“Because I’m your daughter. Because that should mean something. The boys, they got more than fifty thousand dollars, and I walked away with nothing. I am doing it on my own, and I’m struggling. I shouldn’t have to beg you for a tiny percentage of what you happily threw at your other children.”
His face grows hard. Now, I feel like maybe I’ve pissed him off and I’ll get nothing but a boot out the door, but too bad, it’s the truth.
“Because, I’d like to hope I mean something,” I go on. “Something, fuck, just a little something. I’d like to hope your...” I hesitate, “...grandchild, might mean something. I’m not asking for much, you know I’m not. But I am asking...”
I hold my breath, and wait. I just wait.
Dammit.
This is too much.
“Okay. You can have the money, on one condition.”
Dammit.
I knew there would be a condition.
I knew it.
I keep holding my breath as I wait for it. I wait for him to drop a bomb that I’m going to have to walk right into, to save the man I love.
“You come for dinner, once a month.”
I blink.
What did he just say?
Dinner?
That’s it?
“That’s it?” I almost whisper.
He nods. “Yes, Chantelle. That’s it. I’m not a monster, at least, not the kind you think I am. You are my daughter, and you are important. You chose your path, I let you choose your path, and I will not interfere. But if you want something from me, I want something from you. And that something is a dinner, at home, once a month.”
I never saw that coming.
And I get a strange ache in my chest.
An unfamiliar one.
One I haven’t felt in a long time.
I squash it down, and find myself nodding before I can think anything more of it.
“Okay,” I agree. “Once a month.”
He nods and for a moment, we just lock eyes. “I’ll have the money organized for you now.”
“Thank you,” I say, turning and going to leave.
“Chantelle,” he calls out, and I stop, looking over my shoulder.
“Be well, and take care of that baby.”
I keep it together.
But that ache grows as I nod.
And then I walk out.
That did not go at all like I thought it would.
Not at all.
~23~
NOW – BOSTON
I spit blood in Enzo’s direction. He laughs, pulling his fist back and driving it forward again, not for the first time, and smashing it into my face. Bones crack, skin splits, and blood spurts forth. He’s loving every second of this. But one day, fuck, one day, it’ll be him on the receiving end. I vow it.
I fuckin’ vow it.
“Nothin’ you can do to me, will fuckin’ bother me, you sadistic fuck,” I spit, baring my teeth at him. “You’ll get what’s coming to you. You think you can run, and we won’t find you...We’ll fucking find you.”
He throws his head back and laughs. “But you won’t. Do you honestly think I’m going to just let you and Chantelle walk out of here? Of course I’m fucking not. You caused me nothing but hell, and I’m not having you come after me. No, the second she hands that cash over, I’m going to blow both your heads off. Then, I’m going to leave the country and never look back.”
My chest clenches.
Because I suspected as much.
This fucker isn’t the kind to just sit down and let us walk.
No.
That would be too fuckin’ easy.
I can only fuckin’ pray Chantelle thinks this through before she comes in here believing that he is going to just let me go if she hands over the cash. I hope she goes to Malakai. I know Enzo told her not to, but Malakai has ways. The club always has a way.
If she doesn’t go to them, we’ll both die here.
And, there is be no doubt Malakai will find a way to make Enzo suffer, but it’ll be too late by then, won’t it? We’ll be gone.
Fuck.
“The club will come after you, with me dead or alive,” I growl, jerking at the ropes tying me down. “You will suffer, one way or another.”
He grins at me. What Saskia ever saw in this piece of shit is beyond me. So fuckin’ far beyond me. “Do you honestly think I haven’t thought everything through? I have made sure that when I’m gone, I’ll be hidden forever. I have ways, I have means, your club does not scare me. They won’t spend the rest of their lives looking for one man. They’ll find something else to distract them, I’m sure.”
Fuck him.
“You’re wrong about that. Blood is blood, they won’t rest until they see you dead. I promise you that.”
He grins at me, then shrugs. “We’ll see.”
He’s confident.
Overly cocky.
I don’t fuckin’ like that. At all.
His phone rings, and he stares down at the screen, then grins, “Well, if it isn’t the princess herself. Let’s see what she’s got for me, shall we?”
He answers it, putting it on loud speaker.
“You’ve got the cash, I assume,” he says, his voice overly casual.
So confident.
“Yes. I have the cash. I’m coming now. Is he alive? If you hurt him...”
Brave, beautiful, stupid fuckin’ girl.
“He’s doing just fine. I can’t say he’s not roughed up, but you know, I’m just making my point. Bring the cash. If you bring the club, I’ll shoot him without question.”
“I haven’t told a soul.”
I have a feeling she’s telling the truth.
And fuck.
It scares the hell out of me.
She’s walking into a trap, and she doesn’t even fuckin’ know it.
~*~*~*~
NOW – BOSTON
In the twenty minutes it takes her to get to me, Enzo makes sure he gets the last laugh.
He kicks my ribs.
My legs.
/> Punches my face.
Does anything he can to inflict pain. And inflict pain, he does. But I don’t moan, I don’t wince, and I do not fuckin’ let him know it hurts. I will not show weakness, not to this fuckin’ scumbag. Fuckin’ never. He’ll have to kill me, and even then, he’ll never hear me beg.
But Chantelle.
Fuck.
For her, I would fuckin’ beg. I’d do any-fuckin’-thing. She’s about to walk into her death, and she has absolutely no idea. And there is not a single thing I can do to warn her. I speak when she walks in, and he’ll have her dead before she even takes a step towards me. I can only hope she figures it out, and comes up with something. Fuckin’ anything. But I’m startin’ to think that won’t happen.
“There now,” Enzo says, standing back with a grin.
I spit more blood at him.
“Now she’ll be impressed, I’m sure.”
The sound of car tires rolling over gravel catches both our attention, and Enzo turns, pulling out his gun and aiming it at the door. Fuck. My heart launches into my throat, and I can’t fuckin’ breathe. Surely he won’t kill her without even a word? I tug at my ropes until my wrists burn, but fuck, I can’t free them.
Fuck.
The door cracks open a minute later, and Chantelle steps in, looking like fuckin’ sunshine. Brave, beautiful sunshine. She’s holding a bag of cash, and her eyes go to Enzo’s gun. “Aren’t you at least going to count it before waving that shit at me?”
Brave girl.
Fuck me.
She’s so fuckin’ brave.
Her eyes swing to mine, and widen. “What the hell have you done to him?”
Enzo lowers the gun, not fully, but just enough that I’m certain he isn’t going to shoot her.
Not in the next few minutes, anyway.
“I was just having some fun,” Enzo shrugs, with a grin. “Now hand over the bag, Chantelle.”
She stares at him, then at me. She’s wearing a pair of faded denim jeans and a dark hoodie. Her hair is tied up in a ponytail. And fuck me if she doesn’t look bad ass right about now.
“Now,” Enzo growls.
Her eyes hold his. “I give you this, you give me him.”
Enzo grins, but nods.
Lying fuckin’ scumbag.
Chantelle hands the bag to him, and the moment he’s got it, she rushes over to me, her soft hands cupping my face. “What has he done to you?”
“I’m fine, babe,” I growl, my voice gruff.
I go to tell her he’s not planning on letting us go, when she turns around and says, “Untie him.”
Enzo finishes up counting, and then turns around, gun out, with a grin on his face. “Oh, you didn’t actually think I was going to let you go, did you?”
Chantelle stares at him, her eyes strong, her jaw tight.
Enzo laughs. “Poor, stupid girl. I’m not taking that risk. And after everything you and that fucking club has done to me, I deserve some revenge, don’t you think? Now sit the fuck down.”
Chantelle doesn’t move.
Why the fuck isn’t she moving?
“Sit down, Chantelle,” I growl, still trying to figure out a way out of this.
“I will blow your fuckin’ knee cap off, Chantelle. Now sit the fuck down.”
She doesn’t move.
He aims the gun at me, but his eyes stay on hers. “I will shoot him, piece by piece, until he’s screaming in agony. I’ll start with his leg, and move up little by little. Now fuckin’ sit down, right now.”
Chantelle stares at him, then looks to me and whispers, “Sorry, Boston. But you’ll thank me later.”
Only I can hear it, and for a second, I don’t know what the fuck she’s talking about. Until pain rips through my calf. I bellow, so fuckin’ loud, it echoes through the room. Burning hot fire, like nothing I’ve ever felt in my fuckin’ life. I roar and jerk forward, body trying to free itself. Enzo is watching me, bellowing something, and in all of it, I don’t see her move. Neither does he.
She reaches into her shirt, and she pulls out the little gun I gave her. She doesn’t hesitate, she aims and shoots at Enzo’s leg, dropping him to the ground. His gun skitters from his hands, and through my blind pain, I watch in fuckin’ awe at the girl I am falling for, taking down this man like she’s done it a thousand times.
Enzo’s pained roars fill the small room.
I grit my teeth.
Chantelle takes a step forward. “You didn’t honestly think I was that stupid, did you? You didn’t think I actually believed you’d let us go? You didn’t think I was going to come in here, and hand over my money, and let you run away? After everything you have done. I might look stupid, Enzo, but I’m so far from fucking stupid it isn’t funny.”
Fuck me.
I love her.
I fuckin’ love her.
“I know exactly what kind of man you are. You are the scum of this earth. You nearly cost my friend her life, but not only that, you hurt the man I love. And people in my club. And everyone else that matters to me. You’re nothing but a waste of oxygen. A big fucking waste of space. And I’m not about to let you hurt anyone else I love, ever again.”
Enzo looks up at her, panting. “You won’t fuckin’ do it, Chantelle. You’re just a weak ass little bitch. You won’t fucking kill me. You won’t live the rest of your life knowing you took a life.”
She grins at him, and fuck me, I need her. Right now.
“But you’re wrong. See, it’s your life, or it’s his,” she glances at me, and winks, “and that man,” she turns back to Enzo, “he’s everything. I’d lay down my life for his, and I’d suffer the pain of a thousand nightmares, to save him. So, if you think I don’t have it in me, you’re wrong. You’re very wrong.”
“You’ll spend the rest of your life a monster! You’ll never sleep without my face in your mind,” he spits at her, trembling in pain, and possibly fear.
She shrugs. “Perhaps. But it’s the kind of monster I can live with.”
Then she aims the gun perfectly at his heart, like she’s done it a thousand times. “Peace out, Enzo.”
Then she pulls the trigger.
She hits him perfectly, and he topples backwards, landing with a thump on the ground. The life slowly fades out of him, and I know, as does she, that he is gone. He’s fuckin’ gone, and she just saved my life. My strong, beautiful, brave girl. I didn’t know it before, I was so fuckin’ tangled in my own head, but seeing her now, standing there, protecting me, I don’t know how I didn’t see it so clearly before.
She’s fucking it.
She’s everything.
She’s mine.
She turns to me, and her eyes lock onto mine. “I guess we should get you out of here, big guy.”
I grin at her, even through my pain. “Fuckin’ love you, woman.”
Her cheeks flush, and she walks over, kneeling in front of me. She cups my face. “Back at you, honey. You didn’t think I’d let anything happen to you, did you?”
I make a throaty sound. “It will hurt, when the adrenaline runs out, and you realize you’ve taken a life...it’ll suck. And it’ll suck for a good long time. You sure you can handle that?”
She starts untying my hands. “I have you, I’ll handle it.”
“Eyes on mine,” I order.
She stops untying me, and looks up.
“Should never have been a fuckin’ choice. It’s you. It’s always fuckin’ been you. What you did in here today, fuck, I have nothing. I have no words. You are everything I need, Chantelle, and I will never let you suffer for what just happened. Just like you weren’t willin’ to let me suffer for the things I’ve done. You saw my monster, and you wrapped your arms around it and embraced it, instead of running from it. I’ll do the same.”
She smiles up at me. “Sounds good to me, biker.”
I grin.
She grins.
And fucked if I’m not head over heels in love with this woman.
I just wi
sh it didn’t take me so fuckin’ long to realize it.
~24~
NOW – CHANTELLE
Malakai stares at me, and I smile, but it’s shaky.
I just killed a man.
I’m numb, to be completely honest. I mean, I would do it a thousand times over, for Boston, for me, for our baby. But that doesn’t mean I’m not terrified of the reality sinking in. The reality that I took a life, to save another. That I become something I never thought I’d be. And yet, at the same time, I feel like the person I’m becoming is that much better than the person I was before.
I took the money from my father, but it was only on the way out of his office, that I had the realization that Enzo wasn’t just going to let us go. I don’t know at what moment it sunk in, but when it did, it seemed almost too obvious. Of course he wasn’t just going to let us go. Not when he knew full well that we knew too much, and would have the club on his back so fast he wouldn’t be able to leave the state, let alone the country.
And, just like that, I knew I had to make a choice.
I could go to Malakai, but that was a huge risk to Boston’s life, and I just couldn’t take that risk. I knew Enzo was mostly working alone, he had too many enemies, and he figured he had enough leverage when it came to Boston. So, I hoped that I’d find him alone, but either way, it was worth the risk. So, I went home, I got the small gun Boston gave me. I tucked it in my bra and put a hoodie on, and then I prayed that I wouldn’t get killed trying to pull off what I did.
I mean, it could have gone so wrong.
But I knew Enzo didn’t think I had it in me, he wouldn’t think I might actually bring a weapon, and even if I did, he was certain I wouldn’t use it. He was wrong. I went in there knowing I’d use it, if I had to. I’ve shot a gun before, I grew up in a house full of males, of course I have. But could I use one to take a life? For Boston...absolutely.
“What you did,” Malakai says, snapping me back to the here and now, “was fuckin’ stupid, Chantelle. It was stupid, and reckless, and-”
I exhale, my hands are still shaking from the event. “I know, Malakai. I know what it was.”
“I’m not done,” he continues, “It was all those things, and it was also incredibly fuckin’ brave. You saved his life. You should have come to us, but I know why you didn’t. You took a risk, and thankfully, it paid off. But you gotta know, we don’t like any of our ladies having to endure what you did today...it’s goin’ to scar somethin’ inside of you, and we don’t want that for you.”