He grinned. “I still need to fuck you on this.”
“You will.” I winked. Tilting my chin, I tapped my mouth.
His grin grew. Placing a soft kiss on my lips, he smacked my rear. “Drive safe, Hummingbird.”
I giggled. “Always. With this powerful machine roaring between my legs, I have no choice but to be safe.”
“Fuck.” He adjusted himself, shaking his head. Walking toward his truck, he called out over his shoulder, “I will punish you for that image you put in my brain.”
My heart fluttered. “I look forward to it.”
***
I didn’t ride my bike as often as I would like. Although it was my only way of transportation, being in a small town, most places were within walking distance. A lot of times, the bikes became a necessity to prove power. King’s Harlots were still struggling trying to make a name for themselves. After the beat down Jay and Brogan gave to that guy, I had a feeling that respect would be earned. Even if it would be the hard way.
Asher’s truck was a couple car lengths ahead of me. I smiled to myself, knowing he was looking at me as often as he could in the rear view mirror.
I gave him a wave, and I swore I could see him straighten a little. It felt like a lifetime since he broke down in front of us. His brothers had been supportive and Angel came through on his promise. Asher would start his new position in a month. He wasn’t happy about it but his mental wellbeing was more important to me. To all of us.
Lost in my own thoughts, I missed the turn off to the street the club was on. Normally, I could drive to it blindfolded, but with everything that had been going on, I was distracted.
Turning around, I headed back to my turn off when I saw a car flipped over onto its hood. No. Another look and I realized it was a truck. A black truck. My heart started racing.
Asher. There were tons of black trucks in the area. Weren’t there?
I slowed down to a stop, shut off my bike, and pulled off my helmet. Placing it on the seat, I made my way to the crash. No smoke was coming from the truck, but the gas tank was leaking. Sparks from the destruction were landing only inches away from the liquid. Where was the body?
Searching around the debris, I heard a cough and some curses. My stomach dropped to my feet. “Asher.” I ran to the driver side.
“Meeka,” he coughed again. “Get out of here.”
“No, I’m not leaving you.” I pulled at the door, attempting to get it open but it wouldn’t budge.
“Get out of here,” he rasped. “Please.”
“The gas tank is leaking.” I did everything I could to search. “I don’t know what to do,” I sobbed.
“Meeka,” he coughed, struggling to undo the seatbelt and get to safety. But he couldn’t. Blood seeped from a wound in his head. Scratches and cuts marred his skin. He was favoring his right arm, wincing every time he moved it. “I think my arm is broken. Fuck.”
I called Angel. No answer. I called Coby. Then Dale. Stone. My sisters. No fucking answer. Memories of Jay trying to get a hold of us months ago slid into my mind. She couldn’t get through to us, either, when she needed help. We couldn’t understand why. Brogan’s step brother, Greyson, said someone hacked the phones. I had a moment of déjà vu.
“I can’t get through to anyone.” I jumped when a spark landed near my foot. So fucking close to the gas.
“Shit.” He pushed against the door, grimacing and cursing out a breath when it wouldn’t budge.
I didn’t know what to do. I could go get help, but I didn’t want to leave him. “I’m calling the police.” I dialed 911 and gave the information needed to the dispatcher.
Grabbing hold of the door handle, I tugged and pulled. Using all of my strength I could muster, the door finally creaked open, but Asher was still stuck.
“Please, baby. Just leave,” he said between curses.
“I am not leaving you.” Reaching around him, I struggled to unlock the seatbelt, but it wouldn’t budge. “Shit. Come on,” I cried, sending up a silent prayer. Please let me get him out.
“The police should be here by now.”
“There should be a knife in the glove box,” Asher told me. “I can’t reach with my arm.”
A sense of relief washed over me. I crawled across him and opened the compartment, thankful when I saw the blade shining in the moonlight. “It’s here.” I cut the strap of the seat belt.
He fell forward, grunting when his arm hit the steering wheel. “Move back.”
I left the space, helping him as much as I could to get out of the truck.
“Well, well, well. Isn’t this romantic?”
We paused, staring at each other when we heard the deep voice coming from behind us. His gaze slid over my head, darkening with a hate I had never seen before in him.
“You fucking did this,” he growled.
“Nah,” Charles corrected. “My boys did. I’m not one to get my hands dirty.”
“That’s right. I forgot.” Asher pushed forward, crawling out of the rubble as best he could with one good arm. “It takes a real man to do his own dirty work.”
“I don’t think you’re in a position to talk right now.” Charles crouched beside us, snapping his fingers. “Get him out of here.”
“What?” I cried. “No. He needs to go to the hospital.”
Charles spun on me, grabbing my arm and dug his fingers into the muscle.
I whimpered, struggling against his rough hold. “Please.”
“You think after all of this, I’m going to let you go? Are you fucking stupid?” his eyes moved back and forth over my face. “You’re hot, but you’re not the brightest if you think I’m just going to walk away.”
Two large men came up beside me as Charles rose to his feet. He pulled me with him, wrapping his arm around my waist.
The men grabbed hold of Asher, tugging him out of the truck, not caring in the least about his arm. His jaw clenched, but other than that, no sound of pain left him.
“Please, let us go.” I pushed against Charles, freeing my arm and rushed to Asher’s side.
He nuzzled his face into the crook of my neck. “Do as he says,” he whispered. “Trust me. We will get out of this.”
A sob escaped me as arms wrapped around my waist, pulling me away from Asher.
“Say goodnight, Meeka.” Charles grinned.
Darkness and pain mixed as one, drowning me in a sea of black. The last thing I saw before it took over was the wide-eyed look of fear in Asher’s eyes. That was when I knew—we weren’t getting out of this anytime soon.
SEARING HOT agony coursed through my blood, setting my skin on fire. My stomach twisted and churned, rolling over itself until acidic bile rose to my throat. I tried opening my eyes, but all I could see was black. The darkness that had threatened to destroy me over the years finally took over. I couldn’t control it, and this time I let it win.
The scent of death surrounded me, but I didn’t know where I was. I could only assume that Charles had taken us back to his place. I wasn’t even sure if it was actually his house. Who the fuck knew anymore? Everything had happened so quickly. I couldn’t even remember the final outcome of meeting with Tyler only a few weeks ago. All I knew was that he won. I left filled with rage, and all he could do was laugh. He was a sick fuck, and it still surprised me to this day that Jay had been with him.
Struggling to move, a chain clinked against the cool concrete I was lying on. I had been bound but not gagged, thank fuck. With my good arm, I tried to push myself up to a sitting position. My body felt like it weighed a ton. I couldn’t move.
Replaying what had happened in my mind, a growl escaped me.
Meeka.
My Hummingbird.
I tried so hard not to think about what Charles was doing to her. He had a thing for her. I could see it in his eyes. It was the same look I had whenever she came into the room. She didn’t know how beautiful she was. Her innocence made her so fucking pure, Charles wanted a taste.
 
; “Fuck,” I ground out. If he touched her … If he harmed one hair on her fucking body, I would end him. I would make it so all the shit he did to those women looked like a fucking Disney movie compared to what I would do to him. And I would make him watch while I ripped off every inch of him that touched her. As each thought crossed my mind, the rage inside of me became stronger and darker. It bordered on violent, and I embraced it.
Reaching my good arm out, I searched for anything that could help me get the chain off my ankle. The thought crossed my mind that if I had a saw, I would cut off my foot to get to Meeka. A cold maniacal laugh escaped me. It was from sheer terror and desperation. The thought of never seeing her again took my breath away but it also drove me to find an escape. From reality. From fucking life in general. Shit with Charles needed to end. If I had to go through Tyler first, I would. With everything in me, I knew he was in on it. He wasn’t undercover. He was leading two fucking lives and his craving for younger girls took over.
Crawling as far as I could, I tested to see how long the chain was. I got three feet before it became taught and I couldn’t move anymore. “Shit.” I reached my arm out, waving it in front of me to feel for walls. My hand landed against a brick wall, a sharp pain biting into my knuckles. That pain drove me mad. “Let me the fuck out!”
Suddenly, a light turned on, blinding me. I squinted, rubbing my eyes until they were able to focus on the room I was trapped in. It was your typical room that came right out of a horror movie. Blood-stained walls. Dirt and debris lined the tile floor. Without a doubt, the room had been designed to scare. To set that fear in someone until they did everything to break free. But these guys didn’t know me. They didn’t know what I had done as a child to survive. So many times, I had begged my step-father to just let me go. I ran away once before he found me. I was his little bitch who kept his place clean for fear the women would run screaming to the police.
My hand clenched into a fist as thoughts traveled back to the time I first tasted the darkness. Screams. Loud and powerful screams tore at my mind until all I could focus on was ending her suffering. I didn’t know who she was. I had no idea where she came from. She had fallen victim to my step-father’s sadistic wrath and he left her in my fragile grip. He knew I would kill her. He had set it up that way. She begged me, pleaded for me to let her go. But I couldn’t. I was just a boy. My step-father had taught me to fight and defend myself. It was the only time he hadn’t beat me.
I sighed, leaning my head against the wall and took a couple deep cleansing breaths. Regaining that control, I rose to my feet on shaky legs. My whole fucking body hurt. Everything. Even the hair on my head. I checked my damaged arm, grimacing when I noticed it hung at an odd angle. Yup. Definitely broken. “Motherfucker.” I would kill him, and I couldn’t wait to watch the life leave his eyes, fading before me like the piece of shit he was.
Scanning the room, I looked for anything out of the ordinary. There was a door across from me, but with the short chain I was on, I wouldn’t be able to reach it. Even though I was tall, whoever locked me in there made sure they put me as far away from my escape as possible.
Everything about the room reminded me of the basement I had been forced to clean for years. Four brick walls. Concrete floor. And a door. No windows. No furniture. It was cool and damp in the air, but that was it. The door didn’t even have a window in it. I was trapped. With no fucking escape at all in my near future. But I wasn’t trapped. Not in the physical sense. My step-father was a bastard and knew just how to get me to break. I went to school. Hanging on by a thread. But my mental well-being was chipped apart day by day as time wore on. Every smattering of blood I cleaned, broke a piece off of my strength.
Calming my racing heart, I took another deep breath and listened. Reining in all of the training I had been given over the years, I listened for anything that could give me some sort of answer. But nothing. No fucking sounds pierced my ears. The brick silenced any noise coming from the outside. I could be in the middle of butt fuck Idaho for all I knew, and Meeka could have been in another country by then. I didn’t know how long I had been knocked out for. I didn’t know a damn thing. It was enough to drive a sane man mad.
“Hello?” I called out, my voice rough like I had just gargled with broken glass. “Let me the fuck out!”
A minute later, a lock clicked and the door opened slowly, revealing Charles. He stared after me, a small grin spreading on his ugly mug.
“Where the fuck is Meeka?” Leaning my good arm on the wall for support, I took a shallow breath.
“She’s safe.” He winked. “For now.”
I rolled my eyes at the clichéd line. “What do you want?”
Charles walked further into the room, followed by the two large bastards who were at the crash site. They were always with him. They only spoke when spoken to or when Charles wasn’t around.
My gut churned, my heart picking up speed.
“I want to know why you have been ignoring my calls,” Charles said, his voice flat and even. “We had a deal. I changed the fucking rules for you. You brought in your own girl when that’s not how it works. I should have listened to Tyler.” He laughed, shaking his head.
“What the fuck does this have to do with Tyler?” I demanded, the drive to kill clouding my vision.
“Everything.” Charles took a step toward me. “Tyler runs this part of the operation. Didn’t you know that?”
“I had my suspicions,” I mumbled.
“Tyler is the driving force. He’s kept all of our worlds connected.” Charles rolled his eyes.
“You sound like you’re not happy with that.”
“Why would I be? I’ve been in this job for years. Tyler comes waltzing in only a couple months ago, and already he’s moved to the fucking top,” Charles seethed, his nostrils flaring.
Ah. Someone was jealous. I could use his anger to my advantage if I played my cards right. Much like Meeka, Charles was trying to get recognition from his boss.
Charles started pacing back and forth, rubbing his chin. “I need to know how I can make him see that I got this. That I deserve the power.”
“If Tyler is already at the top, your boss won’t care what you do.”
Charles spun on me. “Yes, he will. I’ll just have to send him a care package. Maybe a body part or two.”
“How the hell would that help?”
“I could send him your girl. A finger. A toe. How about her fucking tit?”
“You leave her the fuck alone!” I charged for him, stopping two feet away from him when the chain on my ankle held me back.
“And what are you going to do about it, huh?” Charles snapped. “You’re stuck in here, Asher. Everything is happening because of you. If you would have just answered my fucking calls. Or better yet. You should have chosen one of my girls. But no, you brought Meeka into hell. What kind of boyfriend are you? You say you love her but your selfish fucking ass forced her into a world that eats up women like her. How does that make you feel?”
My heart jumped in my chest. He was right, and I couldn’t deny it. No matter how hard I tried, everything he said was true. I was selfish. I made Meeka feel guilty so she had no fucking choice but to join me. What kind of man was I? A pussy. I was a fucking pussy. My step-father had been right. I didn’t deserve anyone. And I especially didn’t deserve Meeka.
“I love you.”
Meeka’s confession of her love for me changed things. Yes, I felt fucking guilty for what I brought her into, but I would live out my days making it up to her. I didn’t deserve her, and I would never get over that, but I would love her with all of me. Nothing and no one would change that. It was the only thing I didn’t control. It was all on Meeka. She loved me. She pulled feelings from me and enveloped them with her beauty.
Her face filled my mind.
“I see you don’t deny anything I’ve said.” Charles smirked. “It takes a real man to admit when he’s wrong.”
“Fuck you,” I bit out throug
h gritted teeth. “You don’t know shit. You don’t know what I’ve been through.”
“Of course—” he threw his hands up in the air. “It’s all about you, isn’t it? I will have fun telling Meeka that.” He snapped his fingers.
A knowing glance passed between the other two men before sauntering my way.
Charles walked to the door. “Have fun. And don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.” He laughed, shutting me in with his goons.
I had a chained leg and a broken arm.
As I stared into the eyes of the men who closed the distance between us, I realized something.
I was fucked.
***
(Meeka)
A pounding headache pierced between my eyes. I had been awake for an hour, Charles had told me. He brought me to his bedroom which creeped me the hell out. It messed with my head when he was gentle. Even though I knew he was sick in the head, my heart told my brain to feel sorry for him. I couldn’t understand why. After all of the shit he had done to these women, it didn’t make sense for me to feel this way. My stomach rolled at the mere thought of him being nice. I would much rather if he yelled and screamed at me. At least then I would know where he stood.
When he brought me into his room, he refused to let his security touch me. Charles placed me on his bed and brushed a hand down my cheek. The skin still tingled from where he had touched me. I needed Asher. I needed him to wipe away every inch Charles caressed. Even though he had never crossed the line, he might as well have raped my mind. He forced his way into my thoughts much to my dismay.
Slowly pushing myself up on shaky arms, I rubbed some life back into my cheeks. A sense of relief washed over me that I was still dressed. And alone.
I tried so hard not to glance around the room. It was too personal. Too intimate. I didn’t want to know Charles. I didn’t want to know anything about the man. He was a sadistic bastard, and he deserved to rot in hell. I wasn’t stupid, though. He brought me into his bedroom, so it messed with my head. If I could just know him a little bit, I would feel sorry for him. Well, it wouldn’t work. I channeled the hatred I had for him. For what he did to the previous women. The little girls who were no more than teenagers. Some right out of puberty. He could have done something to Violet as well, but she never said. Angel and Jay had asked her if she knew the name, but she refused to talk about the missing years of her life. Even though she remembered them, she said she was lost and that those years didn’t count. A part of her had died along with the other women.