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“Tonight works,” Brandon said. “I just want to get her out of there and someplace safe. Thanks, guys,” he breathed.
“That’s what brothers are for,” Bowie said, slapping him on the shoulder. “We stand by each other no matter what. I’ll call Dallas to tell her that neither of us will be home for dinner.”
“She’s going to be pissed,” Savage said. “She’s going to take it out on you, man.”
“You’ll just have to owe me one then,” Bowie said. “I take sexual favors.” Savage and Brandon both barked out their laughs and Bowie shot them both the finger back over his shoulder. Yeah, it was good to know that he could count on his brothers.
Maven
Maven Griffin wasn’t the kind of girl who would take being put in a cage lightly. Hell, she fought the fuckers who stuck her in there at every turn. She was pissed that she let them get the jump on her and pissed that they were using her to get to her partner. Brandon had told her about the Ghosts and how they held him hostage after his cover was blown when he was a new agent. He also shared how the Ghosts went after his three daughters last year, wanting to get to him. They would stop at nothing, and she understood that now.
It had been three days since they found her getting into her car in the parking garage at her condo. She had let her guard down, believing that she was safe since she was in her own building, but she wasn’t. They pulled up alongside her and forced her into their van at gunpoint. God, she had become a cliché in just mere minutes and now, Maven would never live that down.
Every day, they’d take her out of her cage for just long enough to shower and use the bathroom. She hated taking a shower with them standing just outside of the door. She could almost hear them breathing and she hated it. She hated them, and that was what kept her going while she tried to figure a way out of that place.
“I’d really love to know what’s running through that pretty little head of yours,” one of the guards taunted.
“Come on in here, asshole, and I’ll show you that I’m more than a pretty face,” she mumbled. The guard chuckled and leaned against her cage.
“Are you ready for your bathroom break, honey?” he asked. Every day, when they’d take her to the bathroom, she would scout out the place, trying to find a door that wasn’t locked or a window that didn’t have bars across them. What she wouldn’t give for a stick of dynamite or even just a gun. She’d fucking kill them all and tear down the warehouse where they were holding her.
“Sure,” she breathed. “I’m ready.” One of these times, she was going to get lucky and find a way out, and then, she’d come back and take down everyone in that fucking building. So far, she had no luck finding a way out, but she knew that it was only a matter of time. The Ghosts weren’t about to kill her. She was their only ticket to getting to Brandon and they wouldn’t give her up for anything—well, except for him. That was their end game, and she couldn’t let that happen. They’d kill Branden if they got their hands on him, and she couldn’t lose her partner.
Honestly, he had become more than just her partner, and that thought usually scared the hell out of her, but there was something about being held in a cage that really helped to change your perspective.
The guard unlocked the door to her cage and smiled in at her. “Let’s go princess,” he said. She wanted to tell him to fuck off, but she really had to pee and she was looking forward to a shower, even if it might mean giving the guards a peep show.
Maven followed him to the bathroom, looking over the locks on the doors to see if any might have been left open, but that was a long shot. She got to the bathroom and used the toilet first. They had left her toothbrush, a towel, and fresh clothes on the counter, just as they had every day she had been in there. Maven quickly showered and brushed her teeth, feeling half human again always gave her hope that she was going to find a way out of there.
After her quick shower, she brushed through her wet hair and pulled it back. She always wore it like that, especially while she was at work. She missed her pants suits that she usually wore, instead, she was reduced to jeans that were slightly too big and a man’s sweatshirt.
“Oh, if the guys at the office could see how far you’ve fallen,” she said to her reflection. The guys in the office liked to give her a hard time and usually, she was a good sport, even liking it when they teased her. If they could see her dressed like she was, they’d never let her live it down.
“You ready, princess?” the guard asked, dipping his head in to check for himself that she was dressed.
“Sure,” she said. It was her go-to response, really.
“Let’s go back to your cage then,” he said. “I have to run a quick errand and hopefully, today will be your lucky day and you’ll be able to go home. All your partner needs to do is trade himself for you and this will all be over.”
“He’ll never do that,” she said. “Brandon will never turn himself into you.”
“Well, for your sake, I hope that you’re wrong because if he doesn’t, you’ll be sent back home to him in a body bag.” He shoved her back into her cage, and she wanted to shout at him to get out, but that would make her look ridiculous. He locked her door and started for the stairs. “See you later, honey,” he said.
“Can’t wait,” she mumbled. Maven wasn’t sure that he had even heard her until he chuckled. She settled on her cot and could hear the chaos before seeing it. The asshole guard that just left her in her cage, flew back down the metal steps, backward as if someone had pushed him. Gunshots rang out all around her as she slid under her cot, trying to avoid being hit by a stray bullet. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see a big, bearded man and she recognized him from the few times that she stopped into Brandon’s MC, Savage Hell. Brandon told her that he was the guy in charge of their chapter of the Royal Bastards, but that didn’t explain what he was doing at the warehouse.
Brandon came barreling down the steps and things seemed to begin making sense. He had staged a break-in using the guys from his club so that he didn’t have to involve the department. They knew that there was a leak. In fact, Maven was sure that there was a Ghost working undercover in their department, but she couldn’t prove it.
The gunfire stopped and Brandon walked over to her cage. “You okay?” he asked.
“No,” she said. “I’ve been kept in this fucking cage for the past three days. How do you think I am?” she asked.
“Point taken,” he grumbled as he thumbed through the keys that he took off of one of the guards, trying each of them in the lock. “I’m going to get you out of here and then, we can come up with a game plan.” That was the one thing that she liked about her partner—he usually had everything under control he was a damn good planner.
“Just get me the hell out of here,” she insisted. “I want to go home.”
“Oh—you’re not going home, Maven,” he said. “We’re heading out of town.”
“Out of town?” she asked. “But it’s almost Christmas.”
