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I only had one memory of my mother. In the desert, at dawn, wearing some lacy dress that fell to her ankles and flowers around her head, she danced with her arms outstretched and her hair flying in the air. I giggled—as toddlers do—and she swept me into her arms and twirled until we were both dizzy. Sometime shortly after that, Pops took her away. I’d asked about her when I’d been thirteen or so, but he never spoke about it. Instead, he took me to the shop, and we worked on a ’57 Chevy he had picked up at auction.
“Bou, you still awake?” Celt’s strong voice grounded me.
I blinked hard. “Yeah, I’m here. Sorry.” And I was. Here and in the past at the same time.
My mind was starting to function and take in what was going on around me. The thump I could hear was music outside the room. It shook the whole house so much that the lamp light was also pulsing with the vibration. My head pounded in reply. The window in the room was dark. Night. Thank fuck because daylight would probably have rendered me blind.
When I turned my head to try to get a look at how Celt was tied, a hot poking rod pushed from the base of my skull into my brain. I hissed.
“What? What’s wrong?” Celt asked, a frenetic worry clouding his voice.
“Nothin’. My head just hurts.” Like a juggernaut was passing through it. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. “Okay, what’s been doing since I’ve been out?”
“They put us in here right after Rex cold-cocked you. Some assholes who obviously get their rocks off by having a captive audience have brought whores in here to fuck, but I’ve heard nothing from Rex or Paola.”
“What the fuck is up with Cook?” I asked.
Celt remained silent, but I felt his head fall forward.
It wasn’t time for him to get all tough and silent. “What, Celt? Spill it.”
“I—”
“I already know that Cook’s betrayal rips you apart inside. It rips me apart too. Just give me the fucking facts, and we’ll deal with the rest later.”
“Rex sent him with one of Paola’s men to find Wilde.”
“Shit.” Now I tried to twist my wrists, but the ropes wouldn’t give. I pulled with my legs but couldn’t budge the bed or us. I huffed. “How the hell do we get out of this?”
The words had no sooner left my mouth than the door opened, and Rex stood in the white hallway light.
“Come on, boys,” Rex said as he sauntered in the room, twirling Celt’s police baton as if he were about to play Richard Gere’s part in Chicago.
Two men followed. I recognized one as Lynch, the ass who’d gone with that haunted waif at the bonfire. He was probably the one to blame for this entire fucking situation. Well, either him or Cook. Fuck. Wilde was right about her being in with Rex’s shit. Apparently the AX3’s too.
“Rex” Celt forced his voice steady, the strain audible. “We’ve done nothing to you. Let us go, and we’ll help you find the fucker you’re looking for.”
“So goddamn diplomatic,” the Prez drawled. “Maybe, if you wanna share why Luke disappeared, we can come to an... understanding?”
“How the fuck should I know?” Celt answered smoothly, as if he really didn’t know. I’m not sure I could have lied so easily, but then again, I had more reason to be happy the rapist’s ass was buried beneath his bike and a crap-ton of desert sand. And now, I’d like to see Rex in a shallow grave next to him.
Rex knelt in front of me. “Maybe this pretty little thing has an idea.” He ran the baton along my jawline.
The bruise he’d created before smarted, but I breathed through the pain. Looking deep into Rex’s overly dilated pupils felt like looking through a doorway into hell. The motherfucker was higher than the Goodyear blimp.
Celt twisted, trying again to protect me. “Rex, leave my sister out of this.”
I jumped in, hissing at my brother, “Leave it be, Celt. This asshole can’t do anything more to hurt me than he already has.” And with that, I bite my tongue so hard I taste more blood.
“Is that right, Boudicca?” Rex drawled. Then he stood, pointed the baton at Celt, and turned to the other two prospects who’d entered with him. “Tie him to the bed.”
Fuck, I’d spoken too soon, not thinking he’d use my brother against me. Goddammit, when would I learn not to pop off so fucking quickly?
“Bou,” Celt whispered. “Keep your smart mouth shut. Better me than you.”
As the lackeys separated us, Rex released my feet from the rope binding them to the bedpost. He grabbed and lifted me faster than I could gasp then pushed me into a chair, where he tied me down again. A stream of curses flew from my mouth as I writhed against him, but he overpowered me too easily. I guess he’d had an excess of experience in subduing women, myself included. He laced the gag through my lips again so I couldn’t keep spitting out useless protests or threats. It didn’t stop me from trying, and it wouldn’t stop me from getting my revenge. One goddamn day.
With his mouth against my ear, his hot, wet breath making my skin crawl, he said in a low voice, “If I can’t do anything to you, I’ll hurt the one person in The Ridge you give two shits about.”
