AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Iknow I’m in trouble the moment I’m grabbed. Strong arms wrap around me from behind, tugging me against a solid chest. I fight, kicking my legs out and attacking like a wildcat to gain my freedom.
Fear for Rage and the two prospects has my heart pounding like a drum. I can’t even think about the life growing inside me. If I do, I’ll fall apart, and there is no time for that.
“Quit struggling,” the man holding me hisses in my ear.
Ignoring him, I try to make my body a deadweight to lift his grip from me, but he’s strong, and I remain his captive as I’m dragged across the street.
As we round the back of a car, there’s a group of men holding down another. It takes my muddled brain a moment to realise it’s Rage on the ground. He doesn’t look in a good way, blood on his face and his eyes glazed as they lift to meet mine. I swear I see apology in them before they flutter shut.
Terror coils inside me, my legs turning to lead and buckling beneath me. Is he dead?
My eyes dart up at a commotion behind where Rage is lying. Ralph is trying to get out the car, but three men jump on him, the glint of their knives flickering as they slam the blades into his body over and over. They do the same to the other prospect, even though he’s still unconscious, possibly already dead.
The scream bubbles up my throat, erupting in a terrified, broken wail. I need to save them, to help them, but I’m being dragged as if I weigh nothing towards another car.
Through my swimming eyes, I see a familiar figure, and there is a moment of relief before understanding dawns on me that he’s not here to help.
Tommy looks different. His dark hair is slicked back, and he’s wearing a long dark coat, like the kind my father wears. Gone are his usual hoodies and T-shirts, replaced with a dark button-up shirt open at the collar.
I’m not sure what he’s trying to project with this look. Professionalism? Wealth? Fuck with me and find out?
“Tommy… they need help. Tell him to let me go.” There is no mistaking the hysteria lacing my words. I want to lie in the road and sob. My entire world is falling apart in front of my eyes.
Tommy stares at me, his gaze travelling from my feet all the way up my body until it stops on my face. I’m suddenly grateful that I chose to wear a loose-fitting sweater today. It hides my small bump beneath it.
“Put her in the car,” he says to the man holding me.
I haven’t seen him in months, and the coldness of his words is a dagger to the chest.
“Please! Don’t do this,” I plead, but he ignores me as if we were never friends. “Please, let me check he’s okay.”
I’m shoved into the back of the car, the huge man who was holding me forcing me to slide across to the middle seat as another hulking guy gets in on the other side.
Tommy gets into the passenger seat as the driver starts the engine. I scramble to sit forward, trying to glimpse Beau, but I’m pushed roughly back against the seat, a vice-like grip wrapped around my throat to hold me in place. Tommy says nothing, doesn’t order them to stop, though his eyes lift to the rearview mirror to watch.
I freeze, terrified this man might kill me, and Tommy, the boy I thought would be my best friend for life, doesn’t intervene. I’m not sure if it’s because I don’t fight, but the man releases his hold on me, allowing me to suck in a lungful of air.
“Tommy, what are you doing?”
He doesn’t answer, and the man sitting on the other side of me reaches inside his jacket and pulls out a length of rope. I know instantly what he is intending to do with it.
There’s nowhere for me to go, but I fight anyway as between my two guards, my hands are forced in front of me and tied together. The binding is so tight, my hands start to tingle after a couple seconds.
I close my eyes, trying to breathe through the encroaching panic that’s threatening to swamp me. The only person in my life who gives a shit about me is probably dead, and as much as I have settled into club life, no one is going to rescue me. I’m still the daughter of their enemy, and those ties have yet to be broken completely.
I listen to the engine rumbling, the vibrations shaking my legs, or maybe they’re just shaking anyway. When the car stops, I pop my lids open and let my gaze dart around.
In front of us is what looks like an old mill. It’s at least three stories high, with those large, latticed windows that are so common around the city. The canal runs along the back of it, but the bushes either side make it unfriendly for walkers. I don’t see anything else out here, and that frightens me. The remote location doesn’t suggest anything good.
Tommy gets out of the car first, then the man on the right of me climbs out, ordering me to follow. I’m so terrified, I don’t move, so he reaches in and drags me across the seat by my sweater. It’s enough to make me comply, and as my feet hit the ground, my legs want to buckle. The grip on my bicep is so tight, it keeps me upright, which is just as well as I’m pulled into the building.
I try to twist my head over my shoulder, looking for Tommy, hoping he still has some feelings towards me. I’m praying he will stop whatever is planned for me here.
I can’t see him though, and the pace set by the man dragging me forces my gaze forwards so I don’t fall.
The building is cold inside, the musty smell of damp so strong, it makes my stomach churn. If there was once flooring in place, it’s been taken up, leaving bare concrete behind. The open space is huge, but whatever industry existed here has long since been stripped out. These are the kind of buildings that modern developers turn into flats and apartments, but it doesn’t look as if anyone has done any upkeep for a long time.
We pass through a door and into a smaller space, and my legs turn to water. There is a hook hanging from the ceiling, and I know it’s intended for me, but that’s not what scares me.
