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Cain cuts me off by launching at me with a bro hug, slapping me on the back.
“You punch like a sissy.” He chuckles, and my lips quirk up as we pull back from each other.
I’m fucking angry, but the red haze of rage has ebbed for now, and I turn in the wide hallway, my eyes falling to my club brothers who are waiting for instruction, already prepared to fight with me. For me.
“We got you,” Munroe rasps. “And Zoe.”
I nod, turning back to Cara. “I can’t leave you.” She waves me off.
“Nonsense. I’ll let you know if anything changes. Rocco’s going to be out for the next few days, anyway. Hopefully, you find Zoe before then, and you can be here when he wakes.”
Shit. My heart sinks at the thought of him waking and realizing he can’t walk.
“Are you sure?” I ask, feeling way too fucking emotional today.
“Yes. Go find your girl.”
I nod before pulling her in for a hug and when I release her, I notice the Cruz Cunts gathering at the end of the hall.
“Cain.” I snap, and he jumps in my line of sight like I didn’t just beat him moments ago.
“Sir, yes, sir.” He salutes me, and I roll my fucking eyes at his antics, even as the bruising and swelling around his nose makes me want to beg for forgiveness. Like what the fuck. Grayson Black doesn’t beg for forgiveness.
“Question the Cunts. See if they know anything about Rhiannon that can help us. And keep your Diamonds on the scanner. I want to know the moment the police do if there’s anything going down on our turf.”
Cain nods, saluting me again and giving his foot a stomp like he’s about to fucking march off, but then he turns and swaggers away.
Turning to my men with my need to find Zoe fuelling me, I instruct each of them with a different task from ditching the truck, and finding us new wheels so we can split up, and within minutes, we sneak out a side exit to avoid the detectives who are most likely still waiting to question us, and we hit the streets of Santa Cruz to find my girl.
Zoe
Istartle awake as something burns across my body. It’s my calves… no, my thighs. Fuck, it’s everywhere. With a yelp, I try to push myself up from where I’m laying, but nothing I do helps.
Even though it’s awkward and hurts my neck, I force my head from one side to the other while I look down. My hands are fucking tied, making it impossible to sit up.
Closing my eyes, I count to ten, then I look around again, but no matter how many times I’ve done it, the room I’m in doesn’t change. It remains dank, dirty, and it smells awful.
“I’m so glad to see you’re awake, Zoe,” a woman sing-songs.
No matter how much I crane my neck, I can’t see her. But now that I know she’s there, I can hear her breathing—it’s deafening.
“Y-you have to help me,” I stutter. “Please. I need to get to the hospital. I have to see him—” I cut my words off as another yelp breaks free. More fire licks along my legs, making my stomach churn.
The woman cackles, and her hold, I’m only now noticing, on my ankle tightens. “You’re not going anywhere, Zoe. Do you know how much trouble we’ve been through to get a hold of you?”
I feel like I’m choking on the fumes of whatever it is she’s rubbing over my legs. The smell is overwhelming. It’s making my nostrils burn, my eyes sting, and… wait a fucking second. What did she just say?
“W-what?” I cry out. “What do you mean? Where am I? Who are you?” The questions burst from me in rapid succession.
“No.” That’s all she says. I cry out again as her nails dig into my skin. “You’re right where you belong.” With a swift slap to my injured legs, she turns, taking the light with her as she leaves me in complete darkness.
“This can’t be happening,” I chant to myself.
Repeating the words does nothing. The restraints binding my hands in place don’t magically loosen. No amount of pulling or twisting helps. If anything, it’s making it worse. My wrists ache almost as much as my shoulders do from being tied down in this awkward position.
I do my best not to panic, which isn’t easy with the lights off and nothing or no one to talk to. Everything happened so quickly, I never got the chance to really process it.
Rhiannon is dead.
