THIRTEEN
The distant sound of voices was the first thing Lilly heard when she began to regain consciousness. Men. She heard men’s voices. She listened closely, trying to make out anything that they were saying. Nothing. She couldn’t hear shit, but she knew enough to know they were out of earshot, which meant she was alone. Slowly, she opened her eyes. She was handcuffed to a chair in the center of a small room. The only light came from a tall lamp in the corner. There was one small window to her right with curtains drawn over it, but there was no light peeking through, letting her know it was still dark out.
The room had a plywood floor. It appeared there had once been carpet, but it was no longer there. The smell of mold infiltrated her nose. It was hot and damp, almost like rain had just free fallen into the room. She looked at the ceiling, checking to see if there was a leak. There was. The ceiling looked like it would cave in any minute. Great. If they don’t kill me, I’ll die from being crushed when the ceiling caves in.
She didn’t know how long she’d been unconscious, but everything on her face hurt. What the fuck did they beat me with? Whatever it was, it fucking hurt. Her cheek felt like it did that time she had her wisdom teeth removed in high school and everyone picked on her about looking like a chipmunk. Except this hurt a lot worse. At least she had pain meds then.
What time was it anyway? Her phone was nowhere to be seen, of course, but she looked anyway. From what she could see and feel, it wasn’t in her pocket or on the ground around her. What kind of kidnappers would leave a phone in the hands of the person they just took, and for what? Lilly didn’t know who had her, much less why they wanted her. She didn’t understand it. She was just a bartender. Whoever it was showed up on a motorcycle with someone in a truck. She realized now that the truck was there to haul her after they beat the shit out of her.
Lilly scanned the room again, looking for anything that might give away where they had taken her. From the layout and the floor, she thought she may be in a mobile home—a shitty one at that. The air vent she hadn’t noticed earlier on the floor was used as a trash can of sorts. She saw plastic water bottles sticking out of it among other trash.
Slobs. Ugh. Lilly’s nose crinkled in disgust.
She heard footsteps approaching the door that remained closed in front of her. A man she didn’t know swung it open, and it hit the wall behind it with a thud. He was short, about her height, and scrawny. He looked like he hadn’t slept, or bathed, in days. She thought his hair was blond, but with all the dirt and grime, she really wasn’t sure. He wore a solid gray shirt, or one that was once solid gray. Now it was covered in whatever he had encountered over the past week or month, maybe. His jeans were tattered and stained, and he had jailhouse tattoos covering both arms and his neck.
He walked toward her, stopping a few feet back. “’Bout fuckin’ time you woke up.”
His voice was raspy, but not a sexy raspy. More of an I-smoked-five-packs-of-cigarettes-last-night kind of raspy. He reeked of body odor and bad breath mixed with a smell Lilly didn’t recognize. Whatever it was, it was unpleasant. More unpleasant than the body odor and bad breath combined.
“What the hell do you want with me?” she asked.
“With you? Not a fucking thing, princess.” He struggled to make eye contact with her. The whole time he had been standing there, it almost seemed as though he were nervous. His hands constantly moving, picking at a scab on his arm or his face. He couldn’t be still.
“Great. So let me go,” she said matter-of-factly. If she wasn’t handcuffed, she’d have crossed her arms.
“Not gonna happen.”
Lilly sighed. “Yeah, I didn’t fuckin’ figure. Why am I here if you don’t want anything with me? And why is it ‘’bout fuckin time I woke up’?” she asked, mimicking his words from earlier.
His face reddened. She hadn’t even said anything yet. This is gonna get interesting. He rushed toward her, stopping only inches from her face. His breath was ten times worse now that he was close. She fought the urge to gag, bile rising in the back of her throat.
“You don’t get to ask questions, bitch!” he screamed, spit flying from his mouth and onto her face. She flinched and she hated that she did because now the fucker probably thought she was afraid of him. She wasn’t, not in the least. She was flinching away from the repulsive odor emanating off him.
“Hey, Boulder! Bitch is awake!” he hollered. He backed away from her and leaned against the wall. He looked down at his shoes and started whispering something to himself.
A tall broad-shouldered man came into the room. He looked similar to the other man. He was scrawny, and it didn’t look good on his large figure. His hair was darker, but just as disgusting, and his eyes looked sunken in. They definitely didn’t get much sleep around here.
“Well, well. We’ve been waiting for you to wake up. We don’t like to wait,” Boulder said, his neck twitching with every word. What was up with these guys?
“If you wouldn’t have hit me so fucking hard, I wouldn’t have had to wake up,” Lilly snapped. When her jaw moved, a pain shot through her cheek, making her eyes water and her face falter. Fucking shit!
“Aw. Is the poor little bitch in pain?” Boulder asked, amusement lacing his words.
She ignored his question. It was rhetorical anyway. “Why am I here?”
“Leverage.” That statement made him smile like he was a child that had just found the golden egg in the yearly Easter Egg Hunt.
“Leverage for what?” she screamed, her temper getting the best of her. She doubled over from the pain that consumed her face. Screaming probably wasn’t the smartest thing she could’ve done, but these people were pissing her off. She should be scared. After all, they did kidnap her and beat the shit out of her, and now they were holding her hostage as some kind of leverage. But she was more pissed off than she was scared.
Boulder’s ugly laugh echoed in her ears, one of the most unpleasant sounds she had ever heard. When she lifted her head, he was standing there, looking at her. A sinister grin crossed his face.
“Leverage for your little lover boy.” Boulder’s eyes looked like they struggled to remain focused, and he paced back and forth in front of her. His movements were erratic—quickly scratching his ear, or his face, then looking around the room as if he were looking for something, or someone.
“I don’t have a lover boy. Try again,” she spat.
“Is that so? Because from the looks of the messages in your phone, you sure as hell do. Cass? Ring a bell?” Boulder asked.
Lilly didn’t say anything as his words registered in her head. Of course she was here because of Cass. Who the fuck else would be the cause of some shit like this? She had so many emotions going through her, but hurt and anger were the two most prominent.
When she didn’t say anything after a few minutes, Boulder grinned. “Cat got your tongue, bitch?”
Lilly remained silent. From the looks of it, if she didn’t say anything, he would keep talking. Who were these people? She had never seen them before, and she had never heard Cass mention their names. She still didn’t know why the fuck she was here, and that was starting to irritate her. They weren’t going to tell her.
Boulder held her phone in his hand, skimming through whatever the hell he wanted to. She regretted not keeping a passcode on her phone now. She never had a reason to before. She hadn’t exactly foreseen someone kidnapping her and going through the damn thing.
“I can’t wait to see the look on Cass’s face when he sees that we have his little bitch.” Boulder beamed at the other man who was standing in a corner twitching. Lilly rolled her eyes, an involuntary action to the two idiots.
“Smile pretty, bitch,” Boulder said, holding her phone up to take a picture of her. Lilly didn’t budge or make a face. She just sat there, the way she had been the whole time. If her face looked half as bad as it felt, Cass was going to be pissed.
“Asher should be here any minute now. He’s gonna be proud,” the other guy said in between picking at his hands. She looked closer, really paying attention to the guy. His arms had the same track marks that Keith’s had. They’re on fucking drugs.
She couldn’t believe she hadn’t seen it sooner. They were tweaked out of their fucking minds, and they were using Lilly as a pawn in some sick, stupid drug game.
Lilly heard a door shut down the hall followed by footsteps growing louder as they got closer. The man that entered the room looked nothing like the two tweakers that stood in front of her. He was clean cut, his shoulder-length black hair was slicked back, and he wore a cut that labeled him president with a nametag reading Asher.
“What the fuck?” he asked, shock evident in his voice when he saw the two men and Lilly. He looked at Boulder.
“I told you to trash the bar, not kidnap a fucking girl!” he shouted.
“Yeah, but Prez, she isn’t just a girl. She’s Cass’s girl,” Boulder said, his voice full of pride like he had done something amazing.
“She’s what? Are you fucking stupid! I told you to go to the fucking bar after hours and trash the place! We don’t fucking kidnap another club’s ol’ lady!” He was so upset that his whole body appeared to be shaking. He shook his head in disbelief.
“But we can use her as a bargaining chip for him to give us the contacts. Boss, we’re having withdrawals. Look at Jordan. He can hardly function. We need those contacts. We need the meth. Besides, the money we’ll get from the heroin will do the whole club some good. That’s what you said, right?”
“Yeah, that’s what I said, but I didn’t fucking say to do it this way! Look at her! What the fuck were you thinking to beat the hell out of her like that? Do you two have any fucking idea what you’ve just caused?” Asher asked, pacing the room. He seemed on edge, worried even.
Lilly pondered what they were saying. Meth? Heroin? Contacts? This was what Scott was talking about when he said they got out of the business. This was why they didn’t like the Hounds, because Cass wouldn’t turn over the names of the people he used to work with. Everything made so much sense now.
At least she knew that Asher wasn’t going to beat her. He sounded appalled by the fact that someone had in the first place.
“Keith said we should take the bartender hostage and go through her phone. He set us up, Asher, I’m telling you!” Jordan hollered.
“You weren’t supposed to say anything about that!” Boulder shot Jordan a warning look.
Asher calmly watched the exchange between the two men, his face emotionless. When Asher didn’t say anything, Boulder sighed. “What do we do now?” he asked.
Lilly found her voice. “You could start by, oh, I don’t know, letting me fucking go.” She didn’t lose her temper this time, avoiding the shooting pain in her cheek and jaw.
Asher walked up to Lilly and stopped directly in front of her. He looked at her face, and, when he lifted his hand, she flinched away.
“Stop. I’m not gonna hit you. Let me look at it,” he said.
He lightly touched her temple on the right side of her face, and she screamed. He jerked his hand back quickly. Her face throbbed where he had touched it. It felt like he punched her, but she knew better. She was watching him the whole time. Something crossed his face. Pity, maybe? Lilly wasn’t sure.
He turned to face Boulder and Jordan. “Go outside and get Keith.” Asher’s demand was met with obedience as both men walked out of the room. She heard the door shut down the hall, and Asher turned around and shut the door to the room. Lilly was starting to get nervous, afraid even. He had just sent them away to be alone with her. Her heart hammered against her chest so hard, she could hear it in her ears.
Adrenaline coursed through her veins. Asher walked behind Lilly and grabbed the handcuffs. He undid one side, then the other. She sighed in relief at being free from her metal restraints. She pulled her hands to her and rubbed her wrists where bruises had begun to form.
“My apologies for the actions of my men. This was not the plan. I do not condone fucking with someone’s ol’ lady intentionally, certainly not a Hound ol’ lady,” he said, walking back around her. “I will see to it that they pay for their fuck up.” Asher’s words were sincere. That gave Lilly a sort of peace. Maybe he only shut the door to talk to her.
“Thanks.”
The door opened behind him. Boulder and Jordan emerged with Keith right behind them. Keith gave Lilly a sadistic smile, and it made her grimace. Asher looked at the three of them.
“This is what you’re going to do. You’re going to take her to Cass. All three of you, since it was under your instruction that they take her to begin with.” Asher glared at Keith.
“I didn’t instruct them to do shit,” Keith retorted.
“I don’t care if you did or not. I’m just letting you know that the three of you will deliver her to Cass. And you’re going to deliver a message to him when you get there.” Asher’s demand wasn’t negotiable.
“What message?” Boulder asked.
“Take the girl to the truck, then I’ll tell you. We’ve said enough in front of her,” Asher commanded. Jordan grabbed Lilly by the arm and snatched her out of her chair.
“Hey!” Asher yelled. His voice was loud and echoed through the room, making Lilly jump.
Jordan stopped and looked at Asher. “What?”
“For fuck’s sake, try not to fucking hurt her anymore before you return her.” He sighed. It must be hard to deal with a bunch of idiots all day.
Jordan snarled at Asher and continued to grab Lilly’s arm and lead her out of the trailer. She didn’t ask questions. She was getting out of here, and that was good enough for her. She didn’t like the fact that she’d have to ride with these guys, but it would hopefully be a short ride, and she’d be back home soon enough.
Lilly had already decided once she got back that she would continue on with her life as normal. Work the bar, date Cass, and try to forget this shit ever happened. Or, maybe that wasn’t the best idea. What if they came back for her? Would these assholes be the ones to misunderstand directions again and kill her next time?
Jordan opened the door of the trailer and walked down the three stairs that were falling apart without offering Lilly a hand. These guys literally had no fucking manners. She walked down the stairs without falling, somehow, and followed Jordan to the truck that was parked in the dimly lit driveway. He opened the back passenger door and shoved her in. She grunted as her legs hit the running board of the truck before she had time to lift a foot to climb in. Jordan shut the door once she was in and walked back inside the house.
Lilly scanned her surroundings, looking to see if she recognized anything, but nothing looked familiar. The sky was starting to lighten, and the sun would be coming up shortly. She looked at the ignition of the truck, but there were no keys. Not that it mattered; they were taking her back anyway.
She sat in the truck for a while before the guys came out of the trailer. They didn’t look too pleased that they had to bring her back, Keith included, and she wondered if they actually would.
Keith got in the driver’s seat, Jordan got in the passenger seat,and Boulder got in the back with her. She thought she would die from the odor coming off of them before they ever made it out of the driveway. The vibe in the truck was weird. Lilly felt tension coming from everyone.
Jordan reached for the volume knob of the radio and turned it up. Some new rap song played that she hadn’t heard. Keith turned the station.
“I ain’t listening to that shit,” he said.
An old country song played through the speakers as they pulled out of the driveway and onto a back road that didn’t even have white and yellow lines on it. When they made it to the main highway, Lilly still didn’t know where she was. Nothing around here was familiar. They drove on the highway for a few minutes before they turned off at a gas station.
Keith killed the truck and looked at Jordan.
“You and Boulder go inside and grab drinks. This is as far as I go,” he said.
Jordan got out and walked into the store with Boulder on his heels. Once they were out of sight, Keith turned around to face Lilly.
“Your time’s gonna come, and you’re gonna pay for the shit you just caused. I’ll make damn sure of it.” His tone was harsh. She was confused. What had she caused? The only thing she did was try to leave work.
Lilly looked at him, curious if he’d say more, but he didn’t. He grabbed the driver’s door and got out. She watched him walk to one of two motorcycles across the parking lot. There was a Moccasin on the other one, obviously waiting for Keith.
Boulder and Jordan returned with three cokes and two bags of chips. Lilly already knew one of them wasn’t for her. Figures.
The two motorcycles pulled out ahead of them, back in the direction they had come from. Boulder turned the opposite direction, bringing Lilly home, hopefully.
Lilly sat quietly on the ride to wherever they were bringing her. She wondered what they did with her phone—if she was going to get it back or if they were going to keep it. Finally, after an hour of driving, she started recognizing her surroundings. She was coming through the little town she grew up in, only fifteen minutes away from Creek’s.
“Where’s my phone?” she finally asked.
“In my hand,” Jordan said, lifting it up for her to see.
“Can I have it?”
“Not till we drop you off.”
Lilly sighed. What difference did it make whether she got it back now or got it back later? They drove past the entrance to Creek’s and Lilly’s heart sank. Were they not taking her back? All they had to do was drop her off at her car. She could get in and drive herself anywhere from there.
Boulder broke the silence in the truck. “Where’s this place at?”
“Down the road a few more miles, then there’s an entrance on the left-hand side of the street.”
Lilly thought about the directions. She didn’t have a clue where they were taking her. When Boulder made the left onto a private drive, Lilly saw a line of motorcycles parked out front of a two-story house. It was made of dark red brick and looked like it had been built in the fifties.
Ten or fifteen Lucifer’s Hounds stood outside in a group, waiting. Lilly couldn’t make out who all stood there, but she didn’t care who it was. These were the men who had her back, whether she knew them or not, simply because Cass was their president and she was his girl.
When Boulder parked the truck, Leo was on one side of them and Shorty on the other. Both had guns trained on the men in the front seats. The doors opened and Boulder and Jordan were ripped from the truck. Lilly didn’t know what to do, and she didn’t want to get out if they didn’t know she was in the truck. The last thing she needed was to get shot because she stepped out unannounced.
Leo shoved Boulder forward, and Shorty led both guys toward the group of Hounds. Leo opened the back door of the truck, his gun aimed at Lilly.
“Whoa,” Lilly said, putting her hands up.
“Oh, fuck. I’m sorry, Lilly.” Leo lowered his gun.
“Hey! She’s in the truck!” he yelled.
Lilly could hear guys hollering, and her eyes scanned through the windshield in search of Cass. She didn’t see him anywhere. Leo offered his hand to her and helped her out of the truck, but not before shock crossed his face as he looked at her.
“Damn, I look that bad?”
Leo’s face fell. “A little, yeah.”
Lilly stepped down out of the truck and Lucifer’s Hounds surrounded her. She walked toward what she assumed was the clubhouse, protected from anything and anyone, in the center of Cass’s men. She couldn’t see Boulder or Jordan, not that she cared to. They weren’t a threat to her anymore.
Inside the clubhouse was a long bar that took up the back wall. Behind it was a guy she’d never seen before, and sitting at the bar were Lucifer’s Hounds ol’ ladies. Ryan, Carrie, and Lucy sat talking until Lilly walked in. Their heads whipped in her direction. Carrie rushed to her side.
“Oh my god. Lilly.” Carrie’s face dropped. Lilly fought the urge to burst into tears. Carrie quickly pulled her into her arms, and Lilly couldn’t hold back any longer. Tears streamed down her face as she sobbed into Carrie’s chest.
“W-where’s C-cass?” she asked through the sobs that wreaked through her.
“He’s out looking for you, sweetie,” Carrie whispered into her hair. She walked backward to the stool she had been sitting on, still holding Lilly.
She wasn’t sure why she was crying. Maybe it was the whole being kidnapped and being beaten thing. She took a few deep, steadying breaths to regain her composure.
When she was sure she could speak without her chest heaving continuously, she pulled back to look at Carrie.
Carrie gave her a sympathetic smile, and that alone almost broke her again. Lilly turned around to take in her surroundings. Leo and Shorty stood outside of a door that, she assumed, led to the other men. She didn’t see her captors anywhere, and for that, she was relieved.
“Hey, Leo. Do you have my phone?” Lilly asked.
“No. It may be in the truck, though. I’ll go look.”
“Thank you.”
Lilly sat down at the bar in the empty chair between Carrie and Ryan while she waited for Leo to return. Her chest still felt like someone had a fist wrapped around her heart, but she had her sobbing under control.
“Has anyone called Cass?” Lilly asked.
“I don’t know. The guys are in church right now, but I’m sure they have. If not, those two fuckers that brought you here won’t be the only ones taking an ass kickin’,” Carrie said before taking a sip of the beer that sat in front of her.
That gave Lilly a sense of satisfaction. It’d be good for those assholes to get at least half the beating she did. The thought made her realize she hadn’t seen her own face.
“Where’s the bathroom?” she asked.
Carrie pointed to a door right past the one that Shorty stood outside of. Lilly walked past Shorty into the bathroom. It was a large room with a gorgeous shower, a marble countertop with two sinks, and two stalls with toilets.
Behind the counter, a large mirror covered the wall. Lilly gasped as she took in her reflection. She hardly recognized herself. Her right eye was almost swollen shut and a nasty shade of black. Her cheek was bruised, and her temple had a knot on it the size of a golf ball. She fought the tears that threatened to spill over.
She only had one thought. Cass is gonna be pissed.
Lilly splashed cold water on her face and lightly patted it dry, trying not to press too hard on the swollen spots. When she walked out of the door, she spotted Leo standing next to Shorty with his hand outstretched. He had her phone.
She grabbed it from him and rushed back to sit at the bar. Was it too cliché if she started drinking right now? Probably. But she did it anyway. The prospect behind the bar must’ve read her mind.
“Do you want anything to drink?”
“As a matter of fact, I’ll take a double-Crown and Sprite,” Lilly said.
He walked away, fulfilling her request while Carrie and Ryan eyed her suspiciously.
“What?”
“Nothing. We’re just waiting for you to talk,” Ryan said.
“About what?”
“Basically anything. You’re acting strange. You were crying your eyes out one minute then the next your locked up tighter than a nun’s cunt. I don’t know about Carrie, but I’m just trying to figure this shit out.”
“I’m not really sure what to say, but I am sure I want that fucking drink and I want to see Cass,” Lilly said, pointing to the drink that was just set in front of her.
She lifted it and downed half of it before setting it down. Unlocking her phone, she checked her text messages first. Mindy had texted her eighteen times. Shit.
There were no unread messages from Cass, and that struck her as odd. She opened the thread between them, and the last thing that was sent from her end was a photo of her, bloody and beaten and out cold. Before the picture, Cass had texted constantly. There were at least thirty messages, maybe more. She wasn’t counting. She dialed Cass’s number and waited.
It rang five times before it went to voicemail. Fuck!
“He isn’t answering my call.” Lilly sighed.
“He’s probably on the bike, love.” Carrie rubbed Lilly’s arm.
The door that Shorty and Leo blocked swung open and Gater emerged. “Lilly, we need you in here.” His tone was empty.
Lilly took a deep breath before walking into the room. She wasn’t sure what she’d find, but she knew they’d want details of who had her and maybe even of what they did to her.
Inside their meeting room was a huge black table similar to the one in Cass’s office at the shop. There were twelve chairs around it, but only six men were in the room other than Gater. He stood at the head of the table, no doubt filling in since Cass wasn’t here. The other men in the room were men she’d never seen before. Her eyes scanned over them one at a time.
Next to Gater, there was an older man, late fifties, with hair braided in the middle of his back and a beard that matched. He had soft, light eyes, but his rough exterior would keep most people from noticing. He didn’t have a name patch. He only had a patch that said “Old School” in Old English lettering.
Next to Old School was a large, bald, stocky man. His head looked freshly shaved and the look on his face would be enough to intimidate anyone. He just had this look about him that said he’d kill just about anyone. His name patch said Snapper.
Go figure. Rightfully so.
“We talked to the throwaways—say they won’t give out any information unless it’s to Cass,” Gater said, taking her attention from looking at the men sitting around the table.
“Throwaways?” Lilly asked. She understood who he was talking about, but she didn’t understand why he called them that.
“Yeah. Throwaways. Expendable. Trash. Druggies that they aren’t worried about. They only let them into their club to do their dirty work, and if they get caught then the club washes their hands of them most of the time.” Snapper’s voice was deep, yet soft when he spoke.
“What?” he asked, looking past Lilly at Gater.
Lilly looked at Gater, who seemed to be trying to silence him with a look. While the two of them stared at one another, Lilly spoke up.
“Where’s Cass?”
“Him and Scott are on their way here. We called him when you showed up,” Gater said.
A flood of relief enveloped her. She was finally going to get to see him and be safe in his arms.
“What are y’all going to do with the throwaways?” she asked, her voice lacking concern. She didn’t care one way or another, but she was curious.
“We’ll take care of them, don’t worry,” Old School said. His sadistic grin somehow made her feel at ease.
“We were going to ask you some questions. That’s why I called you in here, but it sounds like Prez is here.” Gater pointed toward the door.
Lilly didn’t wait for another word. She was out the door of the clubhouse before she knew it. An exhausted Scott stood next to an even more exhausted Cass. They looked tired. And pissed. Cass’s eyes lit up when they landed on her. Her feet were beyond her control because, before she could tell them to, they were sprinting to Cass. She didn’t stop; she just jumped into his arms.
He stumbled back but regained his footing quickly. Cass wrapped her up in his arms, her feet hanging off the ground. His head was buried in the nape of her neck, and, for a moment, it felt like nothing wrong had ever happened. That quickly faded when Cass set her down and looked at her face. His expression turned from relieved to livid in the same second.
“Hi,” she said.
“Hi.” Cass put his hand under her chin and turned her face slightly, inspecting the damage. His nostrils flared each time he looked at a different part of her face.
Lilly wasn’t sure when he got there, but Scott was standing next to Cass, looking at her. His facial expression was unreadable, expressionless, but there was a darkness in his eyes that almost scared her. It looked like a storm brewing, but not one that comes on strong at first. No, it was like the eye of a hurricane. A quiet, yet dark, calm before the winds and thunder.
“Stop,” she whispered, fighting tears as Cass eyed her. She couldn’t handle much more of the look on his face.
“I’m sorry, baby,” he said as he pulled her into his arms. She rested her head on his chest and breathed in the scent of leather and Cass combined.
Cass said something to Scott that Lilly couldn’t hear, and she heard his footsteps getting farther away with each step. He must have sent him inside for something. Lilly was unmoving, and Cass didn’t seem to have a problem with it. He leaned back against his bike, keeping her pulled close to him.
She couldn’t figure out why Cass was shaking, so she looked up at him. She realized then when the air hit her face that her face was wet. She was crying. She was the one shaking.
“What did they do to you?” Cass asked through gritted teeth. “Did they . . . ” He stopped, unable to finish his sentence.
“No. No. All they did was beat the shit out of me,” Lilly reassured him.
He let out a ragged breath and looked into her eyes. Something unfamiliar lingered behind his stare. Relief? Fear? Lilly couldn’t put her finger on it.
“I was terrified the whole time you were gone. And then I got that fucking picture and I almost lost it. I was scared I wouldn’t get to you in time.” His expression was sad. He was genuinely upset.
“I’m okay now, though, baby.” Lilly tried to comfort Cass and giggled.
“What?” He looked at her as if she were a patient in a mental hospital.
“I’m the one who was kidnapped and beaten, yet I feel compelled to comfort you.” She laughed, a genuine, gut-wrenching laugh and damn did it feel good.
Cass chuckled, a small smile forming on his face. His eyes were alight with adoration, boring into hers.
“I have to tell you something,” Cass said, his hand reaching up to brush the knot on her temple.
She flinched away from his hand, trying to stifle the scream she felt threatening to be let out. That shit hurt. Cass dropped his hand to her waist and wrapped his arms around her again.
“I love you, Lilly Summers.”
What . . . He what? Lilly pulled back to look at him. His smile was genuine, laced with a hint of worry. He was worried she wouldn’t say it back. She smiled up at him as her stomach did a somersault.
“And I love you, Caine Sonnier. I think I have since the very first night I met you.” She fought back the tears that were blurring her vision.
He pulled her in close, kissing her gently, like she was a breakable piece of fine china. Lilly rode the high she felt from his kiss. Or maybe it was from his words. Either way, she was high on what he did to her.
“Hey, Prez.” Scott’s voice jolted her back to reality. Lilly turned around to see Scott, Old School, and Snapper standing behind Jordan and Boulder. She felt Cass’s energy change and suddenly she was sober, no longer in that euphoric state she was in just seconds before.
Cass moved around Lilly and approached the men calmly. Lilly observed, confused. How does he do that? He kept himself in control.
Before she finished the thought, Cass punched Boulder directly in the temple.
Boulder’s head bounced, and he let out a scream. Pussy.
“They say they have a message for you,” Scott said, amusement gleaming in his eyes.
“They do?” Cass’s laughter startled Lilly. He was laughing.
“Well, come on boys. Don’t be shy,” Snapper said, jabbing Jordan in the back.
Jordan looked over at Boulder, fear written across his face. He fucked up and he knew it.
“Asher sent us with a message to give to you, and only you,” he said shakily.
“Spit it out.” Cass’s demand wasn’t negotiable.
“Give us what we want. We’ve already proven we can take from you and do whatever we want. Give us our contact list that’s rightfully ours or more shit like this will continue.” Jordan spoke dryly but swallowed deeply. “You brought this on yourselves.” He said it as if he were reading it from a book. Like he had rehearsed it a million times.
Old School reached into his cut and pulled out something. He handed it to Cass, who turned to look at Lilly. He mouthed, “I’m sorry,” before turning to face the two men.
Jordan started twitching, freaking out. “No, man. Come on, no. Don’t do this!”
Lilly looked closer at the object in Cass’s hand—a pistol. Son of a bitch.
The guys moved away from the two throwaways, and Cass pointed the gun at Boulder first. He didn’t make a sound. He didn’t beg. He didn’t whine. He just stood there, defeated.
The sound of the gunshot made Lilly jump as a bullet struck between Boulder’s eyes. His lifeless body fell to the ground with a thud. Without hesitation, Cass shot Jordan in the same manner.
Everyone was standing outside the clubhouse now, looking at the scene before them. No one looked surprised, not even the ol’ ladies. They acted like this was normal, probably because it was.
I’m in love with a murderer, yet somehow, I’m okay with that.
Cass looked at the people standing before him. Lilly walked over and took her place next to him. She wasn’t fazed by the fact that he still held a gun in his hand. She wasn’t scared of him, but she was scared of what had just happened. She wrapped her arms around her own waist, trying to stop from trembling.
Lilly had never seen someone die in front of her before, and her mind wasn’t processing it all that well. She didn’t feel bad for the dead men that lay not far from her feet, but she didn’t feel good about it, either.
Cass handed Old School’s pistol back to him and wrapped an arm around Lilly’s shoulder. He must have felt her shaking because his eyes silently pleaded for her forgiveness. He placed a chaste kiss on top of her head before turning to look at the crew of Hounds behind him, his next words bringing Lilly a piece of her new reality.
“They want a fucking war, I’ll give them a fucking war.”
THE END . . . FOR NOW . . .