Eve woke up slowly. There was a sweet, sickly taste in her mouth that turned her stomach. She felt like her head was twice as heavy as it should be. Slowly, the world around her came into focus. Not that there was much to see.
The room was bare. There was a long metal table by the wall to her left. There were metal shelves littering the wall to her right. The floor was yellowish, with dark brown stains here and there, like overly dried blood that someone had been unable to wash away completely. There was a single, small window from which sunlight streamed. The ceiling was littered with pallid florescent lights and a single fan in the center of it that currently stood still.
Eve tried to move, but she found that she couldn’t; something prevented her. As her senses and bearings returned, she realized that she was tied to a chair. It was an office chair, a comfortable chair. Still, her forearms and wrists were tied to the armrests, and her ankles were tied together to the pole that led down to the chair’s wheels—which were of course stuck and would not roll anywhere.
Her memory resurfaced just as slowly as all her other senses, but it was a sure resurfacing, and she soon remembered everything. Funny, how a pleasant, wild night of casual sex had turned on her so spectacularly. If she had been a believer in karma, she would have wondered. As it was, however, she merely chalked it up to the astonishing amount of bad luck she had been having over the past few weeks.
The heavy metal door creaked and clunked, the rattling startling her. She looked up just in time to see the massive door screech on its hinges. Jacob walked in carrying a plastic bag. Fear stabbed at Eve then, and she could imagine him suffocating her with that very same bag.
She shook her head firmly and took a few deep breaths, telling herself that she had been watching too many movies. She knew that remaining calm was probably her only chance to get out of this alive.
“Good morning,” Jacob greeted her cheerfully.
Eve felt the sudden urge to spit in his face. “Fuck you,” she growled out instead.
The man laughed. “My, my. You’re not a morning person, are you?”
Eve glared daggers at him.
Jacob sat the bag down on the table and took a few bottles of water out of it. He opened one up and walked up to Eve. “Now, don’t play any tricks, okay? You don’t want to get dehydrated on top of everything else.”
He offered her the bottle and helped her drink her fill. Eve breathed a secret sigh of relief. If anything, he was not going to let her die just yet.
“Where are we?” she asked once she had quenched her thirst.
“Somewhere on the outskirts of Los Angeles,” he said. He closed the bottle and set it aside. He grabbed another chair and dragged it across of Eve, sitting down in front of her. “This used to be a slaughterhouse. That’s why there’s dried blood on the floor.”
Eve sighed again. At least it wasn’t human blood on the floor…at least, she hoped so.
“You betrayed your club.”
“No,” Jacob corrected her. “I betrayed Alec Moore. I’m acting in the interests of the club.”
Eve frowned. “How so?”
“Alec is weak. He started a war with the cartel when he could have gained a powerful ally instead. With him gone, we can start a new relationship with the Mexicans.”
“And let me guess, you would be the one to lead the club into this new age?” Eve said.
Jacob grinned. “Exactly.”
“And there would be a considerable slice of extra money for you if you did this?”
“Let’s just say they made me an offer I couldn’t refuse.”
Eve glared at him. She had no patience for traitors. “And where does Gary fit in all this?”
“Oh, nowhere, poor guy,” Jacob admitted easily. “He’ll soon be gone, too. He doesn’t want to do business with the cartel. Too many complications, he says. With him gone and someone else in charge of the Cobra, we can all start a fruitful relationship.”
“And who would take over the Cobra?”
Jacob grinned from ear to ear. The satisfied glint in his eyes was a chilly sight. “I was very much hoping you would ask that.” He took his cell phone out of his pocket and speed-dialed a number. After a moment, he was talking into the received. “You can come in now,” he said. “I think she’s ready to know.”
Eve frowned in confusion. She watched as he hung up and, a moment later, the door creaked and clunked once more. There was the sound of high heels on the bloodied floor, and Eve’s eyes widened as the figure stepped into the room.
“Jessica?”
Jessica grinned at her. “Hello, sweetheart.” She walked up to them and stopped right next to Jacob. “Surprised to see me?”
“I’ll say,” Eve said weakly. She looked from one to the other in disbelief. “Are you two an item?” For some reason, that notation appalled her just as much as everything else.
Jessica laughed. “Fuck, no. We’re business partners.”
Jacob smiled. “Fruitful business partners,” he clarified.
Eve rolled her eyes. “You seem a little too cocky.”
“We have reason to be,” Jessica said. “After all, so far no one suspects us, do they?”
Eve scowled. She had to admit that, indeed, no one did. “I don’t understand,” she said after a moment, her mind reeling. “What’s in it for you, Jess?”
“Are you kidding me?” Jessica stared at her incredulously. “Everything. I can’t do this job forever; I’m almost too old as it is. I have no qualifications to do anything else. I can run the business my way. No more selling myself. No more humiliation. What’s not in it for me?”
“You would betray Gary, just like that? You would betray me?”
Jessica shrugged. “Girl’s gotta eat,” she said. “But I don’t expect a little princess like you to understand.”
Eve licked her lips. She felt sick to her stomach, and she was pretty sure whatever drug Jacob had given her the night before had nothing to do with it.
“What do you plan to do with me?” she asked. “Why haven’t you killed me yet?”
“You’re useful,” Jessica said.
Now Eve was really confused. “Me? How?”
“To keep the Viper at bay.”
“What the hell are you talking about?”
“Lind cares about you,” Jacob said. “If we have you, chances are he won’t do anything stupid.”
Eve snorted. “Then, you’re out of luck. There’s nothing between me and Lind.”
“I know you fucked last night,” Jacob said. “It was plain to see.”
“A one-night stand surely doesn’t qualify me as blackmail material?”
“You may have fucked once, but I’ve watched him fall for you over the past few weeks.” Jacob smiled a chilling kind of smile. “Trust me, sweet cheeks, he’ll do whatever we ask him to if it means keeping you safe.”
Eve’s heart fluttered in her chest. Could that be true? Could Lind truly care about her so much? She knew it was crazy given the situation, but that notion filled her with joy.
“He’ll already be on the hunt for me,” Jacob said. “He’s smart; he’ll have it all figured out by now. All we have to do is make sure he knows we have you.”
As he spoke, he was already dialing.