“I need some air.” I push off the bar.

“I’ll come!” Willow stands.

I shake my head. “No, it’s okay. I sort of, need a minute.”

“Ok.” She smiles, and then slowly lowers herself back onto the bar stool. I don’t know if she genuinely wanted to come with me, or whether it was just to get away from the girls. Probably the latter. The girls can be a little intense, but they mean well. Sometimes. I start to walk out the front, knowing damn well I don’t want to get air at the back, when I pass a group of bikers. All the Devils, from the Westbeach chapter, I’m guessing.

I smile politely at them, and they nod in my passing. No doubt they know I carried Frost’s baby. What, his incubator or some shit. While he’s out having sex and hot relationships with supermodels. Reaching the front entrance, I take a deep and long inhale of breath and close my eyes. Things start spinning so I quickly open them. I really shouldn’t have consumed all that whiskey, but on the other hand, I feel a lot calmer and more collected. Well, I appear to feel calm and collected.

“You just had to come back, huh.” Taylor’s voice breaks through my relaxing state.

I beam softly, though I don’t look at her as she comes beside me. “Well, it sort of is my home.”

I can see her examining me out of the corner of my eye, and just as this realization happens, the wind picks up and sets chills to erupt over my spine.

“Ah, my ride is here.” A white van pulls up with blacked out windows. It stops in front of us.

“Your ride is a van?” I ask, and I was so fixated on the fact that she had a van coming to pick her up that I didn’t see her duck behind me. The sliding door opens just as I feel a shove against my back, and a man in a hoodie launches out of the back seat, grabs onto my arm, shoves a sack over my head and pulls me into the dark enclosure of the van. I barely had time to scream.

“What the fuck!” I yell just as I hear gunshots pop off outside and the van speeds off, skidding out of the driveway.

“Go, go, go!” the man behind me calls out.

“Who the fuck are you, Taylor?”

My hands get pulled to the back of me, cuffs clipped around them.

“I’m Taylor. That’s all.” And her accent is stronger. A lot stronger. “Is that Russian? Well, you’re going to have to narrow it down a bit more, because he nor I can recall many of our kills, but I can assure you, yours will be remembered.”

She giggles. “Oh, honey. I doubt I will be added to yours or Frost’s numbers. I’m far too much of an asset, and yes, I’m Russian, but I didn’t come for that, or am I representing that.”

I think over who else she could be here for, who is possibly a threat to us, and I come up with an overload of organizations and names. Truth is, everyone is our enemy, just no one has the balls to step up to us. With good reason, those are smart people. Taylor? Not so smart. Then I freeze.

“Snake.”

“Ding ding.” Her laugh crackles out. “She gets it.” There’s a long silence then she orders, “Jason, remove the rag.”

Someone, or Jason, removes the rag over my head and I squint my eyes, looking directly at Taylor who is sitting in front of me. “Now, I know that you understand business, Ella. Especially business in the underground. I never wanted it to get like this, I was hoping to slip in with the help of Frost, but looks like that isn’t happening.” She glances to the side with a small eye roll. “So, I have to go outlaw on you. So sorry about that.”

“Don’t be,” I answer with a snarl. “I wouldn’t be sorry.”

She looks down at me in a way that pretty much screams, ‘That’s cute, child. But sit down.’

“Listen,” she leans into the seat, “I’m taking you to Snake, who is my father by the way, and we will see what happens from there, but I will say that you will be very lucky if you make it out of here alive.”

My phone lights up in my pocket and her eyes zone in before she reaches for it and snatches it from my pocket. She unlocks my phone.

“How the fuck!” I blurt out, confused with how the hell she would know my passcode.

She shrugs. “How obvious do you have to be. It’s Pax’s birthday.” Her eyes move across as if she’s reading something, then she grins.

“Buckle up, sweetheart.” She clears her throat, and then continues to read out the text, “I know you’re fucking reading this, Taylor, and just know that when I find you and get my woman and Miles back, I will chop you up limb by limb, while keeping you alive. You don’t think I know how to do that, honey? Oh, I do, I know exactly how to slow down the process of death while relishing in inflicting so much pain you will be begging me to put a bullet between your eyes. Mark my words, Taylor, one hair touched on Ella’s head, or Miles, and this will be guaranteed. Oh, and I know exactly where to find you too.” She touches her chest. “Sigh, isn’t he just the ultimate heartthrob.”

I scowl at her. “What the fuck does he mean Miles?”

“Oh, sorry, that was rude of me.” Her eyes shoot over my shoulder. “My colleague got him too. I must say, we are getting a lot better than the McKenna’s. Maybe it’s time Raze steps down from his position, I mean, he is down one man, isn’t he?”

“My brother doesn’t need a sixth,” I seethe.

“Oh, and why’s that?” She rolls her eyes.

“He has family.”