Micah’s eyes bulged when I came into the kitchen and his cheeks turned bright red. “Cammie?”
I forced the shame that threatened to consume me into a locked box in my mind and shrugged at him. “Apparently, this is the new chef’s uniform. You’re lucky you’re just a sous-chef right now. I’d hate to see the male version of this.”
He grinned and then looked behind me at Coke. His grin fell. “Why does she have to dress up like this tonight?”
Coke snarled. “Mind your business, kid.”
I pulled Micah with me to the stove and made a big show of stirring the pot and checking the bread that was still proofing. “How was the cake the last time you checked on it?”
Micah’s brown eyes filled with tears. “Are you okay?”
I nodded and looked back at where Coke had positioned himself next to the back door. “Do you remember that place we talked about before? It was a couple of months ago?”
He nodded. “Thea Geode.”
I took a deep breath and grabbed one of my knives. “Get ready to run. Don’t look back. If we get separated I’ll get you from there. I’ll find you, Micah. I promise.”
His pulse jumped at his throat and I could see it pounding away there. “Are you sure?”
I was sure we had to get away. I was going to be shipped off and I couldn’t leave Micah under their thumb. He’d never make it. I wasn’t sure about my plan, but I had to try. There wasn’t another way. “Yes. You run and you run fast, Micah. Don’t you dare stop. You understand?”
He nodded and some of his hair fell into his eyes.
I pushed it out of his face and cupped his cheek. “I love you, Micah. I’ll find you and then we’ll find someplace nice and safe to live. I’ll get you in school and you’ll make friends. It’ll be a nice, boring life. Okay?”
“I love you, Cammie.”
I pushed him away from me and raised my voice. “Will you grab the cake for me, Micah?”
He went to the freezer and grabbed it. It was a monster of a cake, too heavy for him, really. He struggled to lift it from the shelf and then turned, the cake wobbling in his arms. “It’s going to fall, Cammie.”
I winked at him and cried out as it slipped and crashed to the floor in a pile of cake and icing that couldn’t be salvaged. “Oh, no!”
Coke came over and swore. “Fucking idiot! You’re going to pay for that, boy. I was looking forward to that cake!”
I acted before I could think it over again. I jabbed the knife into Coke’s side and took a hot skillet from the stove and cracked it across the side of his head while he was in shock over the stab wound. He went down in a lump next to the cake and didn’t get up.
“Run, Micah!” I shoved the sauce pan off the stove, feeling vindictive as the first taste of freedom touched my skin.
Micah shoved open the back door and took off at a dead sprint across the back expanse of land. The kid was fast. The Wolves never gave him credit for the things he was good at and I hoped they suffered for it in Micah’s escape.
I ran behind him, slower in the heeled boots I wore. Tears blurred my vision as I felt sunshine on my skin and a breeze in my hair. Freedom.
Micah’s body disappeared into the tree line and I almost cried out in joy. He’d make it. I knew he would.
I stumbled over an uneven spot in the grass and then went down as something big and heavy slammed into my side. I wanted to scream, but I didn’t want Micah to know that I wasn’t right behind him. I kept my lips sealed and rolled under the man on top of me, ready to fight for my life. I jerked my legs, trying to roll him off me, and swung my arms, connecting with his face multiple times before his hand wrapped around my throat and he squeezed.
My eyes popped open and my mouth gulped, open and closed, like a fish out of water. I clawed at the man’s hands and tried to focus my vision so I could see who was on top of me. It didn’t matter, really, but I wanted to know. If he was going to kill me there, on the dying grass behind the Wolves clubhouse, I wanted to know who he was.
Tears slid out of my eyes and I made out Raptor on top of me. He released my neck and pinned my wrists to the ground in a grip that was crushing.
“You fucking cunt. You think you’re smart, don’t you? Thought you were going to get away from us? Not going to happen. You don’t get away from us until we let you go. And it’s not time, yet.”
I took ragged breaths in, past my raw-feeling throat, and glared at him. I wanted to dig my nails into his eyes and make him suffer. I wanted to hear him cry out.
“Whoa, girl.” He leaned down and ran his tongue up the side of my neck. “Show me too much fire and I’m not going to be able to keep myself off you. I made a promise to the man who’s interested in King Donovan’s little princess chef and I need to keep it. So go back to playing dumb.”
I spit in his face and hissed at him, feeling unchained from who I’d been for years. I felt as feral as the day I’d found the club. “Fuck you! You’ll never be anything. King will always be a better leader than you. You’re just a thug with friends who bark when he says ‘speak.’ Not worth anything on your own.”
His fingers wrapped around my neck again and he dragged me to my feet and lowered his face to mine. “You’re going to make me regret my decision to give you away.”
My hands were free, so I dug them into his eye sockets and would’ve ripped his eyes out if he hadn’t thrown me away from him. Not willing to give up, I scrambled to my feet and ran towards the tree line again.
I’d barely made it a few feet when I was jerked to a stop with a hand in my hair. Raptor dragged me around to face him and I couldn’t contain the dark smile that twisted my mouth when I saw how red and bruised his eyes already looked.
He roared before slamming his fist into my face.
*
“What the fuck happened to her face?”
I winced as I came to, the strange voice dragging me from my unconsciousness, unwillingly. My face throbbed and there was a small marching band compensating for its size inside my head.
“She’s feisty, it seems. You can see what she did to my face.”
“I was promised that she wouldn’t be touched or disfigured.”
Disfigured? Jesus. How hard did he hit me? I groaned as someone’s fingers played across my face, lightly pressing into my skin. It was enough to send waves of pain and nausea crashing through my body. I pulled away from the offending hand and emptied my stomach on what I hoped was the carpet in Raptor’s office. King’s office.
“She’s not disfigured. It’s just bruises.”
The stranger grunted. “Her mouth is swollen. And what a mouth it is.”
I tried to push myself up but I couldn’t even open my eyes just yet. My head was still swimming with confusion and the urge to keep throwing up.
“Well, do we have a deal?” Raptor sounded annoyed and, if I wasn’t mistaken, a little nervous.
“I want her, but not like this. She looks like hell. If you can manage to keep your hands to yourself until she’s healed, I’ll take her. Call me. We’ll meet at the drop point and see how she is.” There was a cruelness in his voice as he spoke about me like I was a product instead of a human.
Raptor cleared his throat. “I’ll call you, then.”
“It’s really too bad that I won’t get to taste her cooking. The whole damn place smells amazing. I wouldn’t suggest letting her back in the kitchen, though. I saw the man she attacked. Doesn’t look good.”
“Fucking bitch should be punished for what she did.”
The stranger laughed. “I agree, but I want her for the first time in all her glory. Not black and blue. I’ll tell you what. You lose one percent of the deal and you can join in.”
I finally managed to sit up and open my eyes. Before anything else, I saw Raptor’s eyes darken with desire. “One percent is a lot to pay for a quick fuck.”
The stranger spoke from beside me, his fingers moving to touch my mouth. He was pale where Raptor was dark. Blonde hair, pale blue eyes, light skin. All that lack of color combined to form something that was almost scary to look at. “No one said it had to be quick.”
I moved away from his fingers and reached up and held my head as the movement jarred me.
“Keep her safe. You have a lot on the line, Raptor.” The stranger stood up and with a slow smile at me, he left the room, quickly followed by three men who’d been standing behind him.
I was suddenly alone with Raptor and a few of the Wolves. My skin crawled at the information my twirling brain had been able to take in.
“Take her to the basement. There will be two men with her at all times. Put her in that jacket that King loved to put the club sluts in. That’ll keep her from hurting herself. Or any of us. I don’t want to see her face until it looks better. As soon as the bruises can be hidden with makeup, I want to make the trade. We’re about to be fucking flush, boys.”
I gagged as one of the men jerked me up from the floor. My stomach rolled again and I threw up bile on his shoes. Almost pleased with myself, I closed my eyes and let them carry me. I knew I was going to the basement, no matter what. I couldn’t fight my way away from all of them. I’d have to figure out something else.
It seemed insane to let my guard down and relax in my situation, but I’d latched onto the words the stranger had spoken. They couldn’t hurt me or they’d be postponing whatever payout they were getting. Until my face heeled, I was safe. Well, as safe as I could be in whatever jacket they were talking about, in the basement of the clubhouse, where I’d sometimes heard screams of pain echoing up through the vents.
Better than anything, Micah would be safe. They hadn’t caught him. He’d be with Thea by the morning and she’d know what to do. She’d keep him safe for me.
I slouched against the man carrying me and tried to find that unconscious space again. I didn’t want to be awake when my head was throbbing like it was. I wanted to sleep it off and let go.
“You could walk, you know. Your face isn’t that fucked up.”
I grunted and made him catch me completely as I went limp. If I had to suffer, they would, too.