Chapter Twenty
“Well, it could have been a hell of a lot worse, Mac,” Lucky said to the manager he’d hired for this bar. Technically, Lucky ran all three bars, but seeing as how he couldn’t be in three places at once every night, he’d hired someone for each bar. That gave him time to run the business side of things without having to babysit drunk co-eds looking for a little what-happens-in-Vegas-stays-in-Vegas action.
Mac rubbed a meaty hand over his hairless scalp. “Yeah, some broken glass, coupla trashed tables.” He shrugged. “A big fuckin’ mess, but nothing that will prevent us from opening tonight. Fuckin’ Ivy League assholes can’t handle their liquor. Or keep their women under control. Every fight is over some snooty rich pussy.”
Lucky snorted. “I’ll get some prospects over here to clean up the mess. I’m thinking this isn’t worth reporting to the insurance company. It’d just be a giant ass pain. We’ve got some extra tables and chairs in storage at Spinners. Prospects will bring ’em over and we should be good to open tonight.” Spinners was one of the other bars Lucy handled.
“Thanks, man.” Mac held out a hand.
Lucky grasped it and slapped the man on the back. “You’re doing good here, Mac. Profits are up and the place is always packed. Just what we want to see.”
Mac beamed and puffed out his chest a bit. A little bit of praise went along way when dealing with employees. Lucky had learned that lesson early on and used it frequently. It set up a culture where the guys who worked for him wanted to keep him happy and keep the compliments coming. In turn, business was prosperous.
“All right, man. I’ll catch you later.” Lucky stepped toward the door. “Oh, wait a sec. You see Robbie around at all lately?” On a typical day, his contact spent hours at the bar. To him, happiness was a belly full of booze and veins full of heroin.
“Nah, man. Actually, he hasn’t been here in two days. Figured he was sick or something.” Mac shrugged and went back to his task of lining clean glasses on shelves behind the bar.
Lucky shook his head. Sick, right. In reality, one of two situations was the likely. Either Robbie ran out of money and was cowered in an alley fighting off some serious cravings, or he’d finally overdosed.
There was a third scenario. The one he’d been fearful of yet somewhat resistant to entertain as a possibility. And that was that somehow Rebel discovered Robbie had been feeding Lucky information. Jesus, that would be bad on so many fucking levels.
He left the bar and headed out in search of his source, a feeling of dread in the pit of his stomach.
~ ~ ~ ~
Kori swallowed and wished with everything inside her that she’d never knocked on the shed door. Actually, if she were wishing for stuff, she’d back up an hour or so and wish she’d stayed in bed with Lucky. Blissfully unaware of the awaiting horrors.
“So,” Rebel said. “Here’s what I need from you, baby girl. Savage needs a woman. A good woman. He’ll be taking over at some point and I want him settled, happy. That woman is you.”
Jesus, no. Kori shook her head as the coffee she’d drank in her car worked its way back up. No, no, no. This could not be happening. “I can’t—”
“Sure, you can,” Rebel said with a swipe of his hand, effectively ending her protest. “And you will. You don’t have to get married right away, but it will happen before the year is over.”
Rebel’s words bounced around in her skull. This had to be a joke, some kind of sick, twisted initiation into the club, right?
The serious look on Rebel’s face said no. And the lustful look on Savage’s face sent chills running down her spine. She glanced at the half-dead man on the chair. “Is that what this all is?” She pointed to him. “What? You’ll strap me to the chair next and beat the shit out of me if I refuse?”
Both men laughed. “Not you, sweetheart,” said Savage.
Icy dread filled her veins. “Lucky?” she squeaked, barely audible, but both men caught it.
“Let’s just say that Lucky found out about some business dealings he doesn’t fully agree with. Robbie, here—” Rebel pointed to the lifeless bag of bones “—has been running his trap, feeding Lucky information he just doesn’t need to have. I cannot afford to have this fucked up. Especially not by one of my own fucking men. So that leaves me with two options. One, Lucky ends up in this chair and I put him out of commission. Or two, you marry Savage and Lucky stays safe.”
All of a sudden, the stale air in the shed rose to about two hundred degrees and Kori swayed on her feet. She could barely process what has happening. If she married Savage, Rebel would leave Lucky alone? But why would that prevent Lucky from outing Rebel and his illegal drug running. Hell, it would probably enrage Lucky into taking action. That was if he didn’t just leave…
Oh my God. She backed up until she hit the closed door and slumped against it in defeat. That was it. He wanted Lucky gone. This would do it. It wasn’t arrogance that told her that, but the last three weeks spent in Lucky’s arms. He cared deeply for her and wouldn’t be able to watch her paired off with Savage.
“Ahh, I see you’re catching up, baby girl.”
“You’re trying to drive him away.”
Savage’s grin was nothing short of predatory. “That’s right, love. We all know Lucky’s flirted with the idea of transferring to the Crystal Rock chapter. Hell, it might have happened by now if it wasn’t for you. So, he’ll run off to lick his wounds in Arizona, leaving us to conduct our business.”
“It won’t work. He’ll be mad, furious. Don’t you think he’ll tell his friends in Arizona? To get back at you?” A flame of anger sparked in her.
“Nope. I sure don’t. Not with you here in the crossfire. I’ve seen the way he looks at you. Like a slobbering puppy with a new toy. That pussy of yours has certainly done something to him. Thank you for that. For a while I thought we’d have no choice but to off him.”
The flame ignited into a raging inferno. “You bastard. You fucking bastard,” she screamed at him. The fury burned so hot she couldn’t think past the hatred for these two men. “How could you do this?”
Rebel shrugged. “Really, Kori, it’s not personal. It’s business. We stand to lose more money than you can imagine. Money that will be partly yours. If you step back and think about this rationally, you’ll see—”
“Money? You think I want your fucking drug money? Your blood money?” She pushed off the wall, legs shaking and breathing ragged as she tried to control her temper. What she wanted to do was lunge across the room, wrap her hands around Rebel’s throat and squeeze the life out of him. Unfortunately, both men had the strength advantage tenfold. “And not personal? You’re my father. My fucking blood.”
Tears of rage and despair filled her eyes and spilled down her cheeks. What was she supposed to do? She needed time. Time to come up with a way out of this hell. But that would never be granted.
“Oh God.” She wiped the salty wetness off her face only to have it replaced by the next round of tears. “I need to think. I don’t know—”
“Sorry, honey, can’t take the chance that you’ll run right to Lucky. Besides there really isn’t anything to think about. You want him to live, correct?”
A sob broke loose and she nodded.
“Then the decision is made. Tomorrow, before the barbecue I’ll announce your engagement to Savage.” He stepped around her and opened the shed door. “Give me your phone. Can’t have you calling your boy.”
Reluctantly, she handed over the phone. What choice did she have? They’d take it from her if she didn’t relinquish it and she’d lose her shit completely if Savage put his hands on her.
“Go straight to my house. I’ve got a prospect who is gonna follow you and babysit you until I get there so if you thought you’d run straight to Lucky, you better think again. Keep your mouth shut. Do not try to contact Lucky in any way. My prospect has orders to keep eyes on you at all times. I’ll tell Lucky you’re busy tonight. Get moving.”
With an unbelievable amount of effort, Kori tamped down her murderous rage. Savage winked and blew her a kiss before he landed another blow on his captive. For a second, she actually envied the beaten man in the chair. His pain would be over soon whereas hers was just beginning and with no end in sight.
She forced herself to walk towards the door, ominous music playing in her head like she was a prisoner in movie walking toward their executioner. She avoided Rebel’s gaze and slipped through the door.
“And Kori?” he called.
“What?” She didn’t bother to face him. Catching a glimpse of his satisfied smile would most likely make her vomit or charge him with the hope of clawing his face off.
“Make it look good. Everyone needs to believe this is true love.”
She gagged and rushed off to her car before the hysterical sobs could claim her. Tomorrow she would be responsible for causing Lucky a pain no one should ever have to endure. The pain of heartbreak. The pain of betrayal.
An image of Lucky beaten and broken flashed through her mind.
Rebel was right. There really was no choice.