As soon as I have them heading down the tunnels with Piper in tow, I take off in the opposite direction, heading toward the correct wing. I can’t believe I’m under the city, in hidden tunnels, searching for this asshole who thinks he’s safe in this underground world. He may have money, and has found himself some resources, but he wasn’t betting on men like me and my brothers to work hard, hiring us some informants, and track him down. We are ruthless as fuck. We take no prisoners. And have no regrets, or any qualms, for anything we have to do to accomplish the missions we’re hired for.

I stealthily hide in the shadows as I notice these rooms are occupied and lit up like the Fourth of July. I peek into each room I come across, I have the face of the man I’m searching for memorized and I haven’t spotted him as of yet. I make it down two passages before I spot who I believe is the person of interest I’m looking for. He’s in the middle of an argument with two guys, and from the way it sounds, he’s in some financial trouble. I hear him say that he can’t pay him until he makes some deals with individuals that owe him money.

I find an open section of the hallway that doesn’t contain any doors and is well-hidden. I decide that’s the best option of a hiding spot for me at this time and crouch down since I’m so tall to prevent any light from catching my figure in the shadows.

“Best not take too long, gov’ner,” the one guy says to Senator Douche.

“It’s senator, you asshole,” he replies.

“Figure of speech is all. Get me my money. Right now, there’s a bounty on your head and I’m sure those folks have the cash ready and willing.”

“Don’t threaten me, I could destroy this place,” the senator states. I would laugh because he would like to think he has the clout to accomplish this feat, but in reality, he’s further out of his league than he has anticipated, getting in bed with this group of low-life thugs. But, then they’d know I was here, and I need secrecy on my side, so I hold it back.

“Damn, the mic works great,” I hear Jonas say. “We’re on the way to get her help. She’s in bad shape. Giving you a head’s up. Silas is still around if you need him but I’m out.”

I make a barely discernible noise to show my acknowledgement of his message, and get back a “ten-four.” Good. They know I’ve heard them, and I know that at least Silas is around in case shit goes south. And somehow, I suspect this is one mission that will go south more than once. Call it a gut feeling, but I’m seldom wrong.

The two assholes continue to talk for a few more minutes and a few more threats are tossed around. I don’t give a flying fuck, I just need him alone, so I can take care of business, and get the fuck out of this place. I’ve been in worse over the years, but being down here, I want to scour myself with bleach and brillo pads.

When the other two assholes leave the room, I decide now is the time to make my move. I don’t want to take any chances of any other unannounced visitors making their way to him and placing any further unrealistic threats. The reason they are unrealistic, and bound not to happen, is because the poor, pathetic piece of shit, will no longer be taking a breath on this earth. I sneak into the room and shut the door quietly behind me. His back is to me and I see him looking down at a stack of papers. I quietly walk in his direction, and when I’m close enough, I wrap my arm around his neck and place my other hand over his mouth. “Got you, motherfucker,” I growl out. He begins to fight me. He bucks, claws and tries to throw a couple of swings over his shoulders, none of his moves making any contact with me. I hear some mumbled words under my hand, but I don’t remove it, afraid he’ll yell out like the pussy he is.

“No one is coming to save you, you may as well save your energy. I’ve been looking forward to meeting you since I saw the injuries you inflicted on your little girl.” I tsk him when I continue, “and what kind of coward murders his own wife? A defenseless woman who only wants to make a better life for her and her child. What happened? Did you find out she was leaving you and planning on sharing all of your dirty secrets? You’re a pathetic excuse for a man. You are nothing short of a dickless, spineless excuse for the male species. It will be an honor and a privilege to get justice for those two. Tell me, senator, are you ready to meet your maker?” His aggravation and fear show in his panicked state as he begins to fight me with more strength than previously. I take my arm that’s around his neck and apply pressure. As much as I’d like to take him out, here and now, I know that I can’t. I feel his body begin to spasm as he fights for each and every breath he attempts to draw into his lungs. “Stop fighting it, fucker!” He finally goes limp and I roughly toss him over my shoulder. I hear his head bang the wall as he goes up and over. “Wish I could tell you I’m sorry,” I say to his lifeless body, “but I’m not.” I slowly open the door to his room. I look to both the right and left and notice that we’re alone. There is still light coming from several rooms so I know I need to be quiet and stick to the shadows of the tunnels.

When I get to the T that takes me back to where I began, I hurriedly head in that direction. When I make it to the exit, I notice the guard that was there when I entered is laying passed out on the ground. I hear a noise and look over to my left and see Silas step out from his hiding spot. “Ready to get out of here?” he asks me.

“Fucking right I am,” I reply, following him out the door and into the dead of the night. “The girl? Piper?” I ask after her.

“She’s good, Jonas is spoiling her rotten. He’s gone out and gotten her some food and clothes. You know how suave he is with the ladies,” he teases, but for some reason, a growl emanates from deep within my chest.

“Oh woah, what the fuck was that?” he questions me.

“Nothing. Not a damn thing,” I say, swinging the senator off of my shoulder where he lands roughly on the ground...oops, that will hurt when he wakes up. “But she’s in no condition to fend off his advances.” Fine, I may or may not be lying, but now’s not the time to examine shit, not with the senator laying cold on the ground, and the possibility looming in the air of someone coming over and seeing him. We have a job to do and I don’t want anyone attempting to come to his rescue or take the fun out of the part of the job I’ve been looking forward to the most. Interrogation.

“We got Doc coming to check her over, too,” he informs me, as we quickly truss the senator up, like a Thanksgiving turkey, including a gag in the event he wakes up. No one wants to hear the bullshit he’ll want to spew out of his mouth. It’s better than knocking out his teeth, which I’d prefer to do, but have been ordered not to since we still need to gain some answers from him.

“Good,” I reply, keeping my tone non-committal. “She looked kinda rough.”

We then drag him back to where the van is and I toss him inside. I wish I could say we did it with care, but that would be an out and out lie. We may be assholes, but this douchebag deserves every bruise he gets from being flung around for what he did to that little girl and his wife. After getting the senator securely in the van, I walk around to the passenger side and open the door. Piper is sitting there, turned around looking into the back. “Who’s that?” she asks, her eyes as wide as saucers.

“That is who I was in the tunnels to get,” I inform her. “I’m parked around the corner, you’ll be leaving with me, we have a doctor coming to look you over. My brothers,” I stall for a second, looking for the right words that won’t scare her, and make her go running into the dead of the night, “need to ask that man a few questions.” Shit, trying to come up with the right words is harder than I thought and I can see from her narrowed eyes that she’s not fully believing me.

“C’mon,” I say, holding my hand out for her to take. She looks at my hand then up at me, coming to a conclusion, she places her hand in mine and I swear I feel electricity shoot up my arm at the contact. She must’ve felt it too because we look at each other and hold each other’s eyes. I shake my head to get rid of the shock and pull her hand causing her to follow my lead. As I walk us over towards my car, I hear a bird call, I flip my brother off over my shoulder because I’m not turning around and dealing with his bullshit right now.

When I get us to my car, I open the passenger side and help her get in. As I round the car, I can’t help but wonder what that electric shock was that traveled up my arm at contact with her and what it could possibly mean. I’ve never felt anything like it, or heard any stories from my brothers, or friends, about anyone ever experiencing anything of that nature with a woman before. It has me a bit dazzled and I’m not sure what to make of it. Maybe I’m losing my fucking mind?

What the hell was that? I can’t help but wonder as my eyes track his every movement. I know he saved me, but that doesn’t mean I trust him. Then it hits me, my sister! We didn’t get my baby sister! I start to grab the handle to get out of the car and I feel an arm reach over and grab me. When did he get in? I was so distracted with thoughts of Destiny that I didn’t pay attention to my surroundings! What is wrong with me? I have to go back in and look for her, I have to find her!

“Where d’you think you’re going?” he asks. Dammit, his voice is enough to stop me in my tracks, it’s a deep baritone, and it’s music to my ears. I feel so guilty right now because Destiny has been my focus throughout this whole thing, which I totally fucked up last night after returning back from the party. Seems I didn’t turn it on or some shit. They didn’t mention that little detail and I bore the brunt of their anger. I hurt everywhere and think a rib or two is cracked. Fuck, I wish things were different, because I’d kinda like to explore the sensations that have started coursing through me at his touch. His words have ramped those feelings up and I bite back a moan. Because my mind has tossed me into a scenario with him that simply isn’t possible, especially not with Destiny’s life still in the balance. Why can’t I focus? I’m all over the place with the thoughts running through my mind. “Where is she!” I scream out at the top of my lungs. I break free of his grasp and run from the car. I feel big, strong arms band around me, stopping me in my tracks.

“Calm down,” he orders.

“Let me go! I have to go find her,” I all but beg him, after screaming at him.

“I promise, we will find her, but right now we have to get out of here.”

“I don’t believe you! Please let me go, I promise you’ll never have to set eyes on me again.” Why is it those words gut me?

“Hang on,” he says, “let me call my brothers, give me a second and we’ll make a plan, okay?”

“Three minutes,” I growl out at him as I squint my eyes. All my anger and sorrow are directed at him.

His raised eyebrow at my words has me wanting to laugh. Jesus, I feel so out of sorts right now it’s not funny! I’m at my breaking point and don’t know how much more I can take. Pacing around while he’s on the phone, I try to listen in, but he’s speaking in some sort of man grunt language I’ve never heard before. I finally give up and stand in front of him, my eyes boring into his as I tap my foot and fist my hands at my hips. I know I look like shit and am bruised from head to toe, and I’m barefoot to boot, but the flip-flops his brother gave me were the wrong size and my feet kept slipping out. I see his lip twitch at my pose and now I’m wondering what a full smile would look like gracing his face. Oh for fuck’s sake, focus, Piper!

When he finally hangs up, I can’t control myself when I ask, “So?”

“We’re sending in our backup team, they will be extracting her and bringing her to us.”

“What does that mean, who are these people you’re speaking about?”

“You’re just full of fucking questions tonight,” he growls at me. Hey, he can use that tone of growl with me, but it won’t work. He doesn’t scare me, not one bit.

“I wouldn’t be full of questions if you’d just give me some answers!” I shout in his face. The look on his face is priceless. I’m pretty sure folks don’t yell at him and they sure as hell don’t get in his face when they do so. Why I’m not afraid is beyond me because he’s definitely scarier overall than the jerks who have held me captive. I’m positive if he wanted to, he could break me with one hand tied behind his back while being blindfolded, and yet, I don’t feel threatened.

“To answer your question,” he spits out, “we have a backup team that either my brothers or I served with. They come in when we need help from time to time.”

“And, do you trust these men?” I ask.

“I don’t trust anyone, but these men are the best of the best,” he explains.

Well alrighty then, Mr. I’ve Got Trust Issues and an ego to match! “Fine. Wait! They don’t know what she looks like!” Just like that, my panic returns.

“Calm your tits, Jonas has already sent them a picture of your sister,” he replies. “Silas texted Jonas earlier and had him do a search once I found you and you gave me your full name.” Calm my tits? Calm my tits? What a fucking asshole! Making the decision that I just won’t talk to him anymore, I stomp back to the car and get in, slamming the door for good measure. Then, I push the lock button when I see the keys dangling from the ignition. I’ll show you that my tits are calm! What an asshole, his mentality and caveman antics are grating on my last nerve. I watch as he walks over and tries to open the door, when it doesn’t budge he leans down and looks at me through the window.

“Open the fucking door, right now!” he commands.

“What’s the magic word?” I sweetly ask him.

“Now,” he grumbles.

“Nope,” I say, popping my ‘p’, “not the word I was looking for,” I bat my eyelashes at him because I know it will drive him crazy.

“Woman, open this damn door right this minute!” I raise my eyebrow at his words but don’t move near the lock. Nope, let Sir Asshole ask nicely. Since I don’t think that’s possible, I may as well get comfortable. I slide the front seat back and tilt it so I’m now fully reclining.

“I don’t think so,” I say, examining my very dirty nails. Trying to bide some time until reinforcements show up, I dig through his glove box looking for something to clean them with.

“What are you doing? Why are you going through my shit? Stop that!” I continue to ignore him when I find a box of toothpicks. I pull one out and start digging the dirt from under my nails.

“Don’t do that in my car! It’s unsanitary, woman! That’s fucking disgusting! I don’t want your dirt in my car, my girl isn’t used to it.” I chuckle as I watch him going nuts, pulling on his hair and muttering expletives.

“Piper, would you please…” and it looks like he’s choking now when he says ‘please’, “Please, unlock the fucking car?”

“Well, since you asked so nicely, of course I’ll unlock the car and let you in,” I respond in my best southern belle accent. When he gets in the car, he pulls his keys from the ignition and places them in his pocket. If the death glare he’s sending my way is any indication of how he feels about me, he doesn’t like me very much. Can’t say that I blame him, and right now those feelings are returned tenfold.

“We need to come to an understanding,” he states. “My car, my rules. No one cleans anything in my car. No one! Especially when it comes off of their body, I keep my girl in mint condition, and I expect you to have respect for her.”

“Oh no! Did I get your precious girl dirty?” I mock him.

“You have no respect, I just saved your ass back there and this is the way you treat me? What kind of bitch are you anyways?”

“I didn’t ask you to, you neanderthal! And I’m the best kind of bitch, thank you very much!” I reply, his comment striking a nerve. But I won’t show fear. Nope. Not me. I’ll brazen it out until he’s out of my life, never letting on that I hate being called a bitch. Guess it could’ve been worse, though. He could have called me a cunt. Then, I would have been clawing his fucking eyes out. It’s the most degrading word I’ve ever heard a man call a woman in my life.

“Like any self-respecting man would’ve left you to rot down there,” he sneers. “Enough talk. Did you get enough to eat?” His change of topic has me whipping my head to look at him once again. I catalog the long, blonde hair, the angled jaw, the lips that are full. Muscles that bulge beneath the short-sleeved t-shirt he’s wearing and he’s tall.

“Yeah, I did, I think. I can’t eat much at a time. I wasn’t exactly staying at the Ritz, y’know,” I reply. His lips twitch at my comment, but he doesn’t say anything in response. I see headlights pull up behind where we’re parked and look over at him with my eyebrow raised in question. “Is that them?”

“Yep, let’s go fill them in on the situation, unless you’d rather stay here?” he asks hopefully. I can tell he’d prefer me to stay right where I am, but that isn’t going to happen.

I place my hand on the door handle and hear him mutter under his breath, “Didn’t think I’d get that lucky.” He steps out of the car and I follow in his stead.