Erica

 

I wondered when Vince was going to come for me.

 

It wasn’t a matter of wondering if. I knew he would, even though I didn’t want him to. The thought of him putting himself on the line for me was more than I wanted to consider. And he wouldn’t come alone. I knew that, too. He’d have backup. They might have been making a plan even as I sat there tied to a chair, feeling as though my arms were about to fall off and wishing they would if it would mean an end to the constant ache.

 

I heard a lot of noise around me, mostly coming from the other side of the door Onyx had disappeared through. That had to be their lounge. What the hell was this room? A trash heap from the looks of it. It was horrible. I half expected to see roaches and rats crawling over everything.

 

The other door, the one Alexander went through, was likely to his office. There was no noise coming from in there. I wondered what he could be doing. Gloating? Making big plans for what he would do once he’d won? Taking a nap? I had no idea. All I knew was I didn’t like the silence. And I didn’t like being left alone—although, given my choice between being alone and being with the rowdy, drunken bunch just behind the door, solitude sounded good.

 

The door opened. I caught my breath. Onyx. I wondered for a minute why he wasn’t out there with the Wolves, laughing it up. Then I realized he wasn’t one of them. He didn’t fit in. This wasn’t a victory for him.

 

He didn’t look at me, sitting by the closed door instead. He slouched in his chair, looking at his boots. Not looking at me. I’d been thinking a lot about him since he kidnapped me. Mainly, I wondered what his end game was. Or hadn’t he thought it through?

 

I moved my head, fighting against the gag over my mouth. I wanted to talk to him, to get him to understand what he’d done and how he could still turn it around if he’d only let me go. If he did, Vince might spare his life. I couldn’t speak for him, of course, but I would stand up for Onyx after it all blew over. If only he would let me go.

 

Otherwise, what did he expect? If Alexander got what he wanted, his club would absorb the Fury Riders. They had to know by then what he’d done. They would never accept him. They might even want him dead. He’d be without a club, without his family. It was over for him.

 

At first, he’d probably thought he’d get away with it. Then I came along and forced his hand. He couldn’t betray them in secret anymore because I had him on the memory card. I remembered walking into the office earlier that morning—had it really only been that morning? So much had happened since then. He was in there, and he looked guilty. Had he been trying to pull the card out of the camera? I bet he was. All the while, the entire time I was there, he’d known what I had there. No wonder I had the feeling he didn’t like me.

 

I twisted my head from side to side, looking at him plaintively. I tried to stay his name over the strip of cloth between my lips. He acted like I wasn’t there. I cried out louder.

 

“Why are you wasting your energy?” he muttered.

 

Please, I tried to say. Please, please, please. It didn’t sound like anything but a bunch of groaning, but it seemed to get through to him. He glared at me.

 

“It would have worked if it hadn’t been for you. Alexander was looking to make a deal with the club. He wanted to share the drug traffic, then slowly move it all over to the Wolves. Vince might have gone for it, too. He didn’t wanna be in the drug business anymore. And I would get a cut—a big cut, since I was supposed to be the go-between. And you fucked it up.”

 

I shook my head vehemently. It wasn’t my fault.

 

“Why did you have to be there? What were you doing? I saw you before Harrison went after you. I knew you had to have me on the camera. Then I saw Vince pull up on his bike.” His eyes narrowed. “I knew he wouldn’t let you go. It was personal for him since the guy he was fighting was a Wolf. Then, when I saw the way he looked at you, back at the clubhouse…I knew he wanted you. That was it. He was too involved.”

 

I shook my head again. I hadn’t done anything wrong. Onyx’s voice had started to rise. He sounded more intense. I thought he might hurt me.

 

“He didn’t have to know. Nobody had to know. Lance? He deserved what he got. He only came along because he wanted the money. He wasn’t trying to help the club. I was trying to give us a way out of the business without pissing off the suppliers and make money while I was at it. I had a purpose, at least.”

 

Tell him, I tried to say. Tell Vince.

 

That, I thought he understood. A glimmer of recognition came over his scarred face. His black eyes narrowed again, and my heart nearly stopped beating when he stood and walked to me. I wanted to run, to fight, to cower in a corner and cover my head with my hands. Anything other than being forced to sit completely still in a chair. My arms burned as I struggled to free them. I felt the rope bite into my skin and winced. Blood dripped from my hands.

 

He stood in front of me, a murderous look on his face. I closed my eyes tight, hoping that whatever he did, he’d be quick about it.

 

Then I was stunned. He pulled the gag from my mouth, then went back to his chair.

 

“Thank you,” I whispered. “That hurt.”

 

“Sure, whatever.” He folded his arms, crossing his long legs at the ankle as they stretched in front of him. “So. You’re supposed to be so smart. Better than us, right?”

 

“When did I ever say that?”

 

“Please. It’s obvious. People like you don’t mix with people like us. As soon as this is all over, if you make it out alive, you’ll go back to your life. But that’s a big if.”

 

I shivered, forcing back the pain in my wrists and arms. Trying to keep my head clear. I had to convince him to let me go. I might even be able to get to Vince before he did anything crazy.

 

“Why don’t you tell Vince what you just told me?” I asked. “Lay it out that way. He’ll understand.”

 

“You don’t know Vince. You think you do, but you’re dead wrong. No way he’d understand. I betrayed him, the same as Lance. In our world, there’s only one punishment for that level of betrayal.” He didn’t have to say what he meant. I connected the dots.

 

“I could speak up for you. I’ll tell him whatever you want me to. I’ll tell him you were good to me here, that you made sure nobody hurt me.”

 

“That’s bullshit.” His eyes darted away from mine. It had been a guess, but his reaction told me I was closer than I imagined.

 

I stared hard at him. “I don’t think it is. I think the only way you’d bring me here would be if Alexander and the rest of them promised not to hurt me. Otherwise, who knows what they would have done to me by now. Right?” My voice dropped to a whisper. “He’s only going to kill me anyway. Right? So what does it matter?”

 

His eyes met mine again. “No.”

 

“Onyx.” I shook my head. “Yes. Think about it. Why would he let me go? I can still testify that I saw one of his guys—and I know now that his name is Harrison—murder somebody. I’m a witness. He can’t let me live. He’s going to kill Vince and me.” The sensation of warm, sticky blood running down my hands and dripping onto the floor was driving me insane. It was a struggle to stay focused. I took a deep breath of the dank, rotten air.

 

“That wasn’t part of the deal,” he insisted.

 

“Do you think a man like him honors deals? Come on, Onyx.” My voice wasn’t angry or condescending. I was very tired, and very sad. He hadn’t even known what he was doing when he stepped into this.

 

“Why did you have to fuck everything up?” he asked again.

 

“I don’t know. I wish I hadn’t. You have no idea how much.”

 

“It was supposed to be easier than this.”

 

I sighed. “I’m sure it was. I know you thought you were doing the right thing.”

 

He looked at me sharply. “I don’t need your forgiveness, bitch.” The coldness of his tone was like a slap in the face. It bothered me more than the word he used to describe me.

 

“I’m not trying to give it to you. What I’m trying to give you is a little understanding. It’s a hell of a lot more than you’ll get from the club now.”

 

He winced. I saw how much that hurt him and went with it.

 

“What do you think will happen? When the Wolves take over the Fury Riders? What will you do? Your old club won’t accept you. They might even want you dead. You have nowhere to go.”

 

“Shut up.” He looked away, and I saw his hands flex and straighten spasmodically.

 

“There was never a good way out of this. Alexander had it planned the whole time. He was going to take over your MC. He didn’t tell you the whole plan, did he? And now what are you going to get for your trouble? Nothing. No club, no family, nothing.”

 

“I said shut up! I’ll put the goddamned gag in your mouth again!”

 

I pushed on. I had to get the words out so he would at least think about them. “There’s only one way you can make it right. One way. If you let me go. You can come with me. We can get out of this together. I’ll vouch for you, I swear to God I will. But we have to go now. Before Vince gets here. We have to stop him from coming. Otherwise, he might die.”

 

I watched Onyx’s face work as he processed this. Oh, please. Oh, please. Please. He had to see the sense in what I was saying.

 

He stood. For one brief, glorious moment I thought he was going to let me go. I could already see myself running away, running to Vince. Catching him, begging him not to get himself into trouble for me. And I would tell him Onyx set me free. I would make sure they went easy on him.

 

I would have done all those things if Onyx had let me go. Instead, he raised the gag, putting it back in my mouth. I screamed in rage and desperation and anguish. Vince was going to die, and it would be all my fault for stirring things up in the first place.