Ace looked around the table. “So, any questions? Comments? Concerns?” he asked everyone.
They had just finished discussing their plan on how to rescue Fiona—and Niko, if he was still alive. Ace was terrified that every second they spent talking strategy was another grain of sand in the hourglass of Fiona’s life, but even he realized barging in with no organization was a good way for everyone to end up dead.
“Let me just repeat how stupid of a reason this is,” Katie said with a mocking smile on her face.
Ace sighed. “Noted. Anyone else?” No one said anything, so Ace continued. “Well, then, let me just say how much I appreciate all of you for doing this for me. I know not everyone is fully on board, but the fact that you’re risking your lives anyway…” Ace broke off, glancing at Smalls, who gave him an imperceptible nod. “You deserve to know the truth. Everything everyone said before was right; I put this girl before the gang because, well, I care about her.” Ace coughed roughly. “I love her, actually, and I think I would legitimately go insane if she died. So, there it is,” he finished lamely, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly.
Lucky rolled her eyes. “Fuckin’ finally,” she muttered under her breath.
“Thank you for telling us the truth about this. I am more than happy to help you,” Riley said solemnly. “All we ever wanted from you was your trust and respect as our leader.”
Ace nodded. “There’s nothing you guys ever did to make me feel like I couldn’t share this with you. I just got tied up in my own shit for a while.” Ace saw Katie out of the corner of his eye. She looked disappointed, but unsurprised.
He wished he could tell her she was enough, that she shouldn’t feel like she did anything wrong, but when he looked at her again, he saw she already knew. Katie had never been someone who could be described as driven by her emotions.
Smalls came over and clapped a large hand on his shoulder. “I’m proud of you for that,” he said quietly, a wide smile on his round face.
“Thanks, Smalls,” Ace said, letting out a deep breath. “I just hope I get the chance to say it to her. The things I said last night…it’s no wonder she felt like she couldn’t ask me for help. I’ve done nothing but treat her like shit.”
“You were trying to help in your own way,” Smalls finagled. “At least now you know how you fucked it up.”
“And what good does that do me if she’s already…” Ace couldn’t say it. Saying it made it a real possibility, maybe even a certainty.
“She’s fine, okay?” Smalls reassured him.
Ace looked into his huge, clear eyes and began to calm down. “You’re right. Hey, Smalls, I got a special project, you up for it?”
“I’ll do my best,” Smalls said, nervously shifting from one foot to the other.
“You’re gonna have to be on your own for this one, so be careful, all right? If I go down, this gang needs you,” Ace warned him.
Smalls cleared his throat uncomfortably. “Are you sure this is something you want to trust me with?”
“Of course! We’re all about trust, right?” Ace said with a grin and a wink.
“Of course,” Smalls agreed with an uneasy chuckle. “So, uh, what is it you want me to do, Ace?”
Ace leaned in, his arm barely reaching around Smalls’ massive shoulders. “This is why you’re the one I want on this job…”
***
A few minutes later, the seven of them were spilling out onto the front lawn, mounting their bikes and starting the engines. Bobby came out and stood on the front step of The Hell Brothers’ headquarters, staring at the bikers with an anxious face.
“Hey there, Bobby,” Ace said, coming to stand next to the young man. “What’s going on? You look a little worried.”
A shadow seemed to pass over Bobby’s face. He turned to Ace with a determined glint in his eye. “I want to help,” he said firmly.
Ace admired his bravery, but he couldn’t help but notice that Bobby’s bottom lip seemed to be quivering, and kind of a lot.
“We would love to have you out there with us, but I think you and I both know it’s best for you if you went home,” Ace said, not unkindly.
Bobby hung his head, his shoulders drooping. “You’ll get Mrs. Connor—I mean, Fiona—back, won’t you, Mr. Connor?” he asked hopefully.
“That’s the plan, Bobby. But I need you to go home if you want that plan to work. Your parents are probably worried sick about you.”
Bobby looked off in the distance, away from Ace’s gaze. “Nah, not really,” he said dully.
Ace nodded. He understood all too well. “Well, if you really want to help, we could use someone to set up supplies for when we get back. People are probably going to get hurt, so if we had antiseptic and gauze and all that ready right away, that would be a great help, Bob.”
“I’m on it!” Bobby said with such conviction, Ace practically expected him to salute.
“Go talk to Lianna, she’ll give you a list, okay?” Ace clapped a warm hand on Bobby’s shoulder, then went to his bike and straddled it.
He started the engine, tracing The Hell Brothers’ logo on the center of his tank. The grinning, flaming skulls seemed to mock him, and he thought the welcome mat in front of the gates of Hell looked particularly inviting today.
Revving the engine, Ace took a small pleasure in the familiar feeling of the worn leather handlebar grips. It was perfectly molded to his palm and felt more like home than anything he’d ever known in his life.
He looked back at the six people he’d come to call family. He had let them down a lot lately, but like a true family, they had rallied around him. His sacrifice was theirs, and he was determined to see this ride through with them, one last time.
“Fire ’em up!” he shouted over the rumbling engines.
All around him, motorcycles roared and snarled, jumping at the bit to be let loose. Ace peeled out, thick white smoke streaming from the back tire. Six more bikes followed suit, clouding the street in a hazy fog.
Tearing down the road, the members of The Hell Brothers hooted and hollered to each other loudly, screaming with delight at what some of them knew might be the last days of their lives. They were ready for it, though; this was how they lived their lives: ride or die.
***
Fiona slowly regained consciousness. There was a dull throbbing in her head that was persistently knocking on the inside of her skull. “Ohhh,” she groaned softly. She tried to raise a hand to her head, but found she could not. Something was binding her hands behind her back. Fiona bright blue eyes snapped open, wildly looking around at her surroundings.
Something moved behind her and she shrieked, startled.
“It’s me!” Niko cried. “Stop, you’ll hurt yourself!”
Fiona had been frantically attempting to get away, and she was painfully twisting the rough twine that tied the two siblings together. Hearing her brother’s voice, his living, real-life voice, Fiona calmed down and stopped trying to get away, though her heart still beat furiously inside her chest.
“Hold still,” Niko said. “I’m gonna try to get us free.”
“Where are we?” she asked, taking another look around the room as Niko pulled on the rope. It was incredibly ostentatious, with dozens of extremely expensive-looking pieces of what could be art, or maybe technology. Fiona wasn’t sure. Everything was chrome or white leather. One wall was decorated entirely with albino animal heads.
“Dammit!” Niko cursed. All his struggles managed to accomplish was giving himself rope burn. “Alexei’s,” Niko answered dully, nodding towards the metal staircase that led to a trapdoor in the ceiling. “This is his private area in the basement. Not many people know this place even exists. I only know ’cause I was still awake when they brought us down.”
Fiona tried to think back to the last thing she remembered—Vlad, groping her as he pulled her to her feet, Alexei unbuckling his belt, Ash… She gasped as she recalled how Ash had randomly shown up and then met his untimely fate. The heavy thud of Ash’s head striking the ground, never to rise again, echoed in Fiona’s mind. Alexei had said it was her fault—was he right? If she hadn’t attacked Alexei, would Vlad have killed Ash?
She shook her head; that was a question she would never get the answer to. Now was not the time to be punishing herself.
“Speaking of, where are they?” Fiona said, pushing the image of Ash’s body out of her mind. She closed her eyes briefly. The ridiculous glass chandelier dangling overhead was giving her migraine a headache.
“I’m not sure. They dumped us in here, tied us together, and left,” Niko said, shrugging. The movement tugged on the rope, biting into Fiona’s already tender wrists. “Oops, sorry,” Niko said, hearing Fiona’s painful gasp. He chuckled bitterly. “I’ve been saying that a lot lately. I guess at this point it probably doesn’t mean much to you. Probably hasn’t meant anything to you in a long time.”
Fiona didn’t say anything. The truth was that Niko was right—Melanie and Ace, too. She had been bailing Niko out for far too long, and it had gotten old right around the time she had walked in on Niko using her apartment for a drug deal three years ago.
She was thankfully saved from having to come up with a reply when the trapdoor opened and three pairs of feet came down the steps.
Alexei stood in front of Fiona and Niko, Vlad and Paul just behind him. Paul stared shamefacedly at the floor, unable to look either of them in the eyes.
“I told you I would have you here before the week was out,” Alexei said to his hostages, victoriously planting his fists on his hips. “Didn’t I say?” he turned to look at Vlad and Paul.
Vlad nodded, a sick smile on his face. “I’m so glad you were able to come back with us, Fiona.”
Fiona shuddered at the look he was giving her. It didn’t take a genius to guess what was on his mind. She knew this was a risk, and it was one she had knowingly involved herself in. She tried to take a deep breath to calm the panic that was threatening to overwhelm her.
“A lot of the boys upstairs were excited to see you come through the doors, actually,” Alexei added. He had a look on his face that said he was going to have his own fun before anyone else. “I know you’re used to your pathetic boyfriend that oh so gallantly came to rescue you, and, of course, the disgusting biker, so I hope you’re ready for what is coming to you,” Alexei continued.
“What’s he talking about, Fiona?” Niko asked.
“Nothing,” she muttered.
“Oh-ho!” Alexei cried, looking at Vlad. He turned back to Niko. “Your sister is a slut!” he gleefully informed Niko. “She’s been screwing Ace Connor and he doesn’t even have the yáytsa to show up for her.”
“He must not care for her at all,” Vlad said. “I don’t even know if she’s worth it now. I mean, if she’s not good enough for the biker…”
Niko twisted and turned trying to look at his sister. “You and Ace?” he asked confusedly. “He’s not really your type, Fiona.”
“We needed his help, and that was the only way to convince him,” Fiona said flatly. “Fat lot of help he was,” she muttered.
“Why didn’t you say anything?” Niko said, feeling hurt.
“I don’t know, Niko!” she cried angrily. “I just didn’t, okay?”
The truth was that Fiona had initially kept Ace a secret because she was ashamed—ashamed of her borderline prostitution, and then later, because she was ashamed of how much she liked it. She liked, even loved, Ace, and how he made her feel: incredibly powerful and touchingly safe, all at the same time.
But he’s not here, Fiona bitterly thought, and he’s not going to be here anytime soon either. He and his gang are probably halfway across the country by now. All I can do is hope they get bored with me fast and kill me quick.
Deep down, however, Fiona knew that between Alexei and Vlad, they would make it last.
The two men stepped forward, Paul still hanging back, staring at the cement between his shoes. Vlad pulled a knife from his pocket and started towards Fiona.
“Hold still,” he said, giving her a mocking warning. “I wouldn’t want to cut you now.”
Fiona briefly contemplated jerking her wrists towards the blade, thinking maybe she could cut an artery and bleed out before they had a change to violate her, when Niko let out a loud yell.
“Wait!” he shouted frantically. “Wait, one second!”
Vlad looked at him skeptically. “What now?”
“I-I have the money,” Niko blurted out.
Fiona twisted back, shocked, to try and look at her brother. What the fuck is he talking about?
Alexei didn’t bother asking any questions. He simply moved—quick as lightning and heavy as thunder—striking Niko across the face. Fiona felt the blow reverberate through her body, and she cried out for her brother.
“Niko!” she screamed.
“No! It’s true,” he stubbornly insisted. “I can get it for you.”
Alexei raised his fist and punched the young man twice in the mouth.
“Stop it! Please, just stop,” Fiona said, begging for Niko’s life.
Alexei kicked her in the thigh and she moaned in pain. “Another word from you and we can go back to our earlier conversation—the one where it’s just you and the three of us,” Alexei offered darkly.
Fiona quieted immediately, biting her bottom lip.
“Now, then,” Alexei said, turning back to Niko, who was bleeding heavily from his mouth. “Niko, why do this to yourself?” he asked. “Why anger me with lies?”
“It’s not a lie. I can get the money,” Niko said assuredly.
Alexei gave him a skeptical look. “If you had this money, why didn’t you simply go get it before?” he wanted to know. “Why only now is this supposed money available?”
Niko glanced at Paul, who still had yet to look at anything except his feet. “I guess it always was, but my pride kept me from using it.”
Alexei leaned forward, intrigued. He understood pride all too well, especially the kind that developed to the point where it hurt more than it helped.
“It’s my dad,” Niko continued.
“Otva`li!” Vlad cursed, moving to strike Niko in the face with the butt of his gun.
Alexei held up his hand as Niko winced, anticipating the strike. “Wait!” Alexei cried, halting Vlad just in time.
Vlad whipped around, barely containing the fury coursing through his body. “What now?”
Alexei arched a brow at his tone and waited until Vlad took on a more respectful attitude before resuming. “Remember the first night we went to their house? The girl,” he gestured to Fiona with his gun, “she also mentioned her father. I didn’t believe her then either.”
Vlad recalled this now that Alexei mentioned it, but he was still suspicious. He also didn’t see why he couldn’t beat Niko—the boy was going to die, whether or not it would be fast or slow depended on if he was telling the truth about the money.
“You said your father was out of town?” Alexei said, now addressing Fiona. “Why didn’t you go get the money from him before?”
Fiona had to bite her tongue to keep from reminding Alexei that he had restricted the two of them from leaving the area. “We don’t exactly have the greatest relationship with our dad,” she explained. “We pretty much hate him.”
Alexei and Vlad looked at each other and laughed. “What is the phrase, Paul?” Alexei said, snapping his fingers. “Net der'ma.” He craned his neck to listen as Paul mumbled something under his breath. Alexei and Vlad doubled over into peals of laughter once again. “Da! No shit, Sherlock,” Alexei said, once he got control of himself again. “We all hate our fathers, as our sons will hate us. But never mind this, tell us, where is your father?”
Fiona shifted against her bindings nervously. She knew Niko despised their father more than she did, and with good reason, but was he really going to send these men after him? They would almost certainly murder him.
“I’ll only tell you where to find him if you promise not to hurt my sister,” Niko said calmly.
Alexei’s face grew hard. His large diamond earrings glinted in the chandelier’s light. “You will tell us regardless,” he demanded.
“You think so?” Niko said, challenging the much, much larger man. “Hit me and let’s find out.”
Alexei and Vlad looked at him uncertainly. Fiona held her breath, waiting to see what the two mobsters would decide. She had no idea what Niko was up to, but she tried to have faith in him.
“Very well,” Alexei finally agreed. “She won’t be harmed.” Vlad looked incredibly put out and swore under his breath. “Don’t worry, if the boy is lying, we will come back and then she will be for everyone,” Alexei assured him. “You are not lying, are you?”
Niko shook his head emphatically. “No, I’m not. The house I was at in Boston, it’s my uncle’s. I went there because I knew it would be empty—my uncle went with my dad on a deep sea fishing expedition. They’ll be getting back late tonight or early tomorrow morning. If you leave now, you can get there just in time to—”
“How do I know you’re telling me the truth?” Alexei interrupted.
Niko stopped, nonplussed. “Why would I do that?” he asked. “You’d just come back, and then everything would be even worse for us.”
Alexei looked to Vlad, who shrugged. “He has a point,” Vlad agreed.
“Yes, but all the same…” Alexei walked over to a short, white dresser that held several jewelry boxes. He turned back, now wearing a large ring on every finger. “I think I would like some insurance…”
Fifteen minutes later, Alexei was being helped out of blood-spattered clothing by an extremely pale-faced Paul. A hot pit of anger began to boil in Fiona’s stomach. Deep down, she knew Paul was as much a prisoner as they were, but she shoved that thought aside. Here was one of Niko’s closest friends, and he has helping the man who had Niko’s blood all over him. She wanted him to do something—anything—but Alexei’s reach was too great. The only people who could help now were the police, and Fiona had seen firsthand how well that worked out.
“Get together Bartolo, Egor, and Vadik,” Alexei said, wiping his hands clean. “I’m taking them to check out Boston. You stay here and keep an eye on them until I fly back.”
Vlad nodded and pulled a walkie out of his jacket pocket, barking orders into it in Russian as Alexei climbed the steps to head back into the warehouse.
“Paul, make sure Alexei gets out okay,” Vlad said, smoothly slipping into his role as acting leader all too easily. “Then I want you to check the perimeters.”
Paul reluctantly turned to walk upstairs, glancing back one last time at Niko’s limp and bloody form. It was the only time he had actually looked at either of them. His face was unreadable to Fiona, but the anger inside her quieted. Paul tore himself away, quickly shutting the door behind him, and leaving Fiona and Niko alone with Vlad.
There was a long pause as Vlad stared at Fiona. “Just you and me now?” Vlad said, his voice a mocking surprise. “I can’t say I haven’t been waiting for this moment.” He stepped closer and closer to her.
“Don’t,” Niko gasped. In order to beat him properly, Alexei had separated the siblings, tying Niko to a support pole in the basement, and Fiona to a desk leg.
Fiona and Vlad both turned to him, startled. It was difficult to believe someone could sustain such a beating and still be conscious.
“Don’t touch her,” he repeated, his voice sticky with blood. “Alexei…promised.”
Vlad, annoyed at having been interrupted, chuckled nastily. “He did, but I don’t see him around. So if he shows up, you let me know and I’ll stop right away, okay?” Vlad patted Niko sharply on the cheek, painfully hitting one of the deep gashes in his face.
“Where were we?” he said, looking back at Fiona, who began to frantically pull on her ropes.
Vlad reached forward, trying to touch Fiona’s face, but she kicked at him and struck him in the shin. Angry now, Vlad’s hand shot towards her and grabbed a fistful of her hair just behind her left ear.
“That hurt,” he growled, twisting Fiona’s hair.
“Yeah? Well, what about this?” Fiona asked just before sinking her teeth into Vlad’s forearm.
Vlad began screaming in agony, trying to yank Fiona off of his arm by pulling her curls, but that only caused her to bite down even harder. Finally, Vlad let go of his hold on Fiona’s hair, instead using the hand to punch her squarely in the face.
Red exploded in front of Fiona’s eyes, and she fell back with a hard thump. Blood dripped from her nose into her mouth and she wiped her face on the shoulder of her shirt. Sneaking a peek at Vlad, Fiona noticed with satisfaction that he seemed to be bleeding a lot more than she was.
A small trail of blood drops led to the corner where Vlad was hurriedly trying to bandage his arm with a scrap of torn, expensive-looking fabric.
“You fucking bitch!” he hissed, keeping up a steady stream of what Fiona correctly assumed to be Russian insults. He practically sprinted over to Fiona. He grabbed her by the arm and hauled her up, ignoring the dangerous angle at which her elbow was bent.
Fiona refused to give him the satisfaction of knowing he was hurting her.
He drew his fist back, ready to beat her until she and her brother looked like twins, when there was a low rumble. The chandelier tinkled gently as the noise reverberated through the room.
“What the…” Vlad said, slowly lowering his fist, staring at the ceiling.
Urgent pounding came from the trap door. Vlad looked at Fiona with a desperate, angry desire, then dropped her and went to the stairs. Fiona tried to listen in, but whomever Vlad was talking to was speaking in Russian.
Vlad came back down the stairs to stand in front of Fiona. “There is a matter outside that requires my attention at the moment, but don’t think for one second that we won’t pick up right back where we left off.” He roughly pulled on her ropes, double checking they were secured. He didn’t bother with Niko—the boy was half dead, after all—and headed back up the stairs.
Fiona immediately began yanking and twisting at her restraints. “Niko!” she whispered, keeping a close eye on the door. “Niko! Are you okay?”
“Never…better,” Niko wheezed.
“Can you move?” Fiona tried to pretend she couldn’t see how terrible Niko looked right now.
She watched his fingers close into a weak fist. “Barely,” he said. “Walking…doesn’t look good.”
“If you can get free, and come to me, then I swear, I will carry you out of here, Niko,” Fiona said desperately.
Niko’s already thin arms feebly struggled against the coarse twine. “I’m sorry, Fiona,” he whimpered. “I can’t. I’m not…not strong enough.”
“That’s okay, Niko,” Fiona comforted her brother. “Hey, that’s okay. We’ll figure something out; we always do,” she said, turning back to her own bindings, trying to hide the tears streaming down her face.
“I tried,” Niko continued between labored breaths. “I tried to buy us some time, in case Ace…I just wanted to take care of you for once.”
“Ace’s not coming,” Fiona said after a moment. “It’s just us.”
So fucking what he’s not here to save me, Fiona spitefully thought, now tearing at her restraints with her teeth. I’m here to save me.