Thirty-Eight

  Gage

  The plane landed in Nashville just as Blaise’s phone rang. I pulled out my own phone to send Shiloh another text. She hadn’t responded to the last three. I knew she had been at work earlier, but she’d be home by now.

  “When?” The tone in Blaise’s voice caught my attention. His body tensed up, and Huck also noticed. “You’re sure? What time did he say? We’ll head back now. Just landed. They’ll need to refuel. I’ll handle him.”

  Blaise ended the call, and his gaze leveled on me. Then, he stood to walk to the front of the plane and talk to the pilot.

  “What the fuck is going on?” I asked, feeling a slight uneasiness.

  “Not sure,” Huck replied, his jaw clenched as he waited for Blaise to return.

  We didn’t try and get off the plane.

  “He looked at me,” I pointed out. “Not you. Why me?”

  Huck shifted and shook his head.

  When Blaise reentered, he looked at Huck for a brief moment, then turned back to me. “That was Levi.”

  I stood up. My chest tightened. Levi was supposed to pick up Shiloh.

  “Shiloh has been taken.”

  The words were a blow directly to my chest, as if a bomb had exploded.

  “She didn’t run?” Huck asked.

  Blaise didn’t turn from me. “No. She was taken from the back lot of Carmichael’s office. Her purse, phone, everything was left inside. The back door was left open. The trash she had been taking out was left beside the dumpster. She was taken by surprise while her back was turned.”

  A wave of nausea hit me, and I dropped my head into my hands.

  “Levi is getting footage from security cameras in the entire area, and he has Six checking the tread of the tire. Do you know anyone who would use her against you? Who would know to? I know you piss off people regularly, but who have you pissed off lately?” Blaise asked me.

  I needed air. The plane was too fucking small. Why wasn’t it moving? I had to get back there. Fucking hell! Why had I let her keep the damn job? This was my fault. I couldn’t tell her no, and now, this. I ran my hands through my hair, pulling at it as if ripping it from my scalp would help.

  “Gage?”

  “I DON’T KNOW!” I roared. “If they’ve hurt her …” I couldn’t go there.

  The tightening in my throat got worse.

  Touching my neck, I paused and looked back at Blaise. “Destiny.”

  Blaise frowned. “Destiny couldn’t have done this.”

  “But who does she know?” I asked.

  “What did you do to her that would make you think she’d go to these measures? I’m doubting your dick is just that good.”

  Huck cleared his throat, and I realized he’d not told Blaise about the other night.

  “Destiny said some shit to Shiloh. About Levi whipping her ass and lies about Gage watching and getting off. I was there. Didn’t happen. Anyway, she then shared some other shit. Shiloh was falling apart and started crying. He snapped,” Huck said, nodding his head at me. “Held Destiny by her neck against the wall until she was turning blue. Took me and Levi to get him off her.”

  Blaise looked murderous. “And you didn’t think I should fucking know this?”

  Huck bowed his head. “I knew you should know. I just didn’t want you to be hard on Gage. He’s working this shit out with Shiloh. You know it’s different this time. He’s had a lot to fucking accept this week, and Shiloh does keep his insanity in check and calm him.”

  Blaise swung his glare to me. “Were you going to kill Destiny?”

  “Yes,” I replied honestly.

  “And that’s him being in check and calmer?” Blaise asked.

  Huck cleared his throat. “It’s Gage, boss. He’s never going to be completely sane. It’s why he’s a weapon. He’s a lunatic.”

  Blaise put his phone back to his ear. “Find out who Destiny Ward is related to and everyone she’s been in contact with. Pull all her phone records. Work hours. Everything from this past week.”

  He dropped his phone and looked at me. “Don’t kill because your woman cries next time. Unless her life is in danger.”

  I clenched my teeth, and my hands balled into fists. I managed a nod.

  Blaise stood up and got in my face. “You fucking lose your shit, and this is what happens!” he roared. “Your woman is in danger, and we’ve got to find her because you can’t control your goddamn temper when it comes to her. Don’t make me regret my decisions, Gage. DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME?”

  I took a deep breath. He was right. I fucking hated that he was right.

  “Yes, boss,” I replied.

  He nodded and sat back down. “We’ll find her. When we do, then you get to fucking kill someone. Happy?”

  No. I wouldn’t be happy until I had Shiloh in my arms, safe. Even then, I wasn’t sure there would be enough people to kill to calm the fury inside me.

  “I’m putting fucking trackers under their goddamn skin. All three of them,” Blaise muttered as he glared out the window.

  The plane was in the air, headed home, when Blaise’s phone rang.

  “Yes.”

  There was a pause.

  “Motherfucker.”

  Another pause.

  “Let Levi know. We are about an hour out.”

  He ended the call and dropped the phone, then looked at me.

  “Where the fuck did you three find Destiny?” he asked, then glanced to Huck.

  Once, we’d all fucked her. She’d been coming around for a while.

  Huck pointed at me. “It’s fucking pretty boy over there. She is a dancer at a club in Orlando. She latched on to him, and we ended up tag-teaming her in a private room. Then, she was coming back to the house with either him or Levi. They shared her, fucked her, but it’s his fucking face she loved.”

  I scowled at Huck. I didn’t need fucking reminding that I’d been an idiot. She was a hot piece of ass who spread her legs and got on her knees for me whenever I needed it.

  “Her brother is a Viper. Goes by the name Acid,” Blaise informed me. “You’ve been bringing a bitch into the house who is connected to a fucking gang. Who did her background check?”

  “Not sure we did,” Huck admitted.

  Blaise looked livid. “Let’s fucking hope Acid doesn’t like to hurt pretty faces.”

  My blood felt like it was boiling under my skin. My fists clenched and unclenched as I sat there, planning the payback. Fucking Destiny was gonna wish she’d never opened her mouth.

  Blaise stood up. “Need to go tell the pilot we need to go to fucking Orlando now.”

  I didn’t speak. I let all the fucking rage inside of me simmer and build. When it released, they’d all fucking die.

  Thirty-Nine

  Shiloh

  As time wore on, my headache started to slowly ease. The two guys had left me in the room alone what felt like hours ago. I was thankful for the silence. To keep from falling apart, I had thought about the past few mornings and nights with Gage. The things he’d said to me. The way he’d looked at me. My throat felt tight at the thought of never seeing him again.

  What if this morning had been the last time we would be together in this life?

  Footsteps. More than one set. I braced myself for what was to come. I recognized the fat man’s voice as he explained they’d tried to feed me and I’d refused food. There was no response from whoever he was talking to.

  When they were almost to the room, there was a pause.

  “I’ll take it from here,” a deep voice with an accent I couldn’t quite place said.

  I closed my eyes tightly. I could do this. I could face whatever happened. Opening my eyes, I waited, and one set of footsteps entered the room. I turned my head to the right to look at him. I wasn’t going to show weakness. Gage wouldn’t want me to. He’d want me to be brave.

  The man was average height with long, dark dreadlocks pulled back in a ponytail. His eyes were a light brown while he had a mocha complexion. A gold lip ring and another piercing in his eyebrow. He wasn’t as dirty-looking as the men from earlier. However, the snake tattoo was on not one, but both of his arms and around his neck with the snake’s head coming up over his jawline and the pointed tongue reaching halfway up his cheek.

  “Unexpected,” he said as he walked closer to me. “Shiloh Ellis?” he asked.

  I nodded my head.

  He bit his lip, and then his tongue darted out to flick the gold ring. “Do you know who I am?” he asked with a smirk.

  I shook my head.

  “You’re not a stripper, are you?”

  I shook my head again.

  “You’re wearing scrubs. A nurse?”

  “Yes,” I replied.

  “That explains the location I was told to have you picked up at.” He squinted his eyes and pursed his lips. “I believe I’ve not been given the entire story.” He looked at me and grinned, as if I understood what he was talking about. “You see, I was led to believe you were … different. I’m trying to decide if I care.”

  If he had abducted me to dance for him, he was going to be sorely disappointed. I waited for his weird conversation he was having with himself to continue.

  “Answer me this, Shiloh,” he began. “How do you know Destiny Ward?”

  I tensed. This was about Destiny?

  “Ah, you do know her. It’s all over your face. Interesting. Do you consider her a friend?”

  I shook my head.

  He chuckled. “Well, that seems to be on the correct course. She, in turn, hates you. Which is why you’re here. You see, I’ve wanted Destiny in my bed exclusively for a while now, but she is difficult. She thinks because I still fuck other cunts that she should be given the same opportunity to have other dicks. I don’t share, so you can understand why we’ve been at a standstill.”

  “Why did you abduct me?” I asked.

  He pointed a finger at me and smiled. “No need to rush me. I’m getting there. It’s not as if you have anywhere to go.” He held out his arms and waved them back and forth to show me the small concrete room with some storage cabinets, a chain that hung from the ceiling, some cuffs and chains on the wall, and a drainage hole in the center of the room.

  “Two nights ago, Destiny agreed to finally give in to my desire for her to be in my bed exclusively. However, in return, she wanted one thing.” He pointed at me. “You.” He shrugged. “Dead.”

  The tightness in my lungs made it hard to breathe. He was going to kill me.

  “I assumed you must have done something terrible to her for her to request death. I expected someone from the strip club she works at or perhaps a former employer. What I did not expect when I handed your name over to my men to collect you was … well, you. That face—you remind me of a porcelain doll. Perfect, angelic, unattainable. What could you have possibly done to make Destiny want you dead?”

  She was doing this because of Gage. He’d almost killed her. This was her payback. She didn’t want him dead, but me, she did. I couldn’t tell this man that. What if he decided not to kill me and went after Gage instead? I couldn’t allow that.

  “No explanation. Does she have a reason? Perhaps I should get her down here and ask her.”

  She hadn’t told him about Gage. She wasn’t going to. Even though he had almost killed her, she still cared about him enough to keep his name out of this. I had to trust she would continue to protect him.

  “I’m leaning on the side of this being a crime of jealousy. Did you take a man that Destiny wanted for her own?”

  I said nothing, and he let out a laugh that verged on evil.

  “That’s it. She wanted a man who wanted you.” His eyes slowly scanned my body. “Even with those unattractive scrubs on, it’s obvious you’re a complete package. I like the classy feel to those elegant features.”

  He played with his lip ring as he studied me. “I bet your pussy is as fine as you are. Sweet, slick, pink.” He reached down and grabbed his crotch. “Sorry, I needed to adjust myself. You’re making me hard, thinking about what’s under those boring clothes.”

  He closed the space between us and put his hands on either side of my chair as he came level with my eyes. “You won’t tell me his name even if it means your life?”

  “No,” I replied.

  He smiled as he dropped his gaze to my lips. “What a lucky man. An elegant beauty who is also loyal. Even when it’s her life on the line. That’s uncommon with a face like yours. I’ve found beautiful women to be evil once you get to their core.”

  He pushed back, standing back up, and I felt like sighing in relief that he hadn’t touched me. If he was going to kill me, I wanted it to be Gage’s hands that had touched me last when I took my final breath.

  He began to pace as he looked at me. I remained silent. Waiting on him to say something. After several minutes, he stopped and pulled out a slim phone from his pocket.

  “Bring Destiny to me. Acid too,” he said, then ended the call.

  Acid was who they had spoken of earlier. There was a man with that name. He wasn’t going to actually use acid on me—I hoped. That would be brutal. Not the way I imagined dying. But then I hadn’t imagined this either.

  “Since you are so tight-lipped and impressively loyal, I will need to hear Destiny’s side of the story. Perhaps we can decipher the truth among the lies she tells.” He paused and winked at me. “As for Acid, I just like to add to the drama. Family drama is always entertaining. And Acid likes beautiful women. He adores them. When he gets a look at you, well”—he shrugged—“family drama.”

  The fear of rape hung over me again. I would much prefer the acid death to Acid raping me. I clenched my hands behind my back. The rope had already rubbed my wrists raw. It hurt to move them.

  “Are you hungry yet?” he asked, tilting his head with a concerned frown. As if he gave a crap if I was hungry or not.

  “No,” I replied.

  “Water? Wine perhaps? Beer? Or are you more of a cosmopolitan drinker?”

  My life was in its last few hours, at best. Staying silent was doing me no good. They weren’t going to just let me walk out of here.

  I met his gaze. “You have me tied up, waiting on a woman who hates me enough to order me dead, and you’re asking me if I want a cocktail?” I asked him, not even trying to mask the annoyance in my tone.

  He grinned, and then he laughed. His eyes danced, as if he found me hilarious. Great, the man was a psychopath.

  “I could untie your wrists and give you a cocktail if you prefer.”

  “You could untie my wrists because this rope is painful, but I don’t need a cocktail. I’m not into taking drinks from strangers. I watch the news.”

  He laughed again.

  Then, his laughter died, and he walked over to me, putting his hands on the armrests beside me again and lowering himself. “For a kiss.” He said the words softly as he looked at my lips.

  I considered spitting in his mouth. It was an appealing thought. However, he had a knife tucked in his right leg, and I could see the gun at his waist.

  “I’ll keep them tied.”

  His eyes shot back up to mine. “Because you find me repulsive or because you love someone else?”

  Both, but I said nothing.

  “The loyalty. Damn if I’m not jealous myself now. Who is he? Is this man worthy of your love? What has he done for you? He’s not protecting you properly. That’s something you should take into consideration.” His hand moved to my face, and when he touched it, I flinched. “If you were mine, no one would have been able to get near you. Especially the dumbass shits I sent to pick you up. They did it so easily. Although I hear Dill hit you too hard in the head. I’m sorry about that.” He sounded as if he cared, but the evil, deranged gleam in his eyes said something else.

  I wasn’t sure this man didn’t eat the meat from those he killed.

  “I’ve got a nice big dick. With four piercings. The pleasure I could give you would be earth-shattering.”

  I was going to throw up in my mouth.

  Heels clicking down the hallway caught his attention.

  His eyes lifted to the door, and he looked back at me and smiled. “Sounds like we have company.”

  I sat rigid, reminding myself that Destiny was out for revenge. But only on me. Not Gage. He was safe. She wouldn’t throw his name out there.

  The man straightened his stance, then turned to look at the door after giving me a wink. Destiny came striding in, wearing one of her signature, barely there dresses with stiletto heels and a furious look on her face.

  She looked at the man, then swung her gaze to me. “WHY is she still alive, Jag?” She was close to shouting.

  A tall man followed in behind her at a much slower, laid-back pace. He had the same dark hair and eyes that Destiny had. Except his few days of growth on his face and his wider lips made him the better-looking sibling. He looked at his sister, then swung his gaze to me.

  “I needed more information,” the man who she had identified as Jag said, sounding amused. “Once I got a look at that face”—he waved toward me—“I wasn’t very keen on killing her.”

  Destiny clenched her teeth, glaring at me, as if this were my fault. “I’ll do it then. Give me a fucking gun.”

  She held her hand out to Jag, who looked down at her hand, then back at her face. Then, he walked over toward me, ignoring her request.

  I could still feel Acid’s eyes on me. He hadn’t stopped staring at me.

  “Destiny, how do you know this woman?” he asked his sister.

  I turned to look at her, then at him. It was clear they were related. The similarities really were strong.