“Get your ass up.”
He doesn’t growl, but as I drag my eyes away from the TV show I’m paying attention to, I see the look in his. He’s staring at me, hard. It’s a look that probably works on most people to get them moving, but I’m not most people—aka, I ain’t no bitch.
“Can’t. Too comfy.” I wiggle into my seat on the couch to prove my point.
“Don’t care. I got shit to do, and I ain’t leaving y’all alone.”
This has me smiling as I watch the show. “Why? Afraid we might break something.” Truth be told, I already broke a glass. Two of them. What can I say? I’m clumsy. Or I seem to be when I’m caged, anyway.
His dark chuckle has me looking over at him. The tone alone has me curious, but it’s the glint in his eye and the smirk on his face that have me thinking I might be pushing too hard.
“Don’t care what you break. Most things are replaceable. But he ain’t.” Bass nods at Ollie, who’s sitting on the floor watching us.
My rage at the threat against my kid takes on a glare of its own that would burn this place to the ground if given half a chance.
“Oh, relax.” Bass grabs his keys and rolls his eyes. “Not making a threat, so take that look off your face. I’m talking the truth. This place is mine, and when I’m not here, I set the alarms. Alarms that, unless you’re me, can get you killed.”
I roll my eyes as well, but that damn chuckle has me grinding my teeth. It does something to my stomach that I don’t want to think about.
“Suit yourself. But don’t come crying to me when you or the kid steps on something that sets off a bomb and you lose an arm or two.”
“Bombs? Seriously? Yeesh, give it a break, man. Go do your thing. We’re not leaving. We don’t have a car, and I doubt you’re going to leave your garage of torture toys open. Makeszero sense to go out on foot when I bet you could find us just as we’re walking down the only road out of this place.”
While I might hate that I’ve been kidnapped, I will admit that it’s the first time I don’t have to think about a place for both me and Ollie to sleep and eat. I can take what this place is offering: rest. I might not be the sleep-through-the-night type, but I am restoring my energy. Every bit helps when you’re out on the run. I don’t trust these people, but my gut is telling me I’m safe for the time being. At least till they learn the truth and realize Ollie and I aren’t worth the risk to their club and family.
“Your call.”
Once the alarm is set, it only takes three minutes to lock the place down. Then I hear the beeps. Lots of them. More than a normal amount for an alarm code, and I’ve got to admit, I don’t remember seeing an alarm system set up by the door. Or on the outside.
Nothing about this screams safety, and one look at Ollie says he’s feeling what I’m feeling. Unease. First time since we stepped into this place. If Bass is willing to just walk out of his house with us still in it without a care for what we could do, that makes me think he could just be crazy enough to blow the place up himself. The whole “if I can’t have it, no one can” mentality. But in this case, it’s a home, and he’ll be the one to set it ablaze when the time comes.
I nod at Ollie, and we both make quick work of getting out of the house and into the idling truck in front of the house. To his credit, Bass says nothing as we buckle up. But I don’t miss the smile on his face as he turns the wheel to do a 360 in his gravel driveway before heading to God only knows where.
The place is a gym. A fuckinggym. Sure, it looked nice from the outside, even showcasing a spa feature and an internet café, if the advertisement on the outside was true, but I’ve got no clue why we’re here. It’s not a normal place you take kidnapped victims, especially since there are a ton of people here who don’t seem to be affiliated with the club.
No one says anything as we get out, and I don’t miss the bag he pulls from the bed of the truck. Not sure when he put it there, but I notice it now. Bass keeps eyes with me as he walks around the truck toward us, probably wondering when I’m going to run. Don’t get me wrong, the pull is strong. But I’m almost ashamed to admit that the intrigue is too high to do more than follow his lead. I’ve lived the past few years thinking and planning for the unexpected so I can prepare for it. But this? This is so outside even my wildest imagination.
I’m so focused on Bass, trying to read his mind as he opens the door for us, that I almost miss the person racing over to us. I react on instinct, but thank fuck that Bass is watching me as closely as I was him. He counters my reaction a second before I do something I might regret, like break Maddy’s arm after I flip her over my shoulder before trying to choke her out. Yeah, I’ve practiced that one. Done it more than a person should. You’d be surprised at the things you can do when you’re in survival mode for both you and your kid.
Bass quickly wraps his arm around me, pulling me flush to his front as his other hand grabs my other arm, pinning it to my side. The move was so quick, I have to wonder if he’spracticed it himself. Either on an assailant or a willing victim trying to get into his bed. Either way, it’s effective. I’m cut off from reacting, and I feel the wall at my back. For the first time, I don’t feel it as a threat but as a tool to use.
The thought filters in my brain, and I look over my shoulder to be pierced with eyes so dark brown, I’m sure they get confused as black more times than not. Eyes that have been watching me all day, but till this moment, I’ve never felt seen by them. He watched me as an enemy then, but now… now there’s something else. Hesitation, or maybe that’s just me projecting my own thoughts.
No one has ever held me back before, not even my family. I had to prove myself every step of the way before all this, and I stepped up to the challenge. But there are times, like now, that I need someone to stop me. To hold me back from reacting to something that isn’t as it seemed. And Maddy isn’t the enemy. I feel that with every fiber of my being.
“Hi, Milly! It’s so good to see you again. I’m so glad you decided to give this a chance.” Her smile is genuine, but her words have my back straightening.
Did she really think I decided to stay? That this isn’t a forced thing? I glance once more at Bass and notice his lip twitch a bit, showing he’s enjoying it. My glare has the opposite effect I was going for if his wide smile is anything to go by, but at least he releases me as he steps back.
“Actually, Mama Bear, Milly was left in the dark on this one. Figured she would enjoy the surprise.” The asshole actually smiles bigger, if that’s possible.
Doesn’t take a genius to figure out that I don’t like surprises, especially if we consider my earlier actions. Maddy’s smart, a fact I picked up on early. She also doesn’t miss much, but at least she’s sweet enough to pretend that I didn’t almost attack her.
“Oh, sorry, then.” Maddy winces, and I appreciate that she looks as put out by that as I do. “I should have realized when I texted Bass earlier and he replied so quickly that he probably decided for you. I was just too locked on the chance of Teddy and Ollie hanging out together. Teddy rarely takes to other kids his own age so quickly, and I just love the fact that he might have found his best friend in Ollie. He talks about nothing else but when he can see him again.”
Maddy’s voice trails off as she turns to look at the boys. While I may have been unprepared for her walking up, as soon as we got here, I saw Teddy as he beelined to Ollie. I should have connected the dots, but my first focus is always on Ollie. Then protection. Hence why I expected the worst from Bass and kept an eye on him.
Ollie and Teddy are in their own world, talking about Minecraft and some sort of Pokémon thing. I never got into it, but I listen when my kid talks. And while he talks a lot about those two things, so I know the high points, don’t expect me to win any trivia questions about them.
