“Wake up, sweetheart.” She blinked her eyes open to see Travis standing by her head with the phone in his hand on speaker and ringing.
The ring abruptly cut off with Prowler’s voice.
“Where the fuck is she, you bastard?”
“Mykayla, say hello to your lover.” He held the phone closer to her face.
“Prowler?”
“Fuck, babe, are you okay? Where are you?”
“I’m sorry, protect Cass. T—” That was all she got out before a hand covered her mouth. She didn’t even notice Billy standing there. She tried screaming through his hands, but it was no use. She should’ve blurted out the address, but all she could think about was Cass.
“Taylor! Taylor!” She heard Prowler shout before Travis took the call off speaker and put it to his ear.
“Listen, Prowler. If you want Mykayla, oh I’m sorry, you know her as Taylor. Whatever her name is, if you want to see her in one piece again, you’ll have two hundred and fifty thousand dollars put into locker 17 in the men’s locker room at Top Notch Gym on Rainbow. Lock it with the lock that’s inside.”
Prowler’s response was so loud, Taylor heard it through the phone.
“I’m going to eat your heart, motherfucker,” Prowler threatened.
“So, is that a no on the money then?” Travis asked with that air of superiority he always had. “I guess I’ll start with those luscious tits of hers. I’ll put them in a box and send them to you.”
“WAIT,” Prowler shouted. “Don’t hurt her. I’ll get you your fucking money, but how will I get my mate back?”
Taylor’s heart caught in her throat. Could she really be his mate, after everything that had happened? Maybe romance novels had it wrong, and mates could cheat, but could she live with that? She most certainly couldn’t live with it being an ongoing thing, but she could forgive him for his one indiscretion, if he could forgive her for the one he thought she’d committed.
She loved him so much she had pretty much forgiven him. She just needed to lick her wounds, and well … that didn’t work out so well.
She turned her head as much as she could and cut her eyes back to Billy to see if the word mate registered, and he had a curious look on his face. Shit, Billy was the last person who needed to be privy to that secret.
It didn’t appear Travis caught it. He started speaking over Prowler as soon as he said he would get him his money.
“Once I have the money, I’ll give you the address where she’ll be safe and sound, waiting for her knight in shining armor to save the day. You have until eight, or it’s bye-bye breasts.”
With that, he hung up, not giving Prowler a chance to respond.
“You’re gonna wish it was a knight in shining armor when a King in dusty leather shows up, asshole,” she mumbled against Billy’s hand.
When she’d heard the anger and determination in Prowler’s voice, a sense of comfort washed over her. Bone deep, she knew that she was looking at a dead man as soon as Prowler had found her—and he would find her, of that she had no doubt.
Billy let her go and stood. “Do you really think the Kings’ll pay two fifty for her? She’s just some gash. Hell, they got better than her working for them. That Darcy, damn. I might have to have another go at her.”
Travis turned to Billy, tapping his temple with his finger.
Travis was either incredibly brave or stunningly stupid.
“Think, monkey, is any pussy worth your life? We get this money drop from them, we disappear. You stay in town, and you’re a dead man. But hey, once you get your fifty back, you do you. I’m gone though.”
Billy slapped his hand away and spoke through gritted teeth. “Fifty’s not going to cut it anymore, Travis. I want half.”
“Half? For what? I did all the legwork, and I called you in out of the goodness of my heart. I could’ve done this without you.”
Travis called Billy on her. She already wanted to kill him, but that made her want to kill him twice.
“I gave you two guys to do your dirty work, and you killed them. You owe me,” Billy accused.
“Your guys were useless. You should thank me for ridding you of them.”
