Chapter Nine

Cash

Something is wrong.

I sense it the second I walk into the bar. The place is busier than usual, but that makes sense because it's the weekend. Even with the place at capacity, my table in the corner remains unoccupied.

I walk straight to the bar, people moving out of my way as I approach the counter. Two bartenders are working with at least five waitresses rushing around to serve the customers, but none of them are the girl I am looking for. Perhaps she's in the backroom, but it makes no sense for Kayla to be relaxing on such a busy night. That is unlike her.

"Where is Kayla?" I ask one of the bartenders, who just shakes his head.

"I don't know. I haven't seen her today."

Fuck!

I whirl around and look for Kayla's friend, the girl with the blue hair who always seems to know where she is. When I spot her, she's chatting up with a few patrons at a table, flashing them what I assume is her "customer smile," wide and empty.

They tip her, which I assume is what she was aiming for with that smile, and when she spots me, her brows draw in confusion. She rushes to me when I beckon her forward.

"Sir, do you need something?"

"Kayla," I respond.

"What? I thought she was with you. She didn't come to work today."

My blood chills at her words. I dropped Kayla off myself a few hours ago. How the fuck does no one know where my fucking woman is! "Are you sure?" I ask.

"Positive. I would have known if Kayla showed up to work."

"Shit," I snarl, rushing out of the bar. I look around the building and notice a camera pointing at the parking lot and another at the entrance. One of them must have caught something.

My heart is in my throat as I rush back into the bar and head straight to the office where the surveillance equipment is. No one stops me as I check the security footage from this afternoon until I find what I am looking for. I watch as my beautiful girl waves at me before turning to head inside as I pull away. She's almost to the door when two figures jump from a car and grab her, tossing her into the back seat.

"They're dead," I growl, clenching my jaw. "All of them are dead!"

Someone gasps behind me, and I notice for the first time that the blue-haired girl followed me into the office, but I don't pay any mind to her. I need to get my girl as soon as possible and wipe those sons of bitches from the face of the earth.

My phone is on my ear the second I am out of the loud bar.

"Cash, is that you?" answers a tired voice.

"Yes, it's me. I need a favor," I say to our police connection. "I need you to run a plate for me and tell me who it's registered to."

"Do I want to know why?"

"No," I say, before reciting the license plate number of the car I memorized from the surveillance footage.

"Okay, hold on a second." I tap my foot impatiently on the ground as the man runs the plates. "Found it. It's registered to a Margret Weaver."

"Thank you." I hang up, then quickly text Freddy to track the woman through her credit card. He asks me to give him half an hour, and as much as I want to rage about that being too much time, I can't exactly go around Austin looking for Kayla without any leads.

As I wait for Fred to get me what I need, I receive a call from Priest. I immediately figure the president got a call from our police connection. The cop is on the club's payroll, so he reports everything to Priest, including any personal favors he does for club members.

"What is going on?" Priests gets straight to the point. I've always liked that about the guy.

"Someone stole something that belongs to me. I'm going to get it back."

"Where do you need us?"

I run my fingers through my hair in frustration. "Priest—"

"We are brothers, remember? We ride together. If one of us is in trouble, then we all are."

Right. I could handle this on my own, but that's not what the club is about. Besides, I'll need them in case my worry for Kayla supersedes my need for vengeance. "I'm still working on it," I tell Priest. "I'll text you the address when I get it."

I hang up to keep the line open for Freddy, pacing around the parking lot as I wait for the man to reach out. Fuck, I never should have let her come to work today. I should have killed those two assholes when I had the chance, or at least left a permanent enough mark to make sure they never lay their hands on what's mine ever again.

If I find a fucking scratch on her, there is no telling what I will do to them.

My phone pings sooner than the half hour Freddy told me to wait, and I read the address of some seedy motel downtown. I quickly wire payment to him before forwarding the address to Priest.

All I see is red as I tear down the road, no doubt breaking several traffic laws, but I will care about that later. When I have Kayla in my arms, safe and sound, I will think about all the rules I broke to get her back.

It takes me twenty frustrating minutes to get there, and a few minutes more for my brothers to arrive as well.

I nod at them, and without a word, stalk into the motel and head straight to the front desk. A bored-looking receptionist looks up, her eyes flashing with fear when they connect with the club patches on our jackets.

"Margret Weaver. I need her room number and don't give me the bullshit line about not disclosing personal information."

The woman, who seems to be in her mid to late forties, tries to put up a brave front, and any other time under different circumstances, I would have bribed her to get access to the room, but I am not feeling especially generous to anyone standing in the way of getting my woman back.

"Look, lady," Priests calls out from behind me. "Don't waste our time. There are eleven of us here. We are going to kick down every door in this motel until we find the one we are looking for."

"Fine. Jesus," the woman snarks, but her voice is shaky, selling out her nerves. "Room 5A."

The second the words are past her lips, I am running toward the stairs, my boots hitting the floor hard as I rush to the door, but as much as I want to just kick it down, I don't want to risk hurting Kayla in case she's close to it.

"Let me," a familiar voice calls from behind me, and I turn around to see my twin brother approach the door. Despite us being twins, he is the complete opposite of me with the punk look he wears like his second skin. Our personalities couldn't be more different too. Where I am the more silent type, Riot is the life of the party. We haven't been especially close since I was released from prison, but when it comes down to it, I know I can always count on him.

I watch as he takes something from his pocket and slips it through the keyhole, and in seconds, he has the door unlocked. I push open the door and walk in to find three sets of eyes blinking at us, startled, from the bed. All three of them have scratches on their faces, almost as if they fought with a feral cat. My eyes settle on the tall sharp-eyed woman, and I hate her on the sight.

In all my thirty years of existence, I have never laid a hand on a woman, but now, all I want is to strangle the life out of this woman who's made Kayla's life a living hell since she walked into it.

"Who the hell are you people?" the woman yells in an annoyingly high-pitched tone that threatens to tear at my eardrums.

"You have three seconds to tell me where Kayla is, or all three of you will leave this place in body bags."

They call my bluff, and I take immense satisfaction in showing them the error of their ways. A loud crack fills the room when I grab the closest man and twist his arm, dislocating it. His yell breaks through the otherwise silent room as he drops, unconscious by the time he hits the floor.

"You're next," I point at the shorter brother, grabbing him by his lapels, and I can practically feel him trembling. "I will break every bone in your body until I get an answer."

"N-next room," he stammers when I raise my fist to punch his face. "She's in the next room. She . . . she wouldn't stop yelling and kicking, so we put her in the next—"

I shove the man away from me, and he cries out when he crashes into something. I ignore his sobs and walk out of the room, leaving my brothers to guard those three. I walk to the next door where I find my twin brother already working on the lock. I rush inside the second it's open, my heart hammering in my chest as I look around frantically.

My knees almost give out when I see Kayla lying on the hard floor tied to the radiator, her hands and feet bound and her mouth gagged. The sight chills my blood, but I remind myself that she's alive. I focus on that single thought as I kneel next to her and free her from her restraints.

"Are you okay?" I choke out, inspecting her body for any sign of injury. "They didn't hurt you, did they?"

"No," she says, cupping my jaw, her eyes locked with mine. "I . . . Those jerks. My father was so nice to them, and they . . . I can't believe they would be so careless with his last gift to them."

"It's okay, Freckles," I say hoarsely, brushing my lips over her cheeks before drawing her into my arms. "I'll take care of everything. You won't ever have to see them again."

She drops her head to my shoulder, and I embrace her tightly, vowing to stay by her side for the rest of my existence. I sense some movement behind me and feel Kayla lift her head to look up. "Riot?" she asks, and I turn around to find my twin leaning against the door.

"You had us pretty worried, Kayla. I'm glad to see you're okay, and I don't have to help Cash burn down the entire city," he says, his tone easy and teasing before he turns to me. "What do you want to do with those three?"

I would like nothing more than to wipe their very existence from the face of earth, but I know that would not sit well with Kayla. What I will do instead is to it that they're locked up long enough that they never see the light of day or bother Kayla again.

They never should have touched Kayla. The brats and their mother should have just squandered their inheritance in peace, and now, I have every intention of contesting the will and taking back everything that rightfully belongs to Kayla. If that doesn't work, then I will drag these three through a legal battle that'll be felt for generations just for the hell of it.

"Hand them over to the cops," I say with a heavy heart. "Get them charged for kidnapping."

"How do we explain the dislocated shoulder?" Riot snarks.

"Tell them he fell down the stairs or something," I say with a glare, convinced that my twin is just set on getting on my nerves. He just nods and thankfully shuts the door behind him, giving Kayla and me some much-needed privacy.

"Do you think I'll be arrested for what I did to them?" My brows wrinkle in confusion at her question, and she hurries to clarify. "I . . . um, scratched their faces up when they implied they had no money left from the inheritance."

"That was you?" I chuckle, grabbing her hands and bringing them to my lips. "I thought they were attacked by a feral cat or something."

"Running into them again made me happy that they kicked me out," Kayla says, smoothening her fingers over my chest and making my cock strain painfully behind my fly. "I'm glad it's you that found me, Cash." I bite back a moan when her nail grazes my nipple. Fuck, I don't think she even knows what she's doing right now. "Thank you for coming to my rescue, again. I knew you'd show up."

"Fuck me, Freckles, if you don't stop doing that, I'll tear off your clothes and rut you on this motel floor."

I expect her to withdraw her touch and apologize for setting ablaze a fire she has no intention of putting out, but instead, she trails her hands down my stomach before slipping her soft fingers underneath my shirt. "Maybe I want you to do that."

"Not here, baby."

"I want it here," she whispers breathily, her hands moving urgently under my shirt. "I want you now. I want to know that you're really here, and I'm safe."

Fuck!

Like every other single time this girl has asked for something, I give in. With a growl, I sweep her into my arms and drop her onto the motel bed. "My club brothers are right outside. Are you sure you don't care if they hear me fuck you in some seedy motel room?"

She stares up at me, biting her lower lip every as her thighs part for me. "I'll be really quiet," she says. "I promise."

I grab her blouse and pull it over her head, exposing her nude bra. My eyes stay on hers as I tug at the clasp with one hand, and her gorgeous tits slip out to reveal cherry-colored nipples, pebbled and begging for my touch.

The room is dimly lit, but it's enough for me to catch the way her eyes flush with heat when I squeeze her tits in my palms, brushing my thumbs over the peaked buds.

"You have no idea just how much I would do for you, Kayla. You've driven me to the fucking edge with your perfect body and tempting face." I reach under her skirt and grab her panties, yanking them down her thighs before tearing them completely off her. "I can't think straight around you, baby."

"Want you too," she whispers, her fingers going to my shirt when my hands leave hers to unzip my jeans. I let out a shaky breath when she slips her fingers through the parted shirt, gliding them up my pecs and over my shoulders. I am panting by the time I take my hard cock into my fist.

"Mine," I grind out hoarsely, pushing her legs apart and settling between them before rubbing the head of my shaft over her wet pussy. "Look how hard I am for you, baby. I'm aching with the need to fuck your tight little hole, rut you so hard, and get you pregnant." I feel her grow wetter by the second, her pussy slick with my precum and her own arousal. I rub my cock between her slick folds, gathering the dampness before guiding it to her entrance.

I drink in her dazed expression as I slowly slide my cock into her wetness, groaning deeply at how fucking tight she feels wrapped around my shaft. I drop my forearm above her head when I am fully seated inside of her, clenching my jaw hard to stop myself from spilling immediately into her pulsing sex.

"I love you," I tell her, bringing our mouths together in a slow kiss that has my heart aching with love for this girl. She whimpers, moving her hips restlessly under me as I start fucking her in slow, measured moves that grow fast and fevered when she digs her nails into my lower back, urging me to move harder and faster, all without saying a word. The kiss quickly turns into a press of lips, her labored breath mingling hotly with mine as I thrust into her like an animal. We lose ourselves in the feel of skin against skin, her tits bouncing with every rough drive of my cock.

"Close . . . Oh my God, I'm so close, Cash," she whimpers, clawing my back feverishly as I pound furiously into her, and when I drop my hand between us to work her clit with my middle finger, she jerks against me, her pussy cinching hard around my cock. I take her lips in a kiss to mute her cries as I rock into her harder until I am coming inside of her, spilling an endless stream of my seed into her womb.

"Mine," I whisper against her lips as I pour my soul into the girl. Driving faster and harder into her sweet cunt until we're both wiped. "You're my forever, Freckles." I pant, pushing back to stare down into her beautiful eyes, and I fall even deeper in love with her.

"Yes," she breathes, eyes unfocused and a lazy smile on her lips. "And you're mine."

I sit up and draw her to my chest, wrapping my arms around her much smaller body, loving how she fits perfectly with me. "Are you okay?" I ask her when her head drops to my shoulder.

"I'm fine," she answers, nuzzling my chest. "Now I can tick hooking up in a seedy motel off my bucket list."

A laugh bubbles up in my chest, and I figure with the mood lightened, it's probably time I told her the truth about her mother. I push back from the embrace to look at her. "Did they say what they wanted from you?"

"No," she responds, shaking her head. "They probably think I have some money stashed somewhere."

"Well, you do," I tell her.

Her brows lift in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"Kayla, your mother left you a trust with a lot of money and assets tied to it. Your stepfamily probably just found out and were going to use you to access it."

Her jaw drops, and she stares at me for a full second as she slowly attempts to make sense of my words. "I . . . My dad never told me."

"Maybe he had no idea either, or he was planning on telling you when you turned twenty-two, which is when you can access it."

Her eyes fill up with tears that she blinks away. "Are you sure? She did this for me?"

"She did," I tell her, brushing my lips over her temple. "She was already planning for you to live your dream way before you had any idea what it was."

Kayla nods, dropping her forehead to my chest. "I bet she didn't anticipate loving you would become my dream."

"You're mine too, Freckles."

She sniffs back a small chuckle. "Okay, let's go home and start living our dream then."

I press my lips to her forehead, my heart full of love. Before Kayla, I never dared dream of anything beyond money and how to make more of it, but this love for her, nothing comes close.

Nothing ever will.