Chapter 27

It’s been hours since I was brought to this place. This dark, ugly, cold place. I’m in a basement, in some kind of cabin, I think. They had a hood over my eyes the entire drive here. I felt the bumps in the country road, and I tried to remember as many sounds as possible—train whistles, traffic noise—anything that might help me figure out where I am.

I smelled the pine needles as they dragged me out of the car and across the dry dirt. I heard twigs breaking under the soles of their boots. I knew I was somewhere in the woods, in a basement, entombed in cement. There was barely any light, only a thin beam breaching through a small, barred window. It was damp, the humidity making my hair curly and my skin clammy.

They haven’t come down in a while. Carla brought me a bottle of water, but that was it. I can hear them upstairs, their heavy footsteps, their muffled voices.

I’m terrified, but my instincts keep telling me to look around, to find something, anything that might get me out of this place. I’ve counted four people upstairs. Likely the same who abducted me—Kyle, the two goons, and Carla. My guess is that Colton put them in charge of my captivity while he goes out and kills my men.

The basement door swings open, and Carla comes down the creaky wooden steps. “You should get some rest,” she says. “It’ll be a while before we all get what we want out of this deal.”

“God, Carla, I can’t believe you bought into Colton’s bullshit,” I scoff and settle in the darkest corner, never taking my eyes off her. “What are you doing down here?”

“I was getting bored upstairs. Kyle and the guys keep arguing about what to do until we hear from Colton,” she says with a casual shrug. “I suggested they go out and shoot some cans or something, and they suggested I give them a blow job instead.”

“Let me guess, you’re saving yourself for Orry,” I shoot back with a cold grin. “You delusional idiot.”

“Say what you will, honey, but that’s where it ends,” she replies.

“What did Colton tell you, exactly, huh? That he’s going to get me out of the way and let Orion, Kai, and Drake live after he forces them into surrendering the club? That was the story, right?”

She nods once.

“You’re delusional. They’re lying to you. Let me tell you something, Carla. You will never get Orion back. Never. We’re in love. The four of us. And they will burn the whole of California down until they find me.”

“They won’t find you alive.”

“That’ll make it even worse for you because deep down, you know they’re going to figure it out. Someone betrayed them. It’s only a matter of time before they realize it’s you.”

“They’ll never find out.”

I can’t help but smile again. She has lost her mind, or she is just completely deluded herself into a hole that she will never be able to crawl out of. But I need Carla off her game, and I need to appeal to her humanity. There has to be some of that left somewhere underneath all that fake tan and cakey foundation. It’s a gamble, but I’ve got nothing left to lose, not while she’s got a gun holstered and strapped to her bony torso.

“I’m pregnant, Carla.”

“Huh?” she gasps.

I give her a moment. I can see the realization dawning, her eyes widening. The horror setting itself up in the back of her head, one terrifying layer at a time. “I’m pregnant. What do you think Colton will do to me, huh? What did my babies do to deserve this? Are you that desperate, that crazy about Orion, that you’ll have no problem seeing me and my unborn children slaughtered? Are you, Carla?”

“Babies?” she manages.

“Twins. I had an ultrasound at the hospital after the clubhouse shooting,” I calmly reply. “I obviously didn’t plan for any of this, and honestly, if I survive this, I don’t want to have anything to do with any MC ever again. I didn’t expect to fall in love, Carla. We never planned for any of it. It just happened, and now I’m trapped in this cold basement, likely about to die. And the babies growing in my womb as we speak do not deserve this.”

“Why didn’t you say anything when they took you?” Carla mumbles. The tremor in her lower lip tells me I’m doing something right, so I keep playing the sympathy card, hopeful that it will lead me to a favorable outcome.

“What? That I’m pregnant? And let Colton know so he can have even more leverage over the guys? Orion doesn’t know yet,” I tell her. “Let’s get something straight here. I understand you’re fine with me dying as long as you get what you want. But are you okay with my innocent babies dying, too?”

She shakes her head slowly, but I don’t press her. I give her the minute she needs to process this information, to look around and reach a different conclusion. Carla takes a deep breath and sits down at the base of the steps, her gaze fixed on me. “I’ve lost a couple over the years. All the drugs, the drinking,” she says. “It killed me a little bit on the inside every time. I’ve had to live with myself, but I would’ve liked to have been a mother, you know?”

“What stopped you?”

“Other than my poor life choices?” Carla chuckles, bitterness dripping from her trembling voice. “The hysterectomy. They had to do one when I had my last miscarriage. Otherwise, I would’ve died.”

“I’m sorry, Carla. Honestly, I’m sorry.”

“But you’re right about one thing—I can’t live with myself knowing another baby is going to die because of me,” she says. “Two babies, in this case. No, I can’t do this.”

“Listen, we got off on the wrong foot so many times. We’ve got plenty of reasons to hate each other, and I understand, but—”

“We draw the line at children,” she says. “Your babies are innocent.”

I nod slowly, analyzing the subtle shift in her expression. “I need to get out of here. Once Colton gets what he wants, he will kill me. And whether you’re ready to admit it or not, he will kill Orion, Kai, and Drake, and probably you, too.”

Carla concedes, lowering her gaze in what I can only interpret as genuine shame. “I told myself that if I got you out of the way, if I made you suffer, if I made you disappear, then everything would work out, somehow. You’re right. I am fucking delusional.”

“Will you help me?” I tentatively ask.

She gets up, and my heart starts beating faster, suddenly invigored with newfound hope. “We need to get you out of here. Those three stooges upstairs—”

“Is there a back door?”

“Yes. Keep your mouth shut and follow me.”

I don’t know how the universe heard my prayer, but this sudden shift in Carla’s behavior has me both relieved and suspicious. Then again, she was never prone to psychopathy—just jaded and miserable with herself, clinging to Orion and the guys in the hopes that they might save her. That anybody might save her from her own demons. And if she was telling the truth just now, knowing I’m pregnant may have gotten through to her in ways I never would’ve on my own.

Carla leads the way up the basement steps, careful to make as little noise as possible.

For the first time since I had Kyle’s gun pointed at my face, I feel hope blossoming in my chest again as I climb up with shaky knees. She pushes the door open. I see Kyle before she does. “Carla!” I scream.

A single gunshot rings through the cabin. Carla falls back. I catch her, but I can’t hold her. My legs give out, and we both tumble back on the basement floor. I feel warm blood seeping into my dress. I cry out, but Carla isn’t moving.

“Oh, God, Carla!” I scream again.

Rushed footsteps bring the Black Devil goons beside Kyle as he looks down at us, a tendril of smoke lazily rising from the muzzle of his gun.

“You killed her,” I manage, hot tears streaming down my cheeks as I pull myself out from under Carla’s lifeless body. Stunned and in shock, I’m trembling like a leaf in the middle of a fucking hailstorm, scared out of my mind as the smell of gunpowder and blood fills my nostrils.

“She had one job,” Kyle bluntly replies. “And I won’t risk getting myself killed because she decided to be stupid.” He pauses and gives me a curious look. “How did you get her to help you? She was more than happy to see you die.”

“It’s none of your fucking business,” I sob, trying to pull myself back together, but I can’t look away from her face, her eyes glassy and wide open.

“You’re not dying, anyway. Not on my watch. Carla didn’t know this, but I made my own deal with Colton. And I’m more useful to him than some two-bit hooker.” He nods at the other Devils. “Get her body out of here. I don’t want my old lady to feel any kind of discomfort while she’s in our care.”

I stare at him in sheer disbelief, my synapses rapidly firing signals in every which way. My mind is pure chaos, and I can’t make any sense of what just happened. The hope I dared feel mere moments ago just perished. Desolation is quick to take its place. “Your old lady?” I ask. “Jesus Christ, Kyle, you’re as delusional as Carla was.”

“Oh, no. I got the real deal. You see, Colton would never let Orion, Drake, and Kai live, but he needed Carla’s intel to get to you, their weak spot,” Kyle replies. “I, on the other hand, don’t want those pricks alive, not after what they put me through.”

“For fuck’s sake, you were a shitty prospect and you got kicked out of the club because you’re a loser,” I shoot back, fury burning hot in the back of my throat.

“Colton thinks I’m an excellent Devil, though,” Kyle says. I catch a glimpse of the goons rolling their eyes, but neither says anything as they come downstairs and carry Carla’s body back up. “Point is, both Colton and I get what we want because he doesn’t really care about what happens to you. You’re just a means to an end to him. He kills the pricks and I get my revenge and my woman. It’s a win-win.”

“Kyle, you will suffer for this. You have no idea the kind of shitstorm that’s headed your way,” I tell him.

One of the goons chuckles harshly. “Honey, be grateful you get to live. We’ll handle the shitstorm, don’t worry about it.”

“By the time Colton’s done with Orion and his crew, I’ll be sipping mai tais with you on a beach in the Maldives, baby,” Kyle says, grinning ear to ear.

The sight of his satisfied, smug face sends shivers down my spine and bile rising in my mouth. I’m seconds away from hurling, passing out, or both, but somehow, I find the nerve to breathe in deeply and give Kyle my last words.

“You’ll die here,” I tell him. “And you know it.”

He raises a skeptical eyebrow and shuts the door. I’m left on my own again. A fresh round of tears rolls down my cheeks as I shudder and hug my knees, rocking myself back and forth in an attempt to soothe my nervous system. I can’t soothe anything, though. I’m a weeping mess, and I just lost my only shot at getting out of here before it’s too late.

The light outside is dwindling.

It’ll be dark soon.

And when the night comes, I will be a few hours closer to death.

Kyle is fooling himself, much like Carla before him. The problem is, unlike Carla, Kyle is highly motivated to keep me here. I can’t reason with him the way I did with her. And I certainly can’t mention the pregnancy. His ego won’t allow my children to live. He’ll lose his mind and flip out beyond any reason.

I need to get myself out of here.