Chapter Eight

Shadow

“We have news, boys,” a rough voice calls out, and the clubhouse goes silent. I follow the voice to see the second in command, Knight, walk to the front of the room. The atmosphere is tense and has been for the last hour since we got the news that the Broken Chain’s president was due for a parole hearing.

The Broken Chains weren’t nearly so bad before their president was arrested. It’s only after Bishop went to jail that several of the members went rogue, dealing in drugs and trafficking. His return could mean one of two things. The Broken Chains will only become worse, or they’ll finally have someone to rein them in. Not that there is much left of his club for Bishop to worry about.

“So, what’s the news?” Riot calls out from the back.

“Bishop was approved for parole.”

The room falls into a state of chaos as everyone starts speaking at once, and with no idea what this could mean, my brothers can only speculate.

“Okay, everyone, calm down. We all know the Broken Chains have been a pain in the ass these past couple of years,” Knight speaks, and everyone nods in agreement. It’s because of those assholes that the streets have turned bloody these past couple of months. “Now, we don’t know if Bishop’s release will turn things around or spark a war.”

“What’s one man going to do?” calls out a voice, and I snort. Whoever it is that just spoke up is obviously a new member and has no idea who the fuck Bishop is. Unless prison changed him, the man was well respected in the biker community, and his arrest was a huge loss. The Broken Chains went from a worthy MC rival to a bunch of cowards who will do anything for money.

“We’ll just have to wait and see how his return affects the Broken Chains.”

The members nod before going back to talking among themselves about this new development. There is excitement as the older members feed the newer ones information about Bishop and the Broken Chains, but instead of focusing on that as well, my attention is on Knight.

It’s against the club rules to use cell phones in the clubhouse in case someone decides to record something and leak club business, and it’s not like Knight to break club rules, so I push away from the crowd and make my way to the front where Knight and Priest are standing.

“Problem?” I ask, my eyes fixed on Knight.

“No,” he says before changing his mind. “Actually, yes. Don’t you think Rhea and Lisa should’ve come back by now? I’m just worried . . .”

His words are cut off when his phone suddenly starts ringing. The room falls silent as he answers, and this close, I hear Rhea’s voice, frantic and scared, coming through the speaker.

“Knight . . . I-I need help!” she sobs through the line. “They took Lisa!”

Everything stops as her words sink in, a chill running down my spine. The panic in her tone tells me that she’s not playing some sort of sick game with Knight.

“Okay, calm down, Red. Tell me what happened. Is it the police? Was she arrested for something?”

“No!” the girl sobs. “We were standing outside the shopping center, waiting for a taxi, when this van pulled up in front of us. Some guys in ski masks grabbed me first, but one of them said I wasn’t one the one they want, so they took her instead.”

“Hey, it’s okay. Are you somewhere safe?” Rhea responds with something I don’t make over the pounding of my pulse. “Okay, Red. Stay there and wait for me. I’ll get to you as fast as I can.”

Heart pounding and adrenaline surging through me, I rush out of the clubhouse, my mind racing with one thought: I have to find her. I need to find Lisa first, then I’ll decide on the method of torture I’ll use on the people who took her.

Ignoring the chaos around me, I start for my bike, but I don’t get far before a hand grabs my arm and stops me. I whirl around angrily to see it’s Priest with a hand on my arm.

“You need to calm down and think rationally, Shadow.”

No, what I need to do is find the motherfuckers who thought they could touch what belonged to me and give them the slowest and most painful death possible.

“Would you calm down and think rationally if it was your girl in danger?”

“No,” he admits. “But we don’t know who has your girl or where they took her. You need to stop and think. Let’s talk to Rhea first and find out what she knows.” As he speaks, Knight flies by on his bike, tearing down the drive and barely waiting long enough for the gate to open. I understand his desperation to get to Rhea, but I don’t follow. He’ll tell me anything I need to know to help me find my girl.

I may not know who took Lisa, but I will tear the world apart to find her. I nod to Priest just to get him off my back before turning to my bike. As Priest mounts his own bike to follow after Knight, I pull out my phone. From the moment I learned Lisa was taken, only one thought raced through my mind. It had to be him . Something in my gut tells me that my past has finally caught up with me. I had every intention of staying dead, but if there’s a chance that my past life caught up with me, then from the ashes I rise.

If the people who took Lisa are not associated with me in any way, then this will mean exposing the fact that I am not actually dead to the last people I want to know this. But it’s worth the risk. Lisa is worth any risk. I dial, hoping he hasn’t changed his number in the last six years. The phone rings twice before connecting, and a deep familiar voice comes through.

“Hello.”

“Did you take her?” I ask, not bothering to identify myself.

Long beats of silence pass before the other man chuckles. “It’s good to hear from you, Stephan. How long has it been? Six years since the fire that took your life? For the record, your funeral was beautiful. You’ll be pleased to know that I spread your ashes in the Hudson River.”

“Cut the bullshit. Do you have her?”

“Who? Do you mean the pretty girl with dark hair and blue eyes?”

Fuck. How did he know? How did he find out that I’m even alive, much less that Lisa is mine?

“Where is she?”

“I don’t know where Ivan took her.”

“I swear to God if you hurt one strand of hair on her head, I will rain hell down on the entire family and kill every last one of you or fucking die trying.”

“Now is that anyway to talk to your big brother?”

I hang up the phone, realizing that he is not going to help me. But I still got the information I needed to know. He indirectly confirmed that it was my family who took her. I recognize Ivan’s name as one of my brother’s favorite lackeys. I need to move fast and find Lisa before they take her out of Austin. As long as the assholes are in my city, I can deal with them. I slide my phone into my pocket and straddle my bike, startling to a stop when I find at least twenty of my club brothers flooding out of the clubhouse.

“Rhea mentioned that one of the men had a face tattoo and she saw a rental sticker in the van window as it drove off, but that is all she recalls. Ring any bells?” Riot asks.

“Yeah,” I tell him. “I think I know who that is, and he’s someone from my past. It seems my old life is catching up with me. Anything on the rental van?”

“Cash called in a favor with our police friend,” Reaper tells me. “He’s waiting to hear back.”

Just then, Cash exits the clubhouse and heads toward me. “Got the info we need. The van was rented to one Ivan Gregory. He put a New York address on the rental paperwork.”

Cash’s words confirm what I already knew. It’s the same Ivan who works for my brother. The knowledge of who has Lisa is a small comfort, though. Ivan is an idiot, so he’ll be easy to take down, but he has a mean streak and little patience. I need to get to Lisa as fast as possible.

“Any idea where to start?” Reaper asks, and I am about to shake my head when my phone vibrates in my pocket. I grab it quickly and tap on the screen, my heart nearly stopping when I see a text ping Lisa sharing her location. It could be a trap aimed at ambushing me, but I have to take the risk.

“I think I know where they’re keeping her,” I tell my brothers and watch as everyone rushes to get their bikes.

I share the location with Priest and send him a quick text with an update, and he gives me the greenlight to do whatever it takes to get Lisa back.

I’m coming, Pink.

***

Heart racing, we thunder down the dirt road, the roar of the engines echoing through the afternoon. We stop about a mile from our destination, a secluded cabin in the middle of the woods. The plan is simple.

Get to Lisa and kill anyone that gets in the way.

I’m sure my brother thought that he would only have to deal with me when he sent his people after me, but he couldn’t be more wrong. I have gained a family, one who doesn’t force me to sell my soul for acceptance.

We split into groups, each silently moving toward the cabin, our steps muffled by the forest floor. According to Rhea, there are four men in the van, but I anticipate more here, and I have warned my brothers that these people will be armed.

I spot the van immediately and notice a man walking away from it. Someone approaches the man from behind and chokes him out. I nod at the biker, and we proceed up the small hill to the cabin.

I was half afraid that we were walking into an ambush, but we seem to have the element of surprise. I immediately spot the remaining three men chatting in the seating room of the cabin, and when I kick down the door, they seem surprised and don’t have a chance to grab their weapons before we’re on them.

I leave my brothers to deal with the men as I kick open the doors to every room, my heart dropping when I don’t spot Lisa in the first two. With my heart hammering in my chest, I pray like I never have that she’s behind the last door before kicking it open too.

“Shadow!” comes a small voice that threatens to send me to my knees. I rush in to find Lisa seated on the floor, and she jumps up when I reach her, wrapping my arms around her much smaller body tightly and burying my face in her hair.

“I’m so sorry, Lisa,” I whisper raggedly into her ear. “This is all my fault. I should . . . Fuck, I can’t lose you baby. I can’t.”

My throat closes up when I think of the things these men could have done to her. My experience in the Bratva showed me firsthand the shit they did to people. How ruthless they could be when it came to proving a point.

Leaving the family was the biggest insult because I was practically my brother’s right-hand man. Of course, my brother would strike the moment I found true happiness. Taking Lisa was meant to draw me out so they could use me to prove a point, but they made a mistake. They assumed my brothers wouldn’t back me up. What I don’t understand is how he found me in the first place. How he knew that Lisa was so important to me.

But I’ll find out. I will not be blindsided again.

Now that I have a woman to protect, I cannot afford to let my guard down.

“Thank you,” she whispers, falling back against me and I wrap my arms back around her. “Thank you for saving my life, Shadow.”

She undoes me, this girl.

I tighten my arms around her. “I’m sorry this happened to you, Pink. I’ll do a better job at protecting you from now on. No one will hurt another strand of hair on your head as long as I am alive.”

Although I lied to Lisa about the torture room, I’m going to use it tonight. If my brother is set on making a statement, I’ll just have to beat him to it. He can send more men after me until he runs out of them, but I’ll make sure none of them make it back.

Not after putting their filthy hands on what belongs to me.

Lisa is mine. The Bratva will first go extinct before anyone else lays their dirty paws on my girl.

Mine!