Chapter 7

I’m awakened abruptly from a sound sleep by a man clearing his throat at the entrance of my prison cell. Sleepily, I glance toward the door to find Maddox casually leaning into the frame. He’s in a T-shirt and blue jeans, leaving his sleeves of ink on full display. The monster tattoo taunts me, sending an icy shiver over my clammy skin. I despise this man with everything in my being.

“What do you want?” I grumble, my groggy, drugged-up voice coming out as more of a whisper than the threat I want it to have.

He pushes off the wall and moves into the room, placing a glass of water and two tablets down on my bedside table. “Pain meds,” he grunts out.

“Where’s Ricky?” I ask nervously. I’ve been here for two days, and so far, Ricky is the only human interaction I’ve had. I’ve become accustomed to seeing his handsome face welcoming me with fresh food and meds around the clock.

“He’s busy. Can’t spend all day taking care of your sorry ass.” There’s a bitterness in his tone that I don’t appreciate. What did I ever do to him? He’s the motherfucker who stole my life from me, not the other way around. I guess I did shoot at him, but he deserved that.

“If I’m such an inconvenience, you could let me go home and I’ll get my boyfriend to look after me.” Non-existent boyfriend, but Maddox doesn’t need to know that. “You psychos can’t just keep me locked up here. People will be looking for me.”

His eyes fix on me, the hazel darkening as he takes me in. “We are both aware that you don’t have a boyfriend or anyone who is actively looking out for you.”

Harsh! I’m not aware of that. I was hoping that maybe Ian or Dani might care enough. But he’s probably right. Why would they be looking for me? He and Ricky might have said they were brothers, but he’s nothing like him. Where Ricky is caring, this asshole is just plain mean.

I flinch when he steps closer to my bed and shuffle as far away as I can with my arm still chained to the bedframe. “I have friends, and they will be looking for me. My boyfriend’s a cop. He’ll work out who has me, and when he does, he’ll come for you all.” I glare up at him, trying to act tougher than I feel. I’m not sure my new friends of only six months would come looking for me, but I have to hope that someone cares enough. Ian was the one who warned me to stay away after they destroyed my home and killed my family. He was aware of their potential danger and believed he was on to some new leads that could help track them down. He has to be looking for me.

Maddox throws his head back and bursts into laughter. “Cut the bullshit, Lana. You had one shitty friend from your job at the diner, and Dani’s probably already forgotten about you.”

This asshole’s been looking into me, and he wants to be obvious about it, using the name I was hiding under. It’s the only way he could know about her. He knows more about my secret life than I want him to. And that’s on me. Leaving my car parked so close by when I came here was a mistake. Everything in that car could have led them to the life I was living. My wallet was in there, so with one smash of the window, they would have had my address, workplace, and the gym I was training at. But why do they care enough to even bother looking through my stuff or for me? I’m no one.

“What the fuck do you want from me?” I snarl at him, keeping up the tough bitch act since it’s all I have at this point.

He leans down so his face is only an inch from mine, the stubble from his jaw almost scratching me. I suck in a sharp breath, willing my body to calm the fuck down, his proximity doing things to me it shouldn’t. I try to tell myself it’s just because he’s a sexy motherfucker for a thug, but the truth is, I feel like I’ve been this close to him before. There’s something about him, his scent, or is it the way he tilts his head as he studies me. I’m not sure, but it’s unnerving and completely unnatural for me to be turned on by this asshole. Especially when I’m chained to a bed with a bullet wound.

“The truth. Who helped you hide from us?”

Now it’s my turn to laugh at him; he thinks he’s so much better than me. “I didn’t need help to hide from you. You’re not as smart as you think. All I had to do was color my hair and change my name. You idiots would have never found me if I didn’t come after you.”

Thin lines form on his forehead and his eyes narrow darkly. He doesn’t like it when I point out his incompetence. “We were closing in on you. If that slutty server at the diner didn’t lie for you, we would have had you two days ago. But lucky for us, you made it easy, coming straight to us.”

I’m surprised Wendy didn’t throw me under the bus. She didn’t like me very much. She was probably hoping they would forget about me and want her. He’s right about one thing: the girl jumps on anything that moves.

He takes a step back from me. His gaze travels down my body, causing me to quickly adjust the comforter with my free hand. I know my nipples are cutting through this thin T-shirt, and from the way he was scanning my body, I’m sure he’s just as aware. “Take your pain meds.”

I find it difficult to breathe evenly as I lock eyes with him. What the hell is happening to me right now? Is it the drugs? It has to be. I know one thing for sure, I’m not taking shit from him. I’m groggy and out of it, and I know that’s what they want, me pliable so I will do whatever they say. I need to see how long I can go without the drugs so I can get my head clear and work out a way out of here.

As he makes his way toward the exit, I quickly gather the pills and glass as if I’m about to follow his instructions. He scans me once more, and there’s something familiar in his glare. I wonder what the hell he’s thinking about when he looks at me like that. But maybe I don’t want to know. So far, no one has laid a hand on me, and I want to keep it that way. Even if my body is giving me mixed signals today.

I hold the tablets up to my mouth and pop them inside. He gives a satisfied nod then closes the door and locks it behind him.

Swiftly, I spit the tablets back out and drink down the water. I know it’s going to hurt, but I need to have a sound mind so I can understand why I’m here and exactly what these two motherfuckers want with me. Or three motherfuckers if this Alex ever shows his face.