Doc (The Kings of Mayhem MC Tennessee 2)

Lily is a beautiful woman.

But when she’s mad, she’s something else.

When there’s a fire lit behind those sparkling eyes, her beauty is out of this world.

“Fine! You want me to trust you? Tell me how we get out of here.”

“Finally… he’s willing to listen.”

“Sure, why not? What’s your plan?”

“Well… I could always distract his men outside while you make a break for it?”

I stare at her. “That’s your plan?”

“Okay, asshole, you got a better one?”

“No, but if I did, it wouldn’t involve me getting shot to death by a bunch of trigger-happy hillbillies, sweetheart.”

Her hands go to her hips. “No. I suppose it involves your Kings of Mayhem brothers swooping in here like gods on horseback to save the day. Well, I’ve got news for you, sweetheart, by the time they find this place, it’ll be too late for the both of us. So stop being a dick and start using that gray matter of yours.”

She’s right.

I’m being a dick.

Letting out a frustrated breath, I run my palm over my head. “Fine! Why here?”

She looks confused. “What do you mean?”

“I mean… why did Max choose this place?”

She pushes her luscious curls over her shoulder as she thinks, exposing her slender throat and flawless milky skin. Suddenly, I see my lips kissing a trail up to her ear and along her jaw to her pink lips, and I have to clear my throat to hide the moan trapped in there.

“There’s no way Max would risk taking you to the Inferno clubhouse,” she says. “No one outside the Inferno knows its location, and they won’t take you unless you agree to defect.”

“I get that, but why this place?”

“It’s small and easier to patrol?”

“Perhaps.”

“I was brought here in darkness, so I don’t know for sure, but I’d bet my life that it’s hidden and remote,” Lily says.

For the first time ever, I have to agree with her.

She watches as I walk down the hallway and then walk back up it again.

I take a good look around the room, and I can’t see any cameras. Besides, the men are all outside patrolling the grounds, but inside the hotel, we’ve been left alone.

“It’s a test,” I say. “He wants to see if I’ll attempt to get out of here. He wants to know if he can break me.”

“Break you?”

“You said he wants me to defect from the Kings to the Inferno. This is a test to see if I can be swayed. If I stay in line and do as he says… he’ll know he can break me.”

“If that’s true, shouldn’t you show him you can’t be.”

“Oh, I have every intention of doing that. But not like this. I don’t doubt his men out there will put a bullet in me if I try anything while he’s gone.”

“Meaning…”

“Meaning, I think I have a better chance of escaping when Max is here, and I can use him as a human shield.”

It’s probably the worst plan in the world—wait for Max to get back, overpower him, and take him hostage as a means to get out of here. Yeah, okay, it sounds worse when I say it out loud. It’s a big risk and flimsy at best, but that’s only because I haven’t worked out the finer details. Like how I’m going to take his weapon from him.

But now that I know what I have to do, I’ll recognize the moment I’m meant to do it.

Still, as a plan, it’s not ideal.

Lily thinks it’s a dumb idea, and I’m pretty sure she thinks I’m insane.

Of course, we argued about it, and then she stormed off in a huff in one direction, and I stormed off in the opposite direction.

It turns out I’m the worst person in the world to be held hostage with.

It’s clear we’re not meant to be allies. We can’t go for more than five minutes without bickering.

Now, I’m exploring the place alone, for what I don’t know. But so far, I’ve found nothing of any interest besides a locked room at the far end of the hotel. Standing outside, I decide to break the door down, but it’s a solid oak door, and I’m weak as fuck from a lack of food. I search the front desk for keys but come up with nothing.

In the grand scheme of things, it’s not worth the energy expenditure, so I make a mental note to find something to break the lock with and head back to Odin’s room. The temperature has dropped, and I can hear the wind whipping past the windows. It’s dark outside, and it is going to be another cold night.

When I open the door, I hear Odin’s voice, and it’s ragged and his words get caught in his throat like wet bubbles.

“Mama… Mama, I need you.” He groans. “Are you here, Mama… please… it’s your boy.”