“Got something!” Wild Man’s eyes are wide as they gaze at the screen, the blue light giving him a mad scientist look.
“Fucking Hector, such a goddamn egomaniac. He’s got shit in his own fucking name. His actual government name, not a shell Corp or anything. Fuckin’ idiot.”
With a smug smile, he sits back and takes a bite of pizza.
“Don’t make me beat the info out of you,” Shades threatens.
Wild Man grins. “He’s got three properties in LA proper. One is a corner bodega, probably where they sell drugs. Another is a townhouse in Watts, a possibility, but not if they plan to hurt them in any way, which leaves a little bungalow in Hollywood.”
“Hollywood? Are you sure?”
“Yep. A residential area full of artists and wannabe actors who probably keep weird hours and don’t pay attention to weird shit coming from the neighbors.”
He shoves another bite of pizza in his mouth and shuts his laptop, which tells me that Wild Man is sure. He’s confident that he’s right.
I stand and shoot him a grateful nod. “Let’s go then. Everybody strap up and get ready.”
It’ll take an hour if not longer in crazy fucking LA traffic.
“Push as fast as you can without drawing the eyes of the law. Devon, you ride with Nova in the van. Jordi come with us. Lucky, keep an eye on shit here.”
Each prospect stands tall and eager, ready to follow my orders to the letter. They are all trying to be men this club can rely on. Soon, they will be.
“Let’s go get our girls and fuck up some Iron Kings.”
As soon as I see McKenna safe with my own eyes, I’ll put a bullet in Hector and as many Iron Kings as possible.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
McKenna
So close. We were so close to escaping. To freedom. Dammit.
And now Kelsey and I are back in the freakin’ basement, this time with our hands bound tight with a filthy rope. Kelsey is crying beside me, probably blaming me for our current predicament, but the truth is, I had to try. We’re dead either way, and I would rather die fighting.
“You bitches really thought you could run from me?”
Hector’s back, and he stares down at us, eyes glassy and bouncing between us, back and forth like he’s high.
“That’s funny.”
Definitely not funny ha-ha, because there’s no trace of amusement on his face, just anger. Pure red-hot anger sprinkled with a hint of embarrassment.
“Not so funny,” I shrug. “We almost made it out.”
Hector points at me, an amused smirk on his face. “You and that smart mouth of yours.” He laughs and shakes his head. “If you were anyone else, I just might make you one of my whores.”
“I’m just me,” I tell him easily. “I belong to no man. Remember that.”
My heart clenches at the lie, but I don’t react because Hector doesn’t get to know the truth. It’s none of his business, and my words, here and now, are about survival. Nothing else.
“What else would you say when you’re staring down an evening or two or three of my boys running a train on you and your fragile little sister?”
I try not to react to the image his words create in my mind, but Hector isn’t just a psycho. He’s also perceptive.
“Yeah, now you’re getting it, sweetheart. First, I’m gonna fuck you in that smart mouth of yours, that pretty pink cunt, and then what I’m guessing is a tight asshole in need of a good pounding.” He laughs. “Once I’m dripping from every one of your holes, my boys will have a go at you, however they want, while I destroy your sister.”
“You do know sex is meant to be enjoyable, right?”
Hector laughs again, but I see the flare of anger. He’s a man who doesn’t like being interrupted or contradicted. He’s a dictator.
“Oh, I’m going to enjoy it, McKenna.”
“All you’ll succeed in doing is pissing Ace off, and it’ll have nothing to do with me.”
“Don’t fucking lie to me bitch!”
“It’s true,” I shrug. “I wouldn’t know him at all if you hadn’t killed my best friend for no reason. Fucking animals.”
“Kenna,” Kelsey cried. “Stop. Please.”
“Listen to your sister,” he growls, a grim satisfaction in his eyes.
“Why? You’re a liar and a killer. I don’t believe anything you say.”
The slap came hard and unrelenting, the pain stinging throughout my skull when it cracks on the cement floor.
“You fuck.”
“Keep it up, and I’ll give you the same treatment your friend got,” he snarls. “Ever been fucked to the point you pray for death?”
“I don’t pray,” I shoot back breezily as if his words don’t terrify me down to my bones.
“You’ll start praying to that sky-daddy if Ace doesn’t give me what I want. Believe that.” He snickers—no, sneers.
I do believe him. The man gets off on scaring people, torturing them to feel like a big man. He thinks taking me and my sister will throw Ace off his game, but that’s not how this is going to work, and he’s too stupid to realize it.