His Hostage

“It smells like,” he sniffs and pauses. “It smells like pussy.”

“It does!” Jeffco exclaims, walking toward my cave.

I see his boots, and it’s obvious it’s over. The sick bastards knew where I was all along.

“There you are, baby-doll. Aw. Don’t cry. We’ll treat you right, girl,” he says.

Tears pour down my eyes as he grabs my hair, tearing me out of hiding.

“I don’t blame you for running,” he says. “But you really didn’t think we’d find you? I grew up in this town. Born and raised. I used to play out here as a child. When I grew up, I joined this gang with Andy. Anyone who stood up against us, we took out to this cave. This one. Right here. This is where we’d kill the bastards.”

He points to some old dirt in the back of the cave, and I feel my body start to shake. It’s dark red. “Don’t,” I whisper. “Don’t hurt me. I’m sorry.”

Jeffco turns to Andy and motions at me. “Grab her with me, will ya? We’re taking her somewhere else. Somewhere where she won’t even think of escaping.”

“The basement,” Andy says, nodding.

“Exactly.”

19

Rowan

Smashing my hand against the table, I stare at Andy and Jeffco in disbelief. “What the fuck did she do?” I ask.

All of the glasses fall from the wood, crashing against the floor. “She fled?” I ask again.

“She tried to pull a fast one on us,” Andy says. “But we got her.”

His little smile makes me want to smash his face into a million pieces. Instead, I smash another glass.

“Damn it,” I scream. “We have to be more careful. You idiots can’t manage anything.”

I turn to Caroline and circle around her. My eyes let her know that this is a game I’m playing.

I’m angry she went against the plan. As far as I’m concerned, the plan would have worked. Still, I don’t blame the woman for doing what she felt was right. I would have done the same.

It was a valiant effort.

“I’ll kill her,” Jeffco says, under his breath.

“What did you just say?” I ask him, turning around and putting my hand against my pistol. “You’ll what?”

“I said, I’ll kill her,” he says, defiantly.

This guy is getting too big for his britches. He’s gained a little power during my stay because he supplies me with my paycheck, but in reality he doesn’t mean shit.

I push against him. “You may give me some money, now that I’m on the run,” I smile threateningly, “but you need to realize who you’re talking to. I’m the leader of the High Priests. We supply half of those drugs you sling. We give you hundreds of thousands of dollars of the purest product you can find. In reality, you serve me. Remember that, clown.”

He backs down, but not without puffing up his chest and placing his finger around his weapon’s trigger. “Pull it,” I say. “It won’t change a damn thing.”

Jeffco takes a deep breath and throws the shotgun onto the floor. “You’re right,” he says. “I’m sorry. I just don’t want her taking us all down.”

“She’s a good woman,” I say. “You think she’s going to want to claim the entire Southwest as her own?”

I look at her. Her lingerie peaks out from underneath her dress. My cock jumps against my denim, and I realize just how powerful this woman really is. Hell, she could easily take over the Southwest if she wanted to. All it takes is peeling up the bottom of that dress of hers…

All men would perish.