Page 65 of Filthy Hot

“That’s not going to happen. You come here, you start shit and make demands,” a deep voice booms. “Where is Sal?”

“Sal is dead,” Talon snaps. He’s impatient, and I wonder how much longer before he completely snaps.

I bet he’s holding on by just a single thread at this point. “You wanted war, you got it,” he states.

A voice hums, and I recognize that hum from not long ago when he was buried deep inside of me.

It’s Rider.

“Besides, if you think you’re taking over Sal’s bar, you aren’t. He dies, and he already signed the entire thing over to the club. The bar will never be yours. So, you better fucking produce him,” Rider snaps.

I take another step down the stairs, and then I feel a hand press against my mouth from behind me. My eyes widen, and I let out a muffled scream. “It’s Brew,” the man hisses.

I close my mouth and stop my screaming, and he removes his hand. I remember him from earlier. Letting out a heavy sigh, I turn my head to look at him. He’s got an expression that I can’t place, but I can tell it’s not happy.

“What’s happening?” I ask on a whisper.

His brows snap together, and his gaze shifts down the staircase before he brings his eyes back to meet my own. “The Southern Mafia is here. They want you, they want the other girls, they want the bar, and they want Texas.”

I really don’t know what any of that means. I don’t ask him, though. It doesn’t seem like the right moment to have a conversation and ask for details. So, instead of asking him what the hell he’s talking about, I just nod once.

“What do I do?” I ask, continuing to whisper.

He clears his throat, then reaches out for my hand and turns back toward the stairs. He tugs me behind him, and I almost call out for him to stop. We’re going in the exact opposite direction that I want to go in. This definitely does not lead toward the exit by any means whatsoever.

Brew hurries me down the hallway, then stops in front of a door. I watch as he reaches out, twists the knob, then pushes itopen. With little to no fanfare, I am gently, but quickly, swung into the room by his arm and then the door closes behind me.

Instinctually, I want to turn around and reach for the knob to let myself out of the room, but when I lift my eyes and look into the room, I realize I am not alone. In fact, a very pregnant Ryan and Shawn holding a baby stare back at me.

“What the hell?” I whisper.

“This is the safest place you could be,” Shawn states.

Ryan gives me a smile, but it doesn’t reach her eyes. She’s scared, maybe not as frightened as I am, but she isn’t breathing easy, that’s for damn sure.

“There are at least four men on the other side of that door, and those assholes will have to get through them to get to us.”

I don’t ask her what happens when those assholes do make it into this room. I don’t think it will do any of us any good at all. So, instead of being a downer, I give them a tight smile and let out a heavy sigh.

“You’ve been through it. Come on and sit down,” Shawn says, her body swaying gently to keep the baby calm.

Biting the corner of my lip, I do what she suggests, and on shaky legs, I make my way over to the side of the bed and sink down onto the mattress. I am so scared. I don’t think I’ve ever been this terrified, and I’ve been through some things.

Even being taken a few days ago, I was scared, but everything was unknown. Now I know. And what I know is that Talon is not going to be so nice this second time around. Then my mind shifts to Bren. I haven’t thought about her since this whole thing started.

I haven’t asked about her, if she’s okay. If any of the girls are okay. What if they were taken, too? My heart starts to race at the thought. I don’t know what to do. I feel helpless and scared.

“Breathe,” Ryan calls out.

My eyes lift to hers, and I’m sure I look completely wild as I stare at her for a silent moment. She gives me a smile, her hand resting on her belly. I don’t know if she’s going to know the answer to my question, but I have to know.

“Are the other girls who work at Sal’s okay?” I ask.

Ryan doesn’t answer me, but Shawn does almost immediately. “They’re all fine. They got a couple days off and are supposed to go back to work tomorrow. First, they were only going to have one day off, but then the guys decided they needed to get some things straightened out here. Which now I’m glad for.”

I let out a heavy sigh of relief. I cannot believe that everyone is okay, but then I realize that they were never in danger. It was always me. It was always Xavier.

“This was targeted. It was my ex,” I whisper.

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