Page 80 of Taken By the Biker Daddies

“I was only hurt because I thought you’d be happy to see me again,” Clyde said. “I was so excited to see you. When the guy outside your door told me you were awake, I ran here.”

I took his hand off me and met his gaze. “Well, I’m sorry for not being excited to see you. You did try to kill me last time, you know.”

He frowned. “I only told them to scare you, not hurt you. Don’t worry. I’ve already punished the guy who almost got you killed.”

Which meant that guy was likely dead. I didn’t feel sorry for him, though. I was sure everyone who worked for Clyde knew just what kind of monster he was, and yet, they still helped him commit his crimes.

“Anyway, that’s in the past now,” Clyde told me. “What matters is that you’re fine, and you’re back here with me.” He took my hand and planted a kiss on it, the gesture making my stomach churn. “I knew you’d come back. You always do.”

That was because before, I had no one. Now, I had returned precisely because I had people I cared about and who cared about me—people I wanted to protect.

I pulled my hand away. “We had an agreement. Now that I came here of my own will, you have to keep your promise. You have to leave the people who were kind enough to take care of me alone. You told me they’d be safe.”

He touched his chin, his eyebrows furrowed. “Did I?”

My heart sank. Was it wrong for me to come here after all? Did I make another mistake?

Clyde stepped back to look at me, his gaze making my skin crawl.

“That depends on whether or not you’ll be a good girl,” he said.

I felt a pit in my stomach, but I kept my shoulders square. “You said if I followed your instructions and came back to you, you would leave them alone.”

“And you told me you loved me, but you didn’t, did you?” Clyde replied, glaring. “You left me!”

Oh, so he was going to play the victim?

I gritted my teeth. If he was going to go back on his word, anyway, there was no reason for me to play nice.

“Who on earth would want to stay with a spoiled, selfish monster like you?”

For a second, anger flickered in Clyde’s eyes, almost making me regret my impulsive boldness, but that sharp glint in his gaze faded, and he clutched his stomach as he laughed.

“My, my,” he said when he was done laughing. “My sweet Lauren has gotten a little spicy, hasn’t she?”

Then he gave me a bone-chilling grin before leaning over to whisper in my ear.

“That will only make things more fun for me.”

I froze. I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t speak.

“By the way, they found this in your bag.” He took out the bracelet he bought for me from his pocket. “How nice of you to have kept it. You should be wearing it, though.”

He slipped it on my wrist like a cuff on the end of a chain as if letting me know I was his prisoner from now on. Maybe that was what it always meant.

“As for your other stuff, I’ve had it thrown away,” Clyde went on as he started to walk away. “Except your phone. Maybe I can still have some use for it. Maybe I can send your precious Max a memorable video, you know, a souvenir of you.”

The pit in my stomach turned into a gaping hole, draining whatever courage I had mustered earlier.

He placed his hand on the doorknob. “Or maybe I can call those members of Black Storm and pick them off one by one. That way, they’ll never get in my way again.”

My eyes grew wide.No!

As panic washed over me, my body finally moved. I ran to the door, banging my fists on the wood.

“Asshole! Liar! You son of a bitch!” I hurled whatever insults I could, as well as the bracelet on my wrist, at the closed door. “You promised me they’d be safe! You promised me!”

But no one from the other side answered, the footsteps out in the hall fading, and as much as I rattled the doorknob, the door wouldn’t budge, as if it was another of Clyde’s accomplices. I sat on the floor and hugged my knees to my aching chest, sobbing.

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