Page 49 of Echoes of Temptation

“I’m in love with King,” I admit out loud.

“We know,” they all say simultaneously.

I open my mouth to call them all punks when we’re suddenly hit from the side. The boxes fly around as the car flips over and over. I’m thrown against Sophie seconds before gravity turns and Sophie and the boxes fall on me. None of us make a sound as the air from our bodies leaves us with each flip. Over and over, we’re jostled around the car before it finally stops and I’m thrown down one last time.

Everything hurts. My head is ringing and I can’t hear the sounds around me for several seconds.

“Fast,” I hear Knox say. “Need to think fast.”

“Is everyone okay?” I hear Bitsy ask. I look towards the front of the car and that’s when I notice that we’re upside down. Sophia and I are on the roof of the car but Bitsy and Knox are dangling from their seat belts.

“Someone’s coming,” Sophie says as voices get louder.

“They hit us on purpose,” Knox says. “I saw them speed up the second they saw my car. I’m calling Steel. Try and make some noise to mask my voice.”

“Help,” I scream. “Someone please help us.”

“We’re trapped,” Bitsy calls out.

“Call an ambulance,” Sophie shouts.

We continue to yell as Knox fumbles with his phone.

“Don’t talk and just listen. We were hit,” I hear him whisper. “It was a black SUV but everything happened so fast that I didn’t get any other detail. We’re only ten minutes away but someone is coming. You won’t make it. This was intentional and I don’t know what’s about to happen. Bitsy and Sophie are wearing the necklaces.”

“What are we going to do with the other ones?” someone from outside the car asks.

“Just take them all,” another voice answers.

“They’re here and they’re taking us all,” Knox says so fast that I almost miss it. “We’ll be smart. Just find us. Please, Steel, please, find us. I’m putting my phone on silent and will leave it connected for as long as I can hide it. I have my backup phone in my back pocket that I can use as a decoy if they ask for them.”

“Give it to me,” I whisper. “I’ll hand them my phone if they ask and keep this one in my bra.”

Knox drops the phone into my hand and I twist my body and tuck it in my bra where it won’t be noticed. For the first time in my life, I’m thankful for being such a big girl.

“Knock them out,” someone says.

“Hold your breath,” Knox whispers so quietly that I almost miss it.

Seconds later, the car is filled with gas.

Chapter Nineteen

King

Pandemonium. That is the only word that can describe the absolute chaos happening around me.

“SHUT THE FUCK UP,” Ghost yells. “I get your anger, but we need to think rationally. Colt and Jax, go help Ma and Pops with tracking the signals from the necklaces. Viper, get ahold of the Phantoms and tell them what’s going on. If Cap finds out Bitsy was taken and he wasn’t notified, he’ll kill us all. Damnit, does anyone know how to run Knox’s security software?”

“Give me just a second,” Viper says, pulling out his phone. “Cap, listen. Shit’s gone down and someone crashed into the car that had four of our people in it, Bitsy included… I honestly don’t know, but we need Michael’s help. Knox was one of the people taken and we need access to his systems to check the live traffic feed… Knox, Bitsy, Sophie, and King’s new woman, Maddy… Yes, every fucking precious member of our family. Whoever the fuck took them is dead… Thanks, brother. Tell him we’ll see him soon.”

“Let’s head out and check out the crash site,” I say, grabbing my keys. “Is it still silent on the cell, Steel?”

“I hear some muffled sounds, but that’s it. I need to fucking do something.”

“Knox is so fucking smart, brother,” Blaze says. “He’ll find a way to keep them safe.”

“It’s not his job to keep them safe,” Steel growls. “It was our job.”

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