Page 8 of Hollywood

“A couple of months. I thought they might just stick with threats to my safety but the last message that came through has me on edge.Your daughter is stunning, she must take after her mother. Double your investment or we’ll all take turns having fun with her.That was the exact message, Hollywood. What do I do?”

“I’m not sure what you should do but I know what you shouldn’t do, give them any more fucking money.”

“But they’re threatening Winter.”

“I know, man. I know. But as soon as you pay that money, they’ll keep using her to bleed you dry, or they might take her anyway just because they can.”

“What?”

“Look Winston, we’ve dealt with people like this before. These men are monsters, and they aren’t above weaponizing their cocks, got it?”

He let out a shaky breath. “Okay, yeah I got it.” There was a long pause before he spoke again. “I hate to ask you this. You just got out of prison, and it feels like you’ve spent our entire lives protecting me—but this is Winter, and I have to ask.”

“No,” I growled. “You don’t have to ask, Win. I will keep her safe. I promise.” Even though she was no longer the little girl I remembered, she was still family to me.

“Thank you.” His voice shook again, thick with emotion. “They sent me a photo of her today. Looked like she was somewhere in town, but the background was all blurry.”

“Shit. Send me the photo now.” Slate would be able to figure out where she was. “I’ll have my Tech Captain track it.”

“You have atech captain?”

I laughed. “Yeah, Slate is brilliant. He’ll help me find her and I will keep her safe. They won’t get near her, not while I’m around.” I started my bike. “Winston, don’t try to be the hero, okay? If they threaten you or you feel unsafe don’t be too proud to come to me or to my clubhouse. I mean it, you’re family and we look out for family. Period.”

“I will,” he replied but he didn’t promise before he ended the call.

“Goddammit!” I knew he would do something stupid but right now I had to get that fucking photo to Slate and find Winter. Later I would chew Winston out for waiting so long to come to me with this problem.

Until then, I had to find Winter.

Chapter Six

Winter

“It’s been so long since I came here,” I told Luisa as I looked around the diner with a ghost of a smile on my face. The place hadn’t changed much in a decade, the tables were still an odd red and off-white checkerboard, but they were clean and shiny, topped with a miniature jukebox and a napkin dispenser. It was perfectly retro and amazing.

“Well I love this place,” Luisa declared. “And I demand all the details of your date with Brad.” She rested her chin in her hand, eyes sparkled with expectation and desperation.

“There’s nothing to tell. Brad was boring and self-centered and I’m over your setups.”

Her honey brown eyes widened in shock. “No way. He’s perfect first date material.”

“If that’s what you think then you need your head examined.” I told her about how his sole focus was on himself. “And when I called him out on not asking me questions, he got angry.”

“Of course. Men like that don’t appreciate being challenged, Winter.”

“Exactly! I’m nobody’s fucking trophy woman, especially some guy who can’t be bothered to put in any effort on the first date. He might be a catch to someone but not to me.”

She sighed heavily and rolled her eyes as she scanned the menu. “That’s because you’re all hung up on the old as fuck biker. He’s too old for you, too experienced, and most of all, he’s your dad’s best friend. It’s not gonna happen Winter and the sooner you realize that, the better off you’ll be.”

She was probably right but I wasn’t there yet. “Don’t you think I know that?” I smacked the linoleum table angrily. “It’s not that I think I have an actual shot with Hollywood, but I want, no Ineeda guy who makes me feel what he does or at least a fraction of what he makes me feel. I’m not wasting my time with anything less.”

“And if you don’t find it?”

I shrugged and took a sip of water. “If not, then I’m happy to keep searching until I do. I refuse to settle just to be in a relationship because it doesn’t matter to me. I want passion and intensity and if I can’t have that, I’m happy to be on my own.”

Luisa rolled her eyes, “That’s admirable, it really is, but it’s also super fucking annoying.”

I laughed as my breakfast platter and her omelet was delivered to the table. “He was super fucking boring, Luisa. No sane woman would sit through dinner, not even for an expensive Michelin star meal.”

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