Page 46 of Hollywood

His expression softened. “Yeah, it can be but you’re safe here. Don’t worry.”

“Thanks, but I’m wondering if I can bother you to pick up a habit I dropped long ago. A smoke?”

His brows shot up, a move that made him look more like the boy next door than a bad boy biker, but he nodded eventually. “Yeah, sure. Didn’t peg you for the smoking type.” He handed me a cigarette and a pack of matches.

“Thanks. I’m not really. I tried it, smoked for a few weeks back in high school and then gave it up because I smelled like smoke all the time.”

He laughed. “I feel that.”

“Pike, stop flirtin’ with Hollywood’s woman before he kicks your ass.”

Pike flipped off his friend and joined him at the bar, leaving me to have my smoke in peace. I lit the tip of the cigarette and took one long pull to calm my nerves, shaking my hands as I exhaled. “Okay, one more.” I took another giant pull and exhaled once more before I placed the cigarette in the ashtray and made my way out into the night.

I hadn’t explored the properly at all, so I was flying blind, but this was my only chance to get out unnoticed and get to Lu. The compound was deceptively secure with a lot of walking space that ended at a tall fence covered in barbed wire. That option was off the table, but I continued to walk until I was back at the main building.

Music vibrated against the walls and though the space between the fence and the building was tight, I fit. Barely. My arms were a little scraped, but I made it to the front parking lot and slipped out into the night. The streets weren’t just quiet, they were silent. The road was slick from an earlier light rain, the lights overhead lit my path. With each step I took my heart pounded faster and harder as if I was going at a full run.It’s just a fear response,I told myself and picked up the pace.

The silence made my thoughts and my doubts sound louder in my head. I looked over my shoulder every few seconds, which I realized was slowing me down, so I kept my head down and walked faster. And faster.

I walked for fifteen minutes before I heard a vehicle, which made me jump out of my skin. I didn’t look up, I just moved to the sidewalk and kept moving as I waited for the car to pass.

Except it didn’t.

I went another block and the car still hadn’t passed me, and that’s when I knew something was off. Big time. I never slowed down but I looked over my shoulder just as two men approached. I got my phone out and started to call Hollywood, but before I could connect the call, strong arms grabbed me from behind and my phone dropped to the ground, I struggled, desperate to get away, but they easily overpowered me and carried me to a vehicle where they shoved me into the trunk.

I barely got out a scream before the trunk slammed shut and I was tossed around in back like a ragdoll.Stupid, stupid, stupid.I should have known that leaving the clubhouse was just a ruse, a way to get me away from those who protected me.

“So fucking stupid.” I continued to beat myself up while also hoping that Hollywood got my note. And that these guys weren’t really going to kill me. And that I might have a chance to make things right with Hollywood. But I knew I was fooling myself. My dad didn’t have the kind of money they were asking for, which meant if I was lucky, they would kill me quickly.

Unlikely.

I knew that my odds weren’t good, that every mile we moved away from the clubhouse increased the likelihood that I would never see my dad or Hollywood ever again. But I couldn’t let Lu die with me, so I had to be strong and come up with a plan to free her.

That was a lot easier to focus on than how my idiocy brought me to this point.

Chapter Twenty-Five

Hollywood

The minute we arrived back at the clubhouse I went in search of Winter. I owed her an apology and the truth, and Ineededto see her. I was a fucking idiot for ever making her think for one second that I didn’t want her, that she wasn’t important to me. I knew, hell I’d known for weeks that I felt more for her than getting my dick wet.

All of my brothers who had women, went to them and wrapped them in their arms because they knew after that meeting with JT that they were all in danger. It was the way we lived, and everybody understood but that didn’t make it any easier when times were rough.

“Winter.” I rushed into the room that used to be Gio’s, but I’d taken over while I looked for a place to live. “Winter,” I called out to her again and scanned the room. Her things were still here but she wasn’t.

I raced back to the bar and scanned the area again just to make sure I hadn’t missed her. “Where is Winter?”

Peyton stood and frowned. “We haven’t seen her for a while. I just assumed she went to her room after, you know, everything that happened.” Her gaze was a mix of anger and sympathy.

“She went out to smoke about fifteen minutes ago,” Pike offered. “Out back,” he clarified to let me know there was no way she could escape.

I took off at a full run down the hall that led to the back, but it was empty, just as I knew it would be. There was a cigarette in the ashtray with one long ash attached to it. “Fuck!” I rushed back to the room once more in search of anything I missed the first time around. My gaze landed on a torn sheet of paper and all the blood left my body. I snatched it off the bed and read it while my heart tried to drop kick its way out of my chest.

Hollywood,

I know you’re going to be pissed and I’m not sure how to tell you this, which is why I didn’t call. I wrote you this message instead. I’m sorry.

I pulled out my phone to see if there were any missed calls but there was nothing. With my heart in my throat, I read Winter’s words.

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