Page 20 of Pearl
My blood runs cold, and my chest tightens at the thought of her in the hands of the savage animals.
It takes effort to focus on what Renzo’s telling me. “They’ve been working for our rivals in town for some time. The ones running the girls.” He leans in close, his dark eyes hard and intense. “Here’s what we’re going to fucking do. Capone, Ryker, and the Rivalry will go in after her. Pearl’s her name, right?”
I nod.
“We understood the Phoenix Crew helped you when you were transporting the girls rescued from the Riders the other night.”
Now all the pieces of the puzzle are starting to drop into place. Except Pearl is right in the middle of it all. “The Phoenix Crew gave Pearl and her ladies a place to lay low. The Desert Riders want Pearl to give up the girls? They want the women back?”
Matteo nods. “No fucking doubt about that. The Desert Riders and the Scorpions are forming some sort of alliance. We’re going to reach out to the Phoenix Crew to run interference if they get that far. Capone and Ryker have been watching the Phoenix Crew for a while because the Royal Bastards are looking to expand too. Our own Rivals are allies, and we’ll sanction the merger if the two groups consolidate.”
My jaw tightens with angst. This is all fucking good and well, but I don’t fucking want to talk strategy, and territorial plans. Iwant to find Pearl right the hell now. “Do we know where they’re holding Pearl? How long they’ve fucking had her?”
“We know and it hasn’t been long. The girls’ lives depend on just how fucking much your girl can stand and for how long before she talks. It’s going to take time for the Rivals to get to Phoenix on bikes… He pauses a minute, and then looks at his cousin. “But there is another way.”
My mind is already automatically weighing all the options. These men have power, and fuck waiting. They don’t want Pearl talking about the women they managed to rescue from their rivals, and I don’t want her hurt. “I’ll make you a deal. You get me and a few of your men on a jet and get us there as fast as you fucking can, and I will work for you. No questions asked. I’ll do whatever needs to be done. You have my word, but we go now.”
Renzo doesn’t fucking hesitate. He types out a message. “Get him to the airport,” he says to Matteo. “I’ll have Ryker and Capone meet you there. Wheels up in twenty minutes. An hour or so in the air. Less if the pilot wants a bonus.”
I’m already out of my seat and heading toward the door with Matteo right on my tail. “Door by the elevator,” he says. I open it and he almost bumps into me from behind. “The car will be waiting for us at the top of the steps, leads to the back door.”
“Got it.” He’s not wrong. The minute the Vegas sun hits us, a sleek black Cadillac pulls up. Matteo grabs the back door open. “Get in.” He opens the front door and slides into the passenger seat and the driver peels back into the street before I’ve even shut my door. And just like that, I’m working for the fucking mafia and on my way to kill the bastards who dared lay a hand on the woman who I now call mine.
Chapter 17
Pearl
Aserious pounding headache and throbbing pain in my leg and hip causes my eyes to flutter but even opening them hurts something fierce. White blinding light feels like a knife stabbing me over and over again as I clench my jaw through the pain and force them open.
The greaseball sitting on the van’s bench seat watching over me as we drive makes me wish I had kept them closed. I wait for him to say something, taunt me, but he doesn’t. The savage look is enough though, conveying his hatred without making a sound.
One of the evilest of the Desert Riders. I recognize this fucker. Why the hell I ventured so far is beyond me, so caught up in my thoughts that I lost track of where I was, and that’s not fucking like me. Carver—I blame that man for it all. Somehow, he’s gotten under my skin so bad that I’ve lost every bit of common sense.
The silence is deafening but gives me time to think. The side of the van I’m leaning against is hard and unyielding and the zip ties around my wrists are tethered tightly to rings on the van floor just like my feet. Unless I can get to my knife there’s no wayI’m getting out of this situation, and there’s no way I’m doing that with my feet so far away from my hands.
My captor smiles, showing me crooked and stained teeth, as he fishes my knife from the pocket of his jeans. “Looking for this, sweetheart? Or maybe this?” he asks, pulling my Glock from the pocket of his leather cut.
My chest tightens at the look of pure gloating on his face. The ladies have no fucking clue where I am. Sure, they’ll be worried when I don’t show up for the meet but not one of them would think about looking between Tucson and Phoenix.
“Cat got your tongue?”
I keep my comment to myself, not wanting to antagonize the bastard any farther. They may want revenge for their crew members, but they also want their women back. They were probably paid at least half in advance to get the ladies to where they were going and besides being out that money, the men who hired them are now out the purchase price they were receiving from them when they got delivered.
There’s no doubt, they’re going to try to get me to tell them where the women went, who helped us get them out, and how we got them out. Well, fuck if I’d ever say one word, at least intentionally. But I also know the methods they use to get what they want, and we all think we’re strong enough to withstand whatever they dish out until we learn that we’re not.
They’re going to take me somewhere, and if I had to guess it’s either Vegas or closer to Phoenix so they can pick up the girls as soon as they get the information from me. They wouldn’t take me back to the Harlots, at least not without a fuck ton of men because the Harlots would put one or two of them in the ground the minute they came around. Think, think, think, where would they take me?
Chapter 18
Carver
My mind keeps replaying the last few days, trying to think of where they would take her. The obvious place is the Harlots’, but they don’t have much of a crew left after the stomping that the Phoenix Crew gave them in Tucson and then after one of them messed around with Brite’s ole lady.
That’s fucking it! The Phoenix Crew said they gave them a good beat down, but they also said they went to pay someone a lesson not too far away, they were there and back in less than a fucking hour. I hit the contact for Hawg, my chest beating right out of my chest. He picks up on the first ring. “Hawg.”
“Carver here. I need your help man. The Desert Riders have Pearl, and the information we have says they were taking her to somewhere in your neck of the woods. I’m on my way back to Phoenix but I don’t know how much of a head start they have or exactly where the fuck they’ll take her.”
“We’ve got your back, man. I’ll send some of the guys over to the Harlots’ and text you an address to the asshole screwing Brite’s ol’ lady. They just may be holed up there. It’s out of the way, completely off the grid in the desert but it won’t take long to get there. Lucky and I are on our way with the others.”
