Page 49 of Finish Line
My mind starts to wander to places it shouldn’t go. I made a promise to Athena to keep her safe and I’ve already broken that promise. What if I can’t get her back? What if I get to her and it’s too late? I don’t think I could handle losing her after everything else.
“Prez,” Tech calls out, breaking me from my dark thoughts. I turn to face him. “They hacked our security feed.”
“Church, now,” I shout to the brothers and head inside. I take my seat, watching as everyone files in and takes theirs. Ranger is the last one in. “Shadow?”
“I made sure he’ll stay in his room,” Ranger whispers to me. I nod.
“Athena was kidnapped. I think everyone knows by now that I’ve claimed her as mine. I’m sayin’ this now in case anyone needs further clarification. Athena is my Ol’ Lady,” I announce. “And it’s time we come up with a revenge plan. A plan of attack to take out the cartel once and for all.”
“What do you have in mind, Prez?” Ratchet asks.
“We’re gonna raid every known place the cartel has occupied here in town,” I say. “One of them is bound to have people still there and we’ll get information out of them, no matter what it takes.”
“Please tell me I’ll get to torture some helpless mother fucker.” Rascal grins, rubbing his hands together.
“Torture any of those fucks except for Kevin. He’s mine.” I glance around the room, making eye contact with each of my men, making sure they understand.
Once we’re done with Church, everyone disburses to take care of necessary business before we go on our first raid. I go to check on Shadow and the door to his room is already open.
“Goddamnit,” I mutter. I don’t have to look in his room to know he’s not there. I storm out to the main room and find Prospect Pete. “You seen Shadow?”
“He took off not long before y’all came out of Church. Said he had somethin’ to take care of and he’d be right back,” Prospect Pete tells me.
“Son of a bitch.” I try to reign in my anger, but with Athena not here and not knowin’ the condition of her well-being, it’s more difficult to do. That dumb ass son of mine is either gonna end up back in jail or dead.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Athena
“How long has she been out for?” The voice is distorted, but sounds familiar. My head is pounding and even though the voice isn’t close by, every word they say sends a sharp pain throughout my head.
“A few hours,” another voice responds.
I groan.
“Looks like our guest of honor is finally waking up,” the first voice says.
My neck is stiff, making the pain in my head even worse. I make an attempt to lift it, but whatever they’d used to knock me out must not have completely worn off yet. My eyes flutter as I try to open them, but the light in the room burns. Before I realize it, I’m dozing off again.
I wake up in a warm, cozy bed with strong arms wrapped around me. I smile to myself, recognizing those arms. I roll over and am met with a smiling face.
“Mornin’, Goddess,” Bull says.
“Good morning, handsome.” I kiss his lips, savoring the feel of them.
His hand comes to the side of my face. “You’re stronger than you give yourself credit for.”
“Why are you telling me this?” I ask, cocking an eyebrow at him.
“Because you’re my woman. You’re a goddamn goddess. A fuckin’ warrior. I need you to always remember that.” He tucks my hair behind my ear and gives me a kiss. “I love you.”
Tears well in my eyes. Something isn’t right. This isn’t real.
My eyes shoot open. It’s just a dream. Tears fall down my cheeks. I slowly lift my head, trying to roll it back and forth to stretch out my neck and my shoulders ache as I do. When I try to move my arms, I realize my hands are bound together behind my back.
The room is dark except for the one light bulb hanging over my head. Heat radiates off it. Squinting, I glance around. I can’t see anyone, but I can feel someone watching me.
My head still hurts, but it’s more of a dull ache now. The light burns my eyes, but the longer I have them open, the more bearable it becomes.
