Page 61 of Striker

"Besides, we've been looking for a place to land. It'll be good to have a home... and some honest action," Hawk says with a grin.

My path is now clear and my mission defined: I can't let my emotions endanger Dani. I can’t let her endanger herself, either. I steel my heart for what must be done, even if it means defying her, or even a straight-up fight to force her to leave the Vertucci wedding. It’s what I need to do.

I catch a ride with Bullet back to the compound. He drops me a mile out from the Vertucci place, and I complete the rest of the distance on foot.

As I approach the compound again, a plan forms in my mind. A desperate plan. I'll do whatever it takes to keep Dani safe, away from the clutches of the Mafia.

Even if it means taking drastic measures... like kidnapping her.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Danielle

A solitary noise stirs me from my slumber. I'd been having a dream. A deep, vivid one where Owen and I were buying a house together, decorating it, making it ours, and we were just about to settle into bed together on that first day when all that initial work, all that organizing, that painting, that furniture re-arranging, all that was done; we'd fuck, we'd sleep, we'd wake up in each other's arms, and we'd have breakfast together in a place that was truly our home. I wake up with a sensation of love filling my chest and lifting my lips. The warmth of the couch and the softness of the blanket cocoon me in a haze of comfort. That feeling startles me for a second — a blanket? Where'd that come from? Owen must've put it over me when I fell asleep, I realize, and another gentle smile comes across my face.

Did we just have and resolve our first fight?

It'd be another thing to cross off my list, although not the most pleasant experience. The make-up sex, however, well, that'll be another story.

But then another rustling noise jolts me to alertness. It's closer. It sounds... ominous.

I blink open my eyes to find Owen, equipped with a gag, blindfold, and rope, coming toward me. My heart races, confusion turning to fear. I try to move, but before I can react, Owen acts with military precision, pouncing upon me, pinning me, and effectively gagging and tying me up until I'm nothing more than a bra-and-panty-wearing parcel on his shoulders.

Outside, he moves swiftly through the dark, demonstrating his knowledge of the guard rotations, bypassing all the security and getting me over the fence effortlessly. I'm helpless, carried out like a sack of flour, my mind reeling in betrayal and shock.

He’s kidnapped me.

He’s kidnapped me, and now he's carrying me through the woods like I'm a backpack at boot camp.

I bounce along for hours on his back, indignantly struggling, with my more desperate attempts to wiggle and kick my way free met by firm slaps on my ass that both enrage and arouse me. Even when he's kidnapping me, I'm so wild for him I want to fuck his brains out.

He takes me where I expect: the MC's garage and de facto clubhouse. Even though I can't see with the blindfold around my eyes, I can smell it. That, and I know Owen better than anyone — it's obvious he'd take me somewhere safe, somewhere he feels secure having a half-naked woman hostage.

I just hope none of the other men in his MC are here to see me in such an undignified position.

At Reid's Repairs, I fight against my restraints with growing desperation. My wrists turn red, begin to bleed as I struggle against the cordage binding them. My teeth hurt from gnawing on the gag in my mouth and I just know my dentist is going to throw a bitch-fit at my next checkup for all the damage I've likely done to them. Still, I fight on. The realization that Owen kidnapped me, that he's betrayed my trust, sets my entire being ablaze with fury and panic.... and still, lust. So much lust. How, I don't know. Maybe it's something primal, the neanderthal inside me expecting to be taken back to Owen's cave and claimed.

"Stop fighting, Dani. I'm not going to hurt you. This is for your own good."

Fuck you, you Jarhead prick, I mutely scream into my gag.

How can he be so heartless, so disrespectful, to put me in this position? Doesn’t he know the damage he’s going to do?

Fuck you, Owen.

"I know you hate me for this, but it's the right thing to do, Dani. You're not thinking clearly. I can't let them hurt you. I can't leave you in that place. This is how it has to be. I'll keep you here, you'll be safe from whatever the Vertuccis have planned, we’ll try to get Morgan and Riley out, and the club will deal with whatever the Santoro Syndicate is trying to do. It's going to get violent, and the best place for you is as far away from the front lines as possible."

But Owen isn't going to get away with this so easily.

Our love may only be young in the open, but we've known each other for so long, loved each other secretly for so many years, that I can tell he's conflicted. There's an opening, a weakness, and I have to take it.

I have to make one, too. In my gag.

I keep chewing. Once I gnaw through the makeshift gag, I unleash my anger. "How could you do this, Owen?" My words are a mix of betrayal, pleading, and confusion. "You need to take me back there right now!"

"No. I can't do that, Dani."

"Fuck, you carried me here. Just carry me back."

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