Loving Nicole (10 page)

I can’t stop the tears that fall when I see her. She’s curled up in a ball, her dark sweater is torn and her white pants are caked with dirt, and the majority of it is in the shape of a boot print. She’s looking in my direction. Still, I know she can’t see me because her eyes are puffy and swollen shut. Her mouth has been bleeding, her nose still is. There’s an ugly purple-black bruise running down her jawline and under her eyes which have the same horrific color. Her beautiful dark hair is caked in mud and maybe, blood. She’s far enough away it’s hard to tell. One of her hands is lying awkward against her side, and the fingers on her other hand seem to be at weird angles. She’s breathing hard, labored even, and shallow. The sad wheezing sound penetrates my ears and though it’s quiet, it seems to be screaming at me now.

“You fucking son of a bitch! How could you? What kind of sick fucking freak would do this to a woman? You…”

That’s when he stops my tirade by shoving me and slamming me into the cement-blocked wall. I turn to the side before the immediate impact and try to wrap my arms around my stomach. It causes my head to snap back against the blocks and pain shoots through my skull. I can feel the cement scratch against the skin on my hands. The force of impact sends pain to the side of my stomach and into my back where my kidney is.

Fear swamps me. Did it hurt the baby? I try to take deep breaths and hold myself completely still, hoping against hope that I’ll be able to feel the baby move. I need that reassurance. I don’t get it. I hold my stomach harder, rubbing my hand where the brunt of the impact was.

“Listen well, Ms. Wentworth. You will do as I say because if you don’t, then you’ll find my lovely wife here in pieces. I’ll mail one to you a day for the rest of your life. That is if I let you live. Or maybe I should take from you what you helped take from me? After all, I have eyes on your fiancé even now. I could take
anyone
I want, at
any time
I want.”

Dani moans. I can’t tell if it’s because of what Michael said or from pain. I think she is mostly unconscious.

“What do you want from me?” I ask, my eyes are glued to Dani. In my head there are visions of Dragon and his brothers, of my child. I do my best to fight down the panic inside of me, but I can’t, not completely.

“I thought you would see to reason. I’ll tell you what, Ms. Wentworth, because you’re being so intelligent in your decisions, I shall only demand things that will be easy for you to do. First, you and Melinda will be coming back to New York with me.”

My hand goes to my stomach, rubbing where the pain still lingers. I can feel movement and it helps me breathe easier.
I’m fucking scared
. I have no idea how to proceed. If I can just get through all of this till I can get back to Dragon, he can fix this.
He has to fix this.

“I…Dragon will never allow that.”

“Oh, but he will. You will make him believe that you don’t want this life for your child. You will not go through with the wedding. Once Mr. West is convinced, he’ll turn his back on you. It should be easy enough, I hear he has his own stable of women available. I can almost admire him for that. It
somewhat
makes up for him having no breeding or class.

I let the insults to Dragon roll off my back, if I don’t it will get me killed. It’s not easy and had I not been pregnant, it wouldn’t have stopped me. I just keep repeating, ‘
there’s more than me to worry about, there’s more than me to worry about’.
As mantras go, it kind of sucks.

“If I don’t do as you ask?”

“We’ve gone through this. Maybe I should show you that I mean business? Would you like a piece of Melinda early? Small though, I still have plans for her so marring her beauty is not an option just yet. A finger perhaps? Or toe? Though, I did love when she would wear those stilettos. Donald? Take off one of Mrs. Kavanagh’s fingers. It doesn’t matter which really, except for the ring finger. I want her to have my ring on her finger and this time
I
will decide when it comes off.”

‘Donald’ (though creepy guy really fits him much better) kicks Dani hard in the stomach. She weakly cries out as her body curls from the pain. He bends over and roughly grabs her hand yanking it towards him. He takes out a wicked looking hunting knife and hits a button so it unfolds.

“Stop!”

He doesn’t, so I turn to the pig behind me.

“Make him stop! Don’t hurt her anymore! I’ll do it!”

He raises his hand and I look quickly over to see Donald has stopped, though I can see that there is blood dripping from Dani’s finger.

“I’ll do it! Just please don’t hurt her anymore.”

“You fell into line so easily, Ms. Wentworth. Should I take you on your word, you think?”

“I said, I’ll do it. You’re not leaving me with much choice.”

“Well, yes, this is true. Still, I think you capitulated a little too easy.”

“Just stop!” I cry and the tears have been flowing steady from me since I got here, but now the panic is all the way into my soul. I can’t see a way out of this and I know even if I give the madman what he wants, he’ll eventually kill Dani, me, my baby and maybe even Dragon and the rest of the crew. I’m not naïve enough to even make myself believe that I am preventing anything by giving into him. No, I’m merely buying time.

“For now, I will take you at your word.”

I try and breathe slower, before I pass out. I’m wringing my hands at this point to try and keep the shaking under control.

I’m going to start carrying a gun.

The thought rings in my head. If I had a gun I’d shoot the bastard between the eyes and this mess would be over with. This makes twice now that life has exploded and I was defenseless both times.
This shit has to end
.

“Rest assured, Ms. Wentworth, if you do not adhere to the bargain we have made, I will make sure you and everyone you care about regret it.”

“I understand.”

“Donald will return you back to town. I’ll expect to hear that you’ve broken off your engagement. If I don’t there will be repercussions.”

“I can’t just break it off without reason, Dragon will be suspicious!”

“That is not my problem, Ms. Wentworth, it is yours. I just warn you, do not push me. You will
not like
how I push back. You helped Melinda leave me five years ago. You were not so concerned with the problems that brought into my life or the consequences of your actions then. I suggest you do not get distracted by them now.”

I don’t answer. It doesn’t matter. Nothing matters at this point. I let Donald lead me back outside to the waiting limo. Michael doesn’t follow and it makes me sick to leave Dani with him. Again, I have no choice.

*

It’s late by
the time Donald drives me back into town. He keeps stopping other places and purposely delaying my return. I don’t know why and I don’t ask. In fact, I don’t say two words on the way back. There’s nothing to say, and besides, my mind is full. I’m trying to think of a way to get out of this mess. I’m wondering what would happen if I go to Dragon and confess everything. My first instinct is to do what I’m ordered to do, but keeping secrets from Dragon has already turned out bad. Plus, I know that even getting what he wants, Michael will enjoy hurting anyone I care about. So, Dragon has to know. It’s time I start trying to rely on my man and give him what I expect from him—complete honesty and faith. He deserves that.

I’m feeling better with my decision. I’ll get back and have Dragon and his men go search the school for Dani. There’s nothing that Dragon and I can’t handle together.

Dragon

“W
hat the fuck
do you mean she’s missing?”

“I told her not to leave the shop while I went outside to take a call from an Army buddy. I wasn’t gone over five minutes Drag, I swear. I go back in and she’s gone. I was watching the entrance the entire time.”

I grab the first thing I can find, which happens to be the whiskey bottle I was about to have a drink out of. Just try and relax around this damned place. The bottle explodes against the wall and it does not do one damn thing to make me feel better.

“You were supposed to be watching her motherfucker, not the fucking
door
. If all I wanted was the fucking door watched I would have sent a son-of-a-bitching prospect! Of which your ass might be again by the end of the fucking day!”

“Drag, man, I’m telling you my eyes never left that…”

“But it did motherfucker, because you left my woman alone and the backdoor unguarded and I know this because her damned cell phone was found crushed by the door!”

Bull doesn’t respond, but then there’s nothing else for him to say at this point. Fuck, when did my club become such a damned mess? Did we have it easy for so damned long that my men got soft? This was a juvenile, stupid-ass mistake and if my woman gets hurt because of it I will gut Bull, friend or no friend.

“Drag, Nicole just called in. Frog went to pick her up.”

I don’t know if the sigh of relief in the room was from me or Bull. I just know those are the best words I’ve ever heard.

“Call the rest of the men off the search.”

“Already done,” Freak says heading back towards my office where he’s been working, going over the tapes of the flower shop. The man who has been sneaking around my club is the one who took Nicole—a Donald Tover. He has ties to Michael Kavanagh and that in and of itself signed his death warrant. I will end him. I just have to plot how I’m going to do it. A man with that much power and money can’t disappear easily. Worse, he’ll be harder to trap.

“You, get out of my sight for now, go find Crusher and drag his ass back here!” I order Bull. It’s harsh, but
motherfucker,
it feels like I can trust my prospects more than the original patched in members!

He gives me a look of disgust and leaves the room. It’s another twenty minute wait and three shots of whiskey to calm my nerves before my woman walks through the front door. I’m practically on her before she takes one step in.

Before she can even speak, I have her wrapped in my arms. I inhale her scent, breathing deeper so I can take it all the way in.

“God, Mama,” I whisper shakily into her ear, as I feel her arms go around me and hold onto me tightly.

Her nails are digging into my back with a fierceness that tells me just how scared my woman has been. I need to find out information, I need to hunt down the bastard responsible for it all, but all I can think right now is that I need Nicole. I need her taste, her comfort. I need the feel of her in my arms. It’s a need so huge that I almost take her right where we’re standing. I can’t. I have to capture this SOB before he has a chance to escape. So for now, I push my tongue into her mouth and content myself with a kiss. It’s a fucking great kiss though, full of heat and need. Our tongues fighting each other for control and my dick pounding with the need to be buried deep inside of her.

We break away slowly. She takes a shaky breath and rests her forehead on my chest. Her hands are gripping my biceps and her nails are still digging into me. It soothes me.

“Dragon,” she whispers.

My name on her lips. Her taste on my tongue. That is all I need in life.

“Mama, talk to me.”

“They have Dani, Dragon. He’s demanding I…he’s torturing me with her. He has Dani, Dragon.”

I listen to her mumbled words and the fear in her voice physically hurts me.

“Where Nicole?”

“The old abandoned Laurel Elementary School. Dragon, we have to save her. She’s in such bad shape.”

“What kind of fucking shape?” Crusher picks that minute to come in the door and the anger in him at hearing Dani is hurt vibrates through the room. My brother has it bad.

“He…they beat her. She, oh God, I’ve never seen someone hurt that bad before. He’ll kill her if we don’t get her.”

“We won’t give him the chance. I got one of his men being followed even now, Mama. I’ll find out where he’s staying. In the meantime, we’ll go check the school out.”

“Okay, I’m ready to…”

“No, Mama, you’re staying here. We’ll talk about what you went through when I get back. Bull will watch over you and this time he won’t let you out of his sight.” I add that last part with a death-glare at Bull. He nods in agreement.

“But I need to be there for her, Dragon…”

“You need to think of our little one, Mama. I’ll go and if Dani is there, sweetheart, I’ll be careful with her and bring her back to you.”

“I…okay, can Poncho check me out?”

“Shit, Mama, did they hurt you?”

“He just slapped me and pushed me. But he pushed me into a wall and I hit my stomach…”

“I’ll get him right to you. I’ll let Crush and the boys go to the school,” I respond picking her up in my arms, intent on lying her on the bed and holding her until Poncho gets here.

“No, you need to be there to help Dani, Dragon. Please? I’ll be fine, I promise. Little Dragon is already moving around. I just want to be safe.”

I don’t respond till I have her back in our room and place her on the bed. She looks so tired and beaten right now, but there’s never been a more beautiful woman in the world.