Protected (Divided Loyalties) (3 page)

“Al
l right,” she said quickly. “All right, I'm sorry, I didn't know who you guys were, I was just out for a drink, like everybody else,” she said as calmly as she could. Slowly, she started lowering her gun.

“Really, Lou, it's not that big of a deal is it?” Nick asked.

“Not that big of a deal?” Lou smirked as he studied her driver's license. “I guess it's no big deal that Alexa had her tongue down your throat, hmm, Nick? How'd you like kissing a pig?” he flung her license at Nick, which bounced off the side of his head.

Alexa took the opportunity to spin in Nick's grasp. She crushed her body against his, with his hand tightening on her arm, and struck him hard in the stomach with her weapon. It made him double over in pain and release his grasp on her arm. In the same movement she slammed one foot outward, toward
s the ogling Dern brothers. She managed to knock one off balance which made him collide with the other. She landed on her knees with her gun still in her hands, and aimed it upward toward Lou.

Before she could pull the trigger, she was staring down the barrel of Lou's gun. He had it pointed right at her forehead
, and she knew that if he even moved his finger slightly, her life was going to be over.

As she knelt frozen before him, the other men began to get to their feet. Nick was roaring as if he was enraged when he stood up, and seemingly oblivious to Lou's weapon pointed at her head, he jerked her hard toward him, practically dragging her across the pavement of the alley.

“Stupid move, Alexa,” he shouted directly into her face, his dark green eyes flashing with fury.

Alexa was just relieved to be out from under the weapon that had been trained at her forehead. Lou reached out and wrenched her gun from her hand before she could use it. Then he grabbed her by her long strawberry blonde hair and jerked her upward off the ground.

“Oh this one's just a little crazy,” he growled and glared at Alexa when she tried to spit at him.

She was starting to panic. She had been disarmed, and there was no back up coming.

“Shame to kill her,” one of the Dern brothers muttered. “I mean, right away,” he clarified as he grabbed a strand of her hair and gave it a slight tug.

“Yeah
, really, killing a cop, Lou. That's some bad business. Not something the boss needs coming down on his head right now,” Nick pointed out. “Let's just knock her around a little, send a message.”

“And what message would that be, you idiot?” Lou demanded as he glared at Nick. “A message to take right back to her cop friends covered in our DNA so they can frame us for whatever they want?” he demanded. “God, sometimes I don't even know why Randy keeps you around, Nick, you're such a damn fool.”

Alexa knew that Lou was right. Nick was staring at her hard, as if he was trying to make some kind of decision.

“You made this mess,” Lou said. “Now you clean it up.”

He handed Alexa's gun over to Nick. Nick took the gun in his hand and looked at Alexa again. Her hair was spread across her features, her eyes widened with panic, as she knew that the next second would mean a bullet would tear through her body, and yet still, she felt as if she would make it.

“Maybe we could offer her,” Nick said quietly, his dark hair falling for
ward as he tilted his head down, “to Randy, as a gift.”

“A gift?” Lou asked thoughtfully. “She is wrapped up nice,” he considered
, and smirked when Alexa tried to wriggle out of his grasp. “And feisty. Randy does like 'em feisty.”

Alexa didn't know how to react. She was glad that they weren't going to shoot her right then and there, but what would come next? What exactly did it mean, for her to be a gift?

“From me,” Lou said firmly, his eyes locking with Nick's. “Don't you even think about taking credit.”

“I won't,” Nick promised and licked his lips lightly as he looked over Alexa.

“What about her car?” one of the Dern brothers asked. “She's a cop, they're gonna be looking for her.”

“Take the car,” he looked at Nick. “You and Paulie take her in her car. Make sure she doesn't see anything,” he barked. “Then we'll strip it.”

“Sounds good,” Paulie growled and reached out to grab a handful of Alexa's right breast. Lou smacked his hand hard. “She's for Randy,” he growled. “Don't touch her.”

Paulie pouted, but he nodded.

Nick roughly pulled her toward the parking lot. “You make a sound I'm going to have to hurt you,” he hissed in her ear. “You show anybody that anything bad is happening, I will have to hurt you.”

Alexa did not doubt he would as his hand was so tight around her arm that she was sure he was leaving marks. She couldn't believe that she had been so wrong about him, but she had more important things to be concerned about. Randy Lucot was the king of the
Death Adders. He was known for being extremely violent and had been rumored to rape or otherwise assault every female member of his gang, or  the girlfriends or wives of his gang members. As far as she knew, he was one of the worst human beings to ever walk the planet, and she was about to be given to him as a gift.

She tried to think clearly. Maybe it would be better if she was shot right there in the parking lot. She sneaked a glance over at Paulie who was walking on the other side of her, and then back at Nick. She was just about to open her mouth and scream, when she heard a gunshot ring out. Nick's grasp got even tighter. She tensed and tried to look over her shoulder.

“What was that?” she asked fearfully.

“That was the end of Mary,” he said and shoved her up against her car. “Open the door.”

Alexa felt her cheeks burn with anger at the injustice of the situation. Mary had just been doing her job.

“Why did he kill her?” she demanded, refusing to open the door to the car.

Nick grabbed her by the base of her neck and pushed her hard against the car. He did not squeeze her hard enough to hurt her, but he certainly had her attention.

“Because Alexa, when your cop buddies come looking for you, they can't know that you left with me, and Mary saw us. If you don't keep your mouth shut and start doing what you're told, you're going to end up just like Mary.”

As wrong as it was, Alexa knew that Nick was only warning her. She knew he only had so much power, and he had already wielded it in an attempt to keep her alive. She didn't know why he wanted her alive, but it didn't matter. In the end she would end up just like Mary.

She searched his eyes for any sign of mercy. “You could just let me go,” she whispered. “I can take Paulie out. I can be out of here in a second.”

“A second is too long,” he murmured and released her neck long enough to trail his fingertips down along the curve of her cheek. “Besides, you're going to make a nice present for the boss.”

She opened the car door. He shoved her inside the back seat, with Paulie climbing in next to her. She cringed as he reached out and slid his hand up along her thigh, his dirty fingers squeezing against her skin.

“Don't, Paulie,” Nick warned. “Just hold her down.”

Alexa stared up at the two men as Paulie pinned her down on the back seat. She was sure she was about to be assaulted or worse, and she had no way to protect herself. All thoughts of Nick trying to protect her for some reason fled her mind. He probably just wanted a chance to be with her before they killed her.

Nick pulled off his shirt revealing his thick chest and washboard abs. Were it a different moment, Alexa would have savored the sight of them, but now they only seemed to mock her, as if accusing her of asking for this to happen just because she was attracted to the wrong man. He wound his shirt up into a tight rope and then leaned into the car. He grabbed her by her hair and pulled her head up so he could wrap the band tightly around her eyes and tie it snug at the back of her head. It was so tight it hurt. She could feel the material pushing against her eyes.

“Can you see anything?” he asked.

“No,” she replied, her voice full of fear.

He went silent, and the next thing she knew, she felt his lips hard against hers. She swung her hands in an attempt to strike out at him, but Paulie was still holding her down.

“Just checking,” she heard Nick mutter and then the car door slammed.

Alexa lay still, knowing that if she tried anything she was going to be killed. Really, she was having to face the truth, that she was going to be killed either way.

When Paulie began rubbing her thigh again, she kept her mouth shut. She didn't move. She tried to focus on the direction the car was taking, the sound of the road, and any sounds outside of the car. If by some miracle she got her hands on a phone, she might be able to tell someone where she was, if she could figure out where the car was heading.

Nick looked in the rearview mirror and caught sight of Paulie's wandering hands. He reached into the back seat and smacked the other man hard across the face.

“Hands off, Paulie!” he growled. “She's Randy's merchandise.”

When the car pulled to a stop, Alexa could barely breathe. She knew this could be the end of the line for her. Maybe Randy wouldn't want a live gift, maybe the whole point was to let him be the one to kill her. She knew if she did not make a break for it when she got out of the car, she might never have another chance. She lay compliant in the back seat while Nick parked the car, and then climbed out. When she heard the car door open, she knew that her feet were close to him. He was standing inside the door, and even though she could not see him, she could feel him leaning close to grab her. She waited until he would be slightly off balance from leaning over, and then shoved her head hard up and into Paulie's stomach. At the same time, she landed her foot where she thought Nick's crotch would be, but instead it glanced off of his hip. It was still a painful enough blow to send him reeling backwards and to the side. Paulie released her arms to clutch his stomach in pain and as soon as Alexa felt freedom, she lunged for the door. She barrelled right past Nick, who was recovering, and reached up to tear off her blindfold. All she saw was an old warehouse before Nick collided with her waist and pinned her down to the dusty ground. He jerked the blindfold back down over her eyes as he straddled her back.

“You're going to have to get smarter if you want to live,” he growled into her ear. Then he sat up and pinned her arms against her back, holding them firmly as she squirmed and struggled to get out of his grasp. With his free hand he loosened his belt and pulled it off. He slid the leather material beneath her wrists and then looped it. He pulled it as tight as he could and she cried out when her skin pinched in the leather.

Nick didn't say a word, but she knew he was sitting on her longer than he needed to, and her skirt had gotten pushed up beneath him. As much as she didn't want to feel it, she was a little aroused by the position he was in. It made her feel horrible for liking it. It seemed as if she had some kind of animal attraction to him, and it didn't matter if her mind told her to hate him, her body wanted to experience him.

In the next moment Nick stood up. He grabbed her by her arm and pulled her up from the ground. She noticed the respectful way he smoothed down her skirt before Paulie could see.

Paulie was angry that she had hurt him. He stalked towards her and she could hear him cursing as he got closer.

“I'm going to teach that pig a lesson,” he hissed and drew back his hand as if he might punch her.

“No,” Nick said firmly and she heard the sound of skin against skin as he stopped Paulie from hitting her. “No marks. She's already banged up enough. Randy won't want her if she's bleeding.”

“So what?” Paulie snapped. “You know he's just going to screw her and then feed her to the dogs.”

Alexa took a sharp breath at that idea. She wasn't sure which she dreaded more. Randy was not the least bit attractive, with a mean streak that made her certain he was more interested in torture than sex.

Behind them she heard the sound of the motorcycles approaching.

Soon Lou was beside her. “Give her to me,” he demanded as he jerked Alexa out of Nick's grasp. She actually felt a little more fearful being away from him, as if somehow she expected he would try to help her.

She felt Lou run his fingers through her hair in a strangely paternal way. Then he reached up and tore her blouse so that her breasts were revealed. She had no idea how many pairs of eyes might be looking at her as she stood there with only her bra to cover her but she did hear some whistling and a few grunts. She wondered if Nick was one of them.

Lou led her into the warehouse, and the door banged shut behind them. She could tell that it was darker inside. She could smell dogs. She could hear them growling and barking not far off. Pit bulls, maybe Rottweilers, or even Mastiffs, they could be as deadly as any weapon.

“You're late!” a voice bellowed from a few feet ahead of her.

“I brought you something,” Lou said proudly.

“It better be cash,” the voice, who she now was sure was Randy, replied.

“No, it's not cash,” Lou said, and then gave Alexa a hard enough shove to force her to her knees. “But she's sure pretty.”

Randy grunted and looked her over. She could feel her skin crawl as his gaze hung on her heaving breasts. She didn't have to see him to know what he was looking at.