Deacon’s arms reached out for me, pulling me against him. “We’re going to get Rev back, Annabel. Mendoza took him for a reason. If he didn’t plan on making demands of us, he would have killed Rev then.”
“You don’t know Mendoza,” I whispered. Flashes of his vicious eyes, his volatile temper, and his never-ending cruelty raced through my mind.
Tilting my head to cause me to look at him, Deacon said, “Mendoza is pretty much fucked. He has both us and now the Rodriguez cartel on his ass. He’s not going to win this one. We’re already working on tracing his phone to find him.”
I wanted to believe Deacon. I couldn’t bear the thought of living in a world without Rev. After all, he was my world—the sun, the moon, and the stars. I knew I needed more security than just what the Raiders could do.
“We need help.”
Deacon’s brows rose in surprise. “Excuse me?”
“I don’t want to take one chance when it comes to Rev’s life.”
“I said we would—”
“I’m calling my father. I want the FBI or the ATF or whoever the hell takes out men like Mendoza to make sure Rev gets out of this alive.”
A collective intake of breath came from the other members of the Raiders. Deacon’s expression darkened. “We don’t work with the feds.”
With adrenaline pumping obscene amounts of courage into me, I stood toe-to-toe with Deacon. “You might not work with the feds, but I do.” When Deacon growled with frustration, I countered, “Think about it for a minute. Mendoza would never imagine you coming at him with the feds, would he?”
“Probably not.”
“I think it’s pretty clear what Mendoza is going to demand when he does reach out to you.”
Deacon winced. “I imagined as much.”
“Then I think if I’m the target it’s only fair I get a say in this.”
“She’s right,” Alexandra said behind us. Outfitted in a robe, she stood at the entrance to her bedroom. “It’s just like with me and Sigel. You have to come at them where they least expect it.”
“I’m not sure when women started having a fucking say in the way this club runs, but it sure as hell needs to be stopped. Fucking pronto,” Deacon grumbled.
Holding up my phone, I said, “Sometimes you don’t have to have a dick to come up with the best plan.”
Deacon stared openmouthed at me before slamming his hand against the wall. He breathed heavily for a few seconds. “Fine. Call your father and the feds. You just make sure that nothing blows back on the Raiders since we’re going legit.”
“You’re such an asshole,” I muttered as I started dialing my father.
“Damn straight, babe,” Deacon replied.
TWENTY-FOUR
REV
Oh, sweet Jesus, the pain. Fiery torrents of it plagued every inch of my body. It pulled me out of the depths of unconsciousness. The smell of burning flesh assaulted my nose. It took a few seconds for my brain to process that it was my own skin being burned.
My eyes shot open to see Mendoza standing before me with a blowtorch in his hands. When I tried to jerk away, I found my hands were bound and my arms were stretched above my head. I had been stripped of my shirt to give him better access to torture me.
“Glad to see you’re back with me. I was almost afraid I had kicked you too hard. I didn’t want you to miss out on the fun.”
“Fuck you,” I spat.
He rewarded my outburst by singeing my bare lower back until I couldn’t bite back my screams. I panted and heaved as I tried to stay upright. When I moved, it felt like the entire layer of skin on my back was peeling off as it blistered and bubbled.
“You know you deserve much worse for what you and your men did to my camp. Do you know the money you cost me?”
I didn’t answer him. I knew if I opened my mouth I would throw up from the searing pain biting my flesh. Instead, I focused my energy on staring him down.
Mendoza met my glare. “But the worst thing you did was taking my Roja from me.”
Gulping down the bile rising in my throat, I grunted through gritted teeth, “She isn’t yours. She never was.”
Burning agony engulfed my chest. Pinching my eyes shut, I tried riding out the pain. I bit down on my lip so hard that blood ran down my chin. When Mendoza finally let up, I couldn’t speak. I could barely think. All I could do was try to focus on my breathing. As long as I was breathing, I was still alive. I had to stay alive for Annabel.
“Did you enjoy fucking her?” Through my tormented agony, I opened my eyes. When he saw I was looking at him, a cruel smile curved on Mendoza’s lips. “She’s one of the finest pieces of ass I’ve ever had. And the way her pussy tasted when I stuck my tongue deep inside her.” He licked his lips. “I can’t wait to taste it one last time.”
I jerked against my bindings, desperate to get free so I could tear him apart. The thought of him reminiscing about the way he had tortured Annabel made me as rabid as a feral dog. As I focused on Mendoza’s throat, I envisioned ripping it out with my teeth.
Mendoza’s next words chilled me to the bone. “I’m about to call her to make a deal.” While I stared at him in disbelief, he said, “I’m going to lead her to believe I will trade you for her. What a beautiful little fool to be willing to risk her life for the man she loves. Some would think I would be stupid to trust her, but I know my Roja. She is honorable to a fault. Took the worst fucking beating of her life just to keep a ring one of the whores gave her.”
I hung my head and my chest tightened as I remembered that it had been Sarah who gave her the ring. Surely my brothers wouldn’t let Annabel come for me, even if it meant my death.
Mendoza jerked my hair so I had to look at him. With a sinister gleam in his eyes, he said, “When she gets here, I’m going to fuck her one last time in front of you. Then to truly devastate her, I’m going to kill you in front of her. For the big finish, I’ll slit her throat.”
Holding up my phone, he smiled. “Let’s get the party started.”
TWENTY-FIVE
ANNABEL
Regardless of the way I had left things with my parents, I believed they wouldn’t completely abandon me. Of course, it didn’t hurt that my life was in danger once again by the man who had enslaved me. Within minutes of our call, my father’s connections had us patched in with the Georgia branch of the ATF, and after just a half hour, they had two teams heading to our area. I also had my phone being tracked for my location as well as to trace incoming calls. If I had ever doubted the power my father possessed, I would no longer do so.
All that was left was to wait for Mendoza to reach out. I once again resorted to pacing around the main room of the roadhouse. Thankfully, Breakneck had stitched up Bishop’s bullet wound to the back. Luckily it had narrowly missed nicking one of his kidneys. Breakneck had gotten Deacon and Mac cleaned up as well.
The eerie silence in the roadhouse was interrupted by my phone ringing. I would have ignored it had it not been Rev’s ringtone. Snatching my phone to my ear, I said, “H-Hello? Rev?”
There was a pause on the line before I heard the voice from my darkest nightmares. “Roja¸ how lovely to speak to you. I’ve missed you. Haven’t you missed me?”
A chill ran over my body at the sound of his voice in my ear. I had been haunted by it for months. Flashes of his rapes instantly tormented my mind, but I fought with everything in my being to push them out. I had to be strong and focus on the here and now to get Rev back.
“Where is Rev?” I demanded.
“Ah, I would assume you’re speaking of the biker trash you spread your legs for.”
“Tell me where he is!”