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  "I noticed a transaction at a motel off the 405. Four nights in a row. That's where he's living," Brooks continued, and I could feel a renewed surge of energy in my veins again.

  "Or at least was living before he took her," Beckett added.

  "It doesn't matter. That is where we're going," I cut in, and I grabbed the piece of paper out of Brooks' hand. I could sense him staring at me while I read the address over and over again. When I looked up, I met his eyes and nodded my head.

  "Good job, brother. We might find her with this," I said and finally, he grinned. He stretched his hand out to me, and I shook it. I had lost myself there for a few minutes. Losing Ensley was making me turn on my brothers, making me doubt everything I knew and trusted. What was this effect she was having on me?

  Whatever it was, I knew I had never felt it before.

  We stormed out of the hotel and got on our bikes. Together, we were riding towards the motel off the 405, and whatever happened, I was determined to find Ensley tonight. Whatever it took. I wasn't going to let him keep her for a moment longer, now that I knew where he had been living all these days in LA.

  Ensley's beautiful heart-shaped face floated up in front of me as I rode my bike hard. Her luscious pink lips, those sparkling green eyes, and her silky smooth golden hair. I wanted her in my arms again. I wanted to hold her and tell her that I would take care of her. I wanted to fall on my knees and beg for her forgiveness for fucking up.

  Would she ever be able to trust me again? She had hired me because she had complete faith in me and I had broken my promise to her, to keep her safe.

  I could feel my veins pumping with rage and adrenaline as I rode my bike hard towards our destination.

  There was nothing I wouldn't do to get her back.

  Chapter 26

  Ensley

  Since I regained consciousness in the motel room, Ryan had been leaving and coming back in intervals. I had no idea where he was going, and I didn't want to ask him either. I was afraid of what he was going to tell me, but I could sense that he was making plans for our escape. I knew that he wanted to take me away from LA, somewhere Thorn and the Grim Reapers couldn't find us.

  Every time he left, I tried to loosen my hands from the chords, but I hadn't been successful yet. Ryan had tied it tightly around my wrists, and he had done a very good job of it.

  He was back from his prowl now and was taking clothes out of the closet and his scattered possessions around the motel room, and piling them into a bag.

  "Are you going somewhere?" I asked him, and he jerked his head up to look at me. There was an evil glimmer in his eyes, and he was grinning like I had said something funny.

  "You're coming with me, sweetness. Wherever I go, you go," Ryan said and folding a t-shirt neatly, he stuffed it into the bag.

  I gulped, my throat felt suddenly dry, but I said nothing. Not only did I not have the energy to protest, but I also knew that I had to play nice. It was the only way that I could avoid being hit by him again. As long as I was with him, as long as he was holding me captive; I had no other choice but to play along with him.

  Then maybe, I might be able to win some of his trust and give Thorn some time to find me. I hadn't lost hope yet. I trusted Thorn with my life, and I knew that he was out there, doing everything he could to find me. I didn't blame him or his club for the kidnapping. It was all my fault. I shouldn't have opened the door without checking. I shouldn't have been so foolish as to not look through the peephole before I let someone in through my door. Now, my only hope was that Ryan would let me stay alive, long enough for Thorn to find me. For that to happen, I needed to keep the conversation going with him.

  "You know, sweetness, if you didn't fight me so much, we could have a normal life together. You could get all dolled up right now, and we could go for a nice meal somewhere and catch up," Ryan had forgotten about packing up, and he was stepping towards me again.

  I flinched as I watched him approaching me. I hated him. I was disgusted by him, and his body and I didn't want him anywhere near me. But I also had nowhere to go. I looked up at him, forcing a weak smile on my face.

  "Let's do it then. Let's go somewhere and get a drink, we need to talk this through," I suggested, hopeful that he might take the binds off, that he might let me out of this place. If I got the opportunity to get out of this motel room, I would do everything I could to get away from him.

  Ryan was still grinning as he came to a stop in front of me.

  "How stupid do you think I am, Ensley? I can see it in your eyes. You're going to make a run for it, the first opportunity you get. You don't get it yet. You don't get how good this is," he said, and that smile on his face turned into an ugly rage.

  I shook my head.

  "No, I won't run. I promise, Ryan. I know that you're going through something dark and you need my help. You need someone to talk to. I'm here for you, I want us to work this out," I was begging him. I was so close to convincing him to let my binds off. Ryan clenched his jaw, and I watched as his nostrils flared.

  "You want to talk? Let's talk then. Why did you fucking leave me?" he yelled. I flinched again, gulped and tried to keep myself steady. I knew that the more I fought him off, the more I insulted him-the angrier he would get.

  "I had to go because you hurt me, Ryan!" I said, my voice was screechy, and he shook his head.

  "I didn't hurt you. I was keeping you in place, and I'll fucking hit you again if you step out of line!" he charged towards me and bunched up some of my hair in his fist. I squealed and started crying again, afraid that he was going to hurt me, but he let my hair go and stepped away from me.

  "So tell me, Ensley, what are you getting from that idiot that I couldn't give you?" I heard him say.

  I looked up at him hesitantly, meeting his blazing eyes. I knew he was talking about Thorn. How long had he been watching us? How long was he watching my apartment?

  "We are not together. I just hired him as a bodyguard," I said, in a weak voice and Ryan threw his head back and laughed menacingly.

  "Is that why he's been spending nights at your place? Keeping guard over you while you sleep?" he spat the words out, and I bit down on my lip, trying to keep the cry from rising up in my throat.

  "I just want to go home, Ryan, please just let me go home," I was begging him again, and I couldn't stop. I was exhausted and cold and afraid. He hadn't given me anything to eat or drink, and I knew it was because he didn't want me energized. The weaker I was, the more difficult it would be for me to fight him.

  He stepped closer to me. I looked up at him with watery eyes. His nostrils were still flared, his face had turned a deep tomato red with anger.

  "I'm taking you home, sweetness. I'm taking you back to where you belong," he said and reached for my face. I couldn't stop crying as he stroked my cheek with the back of his hand.

  Images of our small apartment in New York floated up before my eyes. I couldn't go back to that life. I couldn't go back to being locked up in an apartment. To not have an outside life. To not seeing Thorn again.

  The tears flooded down my cheeks, and he didn't stop touching me.

  "Don't cry, Ensley. You'll feel much better when we go back home, you'll see. You just need your bed and me. Isn't that all you need?" he said, and he opened his arms wide. I could sense that he was about to hug me, he was about to wrap his arms around my body. I shook my head violently as he came closer, but then he stopped.

  We had both heard the roar of the bikes outside the motel. My heart stopped beating in my chest for a few moments. Could it be Thorn? The Grim Reapers?

  "You fucking bitch!" Ryan's punch came out of nowhere. His knuckles slammed against my jaw, sending my face sideways and I could feel the metallic taste of blood trickling slowly into my mouth.

  He was raging.

  "You told them! You told them where you are!" he was growling in panic. I shook my head and cried.

  "You fucking bitch. How did you do it? How did you get to them?" he barked
and crouching down behind my chair, I could feel him untying the knots on the chord. He was releasing me.

  "You're coming with me. We're going to get out of here, and you're going to do what I tell you to do!" he yelled and then I felt the metallic coldness of his knife's blade against my wrist. He was cutting the cord off.

  It snapped away and fell to the floor, and my first instinct was to lash out at him. I jumped off my chair, whipping around to face him. Ryan was crouched on the ground now with a shocked expression on his face. I could see that he hadn't expected me to react this quickly.

  "This is for every time you raised your hand at me," I hissed and lifting my right foot up, I kicked him in the balls as hard as I could. I didn't have much energy left in me, but whatever I did, I used it to bash my foot into his sad excuse for manhood.

  I watched as Ryan rolled backward for a moment. He had growled out in pain, but within moments, he had recovered himself again. His eyes were bloodshot and focused angrily on me.

  "You fucking bitch. You're dead," he hissed.

  Chapter 27

  Thorn

  The motel wasn't hard to find. Keeping my rage in check was the hard part.

  We had found our way to the place quickly, and we jumped off our bikes and walked towards the room. A broken neon sign glowed above the compound that we walked into. There was no doubt that residents and the management had heard our ride into the place, but nobody had come outside. They all wanted to mind their own business. Our leather cuts and our bikes were easily recognizable, and everyone here knew to keep their heads down when we were around.

  "Where do you think they are?" I heard Beckett asked, as the others followed me.

  The rooms were lined up one after the other, and the lights were out in every one of them. It was the middle of the night, and everyone was behind locked doors. I didn't even know for sure if this was where Ryan had brought Ensley. There was a high probability that he had taken her somewhere else. That they were already out of the state by now. Time was of the essence, and I started walking in front of every room one by one. We didn't have the time to break down every door and check.

  The others were following me, keeping their ears cocked for any noise. I tried looking through every pulled curtain too, but the rooms were too dark. We might have to knock on every door, I was beginning to think.

  Outside room 8, I stopped, and with my brows crossed, I stared at the door. I thought I heard like a struggle was going on inside.

  I didn't miss a heartbeat. I kicked the door with my foot, and it flung open. I cocked my gun in my hand and held it out.

  It was a small room, and in the middle of it, Ensley was standing with her shoulders heaving. Ryan was in front of her, just about managing to stand up. Whatever had happened before this, I could see that right now, it was Ensley who was in the better position. Had she hit him? How?

  I stared at her. Her blond, beautiful hair was a mess. Her makeup was running down her cheeks, and her shirt seemed to be torn at her shoulders. Ryan, who I saw for the first time, growled and straightened himself, going straight for Ensley.

  I charged at them, knocking Ryan over with the full force of my body. I had thrown myself at him, and now I had him pinned to the wall. He was a big guy, but definitely not as big as me. Neither was he as strong. He struggled to move away, but I pressed my arm right up to his neck, choking him, while I held my gun pointed at his temple.

  "Where do you think you're going, motherfucker?" I hissed into his face.

  I could sense Ensley behind me.

  "Thorn, please, let's get out of here," she yelled, and I had to fight every muscle in my body to not turn around and pull her into my arms.

  "Leave us, Ensley," I hissed, with my eyes still focused on Ryan. He was still trying to get out of my grip, but now that I had him, there was no way that I was letting him escape.

  "Thorn, I want to go!" she screamed.

  "Leave us!" I growled back at her. I could sense that she didn't know what to do. She was feeling helpless, but I couldn't help her right now. I needed to deal with this bastard first.

  "Jamison, take her out, now!" I barked, and I could sense the movement behind me. Jamison was trying to pull Ensley away and out of the room, while she struggled against him. She didn't want to leave my side.

  It was only when I heard the door slam shut behind Jamison, that I released the pressure on Ryan's throat. He coughed and choked as he tried to steady himself, and I stepped away from him.

  Beckett, Topher, and Brooks were standing behind me, each with their guns pointed at Ryan. I didn't need to point my gun at him anymore. There was nowhere he could go now, and he knew it.

  He wrapped his hands around his neck, as though that would help him breathe better. Still coughing, he steadied his eyes on me finally. His dark eyes seemed to be popping out of their sockets. I could smell the alcohol on his breath. He had been in the middle of packing his bags when we got here.

  Which meant that we had got here just in time. Any longer and there was a good chance that he might have already taken Ensley away from this place.

  Ryan was glaring at me now, then looking over at my brothers standing behind me.

  "How did you find us? How did she tell you?" he asked, in a weak choking voice. I breathed in deeply, watching his crazed eyes as he tried to catch his breath.

  "The first rule of kidnapping is that you don't pay for the holding room with your credit card. You dumbfuck," I said, in a low even voice.

  Ryan snarled and then rubbed the back of his hand across his mouth.

  "It doesn't fucking matter because she will never be yours. Ensley is my woman, and nothing will change that," Ryan hissed, and I took one step towards him. He was a coward. He stepped away from me in fear, as much as he tried to cover up that fear with his speeches.

  "Did you hurt her? Did you hit her?" I asked him.

  It didn't matter to me what his reply to that was. I knew the truth. I had already seen the blood trickling down Ensley's nose. I already knew that he had hurt her. I just wanted to see if he would tell me the truth.

  "I would never hurt Ensley. I love her. Everything I do for her, I do because I fucking love her. She just doesn't know it yet," Ryan whelped. Now he was beginning to shake, as reality began to set in. He knew he was cornered and he had no escape.

  "Did you hit her?" I asked him again, taking a step closer to him. Ryan's nostrils flared, and he glared back at me, challenging me with his eyes.

  "She fucking hit me. All I was doing was loving her," he said, and I lifted my gun up to his head.

  Ryan was standing in front of me, and I was pointing the gun at his head. He had nowhere to run, and I was going to make sure that he never hurt another woman in his life, definitely not Ensley.

  "You're a sick fuck who likes to beat up women to make yourself feel good. Men like you don't deserve to live," I said, with the gun still pointed to his head. He was glaring back at me, still challenging me. He was sure that I wasn't going to pull the trigger.

  "And you think you're her big hero? Ensley Adams' savior? You think she's going to worship you all your life? She's a whore, and she deserves to be treated like one. It's the truth. Nobody knows her like I do," Ryan continued, and I tightened my grip on the gun. I knew he could see the blazing rage in my eyes, and he had got it into his head that he was talking me out of shooting him.

  "Run while you can, man. One day, you'll find yourself in my position. That is what whores like her do to the men they trap. That is what she did. She trapped me," he said, and I shook my head.

  "You are a sick fuck. And you don't even know it. You hit and hurt innocent women. How many others like Ensley are out there?" I asked, and he opened his mouth to say something.

  "Spare me the bullshit psychobabble. You've hurt Ensley, and that's enough. That's all I need to know," I said, and Ryan widened his eyes, arching his eyebrows up his forehead.

  "What are you going to do? Shoot me here in the middle of this mote
l? For everyone to hear?" he said, and I could sense a grin forming on my face. He was such an idiot that he didn't even notice the silencer on my gun.

  "Yeah, that's exactly what I'm going to do," I said, the second before my forefinger pulled the trigger. I felt the reverberation of the bullet leave the barrel and shoot through the air. In the next split-second, I saw Ryan stagger back and hit his head on the wall, where a spreading red stain remained. His body slumped and slid down to the ground, and I turned from him.

  "Where is she?" I asked the others, who had said nothing and made no movement all this time.

  "Jamison's taken her outside," Brooks told me. They were all smiling at me. I had got what I wanted.

  Chapter 28

  Ensley

  One of the guys, who I knew had been guarding my apartment door earlier, had dragged me out of the motel room.

  "My name is Jamison, and I work with Thorn. You need to trust me right now," I heard him say. He had his thick muscular arms wrapped tightly around my waist, trying to hold me back from running back into the room.

  I wanted to go back in. I wanted to force Thorn to get out of there. We needed to leave! That was all there was on my mind. I just wanted to get out of this place with Thorn and forget about everything that had happened.

  Jamison had slammed the door shut behind him on his way out, and now I couldn't see or hear what was going on inside. For all I knew, Ryan and Thorn were in a fight, and one of them was going to be hurt. I didn't care what happened to Ryan, I just didn't want it to be Thorn.

  "Please, just let me go back in there. I can put a stop to this," I cried, while Jamison dragged me further and further away from the room's door. I could sense that he was taking me towards the parked bikes.

  "Miss, you really need to stop fighting me. I have my orders from Thorn, and I'm not going to let you go back in there," Jamison said, and I finally stopped struggling. I knew I wasn't going to get my way.