Boxed Set: Steel: Blacthorne MC Romance (12 page)

I
swung
the holdall over my shoulder, walked through the bar and out into the parking lot. I blinked at the brightness of the sun.

It was already warming up, and I had a feeling it was going to be a hot and uncomfortable ride. But it would be worth it, I thought, imagining myself back in my little New York apartment.

I could see Chad and Tom in the far corner of the parking lot, standing beside their gleaming chrome and black bikes. They seemed to be arguing about something, but as I approached them, they fell silent.

“What are you two arguing about?”

When they didn’t respond, I raised an eyebrow and put a hand on my hip. “I guess you’re both hung over. This is going to be a fun ride back to Vegas,” I said sarcastically. “So which one of you am I riding with?”

Chad looked down at the ground and scratched his beard. “Well, you see… the thing about that, Ella, is…”

I felt hollow inside, and I held my breath. I knew what was coming before he even said it.

“We can’t take you back, Ella. There’s been a change of plan,” Tom said quickly, finishing off what Chad had started to say.

I shook my head. “What? No, that’s not right! Victor
promised
I could leave today.” I said the words slowly and calmly because I knew I was in danger of completely losing it and getting hysterical.

Tom moved closer to me and put a huge hand on my shoulder. “Look, Ella, it won’t be forever, and it’s not so bad around here, is it?”

I took a step back, making his hand slip from my shoulder. “I’ve got to get back to school. I’ve got a
life
. People will be wondering where I am? You can’t keep me here!”

Tom scratched the end of his nose. “School doesn’t start until September. I might never have gone myself, but I know that much.” He grinned at his brother, and I was so mad, I smacked his arm.

“It’s not funny! I can’t stay here.” I shook my head in disbelief. “I don’t think you realize how serious this is. You’re holding me hostage. You’re not letting me leave when I want to. This is illegal.”

Chad snorted and didn’t look very bothered. “Well, Victor’s got quite a bit of experience of doing things illegally. I shouldn’t think that will worry him too much.”

I was so furious I couldn’t think straight. I dumped the holdall on the floor.
How could they do this to me?

Then I heard Nick calling my name. I turned around and saw him approaching me with a look of concern on his face.

“Did you know about this?” I demanded. I was so furious they had led me to believe that I was going home. They had just been playing with me all along.

I didn’t wait for Nick to answer.

“Ella, wait,” he said as I stalked past him. “Where are you going?”

“I’m going to see Victor. He can’t do this to me.”

In an instant, Nick was by my side. “That’s not a good idea. Let me talk to him for you.”

I looked up at him angrily, searching his face for any evidence that he was lying to me.

Eventually I said, “I’m going, Nick. Whether he says I can or not. I may have to walk five miles back to town, but I am getting out of here
today
.”

I stormed back through the bar and headed up to the corridor where I knew Victor kept his private rooms, but I didn’t get very far.

There were two heavies on the door. Two men I didn’t recognize, and they wouldn’t let me pass. I was so furious I raised a fist, intending to… Well, I’m not really sure what I was intending to do, but before I had a chance to do anything, Nick clasped me by the shoulders and pulled me back towards him.

“Please, Ella, trust me. I’ll talk to him.”

I was sick of listening to promises that never came true. I pushed myself away from Nick and turned back to the two heavies on the door.

“I want to see Victor. Now!” I shouted at them.

But they didn’t move and they didn’t look too impressed with my demands. They just stood there like immovable hulks and smirked at me.

Nick moved between me and the two men on the door.

“I need to talk to Victor,” Nick said. The bigger of the two men nodded and stood aside to let Nick pass.

When I tried to follow, he moved back into position and blocked my path

“Not you.”

I glared at him furiously, but there wasn’t much I could do as Nick slipped through the door to see Victor, leaving me in the hallway.

I paced back and forth in the corridor chewing my fingernails. I had no idea what Nick was planning to say, or whether he would be able to persuade Victor to let me leave.

But even if Nick didn’t manage to reason with Victor Blackstone, I’d meant what I said. One way or another, I was getting out of there. I was sick of playing victim.

N
ick

“Nick?” Victor looked up from his desk and set down the papers he’d been looking at. “I’m surprised to see you so early. What’s the problem?”

He looked at me with those cool, assessing eyes of his, and I was certain he knew exactly what my problem was.

I didn’t know why he was acting this way. Why had he led Ella to believe he was going to let her go home only to change his mind at the last moment? Victor was a lot of things, but I’d never realized what a twisted sadistic son of a bitch he really was.

It took all my self-control not to tell him exactly what I thought of him. I needed to make him listen to reason.

“Ella, was about to leave when Chad told her she couldn’t go. She is really upset.”

Victor nodded slowly. “I should have guessed it would be about Ella.” He nodded at the chair in front of his desk, obviously annoyed at me pacing up and down his office.

I wanted to refuse, but I didn’t want to risk getting him angry. I sat down in the chair, tense and on edge.

Victor leaned back in his chair, steepled his fingers and rested them under his chin. “I’ve spoken to Damien.”

Damien, that snake
. I should have known that somehow he would be behind this.

“Since when do you listen to your brother?” I couldn’t keep the mocking tone out of my voice, and Victor noticed it.

His eyes narrowed. “Since he started talking sense.”

For a moment, Victor just glared at me, and then finally, he said, “Damien told me she’s been asking a lot of questions. Questions about her friend, Claire.”

I shrugged. “Well, of course she has. Isn’t that natural? And that just goes to prove that she
doesn’t
know what happened.”

Victor chuckled. “Sometimes, Nick, you amaze me with your naivety. You have many talents. But I sometimes think you don’t have that little bit extra needed to be a member of this crew. Your personality doesn’t quite fit.”

If that little bit extra he was referring to was behaving like a complete asshole, I couldn’t say I was sorry.

I ignored Victor’s attempt to rattle me and continued, pressing home my point. “She doesn’t remember what happened, Victor. We should just let her go home.”

Victor cocked his head to one side. “True. But she doesn’t remember what happened because she’d been drinking. “

“That’s right.”

Victor sighed. “The trouble is, memories have a tendency to come back, and when they do, I want her here. Nick, do you understand me? She’s dangerous.”

I leaned back in disgust. “She’s a college kid. She’s not dangerous.”

“She’s dangerous to
us
.”

I clenched my fists. “She wants to go home. How are we supposed to keep her here without keeping her a prisoner?”

“I have no intention of making her a prisoner,” Victor said slowly with a smile creeping on his face.

“No? Then how are you going to get her to stay?”

“I’m not,” Victor said bluntly, and then he gave me a cold smile. “
You are
.”

I frowned. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Victor leaned forward in his seat, resting his elbows on the desk. “You’ve always had a way with the ladies, Nick.” He gave me a mocking smile. “You’ve always been able to charm women. This time, I suggest you use it to your advantage. Persuade her to stay.”

“I can’t do that.” I said the words through gritted teeth.

Victor raised an eyebrow. “That’s a shame, Nick, because I think things will be a lot easier for Ella if she stays here of her own free will for a while longer.”

I understood the implication behind his words and I felt sick to my stomach.

What the hell was I going to do? It was so ironic. Victor was forcing me to persuade her to stay, when that was the one thing I wanted more than anything.

“I hope you cooperate, Nick. I think the situation could turn quite ugly if you don’t.”

I glared at him angrily, but I knew it was futile. I had to make sure Ella was safe, and to do that, I needed to follow Victor’s orders.

I got to my feet and gave Victor a curt nod. “Fine. I’ll try.”

I didn’t wait for his response as I walked out of the office.

Outside, I saw Ella standing there waiting for me. Her face was open and trusting, and I felt like a sledgehammer had hit me in the chest.

I needed to persuade her to stay here with me, and I didn’t have the first idea how to go about it.

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E
lla

“Please, Ella, let me in. Talk to me.” Nick’s voice came from outside the bedroom door. It had been two days since Chad and Tom had refused to take me with them to Vegas, following Victor Blackthorne’s orders. I was still furious.

I’d pretty much stayed in my room the whole time apart from mealtimes. As mad as I was, I knew I couldn’t keep on like this, though. I needed to make a plan. I intended to escape on my own.

“Go away, Nick.”

If I had to give him marks for persistence, he’d get ten out of ten. I knew the other members of the crew were teasing him about it. I’d overheard them at dinner last night, but I didn’t care. I’d been taken in for too long by his act. I really thought he wanted to help me. The joke was on me.

I ignored Nick for another ten minutes until he finally fell silent and I heard his footsteps retreating.

I waited for a couple more minutes then opened the bedroom door a crack, peeking out into the dark corridor to make sure he really had gone.

It was empty.

There was no lock on the bedroom door so the only thing keeping Nick out was me telling him to go to hell. At least he was respecting my wishes. I suppose that should count for something…

I could feel my willpower weakening. No! It didn’t count for anything. I needed to harden my heart to him.

I couldn’t rely on anyone else.

This wasn’t some fairytale, and I wasn’t a Princess waiting to be rescued. I needed to save myself.

I walked down the corridor, carefully keeping an eye out for Nick, but he seemed to have disappeared. I could smell the bacon cooking and made my way to the kitchen. Nancy and Teresa were in there preparing breakfast.

Nancy was frying the bacon and had a skillet of eggs next to her. “Morning, Ella.”

“Morning.” I smiled Nancy. “That smells good.”

“Not as good as these are going to smell in a couple of minutes,” Teresa said. “I’m making pancakes. Do you want some?”

I looked at the gloopy batter mixture she was stirring. “Sure, thanks.”

She took a handful of blueberries from a bowl by her side on the stainless steel counter.

“Just like my mom used to make,” she said. “Pancakes aren’t the same without blueberries.”

I often wondered about Teresa and the other girls here at the Blackthorn club. It was very isolated so surely they must miss their families.

“Anything I can do?”

Nancy nodded at the cupboard beside the sink. “You could get a few plates out, please.”

I did as Nancy asked as Teresa chattered away about how her mother’s pancakes were the best in the world. Then Teresa turned to me and said, “I’m going into Dorset City later. Do you want to come?”

Nancy dropped a spoon against the skillet with a large clang, making both Teresa and I turn around.

“No!” Nancy said loudly.

When Teresa and I stared at her in shock, she continued, “I mean… that’s not a good idea. Victor wouldn’t like it, Ella.”

When Nancy turned back to the skillet, and turned her attention back to the eggs Teresa looked at me and mouthed, “Damn, girl, what did you do?”

“Absolutely nothing,” I muttered.

Breakfast was an awkward meal. Victor often ate on his own but today he was in the bar with the rest of us. I glared at him angrily. But he didn’t even look at me.

I was so tired of this pathetic game. I decided I wasn’t going to play it any more.

I forced myself to eat my pancakes, which were really good, but my appetite was reduced to almost nothing by Victor’s presence.

He chatted away happily as I glared at him from my table across the room.

The bar, like most bars and nightclubs, didn’t look so good during the day. The bright sunlight showed up the dust and scratched wooden panels.

Victor’s face was much the same. The glare of sunlight highlighted his scar and made him look even more evil.

Nancy was sharing his table, and she kept sending me anxious looks. I didn’t have anything against her. Nancy had always been kind to me. But I really didn’t understand how she could live with someone like Victor and his brother, Damien.

Damien was sitting on his brother’s right hand side as he’d taken advantage of Jackson’s absence.

Both Jackson and Nick were missing this morning. I had no idea where they were. There tended to be two sittings for breakfast every day. A late sitting, like this one, and another earlier one around eight AM.

It was a hell of a long day for Nancy. She had to work in the bar in the evenings, and then be up bright and early to prepare everyone’s breakfast.

She stood up and looked exhausted as she reached for the empty plates. I collected my own, surprised that I had actually polished off the pancakes, despite my apparent lack of appetite.

There was no one else at my table, so I carried my plate through to the kitchen.

When I got to the kitchen, Nancy was holding one hand to her head and was gripping the counter with her other hand. She looked pale and her face was pinched and tense.

I dumped my plate on the counter with a clatter and rushed to her side.

“What’s wrong? Do you want me to get someone?”

Nancy smiled weakly. “No, I’m okay. Just a little tired. Do you think you could do me a favor and collect the plates and load the dishwasher for me today?”

I nodded and watched concerned as Nancy shakily left the kitchen. I decided I would check up on her as soon as I’d finished clearing up after breakfast.

I went back into the main bar. Victor was still sitting at the table.

Damn, that meant I would have to collect his plate as well.

I would have asked one of the girls to help me, but they all seemed to have disappeared already. I started collecting plates slowly from other tables, biding my time and hoping that Victor would be gone by the time I got round to his table.

No such luck. I’d cleared down the tables, wiped them and loaded the dishwasher in the kitchen. The only thing left to do was Victor’s table.

There was nothing else for it. I would have to go and collect the plates with him still sitting there.

Why was I scared of him? He wasn’t even looking at me.

I walked up slowly behind the table, wishing I was invisible.

I stacked the plates as I went, but when I reached for Victor’s plate, he grabbed my arm suddenly.

I glared down at his thick fingers encircling my wrist. I wouldn’t give him the courtesy of looking at his face.

“Please, let go of my arm.” My voice was cold.

Victor didn’t let go immediately. I could sense his eyes burning into me, he was either trying to read me or trying to intimidate me, but I wasn’t getting sucked into his mind games.

I had already tried to play along with his rules, and it hadn’t worked. He wouldn’t fool me again.

Finally, he let go of my arm, and I carried on stacking the plates before taking them out to the kitchen with my cheeks burning.

As soon as I got out of there, I planned to go straight to the police. I would make sure Victor Blackthorne realized he wasn’t the untouchable man he thought he was.

I kept busy in the kitchen until everyone had left the bar area, and then I helped myself to two extra water bottles. No one would notice. Everyone drank a lot of water here because it was so hot.

I left the kitchen with its stainless steel surfaces gleaming and headed to find Nancy.

When I got to her room, I saw Teresa was sitting beside Nancy’s bed. Nancy was sleeping soundly.

“How is she?” I asked.

“I think she’s going to be okay,” Teresa said. “It looks as if she’s managed to pick up some kind of bug. She’s gonna try and sleep it off.”

I nodded, smiled at Teresa and closed the door behind me before heading back to my room.

I opened the door to the bedroom, stepped inside and then froze.

Nick was there, sitting on the bed.

In front of him, he’d lined up the six bottles of water I’d stockpiled under the bed.

I figured I could never be too prepared, and if I had to walk across the desert to escape I would need plenty of water.

I set the bottles of water I was carrying down on the heavy chest and then turned to glare at him. Why did he have to ruin everything?

Nick looked at me. “I’m so sorry, Ella. I really thought that you were leaving. This wasn’t down to me.”

“And why exactly should I trust anything you say?”

Nick sighed and looked down at the water bottles on the floor. “Promise me you’re not planning to do anything stupid.”

I stayed silent. I wasn’t going to promise him anything.

Nick looked particularly good today. The T-shirt he was wearing clung to his upper body in a way that displayed his tight muscles, and his jeans fit snugly around his muscular thighs.

I bit my lower lip.

Focus
, I told myself sternly. I wasn’t shallow enough to be distracted by the way he looked.

I went and sat beside him on the bed. “I suppose it isn’t your fault,” I said.

He frowned and turned to face me. His soft lips parted as if he was about to speak, but I didn’t give him a chance.

“I thought you were someone I could trust, someone I could rely on. It wasn’t fair of me. You told me from the start that you were no hero. It just took a long time for that to sink in. But I’ve got it now. You don’t need to worry anymore. I don’t see you as a hero.”

Nick winced as if my words hurt him, which was my intention. It should have felt good but instead I felt miserable.

He nodded slowly. “I let you down and I’m sorry.”

“It’s not your fault you don’t have to apologize.”

From outside, a huge bang suddenly sounded, and I jumped. My heart was pounding as I clutched his arm. The noise had sounded like a weapon discharging.

Nick put his arms around me, comforting me.

I looked up into his beautiful eyes, and they made me want to melt. “Was that a gun?”

Nick shook his head. “It was just a bike backfiring. You don’t have to worry, Ella. I know I’ve let you down, but I promise you no one will hurt you so long as I’m around.”

He said the words so sincerely and so sweetly I almost believed him.

I was pathetic. I was falling for it again. I pulled away from him and scooted back on the bed. “Yeah, sure. Whatever you say.”

“I’m serious.”

I sighed. “I can’t trust you, Nick. I never know if you’re telling me the truth, so it’s better if I just think everything you say is a lie.”

Nick ran a hand through his hair. “Fair enough. I deserved that. But I’ll tell you the truth now if you’ll listen.”

I shrugged, pretending I wasn’t interested, but really I wanted to know what he was going to say.

“What do you want to know?” Nick asked.

What should I ask first? There were so many things I wanted to know. I had so many questions.