Page 15 of Dev

“Wakey, wakey, sleepin’ beauty.” I gasp awake when I feel the ice-cold water drench me, and the guy who threw it steps back in line with the other four men in front of me.

I’m not outside anymore. It looks as if I might be in one of the containers because there ain’t much space between me and the walls.

“Me and me pals were wonderin’ what ye were after…with ye snoopin’ around out here,” one of them speaks up, and I keep my mouth firmly shut. Looking down, I realize the reason I can’t move… I’m tied to a chair; there’s no escape, and although these assholes ain’t all that big, now that I’m closer, they sure look like they could do some damage.

“He asked ye a question, lad.” The bald guy who strokes his knuckle duster, stares at me, and waits for a response. But I won’t be giving him one.

“Ye see, we found these here in yer bag and looks to be that ye was lookin’ to spy on us.” He holds out the belt bag in front of him, turning it up and letting its contents spill to the ground. “We got yer phone here, too.” One of them waves it in front of my face, unlocking it with my face ID. “If ye won’t tell us who ye are, we’ll just have to find out for ourselves.” He smiles at me as I struggle against the ropes that are tied tight around my chest to try to get free.

“Now, will ye look at this, Robbie. Ain’t she a fine wee lass?” He holds the phone out to show his friend. “Is this yer yerdarlin’?”

“Don’t you fuckin’ look at her.” I find my voice when I realize they’re looking at Millie.

“We’ll take that as a yes.” The ginger one sniggers, snatching the phone off his friend. “This really yer woman?” He frowns at me.

“I said, don’t look at her.” I may be tied up and helpless, but I swear rage alone would get me free.

“Look at her?” He laughs at me. “We’ll do far worse than feckin’ look at her, if ye don’t tell us what yer doin’ here, now.”

“Don’t you fuckin’ dare!” I shift my body, making the chair scrape on the metal floor as I gain an inch toward them.

“Not gonna do much to save her when yer dead, lad, might as well tell us who yer here for.”

I shake my head, knowing that one of the club’s most important rules is that you never rat. I heard from Sinner that my brother’s taken a few ex-members' tongues for it.

“C’mon, if I were you, I’d wanna be goin’ home to her this evenin’. I’ll bet she warms the bed, nicely.” I feel the anger itch under my skin as he and his friends start to laugh, and the knots tighten in my stomach when I realize that I have no way outta this. Not only have I fuckin’ failed, but I’ve put Millie in danger, too.

“Still got nothin’ to say for yerself?” The guy holding my phone checks as he continues to scroll through it, and I take the heavy blow one of them makes to my stomach with a baseball bat without crying out. I know what's coming is gonna be much worse. These bastards are gonna do to me what my brother does to whoever's brave enough to wrong the club. They’ll torture me till I talk, and I’ll bleed and fuckin’ curse, but I won’t rat. I came here to prove I’m worthy of the cut.

I hiss when I get landed with another sharp blow to the guts, but I look the fucker who dealt it straight in his eyes.

“Hold on, there, Rowan.” The guy going through my phone holds up his hand. “I think I’ve found what we’re lookin’ for.” He slowly turns the phone screen around to face me, showing the picture Saint took of me and Dev on my eighteenth birthday. “I spy with my little eye…” He uses his thumb and finger to scroll in closer to my brother's chest, magnifying the club patch on the chest of his cut. “...A dirty feckin’ Soul.” The smirk on his face as he holds the phone in front of me is chilling, and I close my eyes, knowing that I’ve fucked up the whole club’s plan.

These fuckers are gonna hold me here at ransom, use me as a pawn, and Dev is gonna be humiliated, as well as furious. I don’t even wanna think about what Raze is gonna do.

“C’mon, we better take this to the boss. Robbie, ye know what to do.” He nods at the guy still holding the cattle prod, as they all leave us alone, and I swallow down the dread that's blocking my throat. I’m gonna have to find a way to switch off to the pain that's coming. I know it can be done. I’ve seen Sinner hold a flame under his palm without so much as twitching.

“They can’t hurt her, she’s got nothing to do with any of this….I swear if any of you touch her, I’ll–”

“You’ll do shit, son.” He raises his other arm, and when I see that he’s holding a gun. I don’t have time to panic. Instead, I close my eyes and ensure I see her one last time.

“So what's the deal with you and Saul’s sister?” I finish yawning and scrub both hands over my face to wake myself up. I hate keeping watch, I hate it even more when there ain’t shit happening. A black van leaving from the gates fifteen minutes ago is about the only action we’ve seen, and we’ve been here all fuckin’ night.

“There is no deal, I’m just staying at the house.” He shrugs.

“Are ya into her?” I ask the question I know everyone else is wondering. Alicia and Vike seem to go everywhere together these days.

“Why would you even think that?” He stares back at me, trying far too hard to look surprised.

“Well, you ain’t exactly been in anyone else lately. When was the last time you got your dick polished off?” I light myself a smoke and snigger at him.

“Since when have you been so concerned about my dick?” He shakes his head as if I’m being weird. “I might just be fed up with the whores who hang out at the club. Don’t you ever look at what the other guys have and wonder how it might be to…ya know?” He lights a smoke of his own and rests his head back against the seat.

“You’re falling for her,” I call him out, shaking my head and laughing at the same time. “Jesus Christ, I wish Saul were here to see this.”

“I am not fallin’ for Alicia. C’mon, she’s Saul’s sister!”

“Bro, I think it’s safe to say that code is null and fuckin’ void in our charter. Hell, if that's the only thing holding you back, have at it.”

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