“Raven?”
She crawled to her friend, touching her face, then her neck, feeling for a pulse. When she found one, she nearly cried out with relief. There was no way her friend could be dead.
Fear lodged in her throat as she moved to cradle Raven’s head in her lap. She ran her fingers through the woman’s hair.
“I’ve got you.” She closed her eyes as another bolt of pain worked its way up her spine.
Breathing deeply, she continued to whimper as they went over some potholes. Each jar of the van causing more pain.
She didn’t know how long they’d been driving for before Raven began to wake up.
“Fuck, ouch, fuck,” Raven said, wincing.
Ava stroked her hair. “You’re awake. You’re fine, I hope.”
Raven opened her eyes and she watched as the other woman became aware of her surroundings. “Where are we?”
“I don’t know.”
She didn’t sit up.
Ava stayed, running her fingers through her hair.
“One of them got me good.”
“I was dragged in here,” she said, sniffling. “Harlow’s not here.”
“She’ll be okay,” Raven said.
She sat up with a groan, sitting on the opposite side of the van. “Smokey’s going to kill me for this.”
“Do you know who we’ve been taken by?” Ava asked.
“The Twisted Bastards. They weren’t wearing leather cuts, but they’re the only ones after you and they are pissed at us for shutting down several of their operations.”
“Smokey warned me.”
“You were his top priority.”
“The club comes first.”
Raven laughed. “They all say the club comes first, but we all know they think with their dick.” Raven closed her eyes, frowning. “I don’t mean anything bad by that.”
Ava smiled. “It’s fine.”
“What I meant to say was Smokey loves you. I’m not talking the sweet kind of romance either. I’m talking the full-on die-for-you kind of love. I never thought I’d see him fall hard for a woman. I’m glad he has.”
Ava smiled. “I love him so much. There are times I can’t even think of being without him, and I’m so jealous of the women at the club.”
“He’d get rid of them in a heartbeat if that’s what you wanted.”
“He told me, but he warned me the guys would hate me.”
Raven laughed. “Yeah, they would. They would totally be pissed about it.”
Ava’s hands continued to shake.
“We’ll make it out of here,” Raven said.
“How can you be so sure?”
“I know Smokey. I know the town. He’ll be alerted in no time what happened. Harlow’s involved, so we know Big Dick will be all over it. He has the ability to find anyone. We’ll be fine, Ava. We’ve just got to make it through.”
The truck came to a stop.
“Don’t do anything stupid,” Ava said.
“Like what, like charge at them?”
Raven got into a position as if to attack, but Ava reached out.
“Don’t. Don’t make them angry.” She didn’t want Raven to get hurt.
Raven settled down, taking a seat.
Ava breathed a sigh of relief.
They had to get through this.
The truck’s back doors opened, and men rushed in, grabbing them. Raven didn’t fight them, but she struggled in their arms.
Ava didn’t have the energy nor the strength to fight.
The hand holding her was tight, and she gritted her teeth, putting a hand to her stomach as they entered a large warehouse. There were a few boxes in the corner, and Ava tried to figure out where they could be.
The sound of applause made her stop. She turned toward it and saw the man who’d turned her entire world upside down by taking pictures outside of a bank.
Creed. He wasn’t in a business suit anymore. The leather cut with the logo was a clear indication of who he was and what he belonged to.
“It was about time you got here. I was starting to worry.”
“Well, if it’s not little pussy Creed,” Raven said. “You’re going to take more pictures, you fucking prick?”
Raven was shoved forward, and she went down on the floor, being kicked in the back for her troubles.
Ava gritted her teeth.
Creed reached down, grabbing Raven’s hair and pulling her to her feet. She didn’t scream.
“How did that go for you? From what I saw, Ava got a nice face pounding for the trouble.”
“Fuck you,” Raven said.
Creed glanced toward her. “I’ve always wondered what made Smokey tick. I never thought I’d live to see the day that person is a woman. Tell me, Raven, what will you do to make sure I don’t have my men touch her? Fuck her up? Rape her?” Creed asked.
Ava’s heart started to race.
The grip on her arm tightened and she whimpered.
Raven spun toward her. “Don’t you fucking touch her.”
“Answer now,” Creed said.
“I’ll do anything. You know that.”
Creed smiled, and fear rushed up Ava’s spine as she looked at him.
“I thought you might say that.”
Ava was pulled across the room and dumped into a chair. More pain rushed through her body, and she wrapped an arm around her stomach protectively.