Surrender To Me

BANE

I COULDN’T BELIEVE what I was doing. I’d driven to the parking garage where Cox told me to meet her and am now sitting in the driver’s seat while my knee bounced. Wren had been missing for nine hours, and not knowing whether she was still alive was killing me. Sanderson had given me the proof of life, but I didn’t know what condition she’d be in once this was all over.

My gaze flickered to the rearview mirror when I saw another car appear at the top of the ramp. The parking garage was six stories high, and Cox was very specific about the location when I called her. Her blue unmarked car pulled in beside mine, the engine shut off, and she got out. I followed her movement around the back of my car, my finger still on my Glock balanced on my thigh. Dagger knew where I was and had very specific instructions about what to do if I didn’t return.

“Mr. Rivera,” she said while she slid into the passenger seat. “I must say… your phone call has me intrigued.”

“I hope it’s intriguing enough that you’ll do everything in your power to ensure Wren Montana’s survival.”

“It is. But to be sure, tell me everything again.”

I ground my molars together. This cunt was enjoying this way too much. “Peter Sanderson has Wren.”

“Why?”

I stretched out my neck until I heard a pop, the tension in my body almost debilitating. “She’s being used as leverage against me.”

“Why?”

I wanted to wipe the smug smile off her face with a bullet. “I’ve been stepping on Sanderson’s toes for ten years. I guess he’s had enough.”

“Stepping on his toes, how? All you’re giving me are cryptic statements, Rivera.”

I slammed my hand against the steering wheel. “I don’t know what you want me to say.”

“You know… I looked up Peter Sanderson. Aside from being an art collector, the guy is squeaky clean.”

I turned my head to face her. “Then you need to look a little harder.”

“How about you tell me what pies he’s got his fingers in, then we’ll go from there.”

“I’m not a fucking rat, and I’m not about to start now.”

She smiled, flashing her straight teeth. “You are a rat, though. The only reason I came here was to get information from you. You mentioned something about those dealers getting killed. Are they yours?”

“I have no comment on that. Even if they were, you don’t have a fucking thing to tie it to me.” “Lying by omission is still lying.”

“Lying by omission is the only way to stay breathing,” I sneered, cutting her with a sharp glare. “The dealers that have been hit. I can tell you who’s been giving the orders.”

She shook her head, her tightly bound hair catching the light of the interior lights. “I want more than that. I need proof.”

“You’ll find the proof waiting for you at this address.” I handed over the address Sanderson gave to me. “Nine o’clock tomorrow morning. Be there, and you’ll get all the proof you’ll need.”

Her cool gray eyes studied the piece of paper. “Is this legit, or are you sending me on a wide goose chase here?”

I shrugged. “I guess the only way you’ll know is if you go tomorrow. Now get out of my fucking car.”

She tipped her head to me. “Always a pleasure, Mr. Rivera.”

I bit my tongue, swallowing back the barb I wanted to sling at her. As much as it pained me, I needed her on my side, at least until Wren was safely back in my arms. Cox slammed the door behind her, and I watched the woman get back into her car and drive away. I waited another ten minutes before I started the engine of my car, then left the garage, praying I’d made the right call.

A short time later, I returned to the club, and Dagger was waiting for me.

“What have you got?” I asked as I walked through the mass of people. It was nearing midnight, the peak time for patrons to come in and enjoy the delights my Dolls could offer them.

“Andy was taken to the hospital with a gunshot wound to his chest. It missed his heart but hit a lung. The bastard is going to be okay.”

“And Wren? Have you heard anything about where she’s being held?” If I could get to her before the meeting, things would be a hell of a lot better.

“Nothing. The streets are quiet, and Sanderson’s men aren’t talking either.”

I eyed his clean clothes and still-wet hair. “I take it you were persuasive enough.”

“Very, but nobody was flapping their gums.”

I jogged up the stairs to my office, and Dagger slammed the door behind him. “We’ll get her back, boss.”

I spun around to face him. “I know we will, then I will fucking decimate every single person who was involved in this. I don’t give a shit if it starts a turf war or a goddamn nuclear war. Nobody takes what’s mine. Nobody.”

He stared at me for a moment.

“Fuck, just say it.”

He folded his arms over his meaty chest. “This woman, Wren, she means something to you.” “And what if she does?”

He raised a brow at me. “You’ve never had this before.”

I turned to glare at him. No fucking shit, I hadn’t had this before. Loving someone was a fucking headfuck. I thought I only had enough room in my heart for Bianca and our mother. Then little Valentine came along, and that damn organ grew to encompass her in my don’t-fucking-mess-withthem bubble. And now, Wren. Wren, who had the largest fucking piece of my heart.

Running my hands through my hair, I barked, “Fuck.” I glared at Dagger. Fuck him for bringing this shit up. Fuck him for pointing out the wounds, then prodding them to make them bleed. “I fucking need her in my life, Tony.”

Something like shock filtered through his expression, but he shut his emotions down tight before saying, “That’s all I need to know.” With a nod, he turned around and left me with thoughts spinning at a million miles a minute.

If I didn’t get Wren back, I didn’t know what I’d do. All I knew was that my chest was hurting with the thought she was in pain right now-pain I had caused her by simply being in her life. Sanderson used my feelings for her against me, and I heard that little voice at the back of my head whispering something like ‘This is why we don’t fall for a woman no matter how good her cunt is.’ But Wren was different.

She didn’t want something from me that I didn’t want to give. It was me who wanted everything from her-her attention, her love, her body. I wanted it all, and although that thought should’ve frightened me to death, it didn’t. It made me feel like I was whole for the first time in my life like there had been a gaping hole in the center of my chest that couldn’t be filled no matter how many women I used, or how much coke I pushed, or how many blowjobs I got from my Dolls. Wren filled it with everything good in this world, and hungrily, greedily, I wanted more from her. I wanted it all because she made me feel like I could be a better man.

WREN

I COULDN’T OPEN my eyes, even though I tried. I didn’t know how long I’d been unconscious, but I knew I’d come back around while I was still being beaten. I’d heard my brother’s sobs as he slammed his booted foot into my stomach and kidneys over and over again.

Sucking in a breath, I let it out through my mouth. My nose was broken. Everything felt stiff like my blood had dried on my skin, caked-on in thick clumps.Contentt bel0ngs to N0ve/lDrâ/ma.O(r)g!

The concept of time was an elusive one. The storage locker didn’t have any windows, and the only light coming in was from the slit under the door. I tried to lift my arms, only to find them bound to the chair once more. I checked my legs and discovered the same thing. Although where they thought I’d go in this state, I didn’t know.

As I waited for someone to come and get me, I prayed it would be Bane. I needed to hear his voice again. I needed to smell the scent of his cologne, the scent of leather and gunpowder. I knew then he was the safety I’d been chasing all my life. I tilted my head to the side when I heard a distant voice, then began to call for help when the voice got closer. If someone was trying to get something from their locker, they could be my way out of here.

I sat up a little straighter when I heard scraping on the door, then braced myself for the light that would pour in.

“Nice work, Hawk,” Sanderson said, praising my brother for his handiwork.

The sick fuck.

“Thanks, boss,” my brother mumbled.

“Get her up. We need to move her to a new location.”

The ties around my wrists and ankles disappeared, and then the pressure of a gun barrel was applied to the back of my head.

“Don’t try anything,” an unfamiliar man said.

A warm hand hooked under my arm, and I was brought up onto my feet. My knees buckled from disuse, and I fell to the floor.

“Fuck, Hawk, carry her out of here.”

Hawk scooped me up into his arms, grunting a little with the effort. Even though I couldn’t see his face, I positioned mine where I knew he would be. I wanted him to see what he’d done. I wanted him to know that he’d caused me this pain.

“You might as well just kill me,” I whispered, my speech slurred.