Criminal: A Bad-Boy Stepbrother Romance Read online

  "What about my car?" I ask, my voice high pitched, and he gives me a brief look of pity.

  "It'll be taken care of."

  The officer guides the two of us back to the back of the cop car, though neither of us are handcuffed. That part stands out to me as really strange as we start heading down the road into town, but Kaiden's staring out the window, aloof.

  It scares me that he's not looking at me, not reassuring me, and my stomach churns.

  I feel like I'm going to be sick, my mouth watering, and I swallow it down nervously.

  It's not long before we're pulling up outside not the police station, but a grungy warehouse that I didn't recognize. It's on the outskirts of town, and the only buildings nearby seem to be long-abandoned.

  "Where are we?" I say, looking to Kaiden, and he looks simply defeated. He reaches out, squeezing my knee, turning reluctantly to face me.

  "The end of the road, Princess," he says before the cop opens his door and yanks him out.

  Everything is rusted, the building almost cavernous as obsolete equipment littered the corners. Windows are broken in and every high-heeled step echoed around us.

  My legs barely work, and I have to be pushed along by the young officer, prodded to keep walking towards my doom.

  I can't believe that this is how it all ends.

  That we got away, tried to do the right thing, and that the end comes here, in a dirty, abandoned warehouse.

  It's not where I thought I'd be at this point in my life. I'd wanted to go to college, better myself. Be someone Mom and Dad would be proud of.

  Not someone dying with my step-brother at the hands of some drug dealer.

  "I heard about last night," comes a voice echoing through the building, though I didn't recognize it, and despite the sun outside, I can't see anyone. There are still so many shadows, hiding places, and the voice sounds like it's all around us.

  Footsteps echo as the cops stand their guard on either side of Kaiden and me. Did Ryder pay them off? Did he have that much influence in this town?

  Kaiden stays silent at my side, his hands wrapped into tight, angry fists. He took a hell of a beating, but he certainly looked ready for more.

  "I'm disappointed," the voice continues, and I can pinpoint it to the left corner of the building, just hidden between a bunch of rebar. "I thought you weren't willing to go all the way."

  The man who appears a second later isn't someone I know. He rivals Kaiden's six and a half foot tall stature, though he's not as muscular, just big. His suit is tailored and tattoos run down his hands and up his throat, making him look menacing. Like a thug gone professional.

  "I didn't want to go all the way, but I didn't have an option," Kaiden spits back with a sneer. "And load of good that did me."

  The man laughs, cruelly, and starts down the stairs towards us, his eyes on me.

  "Ah, yes. Abigail. The one you were willing to throw away years of your life for. Good years, too," he adds on with a glance to Kaiden. "The little sister."

  I hear a low, angry grunt from Kaiden as he tries to move forward, but a firm hand on his shoulder stops him, the cop giving him a glare.

  "Axel, I swear to God, if you hurt her, you're going to regret it," he says, and suddenly it all makes sense. Their boss. Ryder's boss.

  Wait, they'd talked about taking out Ryder before?

  I look at Kaiden with wide eyes, but Axel comes nearly a foot away from us, and he's not scared at all. Why should he be? There are two cops holding us hostage, just waiting for his word to...do what, exactly?

  Kill us?

  A shiver goes down my spine and I look at the boss. He's huge and intimidating, but Kaiden doesn't seem to back down.

  "You two stink of sex," he says with disdain, and I get a pit in my stomach of nerves and fear, but he brushes the thought off without a second more.

  "Well, Kaiden, I'm glad you decided to return to me, because now that I know you're man enough, we're going to have a conversation. And while we have a conversation, Abigail is going to be in my office, waiting for you to come to her rescue," he says, and instantly, the young officer behind me starts pushing me forward.

  "No!" I cry out, reaching out for Kaiden as he lunges for me. Axel and the other officer, though, keep him pinned.

  "Leave her alone!" Kaiden orders, his voice booming and angry, but Axel doesn't back down.

  "Abby! It'll be fine, okay? You just wait for me, I'm going to come back for you," Kaiden promises as I'm dragged towards the stairs, the officer ignoring my struggles as he picks me up and throws me over his shoulder.

  I reach out, trying to grab Kaiden, but I'm already way too far, tears streaming down my face.

  "Kaiden!" I sob, kicking my legs. I can't be taken from him! Not after all we'd been through, not after all we've done! For years we've denied what we mean to one another, and I can't lose that now. I struggle and writhe, the guard tightening his hold on my naked thighs as he moves off the steps.

  I grab onto the railing, and for a moment, I think he's going to fall, bringing me with him, and I can picture myself falling forward, hitting my head on the concrete, so I let go and he catches his balance once more.

  "I'll be back, Princess! Don't doubt your Prince Charming," Kaiden orders. "I love you!"

  "I love you too!" I cry out, my voice so hard and filled with terror, but there's no stopping what's happening. Seconds later I'm in a small, dingy office, and the cop is trying to handcuff me to the chair.

  The door is shut, and I can't hear anything else. There's no sound except for the metal scraping the floor as I struggle to escape the cop's grasp.

  He backhands me, and it carries more force than I thought someone like him could deliver, and I gasp.

  In that second he manages to cuff me to the chair, rendering me immobile.

  "Just fucking sit still if you know what's good for you," he warns as he grabs some of those plastic zip ties, bringing one to my bare ankle, binding me to the chair. Both my hands and legs are bound before I know it.

  He looks me in the eyes as he brings a gag to my mouth, his lip twitching in a strange manner.

  "Don't piss off Axel. Just sit and be good," he orders with a tone of warning that sends a shiver up my spine.

  I nod, but my stomach is roiling.

  What's happening down there? And where is Axel taking Kaiden?

  "You know what I can do to her," Axel says to me, and I have never wanted so bad to fucking kill someone as I do right now.

  He has Abigail captive, and feeling powerless isn't something I like. I want to head butt these two assholes, run up the stairs and save her. Then just run away.

  This is all my fault.

  I should have never told her to come back here, but I had hoped that if we got rid of this bullshit looming over me, we could be free. I'm being naive, and that just makes me so much angrier.

  "And you know what I can do for you," Axel says, not bothering to wait for my response. He knows me too well, anyways. That I'm a hothead but that I've never killed.

  That I've never got myself in so over my head that I had to.

  But he still asked me to kill Ryder, knowing I couldn't, and now this is his punishment for disobeying him.

  He always has to up the ante.

  "I'm not fucking killing anyone, Axel," I say, hoping my words sound terrifying despite the pain that's lacing them.

  Abby wasn't wrong, I really do need to go to a hospital, but there's no time for those luxuries. At least the memory of her sucking me off can numb a bit of my agony.

  "Yeah, well, kid? I think you will. Because if you don't, then I'm going to get to him, bring him back here, let him get his revenge on you via your little sister, and then I'll kill him myself. But you know I don't like killing people myself don't you?" he says coolly, and his words make me hate him more than anything else ever has.

  Even Ryder doesn't piss me off this much.

  "Ryder came here this morning, you know? Told me about the little st
unt you pulled. And so now, you're going to finish the job, and then you're going to come back here, retrieve your little sister, and then..." he pauses, pacing in front of me, his arms folded.

  He's not a muscular guy, but he's strong. I've seen him break people's fingers and hands just for pissing him off, but he always does it as a threat, not as an endgame. He leaves that to his lackeys. Like me.

  Originally, the deal was that I could go free on the charges against me and take over Ryder's business, but I guess Axel's a smart enough guy to know that that isn't what I want anymore.

  Still, his words surprise me.

  "Once you finish up here, we're done. The DA will throw out the case, and you'll get the fuck out of here. Everyone wins," he says, offering his hands to heaven.

  I sneer, the pain getting to me, so I just give a nod of my head.

  "Let's get this done."

  ***

  The cop drives me back to my place, and I grab a few things. Bullets, some cash left around, and a bit of clothing for Abby and myself. We're going to need it once we're out of here and trying to lay low.

  I look in her drawers, the nightclub clothes she wears to work contrasting so much against the outfits she brought when she first moved in.

  Prissy little blouses and skirts, all carefully pressed and folded, and I simply dump them in the backpack along with her laptop.

  I sling it over my shoulder, look back at the world I'd made here, and walk away.

  My bike's where I left it and I hop on.

  Axel told me that Ryder was going to a doctor friend of his on the outskirts of town, and that he's going to be laying low there for a few days. He'll be alone for one hour, forty minutes from now, and I have to be there and take advantage of what might be my only opportunity to save Abigail and get us both out of this mess.

  Usually riding my bike soothes me.

  The wind whipping through my hair used to make me feel so free, but today it just feels like another burden. Another mask I have to wear to get what I want.

  I drive the familiar roads, and I don't know how I'm going to do this. To actually pull the trigger? To see a man, living before me, and then take that from him?

  Even though Ryder's an ass and deserves it, I just don't know that I can be the one to do it.

  But I have to. That's what I have to do to save Abby, and that's what I'm going to do.

  I stop outside the place, kicking down my stand and leaning my bike. I know he likely heard me coming up the gravel drive, but I still move slow and quiet, making sure that my steps don't make any more sound than they need to.

  My gun's in my hands, cocked and ready, and I slow my breathing so that I can hear.

  There's nothing, no sounds coming from out the open windows, and I breathe a sigh of relief. Maybe he's asleep and up on pain meds. I did a number on his throat, and I can only imagine what a bitch that must be.

  I go to the door and just as Axel promised, it's unlocked. Swinging it inwards I look around the aged kitchen, the table filled with drugs, and I have a bad feeling about this. If I'm caught here with a gun, that's going to be a lot more time than just three years.

  This is fucking premeditated!

  But I know better than to get stuck inside my head, and I shake off my fear and worries.

  There's no use getting lost in my thoughts and fretting, that'll just get me killed.

  I walk past the kitchen table, the smell of cat urine strong in the air as I move through to the living room. There's no one here, and I can hear the wheezing of someone just two doors down the hall.

  This is it, I tell myself inwardly, psyching myself up.

  I shake out my shoulders, loosening my arms as I make my way past the first bedroom. There's still the rhythmic wheezing, and I know that Ryder's in there, asleep.

  Vulnerable.

  The thought makes me sick to my stomach about what I've become but it doesn't matter. I keep going.

  I nudge open the door, looking at him lying on the bed and point my gun. His chest rises and falls as he struggles to breathe, the bandage around his throat soaked with blood.

  Last night I stared down the gun, pointed at his head, and I pulled the trigger. I was so close to snuffing him out, but I couldn't. And now I hesitate.

  And then I lower my gun.

  I can't do it. There's gotta be another way to save Abby. I know the warehouse inside and out, and if she's locked in his office, all I'd have to do is scale the building and get out. I walk down the hall, back towards the kitchen, my mind reeling.

  I place the gun down as I sit, trying to collect myself. This is your only chance, I chastise myself. Be a man. Save your girl.

  But I look at the gun, and I know I can't. I stand up, moving for the door to leave when I realize I can't hear the wheezing anymore. I listen intently, straining my ears as I try to catch the familiar sound of safety, but there's nothing.

  And then there's only blackness.

  I don't know how long Kaiden's been gone and I've been left alone in this room. I'm chilly, my tank top and skirt doing nothing to keep out the chilliness of the warehouse and the cold metal chair pressing into me.

  I'm still sweating, though, fear and anxiety making me unable to calm down or relax. I don't know what to do, because there's nothing I can do. Just sit and wait, bound to this chair. I don't even know if there's anyone else in the warehouse or if I'm all alone in here.

  I haven't heard from anyone, and there's not even a clock to keep me company.

  I find myself struggling. Not just with being bound in this chair, not just with being held captive by a drug gang, but even with who I am and who I want to be.

  I see myself in college, studying and complaining to a friend about my grades or how hard a midterm was. That kind of thing is supposed to be the most dramatic thing happening to me in my life.

  Instead, I'm in love with my step-brother, and I'm tied to a chair, not knowing when or if I'll ever see him again. Tears stream from my eyes, down over my cheeks only to drop onto my thighs, sending another shiver up my spine.

  He has to come back.

  He's my big brother, my hero.

  He protected me from bullies and mean girlfriends. He'd always looked out for me, and then he just wasn't there anymore, but I understand so well why.

  At least, now I do. Now I know what he was fighting so hard to resist doing.

  But it can't be stripped from us! Not now! Not when we've finally come to terms, finally accepted those long-repressed desires!

  I rock myself back and forth in my chair, trying to escape, to move closer to the door. I need to find out if there's anyone else out there. I can't hear anything from in here! The scraping is like nails on a chalkboard, but I ignore it as I shuffle closer and closer to the door. There's a window above it, and if I can tilt myself just so, maybe I can hear...

  Though when I get nearer to the door, there's still nothing but the aching silence and loneliness. It has to have been hours since I was left here, the door locked behind the crooked cop. I still don't know how Axel managed to buy off the cops, but they were under his thumb as good as any. I'd thought of the town as the Wild West when I first moved here, but now I know that's truer than ever.

  "Help!" I cry out through the gag, though I know it's fruitless. Even if someone could hear me, they weren't going to be my savior.

  There's only one person with the power to get me out of here.

  "Kaiden," I whimper, not for the first time. I remember back to my time in prison, to the realization that I really, truly love him. That I'd wanted him to rescue me from the trouble I'd gotten myself into, and how he showed up, proud and eager to help.

  He didn't even hold it against me, bring it up as a jab. He just accepted it for what it was and let it go.

  I rock the chair towards the door, trying to get it hooked under the door knob or break out the glass or something, but I can't do anything. I'm bound too tight, the handcuffs and zip ties digging into my skin and making it
turn red the more I struggle. I'm absolutely helpless.

  ***

  I awake with a start, and I don't even remember falling asleep. My face is wet and feels gross, caked on tears tarnishing my skin. But then I hear the sound that must've woke me up in the first place. In the distance, a motorcycle is revving. It’s coming from the opposite side of the building, and one of the broken out windows must be letting in that little bit of sound.

  That siren call.

  But I don't know it's Kaiden. He runs with a gang of people that all ride bikes, after all. For all I know, that could be Axel returned to punish me for Kaiden's failing to do whatever he wanted.

  And what did he want? Was it for Kaiden to...?

  I shake my head free of the thought. No, no, Kaiden couldn't do that. I know that he pulled the trigger last night, but it's not the same thing now.

  He was trying to protect me.

  Just like he's trying to do now.

  I can't think like that! Kaiden isn't a killer, he'd find another way.

  There's silence again, and I'm left alone to wonder if it was all a mirage, just me hearing things because of how scared I am. My ears strain once more, trying to detect anything from outside, or from in the rest of the warehouse, but there's nothing.

  I start rocking my chair again, banging it against the door, trying to draw the attention of whomever it is. I know it's stupid, but I don't have any options!

  I need to get out of here, and if only someone could come in and talk to me, well, maybe there'd be a chance!

  There's still no sounds, until suddenly I can feel the doorknob try to turn. My chair is lodged in under it, though, preventing it from opening, and I wonder if maybe I shouldn't keep it like that. Keep whoever is out there, coming for me, locked out.

  Stay safe in here until I know for sure it's Kaiden.

  And then I hear his voice.

  "Abby, let me in," he says, and even though he's trying to project his voice loud enough for me to hear, it sounds so exhausted.

  I shuffle away from the door, my chair tipping and nearly falling over in the process, but I manage to keep myself up straight.