Page 84 of Chasing Shadows
I connect the dots. “You knew who she was?”
He nods. “I’ve been watching these boys for a month. I’ll admit I was surprised to see her here. Her father and fiancé were convinced she’d found a way to leave the country. They were very pleased indeed to receive my phone call. It was very lucrative for me, and I almost considered letting Tom here out of his debt. Almost,” he repeats. “But turns out, I’m not that charitable after all.”
The click of the safety has my mouth turning bone dry. “We have your money,” I choke out. “It’s in my pocket. But you have to let us go.”
“I’m losing my patience, boy,” he growls, baring his teeth.
I keep my eyes locked on Roman as I lower my right hand slowly. He watches me carefully, never lowering his gun. I pull out the two envelopes and toss them over to him. They land on the floor at his feet.
He nods at his muscle who shoves Tom to the ground before stepping over him to pick up the cash. He flicks through the first envelope, then the second, counting. “There’s forty-two k here, boss,” he finally grunts out.
My shoulders slump. We didn’t know what the takings would be, but it’s significantly lower than we’d hoped.
“Where’d the other twenty come from?” Ronan asks, arching a brow.
“I placed some bets,” I grunt out, my eyes never leaving the gun that’s trained on me. In my peripheral I can see that Tom hasn’t moved from where he’s sprawled on the ground, and I don’t know if that’s because he’s seriously hurt, or he just doesn’t want to risk pissing Roman off further.
“A real little entrepreneur,” he says with a sadistic grin. “Too bad it’s not enough.” He turns his gun to aim it at Tom’s head.
“Wait!” I shout, stepping forward but coming to an abrupt halt when the gun spins back to face me. I swallow, my mouth feeling like it’s full of cotton wool. “I can transfer you the rest of the money.”
Roman shakes his head. “That wasn’t the deal. His brother agreed to fight for the debt, it’s a lot more lucrative for me.”
I clench my fists, wanting to wipe the smarmy grin off his face. “I’ll give you another fifteen on top of what’s there to wipe their debt.”
Tom groans, and I realise he must have been knocked unconscious. I have no idea how I’m going to get us both out of here and somehow find and save Harley. I only hope Zeke and Lily are working on the second part.
Roman chuckles. “I’m supposed to believe you have aspare fifteen grand just lying around?”
“It’s in my trust fund. Like I said, I can transfer it to you.”
“Why would you do that?”
“These boys are like brothers to me. But once their debt is wiped, you let us go unharmed and you stay clear of them.”
He laughs again, this time louder. “You got balls like your fighter mate. Alright kid, you got yourself a deal.”
I pull out my phone and open up the banking app. Roman rattles off some details that I have no doubt belong to some untraceable offshore account, and I wire the amount, showing him my screen when I’m done.
“Good luck, kid,” he says, ruffling my hair as he walks past me. “Your mate’s going to need it if Declan’s caught up with him. The mother fucker is crazy.”
I stand frozen to the spot as his laughter follows him out of the warehouse. When I’m sure they’re gone, I rush over to Tom and drop down to my knees next to him.
He’s still bleeding from a gash to the side of his head, but he’s responsive when I try to move him. “Come on,” I grunt out, hauling his arm around my shoulder as I struggle to my feet. “We’ve got to get you out of here.”
His phone starts to buzz in his pocket, but I have my hands full. It rings out, but barely a minute passes before it’s buzzing again. Worried that it might be Lily trying to get a hold of us, I slip my hand in his pocket and pull his phone out. But it’s an unknown landline number. I ignoreit and keep helping him towards the door.
We’re almost at the exit when a shot rings out through the night.
FORTY-FIVE
HARLEY
I GROAN AS I come to, my eyes blinking slowly open. My skull feels like it’s been split in two. Blood trickles down the side of my face. My shoulders burn, and I look up to see that my hands are chained above my head. What the hell is happening? The last thing I remember is having sex with Lily in the change room after the fight. Everything else after that is a blur.
I’m alone in a warehouse, that much I can discern from the broken shelving surrounding me, but I don’t think it’s the same one that the fights were held in. This one is darker, quieter. I can hear water dripping somewhere nearby. The steadydrip, drip, drip,almost lulls me back into unconsciousness…
There’s a loud clatter from the other side of the warehouse, and I jerk awake, grunting in pain as my shoulders strain from the sudden movement. I wiggle myhands, trying to see if I can pull them free, but that only sends a searing pain down my arms. I try to speak, but my tongue feels heavy in my mouth. Have I been drugged?