She watched him walk away. Tate and Kevin were sitting staring at the door to Rebecca's room. They looked angry. Violet lay on the couch, her head in her hands. Ursula sat next to the other woman while her heart felt broken. The hours had passed in a blur. The sun was beginning to rise outside the window. She should be in bed with Stephen where none of these problems could reach them.
"How can you sit there?" Ursula asked the other woman.
"Cadeon asked me to."
Rubbing her hands over her pants she stared at the window outside. The minutes passed, and all she thought about was the worst.
"I know where they are," Violet said.
"What?"
"I can't sit here waiting. They'll go to see Rebecca in a
second. When they do, we'll leave out the front. Cadeon gave me his car keys." Violet made the plans while staring at the clock. On cue, both men stood to go to Rebecca's room. Both women removed their shoes and ran to the door of the hospital. They wanted to make as little sound as possible. Violet ran to Cadeon's car without any footwear. Ursula stumbled putting her shoes back on. The car was fired up as they pulled out of the hospital.
"What made you change your mind?" Ursula asked.
"I'm tired of being left behind. Cadeon is the only person I have left. I don't want to lose him."
She buckled her seat belt as Violet floored it. The speed of the car made her grip the handle on her door to try to steady herself. She prayed Stephen was okay. He had to be.
****
Stephen stared at Eugene Black. The disgust he felt towards the other man couldn't be disguised. Stephen hated any man who abused women. A raise was due to Lucas for finding the way to connect them with his contacts while inside the warehouse. He hoped Isabella and Rebecca would recover in the hospital. Tate and Kevin had promised to keep his woman safe. He saw Lucas and Sean at the back of the warehouse. They wanted to pummel the man who stood in front of him. He hoped everything was in place to take this bastard down. There was a lot of history with Lucas and Sean. Stephen didn't know if he wanted to understand any of it. Right now, he needed to focus. This fucker could destroy his life and that of his club, the club he'd come to cherish in more ways than he could imagine.
Possession was part of him. The club was part of his own history, and in its own way a part of his father's. Being part of the club meant he was still with his father in some kind of way.
"So, we meet again," Eugene said.
"If all you wanted to do was meet, why cause all this to get to me?"
"Fun. I don't like you. My father hated you for taking over Possession. He thought he'd convinced your father to give the club to him. When that didn't go according to plan then dad had no choice but to go to Dominic."
"Why?"
"Money. Power. My dad had a preference for liking them young. Can you imagine how he felt when I came home with Isabella Sanchez?"
Lucas and Sean tensed.
"What does she have to do with this?" Stephen asked. "Well, she was so devastated when Sean rejected her.
Can you imagine how much fun it was when she pretty much ran into my arms? I took her home, and then my father sent her to Dominic. She was the icing on the cake of a very lucrative deal."
"She was sold this whole time?"
Eugene nodded. "Like most women, she was a means to an end."
"I don't get why you let Isabella Sanchez go?" he said.
"She was so fucking pitiful. Dominic paid a fucking fortune for her virgin cunt, and what did I get? Nothing. She was sold as far as I could tell. Then I saw her wandering around on the street. I decided to point her in the direction of her brother. She was useful. While you were looking for her, Rebecca was being beaten. The perfect distraction." Eugene shrugged his shoulders and smiled. Stephen saw Lucas losing his temper. "I love the fact I kept her right under their noses for all this time. I thought about taking her to the club to show off, but my dad told me not to. He warned me you'd end me."
"What's Lloyd got to do with this?"
"He wants his wife back. Rebecca was a great piece of ass. After my mother let herself go, he wanted a woman he could keep to his exacting standards. Rebecca fit the bill. She was young and had the curves my dad likes. Also, she never defended herself. A true submissive according to your friend, James. He was the one who introduced them, I believe."
James growled in anger.
They needed to keep him talking.
"What else do you want?"
"When Rebecca drops the charges my dad will be free
to go. He wants to run the business. Also, we need some payment to the man who has taken Dominic's place. We figured Violet and Ursula would pay that bill," Eugene said.
Stephen's hands tightened to fists at the mention of his woman. The voice in his ear warned him they were ten minutes away. Sean and Lucas visibly relaxed, but then Eugene pulled a gun. "But I want you fucking dead."
****
Violet parked the car, and Ursula got out. Her heart was beating so fast she thought she was having a heart attack.
Paul stood outside the abandoned club. He was smoking a cigarette, and she knew he was nervous. The moment he saw her, the cigarette was thrown to the floor.
"What are you doing here?" he asked.
"Stephen is in there. I've got to get to him," she said. As she spoke she walked towards the double doors.
"Don't be fucking stupid." Paul blocked her way, stopping her from entering. The man she loved was putting himself in danger, and she couldn't sit back and do nothing while he put himself at risk.
"I know you hate me, Paul, but I'm getting inside that building. I'm not letting Stephen get hurt." She pushed at him. His weight was unmoving no matter how much she pushed or tried to get him to move.
"I told you no, Ursula. For once do as you're told." He shoved her away. She stumbled, catching herself at the last moment before she fell on her ass. Annoyed at being denied access to Stephen, she picked up a stone and hurled it at Paul. The stone hit him on the chest. Still, he didn't move out of the way.
"I should have known you'd be working for that bastard. You don't have a fucking clue how to work at all. All you do is wait for a woman to come and serve you." She grabbed another stone launching it at him. He dodged the stone, which only made her angrier. "I bet you were the one who got that woman hurt. You know, the one you put in hospital." Ursula saw the guilt cross his face and knew she was right. Feeling angrier she began looking for more stuff to throw at him. "How could you?" She yelled every word not caring about the attention they got.
"Stop," he said. Paul was getting closer. She ignored him, the anger inside her growing to a fever pitch.
"Fucking ... lazy ... bastard!" She yelled each word while throwing a stone.
With her back to Paul as she leaned down to pick up another rock, she didn't see him coming. He hauled her up against the nearest building. Her hands locked over her head.
"Let go of me." She tried to move. His strength shocked and scared her.
"No."She struggled some more with no chance of moving. When she settled down, she saw him gazing at her with lust. Her stomach turned at the danger she could be in. Fear gripped her.
"Don't," he said. He stroked her hair. The action would have soothed her if it was Stephen. Paul made her feel sick. "I won't hurt you."
"You did once. Why should I trust you?"
"Because organising the men to put that woman in the hospital was the last straw. I never knew it was a woman. I knew he wanted several men ready to attack a house. I didn't know what they were going to do."
Ursula knew he wasn't lying. She frowned as pieces of the story were clearly missing. "Why won't you let me go to him?" she asked.
"Stephen knew you'd come for him. You really do love him, don't you?" he asked.
She hesitated a moment then found it useless to hide her feelings. "I've been in love with him since the moment I met him."
Paul nodded. "I knew there was something different about you. You grew distant and hated me touching you."
"No offense, Paul, but I haven't got time to go down memory lane. Stephen is in there, and he's in danger."
"Stephen told me to keep you out here."
"What?"
"I phoned him to meet me at a hotel bar. He came,
and we talked. I signed up for easy money. I didn't sign up
to put a woman in hospital."
The sound of police sirens filled the air between them.
Violet got out of the car. A gunshot sounded inside. The other woman ran toward the door.
Ursula screamed. Everything happened in slow motion as the doors opened. Paul got off her and ran towards the door. She tried to follow them, but a cop held her by the waist keeping her back.
"Let me go. I need to get in there. Stephen!" She yelled his name all the time fighting against the strength of the man who held her.
No one came out. The police went in. An ambulance pulled up.