I knocked on room 18 as the door slowly crept open as if the latch was broken and hadn’t caught the closed door completely. Mel sat in the far corner of the room holding a gun pointed directly at me, but the room was empty. “Where’s Coop?” I asked quickly.

“Not here,” she said smugly.

“Where is he?” I growled, my anger reaching new heights as I clenched my fists.

“With a friend. See this is how this is gonna work. I have someone that really wants to see you. Guess you pissed her off pretty good. Whatever. She wants you. So, I’m delivering.”

“You fucking set me up?”

She laughed. “And you fell for it, you stupid bitch.” She waved the gun. “Come in and set the bag on the bed. Along with your guns.” Taking off the book bag, I placed it and one of the guns I had in my boot on the bed. “Where are the others?” I reached slowly to my back pulling out my baby, putting her on the bed, too. “Any more?”

“No.”

“Lift it all up so I can see.” I slowly lifted my shirt getting closer to her in the process, but not enough for her to notice. “Good. Now lie down on the bed face down and touch your hands to your ankles.”

Really this bitch was seriously stupid, she thought she could tie me and hold the gun at the same time? I laid exactly as she told me, waiting, biding my time. “You know Princess. Cruz sure is a great fuck.” Anger surged through my body. “He’d lick my pussy, making me scream over and over for him.” With my head turned to the side, I watched the bitch grab the brown rope from a bag on the table. As she stepped closer, she barked, “Don’t fucking move.”

I felt her hands trying to tie the rope and took it as my chance. Darting my leg out as quickly as possible, I kicked the bitch backwards as she smacked her body hard into the wall. Flipping over, I grabbed the gun from my boot aiming it at her hand that held the gun, shooting. Her gun fell out of her hand as the hole I just shot into it poured out blood. The door was kicked open as Cruz, and some of the brothers came barreling in with guns drawn.

“Where is he?” Cruz yelled.

“Not here. This bitch says he’s with a friend. He was never here.” I smacked the bitch across the face with the butt of my gun. Her screams were annoying the shit out of me. But I needed her alive to tell me where Coop was. “I need some stuff to stop her bleeding. She has information.”

Cruz barked, “Get her some towels,” to Becs, who rushed over to the bathroom bringing them quickly.

I leaned down into Mel’s face, “Don’t worry, Bitch. I’ll let you bleed out soon enough.” I wrapped the towels around her hand not wanting her to die just yet. “Tell me who’s got my boy.”

“I’m not telling you shit!” she yelled.

“Cruz, can you please hand me the backpack?” I asked as it was thrown to my feet. “Thanks.”

I pulled Mel up to sit in the chair next to her as I grabbed the rope that she was going to tie me with, wrapping it around her arms and legs and tying her to the chair. “Wh… what are you gonna do?”

“Oh. Not so tough now, huh? Well, since your ‘not gonna tell me shit’ then I guess I’ll have to make ya.” Grabbing the bag, I pulled out a small pouch in the front pocket. As I rolled it out on the nightstand, Mel’s eyes widened. “Cruz. I have to do this.” I stared into his eyes. I really needed his approval on this. As he nodded, I smiled. I could kiss him right now.

“Princess, you sure you want to?” G.T. asked as I glared at him. I hadn’t spoken to him about Casey, but that was a topic of discussion for another time.

“Dead sure.” Grabbing the scissors, I cut the shirt and bra off of Mel’s body. “Look at those tits boys. Nice huh? You know Cruz, before you got here Mel was telling me how you’d eat her pussy and make her scream. I’m not gonna eat that rank pussy, but I do promise to make you scream.” I smiled sardonically.

“Boys, clear the rooms around us.” Cruz said as the guys nodded leaving the room quickly. The only ones who stayed were Cruz and G.T.

“Let’s start with these.” I said holding out the pliers. “Hmmm… should I do your teeth or your nails,” I said walking around to her chair. “You know they’ll both make you scream, but if I start on the teeth, I may not stop. You know once upon a time; I wanted to be a dentist. Hmm…” I smiled to myself as the color left her face. “Oh shit, let’s just start here.” Taking the pliers, I grasped one of her nipples twisting it hard as she screamed, and blood trickled down.

“Now. Tell me who has my boy!” I was turning into a crazy bitch, but I didn’t care.

“I told you. I was supposed to give you to Babs. She’s supposed to call me in forty-five minutes with the location.” I smacked her across the face as I heard Cruz yell “Bitch!”

“Yeah. I forgot to tell ya, Baby. That’s what she was doing with me, and the stupid bitch thought I wouldn’t put up a fight.” Removing the pliers, I reached the other nipple giving it the same treatment, as she screamed repeatedly. I pulled back, not wanting her to pass out just yet.

“Tell me who you were with when you came and got Cooper.”

“I can’t. She’ll kill me,” she said, shaking her head back and forth.

“What the fuck do you think I’m gonna do with ya?” I said, smacking her across the face again, her head snapping to the side quickly.

She hesitated as tears rolled down her face. I didn’t feel the least bit sorry for this bitch. “It wasn’t supposed to go like this.”

“Oh yeah, and how was it supposed to go?” I asked, trying to pry as much information out of her as I could, and if this where the dumb bitch wanted to start, so be it.

Sucking in a deep breath, she explained, “I was to get the money and give you to Babs. Then she was gonna give Cooper back to me, and I’d give him to Cruz, cause I didn’t want him. I was gonna disappear.”

“Too fucking bad that didn’t work out for ya, huh?” I barked. “Who was with you at the shop? Who shot me?”

She sobbed. “Babs’s girlfriend.”

I felt as if I got sucker-punched, and Cruz must have, too. “Girlfriend?” he asked her as we looked at each other with the same puzzled look.

“Yeah. She was helping Babs get Princess.”

“And who is this girlfriend?” Cruz’s voice turned utterly menacing, and Mel heard it too as her eyes widened to him. He popped his knuckles back and forth.

“Liv.”

My world stopped for a moment as fireballs seemed to have fallen from the sky, pounding the ground around me, but I couldn’t move. Cruz stepped in speaking the words I so badly wanted to leave my mouth. “Liv from Studio X?”

Mel shook her head yes. “Is that who has Cooper?” He asked as she shook her head again.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck! I looked at Cruz, pleading with him with my eyes. My mind tried to revert to the helplessness I felt just a few hours ago before the call, but I tried to fight it. I needed to stay strong, but there’s only so much a person could take.

Cruz saw the pain in my eyes as his eyes softened to mine. Sitting down on the edge of the bed, I clutched the gun in my hand, wondering what the hell we were gonna do next. I didn’t need to think; Cruz was able to do it for me.

“Here’s what you’re gonna do, Mel, and if you give any part of it away at any time, I will blow your fucking brains away.” She didn’t move as I listened with her. “When Babs or Liv calls, you play it off as if you have Princess tied up and ready for them. You get the drop off location and time. Then you’re gonna drive with a gun pointed at the back of your fucking head to the location with Princess in the backseat.” I stared at Cruz wondering how the hell this was all gonna play out. It always sounded good in theory, but in reality—not so much.

“I don’t like it,” G.T. clipped in.

“I don’t give a fuck what you like,” Cruz said, turning to him.

“You’re gonna put my sister in the line of fire? Not gonna happen.”

“G.T.,” I said finally finding my voice. “We need to get to Babs so we can get to Cooper. It is what it is. I can take care of myself.”