Page 53 of Maverick
“And you’d be okay with that? Me leaving the MC?” My gut turned. Just the thought of leaving the club tore my heart out, but being without Kat was like missing a piece of my fucking soul.
Bear laughed. “Hell nah. I’d be a fucking wreck to lose my best friend. But she doesn’t live that far away. I’m sure y’all couldfigure out some kind of long distance shit until you convince her to come down for good.”
I grinned. “Yeah, you got a point there, brother.”
We pulled into the dock and drove through the lot until we spotted Kat’s car. Fuck stealth. Ivan was pacing and ranting into his phone. I searched the surrounding area, but there was no sign of Kat.
Ivan threw his phone to the ground and turned to us. Did he want to talk? Too fucking bad. I pulled out my pistol and shot his knee cap. He went down howling.
“Where is she?” I yelled.
“Fuck you,” he spat.
“I don’t have time for this shit. Tie him up and tell Rowan to let the Alliance know where they can find him.”
He screamed in Russian until Bear shoved a gag in his mouth. Containers were everywhere, but where to start? Had he put Kat in one after selling her to some kind of trafficking ring?
“Mav, the trunk!” Blade yelled.
The trunk of Kat’s car was open slightly. I could have sworn it was closed when we got there. We’d assumed Ivan locked Kat in the trunk based on the tossed suitcases. But it had been almost a full day. Surely she wasn’t still locked in there.
I ran over, lifting the lid the rest of the way. And sure enough, there she was. My avenging angel. Laying in the back of the trunk with a gun pointed straight at my chest.
“That’s my Kitty Kat. I’m more than happy for you to shoot someone today, but how about we point that in Ivan’s direction?”
“Mav?” Her eyes squinted and she blinked as her eyes adjusted to the light. “Is it really you? You came for me?”
“Yeah, baby. You’re mine. Fuck all the other shit. We’ll figure it out. None of it matters as long as you and me are together.”I lifted her out of the trunk and she threw her arms around my neck.
“I didn’t think you’d come. I thought you’d hate me and just assume I’d never come back.”
I laughed. “I’m way too cocky to believe you’d never want another taste of this.”
Kat chuckled through her tears. “Take me home, Mav.”
32
Maverick
Home would have to wait. After being cramped inside that trunk for so long, her legs wobbled like Jell-O. Stitch checked her over and determined she didn’t need a hospital, just rest. She wasn’t ready for my bike, and I refused to subject her to another long car ride. My woman needed rest first. I booked a room at a nearby hotel and drove us over in her car.
One of the brothers would bring my bike over later, and they’d make sure Kat’s car got back to her dad’s. I didn’t even have to ask.Thatwas the power of the brotherhood. They just knew.
Kat sat on the edge of the queen-sized bed chugging bottles of water. Droplets dripped down the side of her mouth and onto her neck.
“Whatever he gave me made me thirsty as fuck.” She dragged her arm across her face and tore open a protein bar. I’d offered to stop at a drive-thru on the way over, but she’d refused. Said she’d had potato wedges to tide her over in the trunk and justwanted to shower and rest. “Or maybe I’m just thirsty from not drinking the whole time.”
I bit back a growl. Perhaps we were letting Ivan off too easy. Bear was still with him, waiting on someone from the Alliance to pick him up. We’d agreed that was the best way to handle him during church. Not that I gave a fuck about blowback from the Bratva. The club could handle that. But it wasn’t just us. Larry and Kat would be at risk too, and that was something I could not allow.
I’d explained to Kat on the way how we found her. I don’t know if it was the shock from the kidnapping, but she seemed dazed to learn the MC had come together to find her. She didn’t understand she was part of us. But she would.
“Come on, Kitty Kat. Let’s get you in the shower.”
She nodded and eased off the bed. Her legs didn’t buckle this time, and my chest filled with air for the first time since her suitcases turned up at Larry’s. She was going to be okay. That didn’t mean I was letting her do this alone, however. I wouldn’t make that mistake again.
I held out my arm and she took it, leaning on me as she made her way to the small hotel shower. A bathtub would have been better, but we were working with what was available.
“I’m feeling a lot steadier. I think the blood has made its way back into my toes, so that’s good.”
