Never Love An Outlaw (Deadly Pistols MC #1)(7)

A cab ride home sounded awfully good right now. Unfortunately, short of asking the restaurant to make a call on their business phone, it wasn't looking like an option.

Richard was weird and needy, but he'd kept me company, and he didn't seem like a total creeper. Besides, I was getting more tired by the second, and what harm would there be in one more ride home?

If he was really going to ambush me, he'd have done it in the mountains.

I'd let him drop me off in my neighborhood so I could stumble home. He didn't need to see my parents' huge house and get his hopes up about doing favors for a woman who was richer and prettier than he'd ever be.

Total bitch? Yeah, sure. And also a very tired one.

Jesus, I was drained. It must've been the mountain walk. By the time I got back to the table, I could barely make my knees work, and I covered a brutal yawn with my hand.

I wanted to go to sleep right there. Luckily, he settled our bill with a waitress who was probably bored out of her skull. She didn't even stop to laugh at his wise cracks.

Closing my eyes for a second took what felt like five minutes. When I opened them again, Richard stood over me, pushing his hand into mine.

“Damn, girl. You're crashing on me, ain't you? We'd better get you home. Come on.”

“I can stand,” I moaned weakly.

No, no, I couldn't.

The instant I tried, my knees buckled, and I slumped into his arms. He scooped me up like a sleepy kitten and carried me outside, pushing me into the passenger seat, complete with a ratty old pillow he'd fished out of the back.

“Hold up, I need to give you my address,” I said, struggling to remember the numbers in my own head as another jaw-popping yawn conquered me. “It's...uh...it's...”

“Don't think too hard, baby,” he growled, starting up his truck. “I already know where you live. Just go to sleep. You'll need that energy for tomorrow.”

What the f*ck was this man talking about? Tomorrow? How did he know anything about me?

“Tomorrow? Huh?”

It felt like an entire hour slipped by before he answered me.

“That's the day you find out you f*cked up bad tonight. I haven't picked up a new girl since Loretta left me when I was still a sad, broken little man, trying to make an honest living. That shit I told you at the diner tonight was true, but you didn't care. Nobody ever gives a f*cking shit about some * hauling loads across the country. Whatever, baby, it's not your fault. You're a stuck up, rich little cunt, and I'm gonna give you something to care about.”

I tried to jerk up, tried to scream, but I couldn't seem to move anything except my eyes. What happened to me? I hadn't been alone with him in the diner at all, except when I used the bathroom twice.

Twice. Goddamn it.

The first time, I'd come back, and our food was waiting for us. That had to be when he did it, slipped something into my food or drink, springing the trap he'd set from the very beginning.

The one I'd been too stupid and drunk to see.

“You...you lied.”

His high, shrill laughter split the night, and everything in my head started spinning. “What? Were you expecting hugs and kisses and free meals from strange men in the woods? I don't know what kind of stupid bitch you are, but you're mine now. Sleep tight, little girl. And by the way, the name's Ricky. It fits me now. You ever heard of a pimp named Richard?”

Ricky. The last coherent thought before the blackness swallowed me up was knowing that I'd probably hate that name forever.

Oh, how right I'd been. I knew it the next day, when he splashed ice cold water in my face, and I realized I was completely naked.

He had my driver's license in his hand, twirling it around like a wild card in some poker game he'd just won.

“Jeeesus H. Christ, woman! I think you've just made me the happiest man in the world.”

I glared at him, saying nothing. If it wasn't for the fear constantly churning in my stomach, I would've spit in his face. I hated his arrogance, his treachery, and my own stupidity, but I hated his cruel joy more than anything else.

“Let me go, Richard. It's not too late to pull back. You can drop me off with the cops, my family, I don't care. I just want to go home. I won't even press charges.”

Yeah, right. He saw right through my hollow promises. Next thing I knew, his palm slapped me across the face, so sharp and sudden my whole head spun.

“It's Ricky, bitch. Get used to it. I'll let you off light because you're something else.” He paused and sniffed, staring excitedly at my license again. “You know, I really thought I'd hit the jackpot when I got myself a pretty mountain girl, all doped up and goddamned beautiful. But shit, you should've told me you were a Wilder girl sooner. Your * might make me retire early!”

Bastard. I swallowed the hard, hateful lump in my throat and forced myself to look at him, ignoring the fiery sting on my cheek.

“You're going to ransom me, then? Let me talk to Daddy. I can get you the money faster than if you do it alone, I swear, he'll –“

Ricky cut me off with his nasty, shrill laughter again. “Oh, please. You really think I'd give you up for a few bags of cash, only to have a SWAT team storm in here and tear this place apart? I've got better plans for you, little princess. You're gonna make some rich, twisted motherf*cker very f*cking happy. I just gotta spread the news through the grapevine and find myself a buyer.”