kidn*pped by The Biker Gang Leader

Chapter 13

Selene’s POV

The road disappeared behind us as dawn bled slowly into the sky.

Cassius drove like he was racing something invisible. One hand on the wheel, the other resting near his gun, eyes constantly scanning mirrors and shadows. The bike’s engine had long been swapped for an old truck, unremarkable, and forgettable, exactly the kind of thing he trusted.

I pressed my forehead to the cold window, watching trees blur past. Every bump sent a sharp reminder through my shoulder, but I didn’t complain. Pain was grounding. It reminded me I was still here.

Still alive.

“Are you fading?” Cassius asked quietly.

“No,” I said, even though my eyelids felt heavy. “Just…thinking.”

“That can be worse than bleeding,” he muttered.

I almost smiled.

The safe place wasn’t what I expected. No guards. No lights. No roaring engines or shouting men. Just an old cabin tucked deep into the woods, half-swallowed by ivy and time. It looked forgotten.

Cassius cut the engine and listened.

For a long moment, there was nothing but wind and birds.

“We’re clear,” he said.

Inside, the cabin smelled like dust and pine. One room, a table and a couch that had seen better decades. A small bedroom with a single bed.

My chest tightened at the sight of it.

Cassius noticed. “I can take the couch.”

I shook my head. “We’ll figure it out later.”

He nodded, respectful as always, even when everything between us felt anything but simple.

He cleaned my shoulder carefully, fingers gentle despite their roughness. When he wrapped the bandage, his knuckles brushed my skin and sent a shiver through me that had nothing to do with pain.

“You’re shaking,” he said.

“I almost died,” I replied. “I think that earns me a tremor or two.”

He huffed quietly. “Fair.”

When he finished, he didn’t move away immediately. His hand lingered at my arm like he was anchoring himself.

“Cassius,” I whispered. “What if the memories come back wrong?”

His eyes lifted to mine. “What do you mean?”

“What if I remember something that makes you hate me?” I asked. “What if my father did something unforgivable and I helped without knowing?”

Cassius’s expression didn’t harden.

“If your father did unforgivable things,” he said slowly, “that’s on him. Not you.”

“But what if I was part of it?”

“Then you were used,” he replied. “Just like everyone else in this life.”

Something inside me cracked open.

I nodded, throat tight.

That night, sleep didn’t come easy.

When it did, it dragged me somewhere else entirely.

—

I’m ten years old.

The house smells like oil and paper. My father’s study is dark except for a single lamp. He kneels in front of me, hands gripping my shoulders too tight.

“Listen to me, Selene,” he says urgently. “If anyone ever asks you about numbers, about names, you don’t answer.”

“I won’t,” I whisper.

He presses something cold and solid into my palm. “This is important. You keep it safe.”

“What is it?” I ask.

He smiles, but it’s sad. “Insurance.”

The memory fractures.

—

I wake up gasping, bolting upright.

Cassius is there instantly, hands steadying me. “Hey. Hey. You’re here.”

“I remembered something,” I choke out.

He doesn’t press. Just wait.

“My father gave me something,” I say. “I don’t know where it is. But I remember the weight. Metal. Small.”

Cassius’s jaw tightens. “A key.”

“I think so.”

“That means the ledger isn’t just hidden,” he says. “It’s locked.”

Fear and understanding collide in my chest. “And I’m the only one who can open it.”

“Yes.”

The weight of that settles between us.

Cassius runs a hand through his hair. “Kane will escalate when he realizes this.”

“And Luca?” I ask.

His mouth twists. “Luca doesn’t play the long game. He plays the bloody one.”

Silence stretches.

“Cassius,” I say softly. “If this ends badly…”

“It won’t,” he cuts in.

“But if it does,” I continue, “I need to know something.”

He meets my gaze.

“Am I just another responsibility to you?” I ask. “Or am I…something else?”

The question hangs there, raw and unprotected.

Cassius steps closer, close enough that I can feel his breath.

“You’re not a responsibility,” he says. “You’re a risk.”

My heart stutters.

“And I don’t take risks unless they matter.”

His hand cups my face before I can overthink it. His thumb brushes my cheek, grounding, reverent.

“I won’t pretend this is clean,” he adds. “Or safe. Or easy.”

“I don’t want easy,” I whisper.

His forehead rests against mine. “Good. Because this life will eat you alive if you do.”

For one suspended moment, nothing else exists. Not Kane. Not Luca. Not the ledger.

Just us.

Then a sound breaks the quiet.

A branch snapping outside.

Cassius pulls back instantly, gun in hand.

“Stay here,” he murmurs.

My pulse spikes. “Cassius”

“I’ll be right back.”

He disappears into the trees.

I stand there alone, heart pounding, memories stirring, fear sharpening into resolve.

Whatever my father left behind…

Whatever Kane thinks he’s entitled to…

They’re all about to learn something important.

I’m not the weak link.

I’m the trigger.