Page 18 of Ember (Royal Harlots: Yonkers, NY Chapter #1)

“It’s easy,” he insisted, “I’ll do all the work. All you have to do is hold on tight to me. We’re only about an hour from the club, so it shouldn’t be too bad.”

The problem was, after he buried his dad, he couldn’t just go back undercover and pick up where he had left off. The guys in charge would ask him too many questions, and that would put not only him but also Jace in danger. Still, he hated leaving Jace all alone in that world with no backup.

They were working for human traffickers, and the thought of not putting them all behind bars made him sick.

Every day, he watched the eyes of the women who had been brought in to be sold.

Most of them looked to be underage, and the thought of any man laying a finger on them pissed him off.

He and Jace were able to get some of the girls out of there and back home to their families, but they couldn’t save all of them without blowing their cover.

They got back to Savage Hell just past midnight, and a few of the Royal Harlots were still hanging around, talking about the new clubhouse that was being built for them. They were going over the final alterations, and he hated interrupting, but he needed to find Savage.

Banshee met him at the door, “We’re running a bit late,” she said.

“I’m not here to interrupt, Banshee,” he assured. “I have a meeting with Savage.”

“Oh, he’s back in his office,” she said. “I’m Banshee,” she said, holding out her hand to Rebel.

“Rebel,” she said, shaking Banshee’s hand. “I’m trying to find my brother Jace. Would you by chance know where he is?”

“No, sorry, love,” Banshee said, laying on the Irish accent a bit thick. She looked over at Bolt and sighed. “Guess you all have a lot to discuss. I’ll leave you to it then. Good meeting you, Rebel.”

“What did she mean by that?” Rebel asked. “What would we have to discuss? I don’t even know you.”

“No, but you will soon enough. We need to talk about Jace, and Savage can help fill in some of the blanks.” Bolt knew that she wasn’t going to like the fact that her little brother had kept the truth from her all these years, but that wasn’t something that he could help.

He was going to have to break his rule about not getting involved in other people’s family business because Rebel had a right to know where Jace was and what he was doing.

He’d start at the beginning, and hopefully, by the end of the story, he’d have all her questions answered—hopefully being the keyword.

Bolt led the way back to Savage’s office and knocked on the door. “Come in,” Savage growled from the other side of the door.

“Maybe we should come back another time,” Rebel insisted.

“His bark is worse than his bite, I promise,” Bolt assured.

“I’m not interested in experiencing his bark or his bite.

Maybe this was a bad idea,” she mumbled.

He thought it was too, but there would be no turning back now.

When Jace called him and said that he needed a favor and that he didn’t have much time to explain, Bolt promised to help him with anything.

He just never imagined that anything would be an anyone—namely, Jace’s hot, older sister.

They walked into the dimly lit office to find the big guy sitting behind a desk. “What is it with bikers having tattoos and beards?” Rebel whispered.

“It’s a look,” the big guy said. “I’m Savage.” He held his hand out to her, and she hesitantly shook it.

“Rebel,” she said. “I’m looking for my little brother, Jace.” Savage looked at Bolt, and he shrugged.

“How much does she know?” Savage asked.

“Nothing,” Bolt said. “Seems Jace kept her in the dark.

“Jace kept me in the dark about what?” Rebel asked.

“You might want to sit down for this next part,” Savage said.

“I’ll stand, thanks,” Rebel spat.

“Oh, I forgot to tell you, she’s pretty damn stubborn,” Bolt said.

“Just like Jace,” Savage said.

“I’m standing right here,” she shouted. “Stop talking about me as though I’m not here. And I’m not stubborn. Now, tell me what’s going on.”

“Bossy too,” Savage joked. She sank into the sofa and sighed. She was really a handful, and although she was off limits to him, Bolt liked his women feisty.

“I’m sitting,” she said, “can one of you please tell me what’s going on?”

Bolt sat down next to her. “First, you have to know that Jace didn’t want to keep this from you, but he had no choice. He’s an FBI agent and has been deep undercover for months now.”

“FBI,” she repeated, “what is he undercover for?”

“He’s trying to bring down a group of human traffickers. I was his partner until my dad died, and I was pulled out of the assignment. My boss gave me the choice of staying undercover with Jace or spending my father’s last few days with him. Your brother convinced me to go home to see my dad.”

“That sounds like Jace,” she whispered. “We lost our parents when he was so young. I’m sure he’d like a few days with our father. You were right to spend time with your father, Bolt,” she said.

“Maybe,” he breathed, “but when the funeral was over, I wasn’t allowed to go back in because my boss felt that I might blow Jace’s cover, so it was safer for him to work alone—but he had no backup.

I don’t know how he is or what’s going on with him.

I’m sorry that I can’t give you more information.

Well, except for the fact that Jace thought that you were in danger.

It’s why he called me to pick you up and bring you to the bar.

He wanted you here so that we could help keep an eye on you. ”

“I don’t need a babysitter,” she insisted, “if you can’t tell, I’m a grown woman, Bolt.

” Oh, he could tell that she was a grown woman, and that was the problem.

Jace made him promise that if things went sideways, he’d take care of Rebel.

He just didn’t imagine that she’d go and get herself arrested in town.

If someone was after her, they’d be able to find her more easily now.

Hell, they probably knew exactly where she was, and that was why he told her to leave her car at the precinct.

It wasn’t safe for her to be on her own.

“I actually have a little bit more information about Jace. I did some digging tonight while Bolt was picking you up, and I found out that Jace went off-grid. My source thinks that the traffickers found out who he was, and they have a price on his head. He knew that might happen to you, too, so he told us to bring you here. If they knew he was an FBI agent, they’d come after his family—namely you, and you don’t want to know what they’d do to you once they found you,” Savage said.

“I have a pretty good idea what they’d do to me. What will happen to Jace if they find him?” Rebel asked.

“You don’t have to worry about Jace,” Bolt insisted. “He knows how to take care of himself.”

“And here I was, worried that my little brother had gotten himself in trouble when he stopped calling me. I just had no idea that he could handle the trouble and was trying to protect me,” Rebel said. “So, what now? Where should we start looking for Jace?”

“We’re not going to look for Jace, and you definitely aren’t looking for him on your own,” Savage said.

“We have specific orders from your brother that you’re to stay with me,” Bolt said. “I promised Jace that I’d keep you safe until he can figure out what to do about the traffickers.”

“And I told you that I don’t need a babysitter. It’s nice of my brother to try to protect me, but I can also take care of myself,” Rebel insisted. She wasn’t going to make any of this easy on him.

“Savage, can I borrow your truck? You can take my bike in case anyone followed us here, to throw them off our track. Plus, I don’t want Rebel jumping off the back of my bike trying to get away.

I’ll take her to one of the club’s safe houses and will call when I get us settled and it’s safe,” Bolt said.

“There is no us, and I’m not going anywhere with you,” Rebel spat.

“Suit yourself,” Bolt said. Savage tossed him the keys to his truck, and he hoisted Rebel over his shoulder.

She gave him a fight, but he had expected her to.

She shouted at him to put her down, kicking and screaming at him as he walked out of Savage’s office.

He swatted her ass, telling her to calm down, but that only seemed to piss her off more.

Yeah, Rebel was a handful, and he had to admit, she felt right up against his body—not that he’d break the bro code and do anything about it. He owed his partner at least that much.

Re-Release Alert! K.L. is re-releasing the Relinquished Series. You won’t want to miss this four-book series! Here’s a sneak peek at book 3, which is coming this month!