Page 9 of Ember (Royal Harlots: Yonkers, NY Chapter #1)

J ack had left Ember sixty-four messages in the short two weeks she had been gone. Well, it had been almost three weeks now, but who was counting? He was, and the wait for a response from her was agonizing.

He had spent most of his time at Hurricane’s House, hanging out at the bar, pretending not to miss Ember. God, he missed everything about her—even her sexy mouth that seemed capable of taking down small nations with one sarcastic quip.

The other half of his time, he spent at work, trudging through cases that left him feeling hollow inside.

He had kept an ear to the ground for any news about Marco and his buddies hanging around looking for Ember, but he knew the truth.

Once she stepped foot back in Florida, he wouldn’t be able to protect her from her past anymore.

The thing was, Jack wasn’t sure that Ember ever needed his protection.

She was so capable, even when it came to handling herself around Marco and his friends.

Jack sat up at the bar and cringed when three of the guys’ Ol’ladies surrounded him. Tina was married to Hurricane, Wren to Yonkers, and Brandi was married to Reacher. “We need to talk,” Wren said.

“Good to see you three,” he said. “How can I help?” The guys in the club knew to steer clear of the three women standing in front of him. They were trouble when they put their heads together, and he had a feeling that now was going to be no different.

“Where’s Ember?” Brandi asked. After just a few months of Ember hanging out with them, she had become one of them. It’s why Hurricane had asked her to be in charge of the Harlots—he knew that she was a good fit for the roll. Plus, all the women seemed taken with her as their new Prez.

“I thought that she told you guys,” he said. “She’s in Florida.”

“We know that, but what’s taking so long?” Tina asked. That was a very good question—one that he’d like to know the answer to, also.

“I have no idea,” he said. “Why don’t you try to call or text her?”

“We have,” Brandi said, “and she’s not returning any of our calls or texts. We’re worried about her.” He was, too, but letting on about that wasn’t going to happen.

“I’m sure that she’s fine,” he lied. He had no idea how she was because, like the women standing in front of him, Ember had ghosted him, too.

“Have you heard from her? Do you know if she’s fine?” Brandi asked, putting her hands on her hips as though willing to wait him out for an answer.

“Ladies,” Hurricane said from behind the bar.

“You and I are married, and you know I’m not a lady,” Brandi countered. Her big husband just smiled at her and bobbed his eyebrows, as though dismissing everyone else around them.

“Okay, this is going nowhere,” Tina said. “Do you have any news about her or not?” Tina was always a cut-to-the-chase kind of woman. Jack liked that about her.

“No, I have not heard from her. Yes, I’ve been calling and texting, and yes, she is ghosting me too,” Jack said.

“And you’re just sitting here, waiting for any word from her?” Wren asked. “Why don’t you put out a few feelers—you know, do some cop thing to find out if she’s okay?” He had, and so far, nothing had come out of it. He really didn’t have any contacts in Sarasota, Florida, so he was flying blind.

“She will come back when she’s good and ready,” Hurricane cut in.

“Now, leave Spark alone. He’ll let you know when he hears something.

” He could always count on his Prez to have his back.

The women grumbled things under their breath and started for the ladies’ room.

That was usually where they had their pow-wows about the guys.

It was a man-free zone, as they liked to call it.

Ember had filled him in on all the details—even the ones that he really didn’t want to know.

Hurricane stopped wiping down the bar and stood in front of him. “Tell me that I didn’t just lie to my wife, man,” he begged.

“I’m not following,” Jack lied. Hurricane was looking for answers, too. Jack just didn’t have anything to give him.

“Don’t play dumb with me, Spark. Have you heard from Ember?

I thought that she’d at least get back to me about whether she was going to come back to be the Harlot’s Prez.

I want to get our sister chapter up and running.

I’ve promised a few of the other Harlots around the country that I’d lend a hand, but I don’t have time for this shit.

Either she wants the job or not,” he said.

The women all want her as their Prez.” He didn’t need to spell that out for Jack.

He could tell just from being cornered how the women felt about Ember.

“I haven’t heard from her,” Jack insisted.

“I was telling the women the truth—Ember hasn’t contacted me at all since she took off for Florida.

” Jack took a giant swig of his beer, avoiding eye contact with Hurricane.

He knew what he’d find there—disappointment, and he already felt enough of that himself.

“Why haven’t you gone after her?” Hurricane asked. Hell, it sounded more like an accusation than a question.

“Because that’s not how things work between Ember and me. She offered me one night—not a lifetime. I don’t own her, and when she wanted to go back to Florida, how was I supposed to stop her?”

“Did you try the whole feelings thing? Women love it when you toss those into a conversation,” Hurricane teased.

“Who says that I have feelings for her?” Jack asked. He was bluffing, and from the smile on Hurricane’s face, he knew it.

“You’ve been sulking at the bar the entire time that she’s been gone. If you don’t have feelings for her, then what are we calling this?” he said, nodding at Jack.

“This is a biker trying to have a beer at his club, but I guess that was too much for me to ask. He stood and tossed down a twenty. I’ll let you know when or if I hear from her, but you’re putting your eggs into a basket with holes in it.

Ember isn’t the kind of woman to settle down and become anyone’s Prez.

Why not ask one of the other Ol’ladies to be Prez?

” he asked. The Harlots were none of his business, but Ember had seemed pretty excited about starting a chapter for them up in Yonkers.

When Hurricane told her all about the groups of women bikers around the country and even the world now, she couldn’t contain her excitement.

Jack had to admit—it was contagious. He found himself interested in the small group of women who were stepping forward to be a part of the Harlots—he just didn’t think that Ember was the right leader for them.

Hell, she wasn’t even in town, so how could she lead them anywhere?

“Do you think that she’ll come back?” Hurricane asked.

That was the million-dollar question. He had no idea if Ember would ever come back to Yonkers, but God, he hoped like hell that she did.

Because lying to Hurricane about not having feelings for her was easy, but it was getting harder by the day to deny those same feelings to himself.

“No clue, man,” Jack breathed. “And honestly, I don’t give a fuck.”

Hurricane chuckled, “Yeah, you keep telling yourself that, man,” he said. “At some point, I’m sure you’ll believe it.”