Page 19 of Razor (Road Reapers MC #4)

J ack watched the little blonde walk into the back of the church, and he knew that she was probably up to no good.

His club was a few blocks down the road, and the last thing the Royal Bastards wanted was trouble so close to home.

He followed her into the abandoned church, only to find that she had practically disappeared.

He knew that she had to be hiding somewhere in the darkness, but she had hidden well and was quiet as a church mouse—pun intended.

He almost made himself laugh, but nothing about this was a laughing matter, and he didn’t want to scare her off.

He tried to talk her out of the dark corner that she was crouched in, but he knew that it was pointless.

He could barely make out her eyes, but he could see the fear in them.

She reminded him of his younger sister after she came home from her first semester at college.

She had been attacked by one of her roommate’s friends, and when she told him that the guy raped her, he wanted to drive the five hours to campus and kill the fucker, but Lilith convinced him that the asshole wasn’t worth doing prison time.

He tried to disagree with her, but the sane part of him knew that she was right.

The woman hiding in the corner of the church might have been older than his sister, but she had that same fear in her eyes, and it was nearly his undoing.

Jack decided that the best way he could help the woman was to leave her alone and come back in the daytime to try to help her again.

The guys at the club liked to tell him that if there was a damsel in distress, he was itching to be her knight in shining armor.

Maybe they were right, or maybe growing up with three sisters and a mom was what made him want to help every woman that he saw who was in trouble.

His dad took off when he and his sisters were still little.

Most of the time, he had trouble remembering what his father looked like.

If it wasn’t for the picture that he had of him and his dad fishing when he was about four, he’d probably forget him altogether.

“So, what’s it going to be, Marco?” Jack asked.

“Well, it seems that you haven’t given me much choice,” he said. That was the first smart thing that he had heard the guy say all morning. “Where’s my friend?” Marco asked.

“Oh, don’t worry,” Jack assured, “Keith is taking a little nap in your car.”

“What did you do to him?” Marco asked.

“He didn’t want to cooperate, so I put him down for a nap. I’d be happy to demonstrate for you.” Jack knew that his smile was mean, but the asshole didn’t seem to notice. That was his problem because Jack knew that his guys would back him up if he needed help.

“Not necessary,” Marco said. The guy was smart to back down because they were all itching for a fight.

“Good call,” Hurricane said. Jack appreciated his club’s Prez letting him take the lead in all this.

He knew that Hurricane usually liked calling the shots.

“You get the girl someplace safe, and the guys and I will make sure that this asshole heads out of town.” That sounded like a great plan to Jack.

He had a feeling that his chances of walking out to his truck and finding the girl still sitting in it were going to be pretty low.

“Thanks for the backup,” he said to the guys. “I owe you three.”

“Not a problem,” Reacher assured.

“Yeah, I’m going to use the favor when it comes time to take my wife out. We could always use a babysitter,” Yonkers teased. Jack rolled his eyes at his friend and shook his head at him.

“You don’t want me for that job,” Jack promised. “Kids don’t seem to like me.” He looked over at Marco, who was watching the three of them as though they had lost their minds, talking about babysitting and favors.

“I do have one piece of advice for you,” he said, nodding to Marco.

“Leave town and don’t come back to bother her again.

” The guy was smart enough to simply nod his agreement and keep his mouth shut.

Jack didn’t bother waiting for an answer.

He knew that there would be none from the asshole.

His priority now was getting the woman out of there and finding someplace safe for her to lie low.

They needed to be sure that her ex would keep to his promise and leave her alone, because if not, the Royal Bastards would be ready for him.

Jack walked out of the church and found his pickup empty. It didn’t surprise him, really. He would have actually been surprised to find her waiting for him as he told her to. She didn’t seem like the type of woman who followed orders, no matter who was giving them.

He looked down the street to find no one around, but when he turned back toward his truck, he spotted her dark hoodie.

She was standing on the side of the church, watching him.

Maybe she was trying to figure out if he could be trusted, and why wouldn’t she want to know that?

They had just met yesterday, and they were virtual strangers.

“Hi,” he breathed, “I promise that you’re safe now,” he assured.

She crossed her arms over her chest and looked him over. “And why should I trust you?” she asked.

“Because you have no other options,” he reminded. Maybe he was acting like an ass, but it might be his only shot at keeping her safe.

“You don’t know that,” she spat. “I’ve been doing okay until now.” He looked her over and smiled. She was dirty and looked half-starved.

“I don’t have time to stand around here and play games. It’s Ember, right?” Jack asked. She nodded, and he took that as a good sign. “I’m Spark,” he reminded, “we met yesterday.”

“You said that your name is Jack,” she countered.

“I did, but not many people call me that anymore,” he admitted.

“Well, Jack,” she said, ignoring him, “what’s the plan here? Because I’m pretty sure that you just made an Eminem of my ex, and he’s not someone you’d want to fuck around with.”

“I’m not someone that he wants to fuck around with, Ember,” Jack countered.

“Listen, I’m assuming that you have about two minutes until he comes out of that church, and I’d like for us both to be out of here before that happens.

I have a safe place where you can lie low until you can figure out your next move.

I don’t want anything from you, and although you don’t know me, my word is my bond.

” She looked him over and then looked back at the church.

He could tell that she was trying to figure out if she wanted to do things his way or go it alone.

Jack was pretty sure that if she tried to stay on her own, she’d end up in the same hot water because she was right—her ex wasn’t about to give her up without a fight.

“Fine, I’ll go with you, but if you try anything funny, I’m out,” she insisted.

“Right, no funny business,” he teased. He opened the passenger door for her, and she hesitantly climbed up into his truck.

The poor woman looked as though she was about to be carted off to her death.

He would think the whole scene funny if it weren’t so sad.

Jack quickly shut the door behind her, not wanting to give her a chance to change her mind, and took off around the front of the truck to climb into the driver’s side.

“Ready?” He asked.

“No,” she grumbled. She clutched her purse as though it were her lifeline, and maybe it was.

It seemed to be the only thing she had left, but now wasn’t the time to question her about her belongings.

No, Jack was going to have to get her to trust him first, and then, he’d figure out how to help her get her life back—or some semblance of it.

You also won’t want to miss the latest release of book two in The Relinquished Series! Love’s Patient Journey will be released soon! And the entire series will be released by the end of September 2025! Here’s a sneak peek!