Page 19 of Rebel (The Royal Harlots MC #7)

“I’ll see you in the morning,” he said to Mrs. Holts, shutting the lid to her coffin. He liked to talk to his customers—even if they were dead and wouldn’t answer back. It was a way for him to show them some respect, and he’d gotten quite used to having full relationships with them.

He walked into the back of the bar and found Monster, Ms. Blitz, and Josie sitting around the bar as though his little sister wasn’t only fourteen.

“We’re closed, and I’m not serving alcohol.

We are all having a soda,” Monster insisted.

He looked Josie over and realized that she was watching him, seeming unsure.

He hadn’t seen her for just over five years.

She was so little back then, but now, he realized that she was a young woman, and he had no idea how to care for one of them.

“I am,” he said, “it’s good to meet you, Ms. Blitz.”

“I told you to call me Blitz,” she insisted. Honestly, he remembered that she liked to be called by her last name, but for some reason, he kind of liked making her a little. Hot under the collar.

“Right, sorry,” he lied. From the smirk on her face, she didn’t believe any of his bullshit.

“Do you want to come over here and say hi to your brother?” Blitz asked Josie. His little sister looked as though she wanted to say no, but she begrudgingly nodded and stood from the barstool.

She stood in front of him and waited for him to say something. “Hi, Josie,” he almost whispered. “Do you remember me?” he asked. Drifter wanted to pull her in for a hug and tell her that she was going to be all right, but he was sure that she wouldn’t believe him.

Josie shrugged, “Not really she admitted. He liked that she wasn’t afraid to give him the truth. She was a lot like their mother in that way.

“I’m going to take. Care of you until Mom comes back,” he said, hoping that bit of information would reassure her.

She shook her head, and he worried that Blitz had driven his kid sister all that way for nothing. “Mom’s not coming back,” she whispered. “She told me that she wasn’t ever going to see me again, and I believe her.”

“Do you know why she left, Josie?” Drifter asked.

“Nope, and I really don’t care why she left. Just like I don’t care why you left. I’m just here because I don’t want to go into a group home.” Geez, she wasn’t shy at all about giving him the truth.

“Fair enough,” he mumbled. “You hungry?” Drifter asked, wanting to change the topic.

“Starving,” she said.

“I just fed you an hour ago,” Blitz reminded.

“Well, I didn’t like the shitty healthy food you forced on me. Can I get a burger?” Josie asked him.

“Sure, kid, and I don’t blame you for not wanting to eat healthy shit—it’s the worst.” Drifter walked past her and Blitz, straight back to the kitchen, where he knew for sure that Monster was listening to their whole conversation.

He was going to get his little sister some food, and then he was going to ask his buddy for advice, because Drifter had no idea what to do about Josie or the sexy CPS woman who brought her to town.