Page 51 of Royal Sons MC

How the police or the FBI hadn’t caught on to the MO of all the times he and his family members had done the same thing countless times before amazed her. By her count, over twelve girls aged sixteen to twenty had recently disappeared up and down California's coast. Ayesha only put in her sister's features and was sure the number would rise if they widened the search with other missing girls' criteria. She didn’t tell King all of that, not wanting to see the disbelief on his face. The same skepticism on the detectives' faces when she’d spoken to them at the precinct, even when she’d shown them the evidence.

Obviously, Rico’s family either had friends on the payroll. There was no way they'd bought the story he was selling. Ayesha, on the other hand, knew better. Her sister, while young and impulsive, and yes, if she were being honest, was wilder than all get out. She would probably make Ayesha’s hair turn grey sooner than she’d like, but no matter what her little sister did, she’d always be her baby sister, and Ayesha would always, always protect her.

“I have no doubt you love your sister and are worried.” King held up a hand, stopping her protest. “However, barging onto private property thinking we’re some modern-day vigilantes isn’t the way to get her back. You need to take your sexy little ass back out to your soccer mom's car and file a report. Your sister’s sixteen. Once a certain amount of time has passed, they’ll file a report and search for her.” King stood up.

She didn’t protest, seeing the resolve in his rugged face. God, she’d been stupid to come out to a place she knew nothing about on the word of Chloe, a woman who was clearly not as in the know as she’d thought. Shit, thinking of the trouble her client might get into, she opened her mouth to deflect, then thought better of it. Maybe King would forget her earlier outburst about who she’d followed or think it had just been a coincidence. Whatever the reason, she was sure she’d lost a client. “I’ll be on my way and won’t bother you again.” Dread settled in her stomach, her last hope for saving her sister gone. No, she wouldn’t give up, not now, not ever.

“Duke’s outside with your car. I’ll be seeing you.” King tilted his head toward the door as heavy steps pounded up the wood planks.

Two hard knocks heralded the arrival of the VP. “She ready to go?” Even though Ayesha was closer, Duke’s gaze bounced to King’s first. She realized he wouldn’t glance at her unless his brother gave him some silent indication. It would’ve disturbed her, except she felt comforted on a level she wasn’t ready to define just yet.

“Yep. Did you get what we needed?” King gripped her elbow, guiding her toward the door.

Ayesha shivered at the touch, knowing it was impersonal, yet her skin prickled. Get a grip, she scolded her inner hussy.

“Absolutely. All good here?” Duke lifted his chin in her direction.

She wanted to point out she could speak and hear but kept her lips sealed. No reason to antagonize the bikers any further. Hell, she was lucky to be making it out of their clubhouse relatively unscathed from what she’d seen earlier, unlike the one named Groot or Frog. She wasn’t sure which was which. Motorcycle clubs gave their members road names that had some significance behind them, but she couldn’t puzzle out what they were, not even Chloe’s boyfriend Tag, and she wasn’t brave enough to ask.

The walk to her car felt like forever, her shoes weighing her down as if she’d stepped in cement and now was dragging hundred-pound weights with each step. She tried to think of what to do next, who she could contact that would take her case seriously instead of thinking she was overreacting or that her sister was just a teenager who left of her own free will and would come home—eventually. However, they didn’t know Tiana or want to see Rico like Ayesha did. She knew her sister had thought she’d gone off on some grand adventure with a teen boy, not met up with a grown-ass man who had god knew what planned.

“Everything’s under control. See that Ayesha gets home safely,” he ordered.

Duke nodded, holding the door open. “Come on, princess, your chariot awaits.”

Ayesha snorted. “That thing is ten years old. I don’t think it’s anyone’s idea of a chariot.”

“It’s a cage no matter how old or new it is, but it’s a nice one,” Duke replied.

Pride at his words made her stand taller. She’d worked her ass off to buy the Mercedes SUV, saving up until she had enough to make a sizable down payment and paying it off within a year so her interest would stay down.

“Wait, a cage?” she asked.

“It’s what anything on four wheels is called, little girl,” Duke answered as he waited for her to get in.

“Oh, that’s...that’s fucked up, but yeah, okay. I’m outta here. Thanks for nothing.” Ayesha hurried into the driver’s seat, slamming the door behind her before she broke down in front of them. She hadn’t realized how much she’d hoped they could help her. Now, with her headlights highlighting the driveway, the stark realization of her situation hit her. She made sure to use her blinkers, following all the laws, as she didn’t want to draw any attention to herself. Her eyes kept going to the rearview mirror, checking if anyone was following her. Once she hit the freeway, she relaxed, merging with the fast-moving traffic even late at night or early morning.

Her nerves were strung so tight she felt a migraine beginning behind her right eye, the stabbing pain one she hated. With her right hand, she felt for her purse in the passenger seat, not taking her eyes off the road while she searched inside for the little bag that held her rescue meds. If she took the prescription early enough, she could usually stave off the harshest symptoms of the migraine. “Fuck, I hate this shit. I hate this entire situation. Why’d you do this to me, to us?” she screamed, slapping her hand against the steering wheel, angry tears flowing down her cheeks, making it hard to see the road in front of her. The sound of a car horn had her swiping at her face, pissed that she was allowing herself to cry again.

It took her less than an hour to get from the clubhouse to the quaint house she and her sister shared, the one she’d bought with the small life insurance policy after her husband’s death. It was the only thing good that had come from her marriage. She looked around the neighborhood, checking to see if there were any strange vehicles. The porch light was on, a habit she’d made sure both she and her sister did for an added safety measure.

She pressed the opener for the attached garage, waiting until it was open, easing inside like she’d done many times. She shut the car off before pressing the button to close the door. A sliver of something she couldn’t put a name to worked its way down her spine. She wasn’t sure what it was, but she got out of the small SUV, grabbing her purse and phone off the charger as she went. At the door to the house, she keyed in the alarm code, waiting to see all the clear signs before entering. The house felt empty, lonely, and even a little scary. “Shit, I’m a little pussy. Next, I’ll be jumping at shadows.”

On the counter, she noticed the bananas had started to turn brown. The only person who really ate them was Tiana. Pulling one off the bunch with her right hand, she felt her heart constrict. “These will rot before you get home,” she said, squeezing the offending fruit between her fingers, wincing as the yellow mush flowed out, making a mess.

“FOLLOW HER AND MAKEsure she doesn’t have a tail. When you return, Keys should have everything we need on her and her supposed missing sister. I want to talk to Gator and his ole’ lady first thing in the morning. We’ll need to meet, but I want more intel before calling Church. This could be a shitshow if word’s gotten out we are some do-gooder motherfuckers.” King ran his hand through his hair. “Take Gator and Cross with you,” he ordered Duke.

“You worried about my safety, bro?” Duke asked, his dark eyes flashing.

“This is about us, all of us. I’m not gonna let some hot chick fuck up our brotherhood. Besides, if you get into trouble, I’ll have to save your sorry ass, and I just don’t got time for that right now.” Losing their brother Luke to suicide hung heavy between them.

“Yeah, well, I don’t got no plans to meet my maker anytime soon either. I’ll keep you posted once we see your girl safe at home.” Duke lifted two fingers to his temple, turning toward the clubhouse. His fingers flew over his phone while he refrained from saying another word.

King didn’t correct him about Ayesha being his girl. Duke would take great pleasure in giving him shit if he did. Seconds later, the sound of three bikes rumbled out of the drive, following their mark. His phone beeped, getting a message from Keys. He scrolled through, reading what Keys had gathered on Ayesha and her sister Tiana. He clicked on the pdf to read the information. Ayesha was her sister’s guardian since their parents were killed a few years back. She and her husband. King narrowed his eyes as he read the other man’s name, exhaling when he read Ayesha’s husband had died in a one-vehicle car crash only months after their marriage.

“Damn, that had to suck,” he muttered, scanning over the document Keys had put together. The other man got his name because he was a computer hack. His fingers could fly over the keys of any keyboard within seconds, getting the information they needed without so much as leaving a footprint or whatever hackers do. He ground his back teeth as he read on, seeing Tiana’s report and what she’d been up to on the World Wide Web. “Little sister clearly didn’t know big brother was watching her. What a brat.” Not that it was bad to look at porn, but to have different social media accounts. She probably told her sister about one, and the other she hid because she knew she’d get into trouble. Well, he probably would’ve done the same if he’d been a teen and in her shoes. However, now her dirty little lies were coming back to bite her on the ass, and her sexy big sis was the one who was paying the price.

He pocketed his phone. The need for something to drink had his feet taking him to the kitchen to grab a beer. He thought about what Ayesha said and her offer to suck his dick. He’d told her he could have someone willing to do that and more within a minute, and he wasn’t kidding. Being the President of the Royal Sons MC came with perks. His father before him had been President, as had his grandfather. They’d come over from Ireland, but they sure as fuck didn’t have the luck of the Irish. Well, they did have a pot of gold and then some, yet the Royal men wanted more, and they’d do anything to get it. Getting what they wanted, when they wanted it, hadn’t been a problem for any of them. “Maybe we do have the luck of the Irish,” he mused. With a flick of his wrist, he uncapped the beer and took a long swig. The cold brew sliding down his parched throat quenched one thirst while another was left wanting.

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