21. Angel
ANGEL
The commotion downstairs causes my blood to race.
I’m not sure what’s happening but a loud commotion and lots of yelling means Rogue and his crew have to be distracted.
This is the only chance I may have to leave and get to my sister while Rogue and his men are completely embroiled in something else.
I grab a few things, leave the room that’s become my home, and head down the hall to the top of the stairs, unable to make out anything but loud yelling. Rogue’s voice yelling above his crew’s. Whoever is on the end of Rogue’s temper though, he’s not having a very good day.
I slip down the stairs quietly. The guys are in a circle surrounding Rogue, who to my surprise is far too busy pounding one of his recruits to pay any attention to me.
I don’t have time to wonder what happened.
This is going to be my only chance, especially now that Rogue’s VP doesn’t trust me at all.
I make my way toward the back door and quietly slip out into the night, hoping no one heard the squeak of the screen door as I leave the clubhouse behind.
They have guards out in the perimeter though.
I know they’re watching for the Scorpions but they’re not anticipating the enemy to come from the club instead of toward it.
I circle around to the front, trying to stay away from the windows or lights, hiding in the shadows until I reach their bikes and wish like hell I knew how to ride.
The alley is quiet. I have no idea how I’m supposed to get to the Scorpions because they’re so far out of town and I don’t remember how to get there, but the bars they brought me to, maybe I can find one of them. It’s the only shot I’ve got so I head back the exact way I came.
I work my way into the dark, avoiding the scouts, and then come out onto the street a few blocks down the road, working my way back up the city street and through the darkening alley and into town, down the street to the bar where the Scorpions used to bring me to dance.
The lights of the city flash. Memories of the first time they brought me here cause my blood to race.
I was so scared, but night after night, it became routine.
The Scorpions wouldn’t touch me because I was a hot commodity, a virgin, but as long as I danced, they didn’t hurt my sister either.
The realization that they were keeping their word night after night, that was the motivation to do the unthinkable, halfway stripping and dancing for a bunch of horny men.
A neon sign of the nude female silhouette flashes in a window in the distance as I approach.
I glance around the front of the bar looking for the van they always brought me in.
A big white cargo boxy looking thing that had nothing but a bench seat and a tool rack in the back.
I see it and a couple of bikes that look familiar and send shivers of fear racing right down the length of my spine.
The Scorpions are here, and they’ve brought someone else here to dance.
The heat at night, while much cooler than the midday sun, has still permeated the concrete streets and buildings that don’t allow much of a breeze.
Maybe I should have thought this out a little more but after Hayze caught me on his phone, there wasn’t any other play.
Maybe the element of surprise will help me in some way.
The alley between the bar and the next business is dark, with no lights at all except for the slight overhead that comes from the lamppost by the street and that neon sign.
No one is going to expect me to come into the bar. My thoughts revolve around one thing and one thing only and it’s trying to get the Scorpions at the club caught off guard and then get them to take me back to Ari.
I slink along the alley and duck beneath a window trying to stay low and not visible to anyone. A loud howl in the darkness causes me to pause, listening until the pack of coyotes in the distance has decided to settle down and I can focus on what I have to do.
All I can think about is getting to the Scorpions’ club and how I’m going to find my sister when they take me back.
I don’t care what they’re going to do to me.
If they let her go, I’ll gladly do whatever they want, strip, tease horny guys and dance.
They can sell me, whatever, but my freedom and life can’t be at the cost of my sister’s misery.
That’s for damn sure. I’ll do whatever it takes to prevent that.
I stay in the shadows, slinking along the back side of the club planning to come in the back door of the bar the Scorpions have brought me in so many times before but a hand goes over my mouth and strong arms surround and imprison me against the wall. “Whatcha doing, Angel?”
My chest tightens with all kinds of fear after seeing exactly what the Scorpions have done with traitors in the last couple of months, and knowing the man I love is going to think I’m a traitor and he has every right. He whispers in my ear. “Shh…” as he removes his hand from my mouth.
“It’s not what you think, Rogue.”
“You weren’t leaving the safety of me and my club to go deal with the Scorpions yourself?”
I swallow through my emotions, trying to catch my breath, hoping to explain but words just don’t come for a minute. “All I want is my sister, safe.” Right now, Rogue, no matter what his intentions, is the one standing in the way of that. “You have to let me go.”
Rogue spins me around, keeping me pressed against the wall, leaning in so close his forehead presses against mine. “Not a fucking chance in hell I’m letting you go back to those sadistic bastards, Angel,” he growls. “You’re coming home with me and my crew are going after your sister. Got that?”
My knees almost buckle. All the adrenaline, fear, and need to get to my sister has kept me going, pushing forward to find a way back to the Scorpions to deal with it myself but Rogue’s arms around me and his protection calms all the emotion, at least the fear of walking right into that bar and facing the men who held me prisoner, wanted to sell me and do me and my sister harm.
But still, he has to know they are never going to allow it.
“They won’t let her go unless they get me.
They don’t know I’m no longer a virgin.”
The warmth of his lips on my ear and hand underneath my hair cradling my nape calms me more than he knows.
“Our recruit was a plant. A fucking traitor. We learned a lot from him tonight. We put the pressure on, and he told us everything we needed. Trust me baby, we’re going to get your sister back. ”
Tears of emotion pool and spill down my cheeks.
“I’m so sorry for all the trouble I’ve caused.
I just need to make sure Ari is alive and okay.
” I gulp in a breath. “My aunt said they took her from the cabin. I knew the only way they were ever going to give her back is if I turned myself in so they can get their payday from my virginity, which we both know doesn’t exist anymore. ”
Rogue draws me close. “Your worries aren’t yours anymore, Angel. Come on, let’s go home and leave rescuing your sister to the Royal Bastards.”
Rogue walks me not to the street but toward the parking lot, then cuts down behind a couple of tall buildings where his bike is parked and a few members of his crew are waiting for us.
He settles onto the bike before I climb on behind and wrap my arms around him as he revs the engine and guides us toward the Royal Bastard club and away from the bar I hate with a passion but the only chance or place I had of finding one of the Scorpions who could have taken me to my sister.
My head spins with hope and at the same time regret.
It’s not that I don’t believe Rogue, but what if his recruit, the one he thinks is a traitor, just told him what the Scorpions wanted him to know?
What if he’s a real plant and the Royal Bastards are just walking into a trap because of me? What does that mean for my sister?
We reach the Royal Bastards’ club and Rogue slows his bike, letting me get off before he parks it for the night. “Rogue?”
“Yeah, baby,” he says, grasping my waist as we walk up to the front door. “How much do you trust what you learned from the recruit?”
His eyes narrow as they meet mine. “Why do you ask?”
I suck in a breath. “Something I heard when I was a prisoner of the Scorpions just keeps playing over and over in my head. It’s probably nothing.”
He lifts my chin. “Tell me, Angel.”
“I don’t know if I’m just being paranoid or not but I heard someone say, ‘No matter what happens with the Bastards, we have a backup plan in place. Jed’s gonna tell him exactly what we want him to say.’”