Chapter 2
Chapter Two
Alejandro
Iglanced up from my breakfast when Miguel settled in a chair across from me, his tablet in his hand.
Without greeting me, he turned the tablet to face me, and I was met with the beautiful woman from last night.
I hadn’t slept a wink once we were allowed back into the hotel after law enforcement determined someone had opened one of the emergency exits, setting off the alarm.
I hadn’t been able to keep her off my mind.
Rest was impossible until I knew who she was and why she was running. Why she’d looked so frightened.
“Your girl here set off the alarm last night,” Miguel informed me. I hummed and forked up a piece of egg, not removing my eyes from his tablet screen and her pretty face. “Her name is Elaina Giddons. Seems she’s on the run. Her father has had other motorcycle clubs out looking for her.”
That piqued my interest. I glanced up at him again. “Other motorcycle clubs?” I questioned.
He nodded. “Her father, Yeller Giddons, is the president of the Outlaws MC. He’s shady, and from what I’ve found on him, he seems to have his fingers dug deep into some trafficking pies.”
“What kind of trafficking?” I asked.
“Skin trade,” Miguel spat, disgust coating his words. My lip curled in distaste. “He apparently had a bidder for Elaina—over a million dollars. Seems right after they made the deal, she disappeared before the exchange could happen.”
Rage curdled in my gut, but I ignored it.
I needed all the facts and to devise a plan.
I needed to get her father off her back for a while without putting a bullet in his skull.
Until I could do recon on him and find who exactly he had connections with, I couldn’t just go popping an MC president in the head.
But I could purchase his daughter and rescue her.
Provide her with a home until I found a safe way to eliminate him without causing a war.
A home with me.
And while I knew purchasing her might not make me any better than the men I was rescuing her from, I did not intend to trap her.
While I’d love her to be mine, I’d let her be free after I knew she was safe and her old man had been taken care of.
She deserved to spread her wings and fly instead of scurrying between bushes in an attempt to hide from predators.
“Who was in line to buy her?” I asked, picking up my toast.
“No one now,” Miguel told me. “The moment I found out his name, I sent someone to take him out. One less bastardo walking the earth and taking advantage of innocent women.”
“Where is Elaina’s mother?” I demanded to know. Surely a mother wouldn’t just leave her child to fend for herself like this, even if that child was an adult, which Elaina clearly was. The tablet screen showed her to be twenty-two years old.
“She disappeared shortly after Elaina was born.”
I arched a brow at him. “Disappeared?”
Miguel shrugged one shoulder. “Mhm. Disappeared right after Elaina was born. Poof. There one day and gone the next like fucking magic. A hunt was out for her for two weeks before Yeller asked them to pronounce her dead and call off the search so he could focus on taking care of his newborn.”
“Convenient,” I murmured.
Miguel nodded in agreement. “He raised Elaina, and I’m sure you know what kind of hell that must have been for her.
” I could only imagine. A father that was willing to sell her as an adult had probably done some pretty shady, fucked-up shit to her as a child.
Her trauma wounds probably ran so deep, they’d never truly heal.
“Find out everything you can on the Outlaw MC,” I ordered, pushing back from the table. I slipped a hundred from my wallet and tossed it onto the table to cover the breakfast I’d barely eaten and the tip. “And get me a meeting with Yeller Giddons.”
Miguel nodded, then slipped out of the hotel restaurant.
Sighing, I headed toward the elevator to go pack my bags so one of my men could take it down to the SUV.
I needed to get back to Mexico to tie up loose ends with the intake of girls we’d rescued, and then, I needed to get things lined up so I could try to rescue Elaina.
After that, I needed to take care of her father.
And while I took care of her father, I needed to find her somewhere safe to go. Someone unattached to me but would protect her, no matter what.
I ran through the list of people I respected but didn’t do business with, trying to figure out where I could place her.
Another MC would be the safest bet. Yeller would never expect to find her there if he decided he wanted to get his hands on her again.
I had no doubt in my mind a man like him wouldn’t honor a deal.
He’d take my money, then try to kidnap her back so he could sell her all over again.
The elevator dinged, and I stepped out, then paused.
Joey Dirks, the president of the Sons of Hell MC, was standing just ahead in front of the door to another room. The door was open, and he was speaking to someone in quiet tones. And suddenly, I knew exactly where I would be sending Elaina.
I just needed to get Joey to agree to it first. He went above and beyond to protect women, and he stayed far away from the skin trade. He just didn’t like me. I was too powerful with my fingers dug into too many pies, and Joey wasn’t a fan of dabbling with people more powerful than him.
He was an alpha male at his core, one I could respect.
The door closed, and he turned, pausing when he spotted me. He arched a single brow and tucked his hands into the pockets of his worn jeans in a pose much too casual for a man as deadly as him.
“Bit of a step up from what you’re used to, no?” I asked, striding closer. I knew very well if Joey traveled, he stayed in motels. He didn’t do nicer hotels like this one.
“Business called,” Joey said evasively. “What are you doing in Texas, Garcia?”
My lips twitched at his use of my last name. Striding to my door, I pressed the keycard against it, then pushed the door open. “Business, just as you.” I glanced at him. “Care to join me? I have something I’d like to run by you.”
He narrowed his eyes at me. “I don’t do business with men like you, Alejandro.”
I smirked. “Is that supposed to offend me?”
He scoffed. “I wasn’t being a racist pig,” he snapped. “But you’ve got your fingers in places I avoid.”
“Oh?” I questioned, intrigued. Turning, I leaned my shoulder on the doorjamb of my room. “Like what?”
“Skin,” he growled.
I snorted, shaking my head. “You’ve been misinformed, Dirks.” I jerked my chin in the direction of my hotel room. “Come on. I’ll order a couple of beers and we can talk. And while we’re at it, I’ll clear the air, too.”
Sighing, he glanced down the hall from where he’d just come from, then pulled out his phone.
After typing out a quick message, he followed me into my hotel room.
Once the door was shut behind us, I picked up the room phone and called in an order for four beers, then took a seat on the couch.
Joey had taken up the armchair and was watching me like a hawk watched its prey.
Not many people could look at me like that without wavering, but Joey held his ground.
“I’m not in the skin trade in the way you think I am,” I informed him.
“I am, however, involved in rescuing the girls in it. I’m here because the mayor called me.
ICE employees were caught trafficking young girls and boys through the city, and he asked if I could rescue them and reunite them with their families in Mexico. ”
Joey’s lips twitched the tiniest bit. “So you’re the one he hired,” he mused. He leaned forward, bracing his elbows on his knees. “I’m the informant. I received word, found out they’re transporting through here, and warned Jose. Where are they now?”
“On their way to Mexico with some of my trusted soldiers. I already have people working to find their families. Those who have family that cannot be found will be placed into loving, good homes.”
Joey nodded, then sat back again. Crossing his ankle over his knee, he rested his elbows on the armchair. “What do you need to talk to me about?” he finally asked.
A knock sounded on my door before I could answer.
I stood and walked to it. A woman was standing with a silver bucket of beers set in ice, and Miguel was right behind her.
After slipping her a tip, I welcomed Miguel inside, then closed the door again.
Joey didn’t waste a beat and reached forward to grab a beer as soon as I set the silver bucket down on the table, using his lighter to pop the lid off.
The move was a lot hotter than I thought it’d be.
I was usually into classier men—men who traveled in my social circles.
But Joey just had something about him that was a little intoxicating.
“You have a meeting with Yeller Giddons at nine P.M. tomorrow night at a bar in Amarillo,” Miguel informed me. “And I was just informed that your girl has been found and is being taken back home. So whatever your plan is, have it ready by tomorrow night.”
Joey frowned at me, pausing with his beer bottle halfway to his lips. “The fuck is going on?” he demanded.
I sighed. “I need a favor, one that will be repaid tenfold if you can do what I need.”
Joey eyed me distrustfully for a moment before grunting and swallowing a mouthful of beer. “I’m listening.”
“There’s a woman I plan on… purchasing from her father. I need to rescue her before he sells her to someone much, much worse, and while I work on taking him out and dealing with the others in his circle, I need a safe place for her that is unattached to me.”
Joey arched a brow at me. “You don’t even know me, man.”
“I know enough. And I’ll be around more often than not,” I warned him.
“But if he decides to not honor our deal after it’s made, I don’t want him hunting her down in Mexico or in one of my homes here.
I need a small army of men standing behind her, ready to go to war if that’s what it takes to protect her. ”
For a moment, Joey looked pained. Scrubbing a hand down his face, he grimaced. “Look… I’ve been there. Done that. Didn’t work out too fucking well.”
Ah… Adelaide Berkeley, his former old lady who was now the old lady of the president of the Fathers of Mayhem.
She’d been pure trouble while she’d been with him, and everyone knew how toxic they’d been together.
Hadn’t stopped them from loving each other and him trying to protect her, no matter how many times he’d failed because Adelaide was a stubborn woman who did whatever she wanted, even if it might land her ass in a heap of trouble.
“You’re the only person I know of that has the manpower and does not constantly find himself in the midst of a war,” I told him. “I’ll have men stationed nearby for backup.”
“How… stubborn is she?” Joey finally asked.
Miguel and I exchanged questioning glances. Because what kind of question was that? Maybe he was still reflecting on his shortcomings with Adelaide?
Still, I answered, “I don’t know. I don’t know anything about her other than her name is Elaina Giddons, she’s twenty-two years old, her mother disappeared under mysterious circumstances and was never found—” Joey snorted— “and Elaina was already almost sold once before.”
Joey sighed. “If she’s too much trouble…”
“Then she and I will leave,” I promised. I wouldn’t put this on his back if it caused strain for him and his men.
He nodded once, then finished off his beer and stood. “You know where to find me?” When I nodded, he grunted. “I’ll be on the lookout. Don’t call. I need to get a new burner phone, and my personal phone can be compromised too easily.”
With that, he let himself out of the room. Miguel looked at me, both of his brows climbing up his forehead. “What the fuck was that, boss?”
I blew out a soft breath. “I believe I just struck a protection deal with the president of the Sons of Hell MC.”
And judging by how attracted I seemed to be to Joey Dirks, I wasn’t sure if my move was a smart one or a real fucking stupid one.