Page 32 of Royal Sons MC

Chapter Three

Kailani could feelthe heat of the man named Trigger's stare. The other man, who was in the back with Tiana, was no less intimidating, but for some reason, he did nothing for her. Oh, she had no doubt he was every bit as dangerous, maybe more so, but her mind and body didn't scream for her to let him take over. Good god, here she was on the run with a young girl from her brother and father, basically with the clothes on her back, yet she was lusting after a man she'd just met. Yep, she'd lost it. Or could it be Stockholm Syndrome or something similar to that?

Trigger snapped his fingers in her face, drawing her attention to his large, scarred, tattooed hands. Shit, he really was all kinds of wrong for her. Of course, the men her brother planned to sell her off to were even more wrong. No, scratch that, they were worse.

At least this gorgeous specimen was sex on a stick instead of the men her brother offered her up to.

"Are you deaf, stupid, or stalling for time? Because I hate to break it to you, sweetheart, I'll shoot every motherfucker who sticks his face in through that door. After that, I'll make sure you suffer a worse fate than death."

She couldn't help it—the thought of suffering worse than she had made her laugh. "You've no clue what I've suffered, but trust me, I have no love for my brother or any of his men. But to answer your question, he's probably already figured out I helped her escape. I mean, the rope ladder hanging out my bedroom window was probably a dead giveaway, don't you think?" she asked, staring straight ahead, ignoring how her heart pounded. It was easy to admit to this stranger the bald facts, or almost the facts. Her innocence had been stripped away from her, like her clothing, when she'd been only a little older than the young girl in the backseat.

The day she'd turned eighteen, she learned she had to earn her keep or else. Kailani would've chosen to leave, but that wasn't an option given to her. From that day on, she suffered horrors and had every one of her teenage dreams shattered like the finest China. Her dreams gone. Her nightmares were filled with horrors. Kailani worried she'd never escape. She realized monsters were real and that they didn't just come out at night but were those who were men she'd known her entire life, men she called family.

Fingers snapping in her face brought her back to the present. She took a deep, shuddering breath. "I suggest if anyone gets in your way, you run them over because you can bet your ass they'll do the same to you, Mr. Trigger." She sat back, pulling the seatbelt over her chest.

She didn't offer any more advice. The big man beside her could do his worst. She'd lived through what no girl should and was still here. If she survived tonight, she'd start a new life where no boogie men were under the bed, where brothers and fathers weren't willing to sell their loved ones to the highest bidders. After tonight, if she made it out alive, she would run as far and fast as she could and be free. Just the thought of being able to do what she wanted, when she wanted, without consequences, was enough to make her reckless. She waited, holding her breath while the garage door opened, praying like she'd never done that the men her family hired to keep her prisoner hadn't already figured out she was halfway gone. What they didn't know was she wasn't going back alive. Kailani could taste freedom, and it would be outside this fake paradise or six feet under. Either way, she was done being the Trevino Whore.

"Buckle up back there. We could be in for a bumpy ride," Trigger warned.

TRAEGER DIDN'T KNOWwhat demons were chasing the sexy little woman next to him, but he knew a trauma victim when he saw one, and Kailani's face showed horrors on every perfect line. She couldn't be more than in her early twenties, but he knew she'd been through hell and then some. If he'd have to guess, he'd say her brother wasn't good to her. Traeger would wager a bet her brother did his damndest to ensure she was really good to his friends and colleagues. The last thought had him gripping the leather steering wheel tightly with his right hand. "I'll make sure you've got a safety net when we get out of here," he promised.

The door opened almost soundlessly, the lights all over the property had been shut off thanks to Keys, which was probably making Rico and his band of fucktards shit their Armani pants, but Traeger could care less. Once he had the two women safely ensconced somewhere, he planned to come back and visit the little shit. He had an idea of what Kailani's life had been like, and the fact the Trevino men allowed it made his blood boil.

"Our boys have set up a distraction on the other side of the estate. We've got a clear shot if we go now," King ordered.

Traeger shot out of the garage. The small car had more power than expected. He kept the lights off, not wanting to alert anyone to their escape. Using what he remembered from their trek, he navigated the drive, barely missing the giant statues along the path. Nobody uttered a word until they hit the end of the driveway. Thank fuck, the gates stood wide open, and still, there wasn't a sign of anyone trying to stop them. Traeger never liked the idea of things coming easily to them, but he wouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth. With the car at a steady thirty, which was fast for exiting a private drive, he hit the road, jerking the wheel to the left just as the first bullet pinged the back fender. "Get your head down," he ordered, pushing Kailani's head toward her knees.

King shot out the back window, returning fire as Traeger concentrated on the road, ensuring they didn't have any roadblocks to contend with. The calm way Kailani held herself, he knew she was a ride-or-die chick. His hand went to the back of her head. The dark stands were like silk beneath his palm. "I'll keep you safe," he said, making it a vow.

She looked at him sideways, the bright green eyes shocking in the darkness. "I'll keep myself safe, thanks. Just get us as far away from there as possible, then pull over. I'm sure you guys have someone ready to pick the three of you up, yes?"

Her calm question had every one of his caveman instincts ready to deny her, but the little whimper from the back made him glance in the rearview mirror. "What's up, little girl?"

"What's going on?"

"Well, it goes something like this. You whistled for a cab, and when it came near, the license plate wasn't fresh, and the dice you rolled wasn't your lucky number," King muttered.

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