Chapter 12

12

LORELEI

A s irritated as I’d been when Grey put me into the back of the SUV in Aspen with the child locks engaged, there had been some instinct that had said I could trust him not to hurt me. I didn’t have the same feeling with these guys. Probably because they weren’t as gentle with me as Grey had been. Or it could have something to do with the black hood they put over my head.

Being in the dark made everything scarier, and I was freaking out by the time the vehicle they’d tossed me into came to a stop. When rough hands gripped my arm to tug me out, I cried, “Please, you don’t want to do this. If you let me go, I won’t call the cops. Nothing’s really happened yet, so you don’t need to worry about retribution.”

That last part was a complete lie, but I couldn’t exactly tell the truth…that Grey would probably want to tear them from limb to limb just for frightening me.

“Aw, that’s cute. She thinks her pissant brother is going to come riding to her rescue. The VP is gonna love to hear that.”

What in the heck did Lee have to do with this? I assumed my kidnapping was connected to the Silver Saints since another MC was involved. Or even worse, that one of the guys involved in Karina’s situation had somehow hidden his link to that Bickle guy and came after me because he couldn’t get to her or Kiara.

Pressing my lips together, I kept my questions to myself while they led me into a building of some kind. As the door slammed shut behind us, a deep voice asked, “This her?”

“Sure is,” one of the guys who took me confirmed.

“Which one of you two decided it’d be a good call to hood her?”

The man holding me dropped his arm, and I stumbled forward. Much gentler hands wrapped around my biceps to steady me as the same voice replied, “Just did the same thing we always do when we bring in a prisoner. Hooded her and took the long way here so she had no way of knowing where we were going and nobody could follow us.”

“She’s an eighteen-year-old girl, not a fucking risk to our club,” the guy who was questioning them muttered as he lifted the hood from my head. “Knew I shoulda done this myself.”

I blinked up at him, trying to get my bearings as my eyes adjusted to the light. “Or you maybe could’ve skipped the kidnapping altogether.”

He shook his head with a chuckle. “Guess I shouldn’t have been worried that the guys scared you with the way they snatched you if the first words outta your mouth are sassy.”

“Yeah, well…what can I say? This isn’t exactly my first kidnapping.”

He tilted his head to the side and studied my expression. Apparently deciding that I was telling the truth, he murmured, “Your brother has gotten into the kind of trouble that ended up with you getting snatched before?”

I shook my head. “Lee would never do anything that could get me hurt, which is why I’m super confused over how he’s connected to whatever is going on here. He’s not even involved with a motorcycle club.”

“Involved is one way to put his connection with the VP’s sister.” The guy who carried me out of my parents’ house snorted.

The other one involved in my kidnapping elbowed him in the side. “Dude, shut the fuck up before you’re the one who gets hooded for a totally different reason.”

“Get the fuck outta here,” the man who was wearing the Vice President patch on his cut growled.

The other two hurried to do his bidding, and it was probably the first smart thing they’d done today. “You may want to reconsider the urge to send them out to kidnap anyone else. I wouldn’t be surprised if they left enough clues behind to get caught.”

At least, I hoped they did because then Grey wouldn’t be too far behind me.

“You’re right. I wasn’t thinking clearly when I found out your brother ignored my warning to stay away from my little sister. I just tagged the first two club brothers I saw and asked them to grab you when I found out he had a younger sister.”

Pressing my lips together, I took a deep breath through my nose and tried to calm my nerves. “Are you telling me that you took me because my brother is dating your sister? Like a swap? What’re you planning on doing with me?”

He lifted his hands and took a step back. “Shit, no. Not like that. The Iron Rogues don’t hurt women.”

“Damn straight we don’t.” My head jerked to the side as another man strode into the room. “Which is why I’m surprised as fuck to hear my second in command kidnapped a girl.”

“She’s Lee Hansley’s sister,” the VP explained to the man wearing a patch that said President.

“Well, shit.” The prez shook his head. “Now I get why you did it.”

“I’m glad one of us does,” I muttered.

Gesturing toward one of the stools at the bar to my left, the two men waited for me to sit down before the prez explained, “Maverick practically raised Kansas. She’s never been interested in a guy before your brother, and he lost his head when he found out she’s with someone who’s five years older than her.”

“She hasn’t even graduated from high school yet, Fox,” Maverick complained. “The last thing Kansas needs is some older guy distracting her from her studies when she only has one semester left. Besides, she’ll be headed to college and forget all about him anyway.” He sounded more hopeful than sure.

Considering I was the same age as his sister and Grey was fifteen years older than me, I didn’t think Maverick had a whole lot to complain about. But I was certainly going to use Lee being older than Kansas when my brother lost his head over me being with Grey.

“And how exactly does taking me stop that from happening?” I asked.

“The girl’s got a point.” Fox leveled a pointed look at his VP.

“I was going to call the guy and tell him that if he’d leave my sister alone, then he could have his back,” Maverick admitted.

“And when Kansas found out why he dumped her?” Fox jerked his chin toward the bottles lining the wall behind the bar. “She’d probably throw every one of those at your head.”

“I know, man,” Maverick sighed. “But the guy’s got to know she’s untouchable. This is my baby sister we’re talking about.”

“There’s another problem with your plan,” I announced, sliding off the stool.

Maverick’s brows drew together. “There is?”

I might not have had the chance to go to the Silver Saints clubhouse yet, but Grey had taught me a lot about club life. So I knew the answer to the question I was about to ask. “What happens if you take an old lady?”

“Never gonna happen.” Fox shook his head. “No one would ever touch an old lady.”

“Really?” Quirking a brow, I shrugged off the peacoat so they could see the vest Grey had given me only a couple of hours ago. Tapping my finger against the stitching on the front, I asked, “When you found out about me, did you get my name?”

“Yeah, I did.” I turned around so they could see the property patch, and Maverick hissed, “Shit.”

“Motherfucking hell,” Fox groaned. “You kidnapped a goddamn Silver Saints old lady?”

“It’s not like I knew that’s what I was doing,” Maverick protested, raking his fingers through his hair. “If I’d known she was claimed, I never would’ve had the guys pick her up. And I sure as fuck would’ve beaten the shit of them for hooding her so that I could have at least told her old man that she’d been taken care of.”

“In his defense, it’s a very new thing. And he might, maybe, possibly be a little understanding since he also kidnapped me.” I pressed my lips together and scrunched my nose. “But I doubt it.”

“Why the hell am I not surprised?” Fox scraped his hand across his jaw. “Those guys have the wildest stories when it comes to finding their old ladies.”

“And they’re protective as fuck over their women,” Maverick muttered. “I’m a dead man, and I don’t even have anyone to blame but myself.”

“You’ve got that right.”

Either those guys had messed up more than I’d thought, or Grey was an even better hacker than I thought. Not that it really mattered. The only important thing was that he’d come for me…and he brought reinforcements.