by Kay Maree
The curiosity in dad’s tone has hope prickling the hairs at the back of my neck and my eyes widening in shock. Without missing a beat, Layne replies, “I had planned on being here a few days ago sir, but between work, school, and dad keeping me busy rebuilding that Hemi Cuda he bought, I haven’t been able to get away long enough to give this the time it needed. Asking you for permission to take Lila out deserves as much time as it takes for me to convince you that I’d protect her with my life and treat her with respect, not a rushed visit because I could fit it in.”
Swoon much?
“Good answer, boy. Don’t think for a second I’ll hesitate you put a bullet in you if you don’t live up to your promise to keep my little girl safe, though. I could care less your old man is my best friend, one hair on her head is harmed and you’re a dead man walking.”
“You’ve got my word, sir,” Layne replies earnestly.
And I believe him too.
Layne would give his life if it meant protecting me, which is just one of the many reasons I fell head over heels in love with him in a way that I know I will love Layne Marshall Lewis until the day I take my last breath.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Born in, New Zealand, Natasha Thomas moved to Australia the year she turned eight. She grew up with her younger brother and two loving parents, and it wasn't long before she realized her love of reading, creative writing, all things rock 'n' roll, concerts, ripped jeans and vintage heavy metal t-shirts.
With the support of her husband and three children, she was able to break into the Indie Author scene with her first self-published title, Burnt, Book One in the Devil’s Spawn MC series. Since then, Natasha Thomas has gone on to write many titles in both the MC and Contemporary Romance genres, some of which have made the Amazon Bestsellers list.
AUTHOR LINKS
Facebook
www.facebook.com/NatashaThomasAuthor
Amazon Author Page
https://www.amazon.com/Natasha-Thomas/e/B00SWXJ0F8
Goodreads
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7087505.Natasha_Thomas
Website
www.natashathomasauthor.com
Twitter
https://twitter.com/NatashaThomasAu
ROYALLY TAKEN
A Royal MC Novella
ELLE BOON
COPYRIGHT
ROYALLY TAKEN
A ROYAL MC NOVELLA
Copyright © 2019 Elle Boon
First E-book Publication: 2019
Edited by: Tracy Roelle
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission.
All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.
PUBLISHER: ELLE BOON
DEDICATION
I’d like to dedicate this story to the men, women, and children who are victims, have been victims, and the family members of victims of human trafficking. Each year, these numbers become more staggering and to me more devastating as they continue to rise by the thousands.
There have been over ten thousand nine hundred and forty nine human traffic cases reported in 2018 with the total expected to rise in 2019.
Victims and Survivors Identified!
High Indicators 14,701
Moderate Indicators 21,864
Calls From Victims & Survivors 7,838
If you know someone who needs help have them call or text:
Get Help
1-888-373-788
TTY:711
TEXT: 233733
Love y’all so hard,
Elle
CHAPTER ONE
Kailani Trevino’s heart banged against her chest as she watched her brother enter their home with a girl who couldn’t be much older than legal. Sweat trickled down her temple at the fear she could see stamped on the young girl’s face, fear Kailani had felt almost every night since she’d turned eighteen. God, she hated her screwed up family, especially her brother.
“It’s okay, my pet, you have nothing to worry about. I told you I’d take care of you, and that’s exactly what I plan to do, Tiana.” Rico Trevino ran his hand down the young girl’s cheek, his tone one that was used to soothing, then deceiving those he pretended to care about.
Hidden in the corner behind the screen, Kailani tried to make herself as small as she could, barely allowing herself to breathe, not wanting to draw the attention of her brother or the men with him. She took another shallow breath, hoping they’d pass through the foyer quickly, giving her a chance to make her escape and maybe find a way to rescue the young girl. Of course, she wasn’t holding out any hope she could accomplish the latter, but the former was important as it could mean the difference between her comfort, or pain.
“Can I call my sister to let her know where I’m at? I seem to have lost my phone,” Tiana asked in a small voice. Kailani wondered how long she’d been with Rico and what atrocities she’d already suffered. She let her eyes sweep over the other girl’s tall slender frame, checking to see if she had any visible injuries. From what she could tell, Rico hadn’t had his brand of fun, yet. She shivered at the images of what was to come for Tiana, making up her mind she would do all she could to save her, even if it meant a punishment for herself. It wasn’t as if she hadn’t already suffered a lot in her twenty-three years, and if Rico had any say, she’d go through a lot more once their father let him have the reins.
“You boys go take a load off. I’m going to show Tiana to her suite, then I’ll be down. I need to check in with my father,” he sneered the last bit, a habit Kailani had noticed more often lately.
“Sure thing, boss, let us know if you need any…help.”
She nearly launched herself out of the hiding spot at Grecco’s words, knowing his help would come in the form of him helping himself to young Tiana’s body. Over her dead body would that sadistic prick touch another girl if she could help it.
“I think I can handle this one. For now.” Rico laughed. His lips touched Tiana’s temple as he murmured something she couldn’t hear, then their footsteps became quieter the farther they went into the house.
“How long you think he’ll keep that one to himself?” Thomason asked.
Kailani wanted all the men with her brother to choke on their cocks, after she removed them from their bodies with a rusty knife, but Thomason especially.
“Screw you, Thomason, you get last this time,” Grecco muttered.
Whatever the other men said, she couldn’t catch, thankfully, since she was sure they were talking about their past atrocities they’d done to the women her brother tricked into going with him. Her father was a bad man who sold drugs and guns, but he hadn’t dabbled in humans until the last ten years, not until her mother was killed. Even then, she didn’t think he knew what her brother and the others did. A tear fell from her eye before she could pull the memory back of her mama, putting it into the box she kept all the bad things that had happened in her life. Soon, she was going to need to get a new box as that one seemed to be filling up. A laugh almost slipped out, but she slapped her hand over her mouth, hysteria at her situation becoming more the norm with each passing day. Her biggest fear was waking and no longer fighting.
Once she was sure the coast was clear, she eased out of the hiding spot, placing the grate back over the hole. With a quick glance around, she made her way up the stairs, being sure to skip over the ones she knew squeaked, heading toward her bedroom, which was on the opposite side of the estate from where Rico would be taking the girl. She needed to grab her go bag, the one she’d packed several months back, and hoped to hell she could get herself and Tiana out without notice.
Traeger met the stare of his club President as King paced the clubhouse. “Brother, you’re gonna wear a hole in the floorboards if you don’t c
hill.”
In all the time he’d known King Royal, he’d never seen him so agitated. “That woman,” he sighed, running his hand through his hair. King glanced back toward his home that sat toward the front of the property.
The woman in question was a feisty little thing named Ayesha, who’d shown up just as King had learned his little brother Luke, who had committed suicide not too long ago, had done so because he feared King and his other brother Duke, Luke’s twin, wouldn’t accept the fact he was gay. The news would’ve rocked anyone, but the two brothers hadn’t had time to do much thinking since another bombshell was dropped, and she seemed to get King’s cock in a twist. Of course, Traeger wasn’t going to open his mouth and lose a tooth or two. Nope, his job was to enforce the rules of the club, back up his President and Duke. And, if it was called for, he’d lend an ear. “What did Duke find out?” he asked. King had let the woman leave after interrogating her for a couple hours but had her followed by a couple club members, Duke being one of them. Traeger stayed behind to watch King’s back.
“Between Keys and Duke, we have a good idea of who has her sister. Now, I need to go see Ayesha and get her to agree to stay the fuck out of it and let us handle what’s about to go down.”
Traeger wanted to laugh, but again, he liked his teeth, thank you very much. Instead, he nodded, waiting to hear what King wanted from him. When the silence stretched, he still did what he did best; he waited. He was an ex-Navy SEAL. He could wait a long damn time.
A heavy sigh escaped King, then he turned with a frown. “Let’s go. I’m going to need you and your skill set, brother. I think shit’s going to go sideways, and when it does, I’m probably going to need a good shot.” King turned and headed for the door, knowing Traeger had his back.
Well fuck, his skills weren’t just riding his custom Harley and drinking beer. He was an expert with just about any weapon that shot bullets, or had a sharp edge, but he could also end a person’s life with his hands or feet. Of course, King knew this. “Shit, P, am I gonna need some gloves for this one?”
King looked over his shoulder, a grim look on his handsome harsh face, nodding. “I think we all might,” he said.
Traeger took a deep breath. “I’ll meet you at your place in twenty.” He didn’t wait for an acknowledgement of his statement. If shit was going down that might or might not cost his life, he had a few things he needed to set in motion, mainly getting shit organized…just in case.
Twenty minutes later, he was sitting on his Harley outside King’s place, his black jeans and black shirt topped with a black leather jacket and chaps, his cut laying over his lap. “We going in with our colors or no?” he asked King.
The other man stood on his porch, wearing similar clothes, his own cut slung over his shoulder. “Put it in your saddle bag. This shit is liable to go south on us.”
The sound of several other bikes pulling in had him eyeing the road where he could see his brothers rolling up. “What about your girl?” he asked King.
“I don’t have a girl. Let’s ride, boys.” King swung his leg over his Harley, motioning for the others to follow him.
They rode in silence until they reached the outskirts of town, about an hour from their club, each member of the Royal Sons trusting King. They pulled into a storage center, the sun not yet up, waiting for the gate to open. Traeger sat at the back with Thrill, their bikes rumbling beneath them. “Do you feel uneasy, Trigger?” Thrill asked.
The guys always asked him the same thing before they went on a mission, thinking he had some sixth sense. Sure, he did have a certain feeling if things weren’t quite right, which had actually saved his ass on more than one occasion, and yes, the others if he was honest. He looked around, thinking about what they were about to do and focused on what was coming. When nothing made the hair on the back of his neck stand up, he shook his head. “Nope, all’s good, man.”
Thrill nodded, his bike easing forward with the others. Traeger waited another minute, making sure nobody had followed them before going through, his bike the last to enter. The gate locked with a loud snick, then with a flick, he killed his engine, letting the silence swallow up the night. The other bikes continued through the maze of storage units while he sat, patiently. One of the things he’d learned while in the Navy was you could learn a lot of things if you just waited, and there were not a lot of men or women who had the nerve, to just let shit be. He was definitely a man who could take his time, which made him one of Uncle Sam’s best at what he did. The telltale sounds of a vehicle rolling by but no lights accompanying it had him easing off the bike, rolling to the ground in one smooth move as his hand reached for his night-vision binoculars. When the vehicle continued by, he got a good glimpse of the license plate, memorizing the number.
He didn’t get up until he was sure they hadn’t circled back or sent a man back on foot. That was what King would’ve done if they’d been doing a little recon. Pressing on his watch, he waited for Keys to answer, loving, and hating technology.
“Whatcha need, Trigger?” Keys asked.
“Activate the alarms around the storage facility. We may have some visitors.” He didn’t say anymore, didn’t need to for the tech expert of the MC to do his thing.
Traeger got up, but instead of starting his bike, he rolled it toward the units his brothers were at, not wanting to give away their location just in case shit went down. He scanned the roofs, taking in which would be the best spot in case he needed to jump up on one of them to take out…whoever. Traeger was always thinking of shooting. It was an asset or a curse, somedays he wasn’t sure which way it would be. It was why he didn’t get along with a lot of people, why he didn’t sleep with a woman all night. Hell, it was why he couldn’t deal with his family. He’d killed too many and still had nightmares when he closed his eyes. Go to counseling he’d been told. Yeah, his counseling was joining King and his brother Duke, and the rest of his MC brothers. Best motherfucking counseling he’d ever found.
By the time he rolled his Harley to the units the MC were in, they’d already loaded up as if they were going to war, a notion he was familiar with. Some might say it was the last thing he should do, what with the whole PTSD and shit, but Traeger wasn’t on board with that. After one of their so called missions, he actually slept the night away without waking in a cold sweat.
“See anything?” Duke asked, his hands expertly loading a semi-automatic.
Traeger leaned his bike on the kickstand before answering, knowing a grunt wouldn’t suffice. “Keys, you listening?” he asked, again, knowing the other man was wired into the unit, hearing everything that was going on. King was the President of the Royal Sons MC, but Keys was the brain.
“Does a bear shit in the woods?” came the snarl of the speaker system. “By the way, the cameras caught that fancy black SUV rolling by, but we couldn’t get a read on the license.”
Traeger rattled off the plate number, telling the crew what he’d seen.
“We got eyes on Ayesha?” King looked to Duke.
“Hollywood and Bug are tailing her today,” Duke said, laying another gun on the table.
The sun was almost up, making Traeger’s finger twitch.
“I’m going to go by her place and see what she does, relieve the boys. I want all the weapons loaded in the cage and ready for tonight. That drive by means they’re on to us or have an inkling of who we are. If they’re suspicious, they might cut bait with Ayesha’s sister, or move her before we have a chance of grabbing her.” King’s eyes met each one of them, landing on Traeger last. “What do you think, is it too dangerous to go in there during the day?”
He thought of all the things that could go wrong during the day, the times he’d rolled into a dusty town full of people with the sun beating down on them. Daytime had more eyes on them. “From the intel we have from Keys, I’d say we wait until just before the sun sets. They’ll expect us to hit when it’s fully dark.” He didn’t tell them he planned to go in an
hour before and do a little looking himself.
King nodded. “Sounds solid.”
“You’ve got that expression in your eye I don’t trust, brother,” Duke muttered, slamming a gun down on the table.
Traeger shrugged. “Good, I don’t want you liking the way I look.”
King gave him a narrow eyed stare. “Don’t do anything stupid, or I’ll sick Dog on you and make him be your buddy for the day.”
He let his lips turn up in a parody of a smile. “You can try.” If he wanted to get rid of a tail, it wouldn’t be hard. He’d shaken the best, and none of the MC could keep up with him, not even King or Duke.
“Fuck, man, don’t be stupid,” King growled.
“I’m never stupid,” he reassured the others.
CHAPTER TWO
Kailani paced her room, time literally standing still. She wanted to race to the other side of the house and check on the girl just to make sure she was okay. “Shit, she’s so far from okay it’s stupid,” she muttered, chewing on her thumbnail, her manicure having seen better days.
She picked up her phone, swiped her thumb over the screen and pulled up the app, waiting for the cameras she’d installed to appear. Oh, she was aware if her father or brother found them she’d be in a world of trouble, but it wasn’t anything she hadn’t already endured, or at least she told herself that. In reality, she knew there were things that they could do to her, things the other women who’d come through the front doors, never to be seen again, had suffered that she hadn’t.
