Page 23 of Juan

Juan glanced at his brothers, all three of them intently listening to the conversation, listening for signs of danger or deceit. He caught Mantis’s eye and his brother nodded, confirming Juan’s gut—the woman was telling the truth.

“Anything,” Amber said, her voice a hoarse whisper.

“You staying with those Falcons?” she asked.

Amber blinked, then glanced at him. He nodded for her to answer.

“I am. They’re good people.”

Juan smiled at her preemptive defense of them. They weren’t your typical motorcycle club, but they were still a club.

“I know. Adrian researched them before we rolled into town,” Clara said. “The thing is, we’re running from your ex, and we’ve been in the same place for nearly ten days now. It’s making us twitchy. You can come here—”

“Or you can come here,” Juan interrupted. Amber’s head jerked up. She studied him, then reached for his hand.

“That one of them?” Clara asked.

“Spencer Watson, ma’am,” he said, taking Amber’s hand in his. It felt right to be doing this together. “We can keep you all safe. There’s plenty of room. We even have a shed where we can hide the camper.”

“You know about that, too?” Clara said, more pondering the situation than asking. When he didn’t answer, Clara spoke again. “I’m glad you finally called, Amber. We were running out of options. I’ll tell you more about why when we see you.”

“You’re coming here?” she asked, her voice a painful mix of hope, fear, and longing.

“It’s safest,” Clara said. “Tell us how to get there, and we’ll leave in fifteen minutes.”

Amber started shaking again, and he wrapped an arm around her. “We’ll get some rooms ready,” Juan answered before giving her the address.

“You’re really coming?” Amber said.

Clara didn’t answer right away, and Juan’s muscles twitched with tension. Then Clara cleared her throat, and again, he relaxed. He had no idea what her story would be, but she wasn’t unmoved by the thought of reuniting Amber with her baby.

“You just hold on, sweet girl,” Clara said. “We’ll bring you your baby and tell you everything you want to know.”

A gasping sob shook Amber’s body, and Juan pulled her against his chest.

“Thank you, ma’am,” he said.

Clara exhaled. “It’s a hell of a story. I’m assuming y’all got some good whiskey around there, ’cause we might need it.”

“We’ll have the tumblers ready,” he said.

“We’re packing up now,” Clara said, then hung up.

He ran a hand up and down Amber’s back until Daphne stepped in. “Why don’t we head to your room, and you can wash up and change before they get here?” Daphne’s eyes flickered to his as she spoke. He got the message loud and clear. Amber needed a little time to collect herself, and he and his brothers needed to plan. Clara Beverly sounded genuine, but none of them would take any risks with Amber and her little girl.

“Go with Daphne, sweetheart,” he said. “We’ll get things ready down here.”

Amber gave a vacant nod, then stepped away. Daphne’s arm wrapped around her waist as she led her friend away.

They waited until the women’s footsteps echoed on the stairs.

“Christ,” Juan said, running a hand through his hair. His brothers each exhaled as well and relaxed their stances. “Anything from Leo yet?” he asked.

“Texting him now,” Lovell replied, phone in hand.

“There has got to be some fucked-up story behind all this,” Dulcie muttered.

Mantis inclined his head. “Between the notes, the proximity of Clara’s home to Amber’s, the age of the baby, and the fact that she looks exactly like Amber, there wasn’t much doubt who the little girl’s mother was, but at least they’ve confirmed it.”