“You boys have some explaining to do!” I heard dad tell whoever was on the other side of the door. “She was in jail. JAIL!”

I jumped slightly in surprise when I heard the hotel door slam shut. The bedroom door was ajar, so I was able to hear all that was going on out in the lounge room and I didn’t think that was a good thing. I wonder how the boys had found out that dad picked me up?

Well, it wasn’t like I could call anyone else. I knew dad would bail me out, and I knew he would actually come to get me although I was sure flying in in our private jet to bail me out hadn’t been on his agenda for that night.

Surprisingly, he wasn’t angry with me; he was just concerned about me, making sure I was ok, which I was.

“Is she with you?” Troy’s voice broke the silence.

“She’s sleeping.” Dad’s voice was stern, “You boys want to explain why Amber was in jail?”

“We didn’t make her speed,” Cole’s voice was short and snappy. “I need to talk to her, she in there?”

“Don’t disturb her!”

“Why? It’s Amber, I’m sure she is awake,” Cole snapped back at Dad. I had never heard him disrespect dad before.

“I brought you boys here to help Amber. Not drag her deeper in!”

“What are you talking about dad? We aren’t dragging her into anything,” Troy scoffed, “Amber was in trouble when we got here. We aren’t miracle workers.” 

“I’m not stupid. I know what you boys are, and I know what Amber was involved in,” Dad roared. “But you boys were meant to pull her out of it! You boys were meant to pull her from the gangs and maybe give her some small role in your club, but not this. She wasn’t meant to get more involved.”

The boys went silent. I think we all did believe that dad knew nothing about what we really did and I was sure the boys had no idea dad knew about their club. I was stunned.

“Can I talk to Amber?”

My eyes widened when I heard Jax’s voice. Jax was here?

“No. I think it best you all leave. Amber will be coming home with me.” Dad’s voice was hard and I knew the boys wouldn’t argue with him. “Leave now.”

“I need to talk to Amber first,” Cole stood up to dad, and I didn’t know where he was getting the guts right now, especially after knowing that dad knew more than he let on. “It’s important, and then we will leave.”

The silence in the air was deadly; I could hear dad steaming from here. “Fine, she is in there.” Dad’s tone sounded as if he was breathing fire.

I quickly lay down in bed and pulled the blankets up, pretending I wasn’t listening. Well, we all knew I was, but I didn’t need to have my ears glued to the door.

The door cracked open. “Amber?” Cole’s voice was slightly softer, and I was surprised to hear the tender tone.

“Cole?” I pulled myself up in bed, and crossed my arms. He flicked the light on, and the room bounced with light.

Cole was standing with his arms crossed. “I thought you would be up.” He closed the door behind him and walked further into the room, before sitting on the edge of the bed. “I need to tell you something.”

“Must be important then,” I arched an eyebrow; let’s face it, Cole wasn’t much of a talker. “Well spill! What is it?” I pushed.

“I told Jax to dump you. He didn’t get a choice in the matter. There. I told you. Now everyone can get off my back.” Cole got up from the bed, “Don’t rant at me about it, I’m not in the mood,” he added.

He seriously thought he could just drop a bomb like that and leave? I knew he would be expecting me to rant, yell, curse and maybe inflict harm on him but if there was one thing I’d learned from them, it was that it didn’t work. Silence and disappointment hit them harder, so that was what I was going to do.

“Ok, night.”

Cole turned around, startled by my reaction. “Seriously, you aren’t going to rant? Or threaten me?

“Good night Cole.”

I slid back down into the covers and got comfortable. I wanted to kill Cole but if I’d reacted, Jax would hear about it and, after how he’d treated me, the last thing I wanted was him knowing he’d hurt me. Also, Cole didn’t deserve a reaction; my plan would work out better in the long run. No one likes a cold shoulder.

“Right, umm night.”

I closed my eyes and waited until I heard the door close. Why would Jax listen to Cole? No, wipe that. Even if he was blackmailed into dumping me, why did he do it the way he did? Not to mention, how could he be so cold towards me.

Jax dumped me because Cole wanted him to? Here I was, thinking Jax was a fearless biker. How wrong was I?

***

“Dad, I can’t come home. The boys need me.” I said, and looked up from the cereal bowl in front of me. I sat across from my dad, who was reading the morning paper. “They need me to do something.”

“I know,” Dad placed his morning paper down, frowning at me. “You shouldn’t be getting involved with them.”

“They’re my brothers,” I pointed out, pushing my bowl away from me. “I don’t really have a choice.”

“You always have a choice!” Dad gave me a warm smile. “But I know you want to do this. I just hope last night serves as some sort of warning to you Amber.”

I nodded my head, knowing that jail was where I would go if I kept doing what I was doing. Jail time would look good for the boys, but for me, it would break me.

“Did they say where they were staying?” I asked dad, getting to my feet.

“They haven’t left. Last time I checked, they were across the road at a bar.”

“Of course they are.” I rolled my eyes. Really, where else should I have expected them to be?