“Um, I don’t think that it works that way,” she insisted, “although I wish that it would.”
Another bike rumbled up the narrow road. It was a sleek black Harley with silver flames on the tank. The woman who swung off it was all confidence and grit, and Winter couldn’t help but smile at her Prez, Banshee. She was the face of the Royal Harlots, and seeing her felt like coming home for Winter. Banshee tossed her helmet up on the back of her bike and quickly crossed the field to hug Winter and then Jace. It felt like the whole family was there, and for the first time in a long time, she felt safe.
Banshee sized Winter up in one look, then turned to Jace. “Heard you stirred up a damn hornet’s nest, Agent.”
“Didn’t plan on it,” Jace said. “Trouble just seems to find me,” he teased.
She turned to Winter and patted her belly, “You should have told me,” Banshee insisted.
“I thought that Jace should be the first to find out about the baby. That’s why I hid my pregnancy from all of you. I wanted to tell you both so many times, I just couldn’t find the words,” Winter said.
Rebel cleared her throat, “Well, we know now, and I’m so happy that I’m going to be an aunt. But first, we need to find a way to get my brother off the Dead Rabbit’s radar. Bolt thinks that he might have a plan for that, but we can talk about that later. For now, we’ve got the back room set up for you both. No windows, and the walls and door are reinforced steel. There’s only one exit that leads to the garage. You’ll be safe there for now. It has all the comforts of home—well, except daylight, but you’ll get used to that.”
“You’ll have the FBI watching your six, but the Bastards and Harlots are going to be taking shifts to do the same. We figure if the Dead Rabbits come sniffing around, you should have double the protection this time. But you’ll be safe here,” Savage assured.
Jace looked skeptical. “For now,” he grumbled, taking Winter’s hand into his own. “But it won’t be forever. I’ll find a way out of this mess before the baby comes,” he promised.
“Well, you need to be quick about it then, because from the looks of her, she’s going to pop any day now,” Banshee teased. “The bad news is the Rabbits are desperate, and word’s spreading that you’re not dead. So unless you’ve got another trick up your sleeve, we’re on borrowed time. The three of us need to get back to town before they come looking for us. As the key players in the Bastards and Harlots, they are tracking our every move.”
Jace glanced at Winter. She was pale and exhausted, but she met his look without flinching. “We’ll handle it,” he said.
Rebel nodded once. “You’re family. You don’t have to handle it alone, little brother.”
For the first time since leaving the cabin, Winter felt the smallest flicker of relief and, dare she say it—hope. They said their quick goodbyes and watched as the bikes filed down the narrow path back towards town. She followed Jace inside, the smell of oil and leather wrapping around her like a strange kind of comfort. The safehouse wasn’t much — concrete floors, metal walls, and the faint hum of generators — but it was shelter. Rebel was right—it had all the comforts of home—even some of her things piled on the bed, alongside Jace’s.
Jace turned to her, “You good?”
She managed a tired smile. “I will be after a hot bath and some shuteye.”
He reached for her hand. His palm was rough, warm, and steady. “You’re safe now, Winter. I promise.” But even as hesaid it, she could see the storm still burning in his eyes — the kind that didn’t stop just because the danger had paused for the moment. For now, they’d made it to safety. Tomorrow might be another story entirely, but they would find a way to face it together, just as he promised her they would.
The days inside the safehouse blurred together for Winter. The concrete walls, the hum of the generators, and the absence of daylight made time feel like it was standing still. She counted the hours by the rhythm of Jace’s pacing and the steady thump of her baby’s kicks. Rebel and Bolt checked in on them often, bringing food and updates about what they had heard about the Dead Rabbits, but the isolation gnawed at her.
By the second week, she had grown restless. She wanted laughter, music, and the warmth of family—not just the cold steel walls that reminded her of why they were hiding. She missed her sisters—the Harlots, and the club that they and the Royal Bastards shared. She knew that what she was thinking might end up getting them both into more trouble than they needed, but she still had to ask.
One night, while she was curled up against Jace on the narrow bed that they shared, she whispered, “Savage Hell isn’t far. I know that it’s not exactly safe, but I’m asking for just one night. We need this—we need to get out of this safehouse for a few hours.”
He hesitated, his jaw tight, and she could see the storm flickering in his eyes. “It’s risky. If the Rabbits catch wind that we’re thinking about heading into the clubhouse, they’ll not rest until they have us both.”
“They won’t find out,” she promised, her voice steady despite the ache in her chest. She was making him a promise that she couldn’t really keep, but she needed this, and begging wasn’t beneath her. “We’ll slip in, stay close to the Bastards and Harlots, and leave before dawn. I need to feel alive again, Jace. Not just safe. The baby will be here before we know it, and we can’t stay cooped up here forever. It’s almost Christmas, and I just need to see the Harlots for a few hours. I’m betting that the club is even decorated for the holidays. I’ve almost forgotten that it is nearly Christmas, hiding away at the cabin and now here.”
He studied her for a long moment, and she held his gaze without flinching as though pleading for him to agree to his crazy scheme. Finally, he nodded, and she let out the breath she didn’t know that she had been holding. “All right,” he agreed. “One night, but if things go sideways, you do as I tell you to do and get out of there. You need to protect yourself and the baby at all costs.”
Winter quickly agreed and kissed his cheek. “Thank you,” she whispered. “You won’t be sorry,” she promised.
“Too late,” he grumbled, palming her ass with his big hand. “I already am. I’ll make arrangements with Savage, Banshee, and Bolt for us to head in tomorrow night.”
She wrapped her arms around him, wedging her belly up against his body. “It will be fine, I’m sure,” she lied. She wasn’t sure that anything about her harebrained plan was going to be fine, but she really needed a night out of confinement. She was right about one thing—the baby would be there in a short time, and they were going to have to figure out their lives before he got there.
It took Jace a few hours the next morning to make phone calls to set up security around the clubhouse so that they could visit. She almost felt bad that she had caused so much trouble for everyone, but the Harlots insisted that they would keep both her and Jace safe. Banshee spent most of the morning talking to Jace, trying to convince him that he was doing right by Winter, by bringing her into the clubhouse for a visit, but he didn’t seem any more convinced by her pretty promises.
Savage Hell was alive with neon lights and the roar of bike engines outside the clubhouse. Winter felt her heart lift as soon as she stepped inside and saw the Royal Harlots. The bar was packed with Royal Bastards in leather cuts gleaming under the dim glow of the bar lights. Royal Harlots were laughing loud enough to drown out the jukebox. The smell of whiskey, smoke, and fried food wrapped around her like a blanket of familiarity. She was finally home.
Rebel spotted them first, her grin splitting wide as she shoved through the crowd. “You two couldn’t stay away, huh?” she teased, pulling Winter into a hug. “Was this your idea or my brother's? I guess it was yours since my brother wouldn’t even take a chance with you or the baby.” Winter wanted to protest and tell Rebel that she wouldn’t take a chance with herself or the baby either, but that would be a total lie. That was just what she had done by coaxing Jace into bringing her into the clubhouse to see the Harlots.
Winter laughed, the sound surprising even herself. For weeks, she had felt caged, but here, surrounded by family, she felt free. “Your brother has been a grumpy mess since I came up with this idea, but we needed a night out. Plus, with all themilitary and FBI agents in the Bastards, I’m pretty sure that we’re covered even if the Dead Rabbits dare show their faces here.” She wasn’t sure of anything of the sort, but she hoped like hell that she was right.
Savage raised his glass from across the room, Bowie and Dallas at his side, and the cheer that followed made Winter’s chest ache with relief. For the first time in weeks, she wasn’t just hiding—she was home. The entire clubhouse was decorated for Christmas, and with only two weeks to go until the big day, she had figured that it would be. She also knew that it was the Harlots who did most of the heavy lifting when it came to decorating the clubhouse. They had been building their own place, just around the corner from Savage Hell, but they would always help out around the bar when the Bastards needed them.
