Dark Guardian (Black Hoods MC #3) - Avelyn Paige

Copyright notice: All rights reserved under the International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, organizations, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

Warning: the unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in prison and a fine of $250,000.

Dark Guardian

Grace Halfpenny has devoted her entire life to her career as a social worker. Always playing by the rules. Always going all in. Falling in love is the last thing Grace had time for.

Eugene “Judge” Grant is the president of the Black Hoods MC. A hardass son of a bitch, thanks to the scars of his past. Love is the last thing Judge believed in.

Two people on two very different paths. Until...

Two kids, orphaned and alone with a past that mirrored Judges’ own, come along, not only needing him, but Grace too.

And when the kids’ dark past comes looking for them, Grace and Judge must put their differences aside in order to save them.

To moonshine for getting us through the first leg of the pandemic.

Tequila don’t let us down for the second.

Grace

“You don’t understand, ma’am. I’ve filled out every single sheet of paperwork this office has asked me to provide. Why won’t you release the information to me?” the man sitting on the other side of my desk pleads, his story the same as so many others.

And ma’am? Really? Am I so old now that a man, no more than ten years my junior, thinks of me as ma’am? Is forty the new fifty? I don’t dare think of what my clients will call me when I hit that milestone. Granny? Old Bitty? The thought makes me shudder.

“Mr. Jackson, I’m sorry, but my hands are tied. There are rules we have to follow.” I straighten in my chair. “You need to wait for your court date. That’s all there is to it. Your attorney should have informed you of that.”

“I’m tired of waiting. I tried to do this without the courts. I submitted my DNA to some online database for kids looking for family and got nothing. This my only option, and you won’t give me what I came for?”

“I’m sorry,” I force out, trying to keep my voice calm. “I know you’ve been looking for your parents for a long time, but there’s only so much I can do.”

I notice his hands balling into fists on top of my desk. He’s angry. Furious, actually, but it changes nothing. He’d have more luck pulling a white rabbit out of a magic hat than getting the answers he so desperately wants from me. Answers I don’t have authority or permission to share.

“You don’t want to help me,” he hisses through clenched teeth. “I have a right to know.”

“Whether it’s your right or not, I can’t help you without a court order to release the information. The records were sealed. I can’t unseal them without approval.”

“This is bullshit!” His eyes, pleading with my compassionate side just moments ago, now flash with fury. I myself have questioned over the last few years if compassion still exists after seeing so many families torn apart in some form or another. This place hardens even the gentlest of people. Social work is not for the faint of heart, and boy, have I learned that the hard way.

“Please, watch your language. This is a place of business,” I admonish him quietly. He goes to argue with me, but I quickly raise my hand to cut off his tirade. “As I explained to you the last time you scheduled an appointment with my office, this is in the court's hands. Wait for your court date, then we’ll proceed from there.”

“All I’ve done is wait.”

“I understand that. Believe me, I do. But there’s nothing more I can do. It’s in the hands of the judge. Your attorney should have notified you of that.”

“My attorney assured me this would be an easy process, though it’s been far from it. Is there anyone else I can speak to?”

“You can take this up with the