Page 3

CERBERUS

“Where the fuck is she?” I growl to myself, scanning the area while heading back toward the clubhouse.

Since finding Ember missing, we’d all been looking for her, not finding a trace of her.

I turn down the road leading to the clubhouse from the warehouse district.

I start to speed up, only to slow my ass back down, spotting a woman on the side of the road, walking.

The ash-blonde hair falling down her back is what catches my attention most of all.

When the woman twists to glance behind her, I know without a doubt it’s her.

“Fuck me,” I curse, come to a stop beside her and scan over her, looking for injuries.

I don’t see any, but I also don’t miss the scars marking her arms and the ones on her chest where her shirt is ripped open.

I clear my throat and nod to her without bringing it up.

“Hop on, we’ll get you to the clubhouse. ”

Ember nods and sucks in a breath. She places a hand on my shoulder, hops on the back of my bike without saying a word. Her arms go around me, and she holds on tight.

In the years since Ember broke up with me, no one has ridden behind me. Having Ember there now feels like old times, yet different in a lot of ways.

Taking her to the clubhouse, it wasn’t a difficult ride, but my mind kept going back to the sight of the scars marring her body. What happened to her? Where did they come from? I knew something was up with all the long-sleeved shirts she wore when she was around.

By the time we pull up at the clubhouse, it’s on the tip of my tongue to ask her about them, but I don’t.

Ember waits for me to park my bike and jumps off.

“Thanks,” she murmurs and starts to step away, only for me to stop her.

“Hold up,” I tell her, holding her wrist to keep her from going anywhere.

“I need to go find my uncles,” Ember says, eyes locked on where I’m gripping her wrist .

“They’re not here right now, Em. Everyone is out looking for you,” I explain. “I’m gonna call Reaper now and let him know you’re here, but I need you to stick with me. Can you do that?”

Ember lifts her gaze to mine and nods. “Fine.”

“Good.” Swinging my leg over, I straighten, let her wrist go, and take her hand instead. “Let’s get you inside,” I tell her, and pull my phone out of my pocket while guiding her toward the doors.

I find Reaper’s number immediately and lift the phone to my ear.

Reaper answers on the second ring. “Yeah.”

“Got Ember. We’re at the clubhouse,” I tell him.

“Get her inside. We’ll be there in fifteen,” Reaper tells me and hangs up.

Shoving my phone back in my pocket, I open the door while telling Ember what her uncle said. She doesn’t say anything, just simply nods.

Once inside, I allow her to pull away from me and notice her arms go around herself, almost like she is trying to shield herself from being seen.

“You want a shirt to put on?” I find myself asking her.

Ember whirls around and stares at me, her hands run along her arms, lift, and she seems to try to shield the scars on her chest .

What the fuck happened to her? Some of them look like cigarette burns.

“I’ll just go to one of my uncles’ rooms and get one of his,” Ember remarks and starts to pull away from me.

“I’m sure the doors to their rooms are locked. I can get you a shirt, Em, it’s not a big deal,” I tell her, stepping toward her only to stop when she steps backward.

“You don’t have to do that,” she whispers, not meeting my gaze. “I’ll wait for them.”

As much as I want to push it, I drop the subject. “You want something to drink? Eat?”

“Water, please,” she answers.

I don’t know what happened to her, but whatever it is, it’s fucked with her. Whatever happened today fucked with her more and she’s shutting down, closing in around herself in a way I’ve never seen before.

I make my way around the bar, grab a water from the cooler, and take it to her. She needs something to drink. Hell, for all I know, she could be in shock.

“Here, Em, drink this,” I say, removing the cap and handing her the bottle.

Slowly, Ember takes the bottle and lifts it to her lips, sipping from the lid.

The way she does this seems off in a lot of ways. She’s too damn calm, especially for the shit that’s happened. Her being taken from her car, I figured she’d be freaking out, crying, shouting. Instead, she’s just standing there sipping water, eyes weary and watchful.

I open my mouth to say something else to her, but before I get the chance, the sound of bikes can be heard from outside.

I knew it was just Ember and me in the clubhouse.

Ivy and the others were at Reaper’s. He wanted all the women and children in one place with security around them while everyone was out looking for Ember, including prospects.

Means the sound of bikes is every last one of them returning.

Reaper must have sent out a text to the group chat. I felt my phone go off, but I hadn’t checked it. My attention had been on Ember.

Not even a moment later, the door is thrown open and I finally see Ember react. Her body jumps, and she drops the water bottle.

“Ember, fuck,” Tombstone shouts.

“Fuck me,” Angel growls, coming in.

Reaper didn’t say anything, but his eyes were sharp and watching Ember closely as he approached.

All three men swarm around Ember, kiss her temple, and hug her .

“Swear to fuckin’ God, girl, you’re gonna be the death of me,” Tombstone remarks.

“I’m sorry,” Ember murmurs.

It’s then both Angel and Tombstone take a step back and look Ember over again.

“The fuck?” Angel remarks.

I guess none of them knew about the scars.

“Where the fuck did you get those?” Tombstone demands.

“When did you get them?” Angel adds.

“Can we stay on target?” Reaper growls, noting as well as me how Ember does her best to hide the scars, but there is no hiding them. “Ember, we gotta know what happened, but why don’t you go to my room and grab a shirt.” He hands her his key to his room.

Watching him with her, I get the feeling that he knows something about Ember no one else knows. There’s no way he doesn’t know how she got the scars she’s got now.

Ember nods, takes the key, and rushes past the others who fill the room.

I watch her go for all of a second before turning my attention back to my Prez and VP.

“You know how she got those scars, don’t you?” Angel asks, lip curling.

“Yeah, and I’m tellin’ you now, ain’t my story to share. I won’t tell what’s Ember’s alone. Took her a lot to even share with me.”

“When did she share with you?” Tombstone demands, nostrils flaring.

“Right before she moved to Montana,” Reaper answers.

“Fuck,” Angel snarls. “She was attacked at that fuckin’ school, wasn’t she?”

“Like I said, Angel, it’s her story to share. Didn’t like keeping it to myself, still don’t, but I won’t lose our niece’s trust. We all know Ember and the grudges she can hold,” he slices a quick glance my way, and I know that last remark is aimed at me.

Fuck me.

If she’s still holding onto a grudge because of the shit back then, it’s time for her to let it go. There’s no reason for her to be holding onto something that was my fuck up.

Tombstone and Angel seem to still be stealthing when Ember comes back in the room wearing a black long-sleeved tee that goes all the way to her mid-thighs.

Clearing her throat, she scans the room and visibly swallows.

“You able to tell us what happened now, Em?” Reaper asks.

“He said he was going to use me as a message to deliver to the club,” she says in answer.

Her arms cross, her eyes dropped to the floor, her body tense.

“He intended to make me talk, but I wouldn’t.

No matter what he threatened. No matter that he had me strapped to an electric chair, I refused to talk. ”

“The fuck,” I snarl quietly.

Ember’s eyes jerk up to stare at me for a brief second before she diverts them yet again.

“What happened?” Angel demands, watching his niece closely.

“He said I impressed him because I refused to give him any answers or emotions. Except for when he asked . . .” Ember trails off, shaking her head, breathing raggedly. “I still didn’t tell him. Not even when he touched me.”

Touched her.

That motherfucker touched her.

For that alone, he’ll die.

He’ll die painfully for all the rest.

“What else?” Reaper urges her to keep going while moving toward her.

Ember takes a breath and gives us the rest. Tells us about the debt we all knew didn’t belong to a member of this club, but rather to Diablo’s stepfather.

It was one none of us would pay. Ember explains how her car started acting funny, and she pulled over only for them to surround the vehicle.

She went with them peacefully to keep from being hurt.

They’d taken her to a warehouse, not far from where I found her walking.

“He said you can check all you want, but you won’t find them there. They’d be gone and that . . .” She pauses for a moment and shifts out of Reaper’s embrace. “He also had another message.”

“What’s the other message?” Reaper grinds out.

“Tell them, the Scarlet Needles group, they’ve moved on.

They have me to thank for that, so they’ll be wanting to see that debt of Diablo’s taken care of.

The sooner the better, but I’ll give them seven days to see it taken care of.

” She quotes word for word and clears her throat.

“He also shared he’d see me again and that I should think of his leniency when he does. ”

That motherfucker won’t be seeing her again.

No fucking way.

I don’t even give a shit about the Scarlet Needles and whatnot.

None of that shit means anything to me right now.

No, what matters to me is Ember and the fact that I fucked up years ago and let her get away from me.

She ran, and now she’s back. What I have to worry about is getting her back and at the same time protecting her from the enemy.

I’ve got to make things right with Ember.

I don’t know how the fuck I’m gonna do that, just that I will.

She’s gonna be mine again whether she wants to or not.

I simply have to show her that she’ll want exactly what I do.

While I show her this, I’m gonna find out what the fuck happened to her while she was at school.

No way in hell will I let her keep carrying around secrets of what I’m sure is a nightmare she lived through.