Page 4

Austin

The rumble of my bike cut through the night air as I followed Emmy’s taillights down the empty streets. She drove like she had something to prove, pushing her car just over the speed limit, but I had no trouble keeping up.

She was pissed—her way of keeping the world at bay when she was barely holding on. I had seen it too many times before. That was the problem with Emmy—always too stubborn for her own good.

When she pulled up to her apartment complex, I parked my bike a few spaces down, cutting the engine as she climbed out of her car. The security lights overhead flickered, casting long shadows over the lot, but something in my gut twisted the second my boots hit the pavement.

“You didn’t have to follow me home.”

My raised brow was answer enough as I trailed her up the stairs. Something felt off, and the second she reached her door, she stopped short. Before she put the key in the lock, the door swung open with a creak, revealing the disaster inside.

“Shit.”

Emmy took a step inside, her breath catching. Papers littered the floor, drawers were yanked open, furniture overturned. Her couch cushions had been sliced open, stuffing spilling out like someone had been searching for something. Just like at Luke’s place.

I pushed past her, sweeping the apartment with a trained eye.

Whoever had done this wasn’t just trying to scare her. They were looking for something in particular.

“Stay here,” I ordered, reaching beneath my cut for my piece before clearing each room and circling back. Nothing. No intruder waiting in the shadows. But that didn’t mean the danger was gone.

I found her standing in the middle of the wreckage, arms crossed over her chest, expression stoic. Her home—her sanctuary—had been violated.

“We need to go,” I said.

She bent to pick up an overturned lamp. “What were they looking for? I don’t have anything of real value besides my television.” She froze and gasped, “That’s why they texted. They wanted me out so they could do this.”

That meant someone was watching her. She hadn’t put that together yet, and I wanted her somewhere safe before she did. “Probably. That’s why we need to go.”

“I’m not going anywhere,” she protested, not even looking at me. “This is my home, Austin.”

“Not anymore. You’re coming to the clubhouse.”

She scoffed, finally turning to face me. “Like hell I am.”

My patience was already running thin. “This isn’t up for debate, Em. Your apartment’s been tossed. Someone’s after you and until I know who, I’m not letting you stay here.”

She let out a sharp breath, shaking her head. “I don’t need you to?—”

“To what?” I stepped closer, closing the space between us. “Protect you? Keep you from getting yourself killed?”

Her brown eyes flared, but I didn’t back down.

“I don’t need your damn permission to make sure you stay breathing,” I continued. “You’re coming with me.”

Her mouth opened and, for a second, I thought she was going to fight me on it. But then, with an exasperated curse, she stormed past me, shoving what little she could into a duffel bag.

It wasn’t a victory. Just a temporary cease-fire.

The second we walked in the clubhouse, I felt the shift. When she was here before, there were only a few guys who had no clue who she was. Tonight, the main room was full of my brothers, their conversations humming low over the crack of billiard balls and the clink of bottles against the bar.

But the second they saw her, everything slowed. It wasn’t just a surprise. It was a goddamn shock.

I caught the exchanged looks, the raised brows, the murmurs. Some of the old guard knew exactly who she was. The younger ones? They only knew what they’d heard—the legend of the girl who had once been at my side. The one who’d walked away and never looked back.

Tank was the first to step forward, his massive frame blocking part of the bar. I had known the man for over a decade, and he didn’t speak unless something needed to be said.

Tonight, he had something to say.

“Look, Prez, I get it,” Tank said. “You really think it’s smart bringing her back in?”

I felt Emmy stiffen at my side, her spine going ramrod straight.

My gaze snapped to Tank. “She’s got my protection. I don’t give a damn if your panties are in a bunch. Her apartment was trashed. One of our brother’s family is in danger. We protect our own.”

Silence spread, thick and heavy. Tank held my gaze before exhaling noisily and rubbing the back of his neck. “Your call, brother,” he muttered. “But this is gonna be a distraction.”

My jaw tightened. “Then it’s one I’ll handle.”

My men weren’t used to questioning me. But this? This was uncharted territory.

Bringing Emmy back in—even temporarily—was like setting a match to gasoline.

There was no other option, though. Someone had turned her apartment upside down. She was being targeted. And whether she liked it or not, she was now tied up in whatever the hell storm was coming for the club.

My responsibility. Mine to protect. Even if it meant throwing the whole damn club into chaos.

One of the younger guys—Trigger—let out a low chuckle. “Bringing in old flames now?”

The tension in the room crackled, every set of eyes fixed on her like she was a threat they hadn’t decided how to handle yet. A few whispers rippled through the room, and someone at the back shifted in his seat, eyes narrowed in quiet judgment.

Emmy didn’t flinch, but I saw the way her shoulders tensed under the weight of their scrutiny. The way her jaw clenched like she was holding something back. She wasn’t the same woman who used to walk through these doors like she owned the damn place.

Then one of the older members—Brick, mean as ever and twice as bitter—snorted and tipped his beer back. “Guess some girls don’t know when they’ve worn out their welcome.”

Silence dropped like a hammer.

I took a step forward, ready to put Brick through the fucking wall, but the tension hanging in the air and the wary stares of my men stopped me. They weren’t convinced she belonged here anymore… and they were right. She didn’t belong here. Not really, but I sure as hell wasn’t letting her go. And that was the problem, wasn’t it?

Emmy must have also felt their bitterness because, without another word, she turned and stormed straight out the door.

I swore under my breath before I followed. She was waiting for me, pacing near the row of bikes. As soon as I stepped outside, she whirled to face me.

“Are you kidding me?” she snapped. “This is where you want me to stay? Nobody wants me here.”

I let the door swing shut behind me. “What do you expect? You left this life in the dust.”

“They think I’m a damn liability.”

“Because you are.”

Her nostrils flared. “You’re an asshole.”

“And you’re reckless,” I countered, stepping closer. “And stubborn as hell. You think I’m gonna let you leave? Forget it. If I have to handcuff you, and not like we used to fuck, I’ll do it.”

She glared up at me, breath coming fast, cheeks flushed from anger—or maybe something else entirely. Maybe she was remembering those times too.

I could see it in her eyes—that same battle she always fought. The one between wanting me and knowing she shouldn’t.

It was the same war raging inside me.

My hand flexed at my side, itching to touch her, to remind her exactly what she’d walked away from.

She was breathing fast, her chest rising and falling. I wasn’t any better. My pulse pounded in my ears, my blood running hot with the pull of her.

My gaze dropped to her lips. Soft. Full. Made for sin. Tasted like heaven. She didn’t move. Didn’t breathe.

For a second, the world narrowed to just the two of us. The past. The what-ifs. The goddamn need sparking between us like a live wire. Then she stepped back, fast. Like she’d caught herself too close to the edge of a cliff and realized she might actually fall.

Her voice was quieter this time, but the words still had a bite. “I don’t belong here, Austin.”

I took a breath while counting to ten. Yeah. I knew that.

Didn’t mean I was gonna let her go. My hands reflexively balled up as I battled the instinct to pull her back in, to make her stay—not just here, but with me.

She turned without another word, striding toward her car like she couldn’t get away quickly enough.

My chest squeezed tight as I watched her go. Watching her leave had never been easy. Still wasn’t.

“Shit,” I muttered under my breath, every muscle in my body locked tight.

Let her go.

The words pounded through my head like a goddamn command. She wanted space? Fine. Wanted to pretend she could do this without me? I’d let her think that.

Didn’t mean I was walking away. Didn’t mean I was done. I followed her, my boots heavy against the pavement. She was already yanking open her car door when I reached her. “Don’t do that shit again,” I bit out.

She froze, fingers tightening on the door handle before she turned, her brown eyes flashing under the glow of the streetlamp. “Do what?”

“Walk off like that. Like I’m just supposed to stand here and watch you drive into the damn dark alone.”

Her shoulders went stiff. “That’s exactly what you’re supposed to do, Austin. This isn’t your problem.”

I let out a rough laugh, one that held zero humor. “The hell it is.”

She puffed out a breath like she was trying to hold on to her patience. “Do we really have to go through this again? Look, I know you think you have some claim on me, but?—”

“I don’t think anything,” I interrupted, stepping in closer, crowding her the way I knew drove her crazy. “I know what’s mine.”

She stilled and I caught it—that moment. That flicker of something in her eyes before she shut it down.

She shoved my chest, but it was weak, a warning more than anything. “I’m not yours, Austin. I haven’t been for a long time. Maybe I never really was.”

My fingers curled around her wrist, heat sparking at the contact. “You sure about that?”

She swallowed but didn’t back down. “I moved on.”

“Yeah?” I leaned in, voice dropping low. “Then why are you shaking?”

Her pulse thrummed under my fingertips. Fast. Unsteady.

She jerked away. “This is exactly why I left. You think you can just—” She cut herself off. “I don’t need this right now.”

“You sure as hell don’t need to be walking into some unknown setup alone either.”

Her head tipped back, eyes burning. “I had it under control.”

“The hell you did.” My tone was flat, edged with the kind of anger only she could pull out of me. “You were in over your damn head, Em. You know it. I know it. And next time? You might not be so lucky.”

Her expression faltered briefly before she masked it. “There won’t be a next time.”

That was the biggest lie she’d ever told. Because I knew her, and she wouldn’t let this go. Wouldn’t stop until she had answers.

I reached past her, slamming her car door shut before she could get in.

Her brows shot up. “Really?”

“Yeah,” I growled. “Really.”

“Damn it, Austin?—”

“You’re coming back to the clubhouse.”

She blinked, like she hadn’t expected me to say that. “Excuse me?”

“You heard me.” I stepped even closer, caging her against the car. “Your place was trashed. Someone is watching you. Maybe the same person who got to Luke. And until we figure out who, you’re not going back there.”

Her lips parted, a retort already forming. I beat her to it.

“And don’t start with the ‘I can handle myself’ bullshit again. We both know that’s not the point.”

“Then what exactly is the point?”

I tilted my head, taking her in—the fight in her, the fire. The woman who had always owned me, even when she didn’t want to.

“The point, Emmy,” I murmured, “is that you’re gonna be under my roof, under my protection, until we figure out what the hell is going on.”

A muscle ticked in her jaw. “And if I refuse?”

“Then I throw you over my damn shoulder and carry you there myself.”

She shook her head. “You’re impossible.”

I shrugged, unbothered. “And you’re out of options.”

For a long moment, she just stared at me. Then, with a muttered curse, she turned and stalked toward the clubhouse.

I exhaled, tension coiling deep in my gut. This was only the beginning. There was no denying we weren’t both in too deep already.