Page 18 of Razor (Road Reapers MC #4)

His own mother had warned her about Marco, but did she listen—no. Really, she only had herself to blame, but that was something that she’d think about another day. Right now, she needed to figure out how Marco had found her again.

“I’m Jack,” he shouted into the air. “Jack Rodgers, but everyone calls me Spark.” He chuckled, and she wondered what that was about.

“I’d tell you a story about how I got that nickname, if you would just come out and let me help you.

” She was curious about his nickname, but there was no way that she’d leave her hiding space.

Curiosity killed the cat, and she wasn’t about to fall for his tricks.

She could hear him pacing, and when he stopped just feet away from her, she held her breath, praying that she hadn’t given herself away.

“Okay, well, if you decide that I’m not a bad guy and want to take me up on my offer of help, you can find me at this address.

He put what looked like a business card on the front pew and turned to leave.

“Um, just so you don’t get spooked, you should know that address is for a biker bar.

But the guys are all nice and you’ll be safe there.

” From the way he looked back at the dark corner, he knew that he had her trapped, but he made no move towards her.

Instead, he turned to walk back out of the small, abandoned church, and for that, she was grateful.

After Marco found her at the cheap motel she was hiding away in, she took off, leaving most of her belongings behind—including her car.

Not that losing that rusted-out heap was much of a loss.

She had taken buses and hitchhiked through Maryland, Delaware, and New Jersey.

When she hit the New York border, she breathed a sigh of relief, believing that she had most likely outrun her ex—but she knew that nothing was ever that easy.

She sat up and looked around the church, wiping sleep from her eyes and trying to clear her brain fog.

She saw no sign of fire or smoke, for that matter.

As for the men talking, she didn’t see them either.

Ember chalked it up to having a dream, but when she stood to leave the church, needing to find someplace to relieve herself, she practically ran into Marco.

“Got you,” he spat, grabbing her arm. He smelled like cigarette smoke, and if she had to guess, he wasn’t alone.

“You’ve been hard to find, honey, but you had to know that sooner or later, I’d catch up with you, right?

” She stared him down, refusing to answer his question. It was probably rhetorical anyway.

“What do you want, Marco?” she asked. Her voice sounded dry, even to her own ears.

“I want you to come home with me, Ember, where you belong. I told you that you’re mine, and I don’t let go of what’s mine very easily.

” Well, that much was plain to see. He had chased her up the eastern seaboard, and she had a feeling that he’d keep pursuing her if she found a way to escape him now.

“I’m not yours and I won’t be going back to Florida, ever,” she spat, trying to pull her arm free from his grip. He only tightened his fingers around her wrist, and she knew that she’d wear his marks later.

“Don’t make this harder than it needs to be, honey,” he shouted.

“I’m not your honey, and I told you that we’re done,” she yelled back.

This was usually how things went between the two of them, and most of the time, it ended with him backhanding her face or punching her in the ribs.

She wasn’t about to let either of those things happen this time—not if she could help it.

“We’ll see about that,” he spat. “I’ve got her, Keith,” he shouted.

Keith was one of Marco’s douche buddies from the band.

He played the drums and usually kept to himself.

He liked to sit in the corner of the bar and smoke pot with one of their other friends from the band, Alecia.

Back in the day, Alecia and Marco dated.

Hell, Alecia had even warned Ember to stay away from Marco, but she thought that was because she was jealous and still not over her ex.

After she and Alecia got to know each other, she found out that Marco liked to knock Alecia around, too, and when she left him, and not the band, he moved on to Ember.

The whole thing had turned out to be one giant cluster fuck, and if she had just listened to the warnings about Marco, she wouldn’t be in this mess right now.

“Where the fuck is he?” Marco growled. “Keith, get the fuck in here.” There was still no answer from his friend, and for just a second, Ember had hope. She wasn’t sure what she hoped for, but still, it was hope.

“I guess he got sick of waiting for you and took off,” she taunted.

“No way,” he insisted. “Keith wouldn’t take off on me like that. Something must be wrong.” He tugged her to the front of the church, and she dragged her feet, protesting the whole way. “Stop being a bitch and come on,” he spat.

“I’m not going with you, Marco. I’ve already told you that.

You want a fight, and I’m finally ready to give you one.

That was a lie—she wasn’t ready for anything.

She was tired and weak from a lack of food.

The last thing she could do was fight someone, especially Marco.

He was big, and she knew that he could pack a punch.

She had no weapons and no hope of fighting back, but she wouldn’t admit that to him.

“I think that you should listen to the lady, Marco,” a man’s deep voice growled from behind them. Marco turned her to face the guy, and she was sure that she knew him.

“You,” she breathed.

“Do you two know each other?” Marco asked, tightening his hold on her arm.

“No,” she insisted.

“Sure, we do,” the man said. “I’m Jack, remember? I dropped by here yesterday.” This guy was going to end up getting them both killed, and he seemed to have no clue how much danger he was putting her in.

“And what the fuck happened between the two of you yesterday, Ember?” he asked. She knew that denying that anything had happened between the two of them was pointless. She hadn’t even spoken to the guy, but Marco would never believe her.

“Well, that would be none of your business, Marco,” Jack spat. Yeah, he was egging on her ex, and she didn’t know him, but she hoped like hell that he was able to handle himself in a fight, because she was sure that Marco was about to give him one.

“She’s mine,” Marco shouted.

“See now, I don’t believe you. In fact, I’m sure that the lady told you that she’s not yours and that she doesn’t want to go with you. So, let’s make this easy, and you hand her over to me and be on your way.”

Marco’s laugh was mean, and all Ember could do was close her eyes and pray that whatever was about to happen would be over quickly. “Or what?” he taunted.

“Or we’ll have to get involved,” another man said, stepping in through the busted back wall of the church. Two more massive guys stepped in behind him, and she was beginning to like her odds. Who was she to argue if the big, bad bikers wanted to help her out with Marco?

“Well, this hardly seems fair,” Marco insisted. “Tell them that you’re okay, and that you want to go home with me, honey.”

She shrugged his hand off her arm, and this time, he was smart enough to let her go.

“I told you that I’m not your honey or your woman.

And the last thing I want to do is go anywhere with you.

” She looked between him and the four bikers standing on the other side of the church, trying to figure out what her next move should be.

“My pickup truck is just out front,” Jack said. “Go on and get in, and I’ll be there in a second. I’ll take you someplace safe where you can clean up and get a good meal.”

All of that sounded too good to be true, but she wasn’t about to look a gift horse in the mouth.

“Thank you,” she whispered. She didn’t bother to look over at Marco again.

She knew that he’d be furious, and she had seen enough of his anger to know that she didn’t want to ever see it again.

Ember walked out into the morning sunlight and blinked at the brightness.

She hoped like hell that she wasn’t making another giant mistake by going with a bunch of bikers while believing that they’d keep her safe, but what choice did she have?

Going home with Marco wasn’t an option for her.

She’d never go back to him or that life.