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19

EMBER

T he world doesn’t make any sense right now, so I cling to the only thing that does.

Atom.

Black smoke tars the exterior wall, water races to the drains, and there’s too much piercing noise that hurts my ears and flashing lights that do little to ease the pounding in my head.

But the way Atom mutters words of reassurance and kisses the top of my head stops the pain in my chest from spilling over completely.

We had to move when the fire truck arrived. Now we’re at the back of the lot, Atom’s back up against the fence, and I’m sitting across his lap, trying to make sense of the wreckage.

I’m not one for praying, but I find myself repeating the same phrase.

Please don’t let it be as bad as it looks.

The roar of motorcycles gets louder and louder.

Any minute, I’m going to have to put on a brave face and get up from this safe corner Atom has created for us because my father is going to march in here and take over if I let him.

For once, I understand why.

Someone wanted me to die tonight.

But here, in Atom’s arms, I know they can’t get to me, and that singular thought allows me to breathe.

“Thank you for coming to find me,” I say eventually.

“I’ll always find you, Em. No matter where you are, no matter what trouble you’re in. I’ll get to you. I promise.”

Atom tips my chin and kisses me. He’s taking a risk. Any of the firefighters or even Tanner Radcliffe could tell my father. And while I want him to know just how much I love the man holding me, tonight is not the night.

“My dad’s here,” I say as the bikes pull up away from the fire trucks.

Atom nods. “I know. Your dad is going to be too busy losing his shit to worry about the fact I’m holding you because you just had the shock of your fucking life.”

“Ember!” Dad’s voice is louder than everything else.

Atom puts his hand over my ear, smushing my face against his cut. “She’s over here.” His chest reverberates beneath my ear as he shouts in reply.

“Jesus,” Dad says, dropping on his knees next to Atom and me. “Are you okay, Em?”

“I’m okay,” I say finally. “Shook up. But alive.” Tears sting my eyes. “Look at my bar, Daddy.”

I haven’t called him that in years. I don’t know why it just slipped out. But I reach for him, and he takes me, and he fists his hand into my hair and holds me so tightly, I can barely breathe.

“You’re safe. We’ve got you. And I’m taking you to a doctor.”

I shake my head. “I’m okay. But…God, this is going to be such a big mess to clean up.”

The tears I thought I had under control spill over again. Big fat ones that I can’t seem to stop.

“There’s gonna be an investigation,” Dad says. “The club will board it up for you until you’re told you can reopen. You can come stay with me until then.”

I shake my head. “That’s not safe, Dad.”

Wraith looks over to where the firefighters are putting out the last of the flames. “What do you know? Where are Haynes and Charmer?”

Atom points to the bodies. “It was deliberate. I’m certain they’re gonna find traces of accelerant.”

“Ah, shit,” Butcher says. “Two fucking good men.”

I feel sick to my stomach that they died simply for showing up to protect me. No inanimate object is worth someone else’s life, that includes my bar. But I also see that my life will always be game, just because of my relationship to Butcher Deeks.

At some point, when there is a reckoning between Dad, Atom, and I, I need to make him understand that I’ll be safer with Atom than anyone else.

“I’ll make the arrangements with the families,” Catfish says.

“Haynes was weeks away from becoming a brother. Give his family what we’d give a patched-in member,” Butcher says, referring to the money the club gives the families of fallen brothers.

“The front doors to the bar were unlocked and open,” Atom says. “The covers were off the smoke detectors and piled outside the front door. I’m sure if you check, the batteries will be gone too. There was no alarm going off when I got here. They must have managed to turn that off too. The sprinklers never came on either. Several systems in the bar, designed to alert and prevent the spread of fire, never activated.”

“Fuck,” Catfish mutters.

“Then I agree with Ember. It’s not safe for her to be with you, Butcher,” Wraith says. “Until we’re certain whether they wanted her to die in this fire to send a message to those refusing to pay, or as a message to you that they won’t be messed with. Having you both under the same roof is a bad idea.”

Dad lets go of me and stands up straight. “If you think I’m leaving my daughter out in the cold while we sit around, scratching our asses, you’re sorely mistaken.”

“Dad. It’s fine. I’ll go to Quinn’s.”

Dad stares at me for a second. “Quinn? Who also got threatened by the fucking Bratva for cash she can’t afford to pay? Yeah, I really want you over there hanging out with her like a sitting duck for the next fire.”

“I should go and check on others who might have been hit tonight,” Wraith says. “Do a patrol of Quinn’s, Margie’s…some of the others.”

“They keep wrecking the places they want money from, they’re going to have no targets left,” I say, finding some dark gallows humor.

“Not funny, Ember,” Dad says.

“How did they know to hit tonight while we were hunting them down?” Catfish asks.

Dad glances at me, then back to Catfish. “We’ll figure that out later.”

Atom stands and helps me to my feet. “I agree with all of you. Ember shouldn’t be with Butcher. Not right now, until we know more. And, Butcher, I get why you don’t want Ember out in the wind.” He turns to face me, and I see the compassion in his eyes as he helps me navigate my way through this. “And I get why you’d be happier over at Quinn’s. So, here’s a thought. We can’t fix shit tonight. We all need some sleep. I know a place you can hide that no one, not even most of you guys, knows about.” He turns to face my father. “It’s deep in the ranch. I’ll ride her there myself. We’ll take the horses because you can’t make it on foot.”

Dad looks up at the night sky. “It’s dark. Dangerous. There’re wild animals.”

“And we’re both extremely experienced riders,” Atom says. “I know that land like the back of my hand. I’ll keep her safe.”

“Wait,” I say. “What about my bar? My staff? They need to know. I need to talk with them.”

“Send them a text saying the bar caught fire, so they know they aren’t needed for work or clean up. Call ’em first thing in the morning,” Wraith says.

“But there are going to be things to do. Forms. Statements.” I reach for Atom’s hand, and thankfully, he’s thinking for both of us when he avoids it and reaches into his cut to get a cigarette and lights it.

He takes a long draw on it, then blows it out in a steady stream. “And we’ll figure out a plan to get them done from where we are. I grabbed your laptop. If we need to come into town, we can.”

Dad purses his lips, unconvinced. “But if we’re together, it’s easier for Wraith to organize a schedule to provide security.”

Grudge points to Haynes and Charmer. “Not sure a schedule will be enough. They obviously know something we don’t.”

“Be easier if we were just looking out for you tonight,” Wraith says.

“We should call lockdown,” Dad says.

Catfish nods. “Maybe. But we need to acknowledge they are bigger than us in size. Given their aggression levels, even the clubhouse may no longer be safe.”

Wraith nods. “I think it makes sense to let Atom take Ember. If this is the Bratva, they’re ballsier than we thought. And creative. And fearless. We went to look for them and left the town unprotected. But they aren’t going to waste their time trying to search for Ember across however many fuck-ton acres the ranch is.”

“Why are you all talking like I’m not here and I don’t have a say?” I ask. The words sound like those of a petulant child, and I’m a little ashamed of them before I even finish the sentence.

Atom squeezes my shoulder for a brief moment. Not so long that my father would notice anything untoward. “No one is trying to do that. But protecting what’s ours, that’s what we do.” He glances up towards the stairs to the apartment. Water drips from them, but it looks like the fire damage was contained to downstairs.

“We should get you some clothes and shit, before officials arrive and try to tell us we can’t get in there until you have a structural inspection,” Dad says.

I guess it’s a fait accompli. Atom is right, I can do what I need to do remotely. Plus, I’d rather be outdoors, on Lemmy, with Atom, than be suffocated by my father.

I turn to face my dad. “Promise me you will keep me informed about anything to do with the bar, Dad.”

He nods. “I will.”

“I need you to hear something,” Sheriff Radcliffe says, walking through the wet puddles carefully so as not to get splashes on his pressed and creased jeans.

“Can’t wait for this,” Wraith says.

Atom chuckles.

Radcliffe puts his hands on his hips, and I have to give the man credit. He stands in the face of men who are all taller and more than capable of kicking his ass. It’s like David and Goliath, except David isn’t smart enough to load the sling with rocks. “I won’t have any of you chasing vengeance within my town limits.”

Dad steps forward. “If you had any sense about the dangers this town is currently facing, you’d be begging me to do what you can’t.”

Radcliffe has the balls to step a little closer to Dad, who doesn’t so much as flinch at the gesture. “One thing I can guarantee…I will never beg you for anything, Nolan Deeks.”

“Never say never,” Atom says. “I’ve seen bigger men than you fall to a place where begging my president was the only way to…flourish.”

He was going to say survive . I know it. Dad knows it. And by the look on his face, so does Sheriff Radcliffe.

“Let’s start a chain,” Dad says suddenly. “Tell us what you need, Ember, and we’ll pass it out.”

“You aren’t allowed in there,” Radcliffe says. “It’s now a crime scene.”

I shake my head. “Technically, the bar is a crime scene. The apartment above is a residential unit above a retail unit. Mixed zoning but set up as separate properties.”

“I-it’s not safe,” Sheriff Radcliffe splutters.

“Neither are you,” Wraith says as he walks by.

“Was that a threat?” Radcliffe replies.

Wraith doesn’t bother to answer. I turn to Atom. “Let me go in. It’ll be faster. I’ll stay to the left-hand side of the apartment, in case the floor is damaged. The fire was over to the right side of the building.”

“Fine.” He drops to his knees and rummages in the sports bag before pulling out my workout sneakers. Gently, he unties the laces and helps me slide each foot into them.

Catfish catches the action and raises an eyebrow, but even with the scrutiny, I have to fight the urge to thrust my hands in Atom’s hair and thank him for his kindness.

“Get some proper clothes on,” Dad says as I pass him.

I roll my eyes and glance down at my hoodie and the overworn sleep shorts. “Yes, Dad. Because when I was carried unconscious from a smoke-filled room by Atom, I was subconsciously thinking, ‘Oh, I should have slept in a robe.’”

Catfish throws an arm over Dad’s shoulder. “Bet there’s just a small part of you that wishes the flames had just taken her.”

Dad is about to nod, then catches Catfish’s grin. “Too soon to be making fucking jokes about her burning alive. And I meant for the ride on the bike. Jesus fucking Christ.”

Atom puts a hand over his mouth to bite back a laugh.

And for the first time since I woke up on the concrete, my heart rate starts to settle.