Chapter 22
Avery
The ride back to the bakery was quieter than the night before.
Rook had insisted on driving her himself, one hand gripping the handlebars, the other resting over her thigh like he needed the physical reminder she was still there. Two prospects followed behind them in a truck, keeping watch.
Avery held onto Rook tightly, her cheek pressed between his shoulder blades. She wasn’t scared this time.
She just didn’t want to let go.
When they pulled up behind Sweet Treats, the new security cameras were already installed. Ledger and Grim were finishing the last one, wires neatly tucked away.
“System’s live,” Ledger said. “Motion alerts go straight to the club.”
Grim nodded toward Rook. “We’ll rotate watch until we know more.”
Avery exhaled, relieved. “Thank you. All of you.”
Rook squeezed her hand. “Let’s get you inside.”
They walked toward the back door.
And froze.
A man stood beside the dumpster, half in shadow, shoulders hunched like he’d been waiting long enough to get irritated about it. The alley was narrow, the air damp and cold, the smell of wet asphalt mixing with the faint sweetness of the bakery behind her.
Avery’s stomach dropped so fast she felt dizzy.
Ryan.
Her pulse spiked, a cold rush shooting through her limbs. Her fingers went numb. For a split second, she was back in their old apartment — the dim kitchen light, the silence that felt like punishment, the way he’d say “You’re overreacting again, Avery” whenever she cried.
Not again.
He straightened when he saw her, a slow, smug smile sliding onto his face. “Avery. Finally.”
Rook stepped in front of her so fast she barely saw the movement. One moment she was staring at Ryan’s silhouette, and then she was staring at the back of Rook’s cut, his broad shoulders and tense posture forming a wall of muscle and fury that blocked her completely.
“What the hell are you doing here?” Rook growled, voice low and dangerous.
Ryan lifted his hands in mock surrender. “Relax, man. I just want to talk to her.”
“You don’t get to speak to her,” Rook snapped.
Avery touched Rook’s arm, her fingers trembling despite her best effort to steady them. “It’s okay,” she whispered. “I can handle it.”
Her voice didn’t sound like hers. Too thin. Too tight. But she forced herself to breathe.
Rook didn’t move. Didn’t step aside. Didn’t even blink.
Ryan scoffed. “Seriously? You need a bodyguard now?”
Avery stepped around Rook before he could explode. Her legs felt unsteady, but she kept moving. She refused to hide behind someone again. Not even Rook.
“What do you want, Ryan?” she asked.
He looked her up and down, frowning like she was a problem he needed to solve. “I heard you moved back here. Thought we could talk. Maybe… figure things out.”
Avery blinked. Her heart hammered, but her mind sharpened. Figure things out? He always talked like that, vague, gentle words that twisted into traps. Words that made her doubt herself. Words that made her apologize for things he’d done.
“Figure what out?” she asked.
“You left without giving us a chance to fix things.”
Avery laughed, sharp, humorless, nothing like the girl who used to swallow her reactions to keep the peace. “You cheated on me. For months, probably years. There was nothing to fix.”
Ryan’s jaw tightened. “You’re being dramatic.”
The old Avery would’ve flinched. Would’ve apologized. Would’ve wondered if maybe she was being dramatic. She remembered standing in their bathroom, mascara smudged, whispering “Maybe I misunderstood” while he told her she was imagining things.
But the new Avery felt something hot and fierce rise in her chest.
Rook took a step forward, murder in his eyes. “Say that again.”
Ryan swallowed, but his gaze slid back to Avery, the way it always had, like she was something he could talk circles around. “Look, Avery, I messed up. But you don’t belong here. You belong with someone who understands you. Someone who…”
“Someone like you?” Avery asked, voice quiet but cutting.
Ryan nodded, relieved she’d said it for him. “Yeah.”
Avery inhaled slowly. Her hands shook, but she didn’t hide them. She let herself feel it: the fear, the anger, the years of being talked over, minimized, dismissed. She let it all rise, all gather, all burn.
And then she let it go.
“No,” she said. “I choose myself this time.”
Ryan froze.
Avery continued, voice stronger now, rising from somewhere deep inside her. “I’m not going back to someone who made me feel small. I’m not going back to someone who lied to me. I’m not going back to you.”
Ryan’s face twisted. “So you’re with him now?”
Avery didn’t look at Rook. Didn’t need to. “I’m with me.”
Ryan scoffed. “Whatever. You’re not as strong as you think, Avery.”
Rook moved so fast Grim had to grab his arm. “Let me go.”
“Not worth it,” Grim muttered, tightening his grip.
“Fine. Ruin your life. Not my problem anymore.” Ryan backed away quickly, muttering curses under his breath as he disappeared down the alley, shoulders hunched, ego bruised.
Avery exhaled shakily, grounding herself with a slow breath as the adrenaline bled out of her.
Rook caught her elbow, steady but gentle. “Aves…”
“I’m okay,” she whispered, though her voice shook. “I just… I didn’t expect to feel all of that.”
Rook didn’t pull her into his chest. Didn’t take over. Didn’t try to fix it.
He just stood beside her, close enough to lean on, but not holding her up unless she asked.
“You did good,” he said quietly. “You did more than good.”
Avery swallowed hard. “I was scared.”
“You still stood your ground.”
She blinked fast, tears burning behind her eyes. “I didn’t want him to think he still had any power over me.”
“He doesn’t,” Rook said softly. “Not anymore.”
Avery believed him.
For the first time in a long time… she believed herself too.
Before she could respond, Havoc jogged around the corner, breathless. “Uh… guys? You need to see this.”
They followed him to the front of the bakery.
Avery stopped dead.
Her breath vanished.
The glass door wasn’t just taped with a note.
It was defaced.
A thick, black spray-painted skull with a serpent coiled through the eye sockets covered nearly half the window — the Reapers’ mark — dripping down the glass like inked poison.
But that wasn’t the worst part.
Underneath, in jagged red strokes, someone had written:
SHE’LL BE FUN TO brEAK.
Avery’s blood ran cold, and her knees nearly buckled again.
Rook stepped in front of her so fast she didn’t see him move, his entire body going rigid, shoulders squared like he was ready to take a bullet.
Stone arrived seconds later, eyes narrowing. “They’re escalating.”
Havoc cracked his knuckles. “Good. I’m bored.”
Ledger snapped a photo. “This isn’t random. They know exactly who they’re talking to.”
Grim muttered, “I say we burn their clubhouse down.”
Stone ignored him. “Rook.”
Rook didn’t look away from the message. “Yeah.”
“She’s not staying here.”
“I know.”
“We move her to the clubhouse. Full protection.”
“I know.”
Stone lowered his voice. “You good?”
Rook’s jaw flexed. “No. But I will be once she’s safe.”
Avery touched his arm. “Noah…”
He turned to her, eyes fierce, voice low and steady. “I’m not losing you again.”
He stepped closer, cupping her face with both hands. “You hear me? I don’t care what they want. I don’t care what they think they can do. They don’t get near you. Not while I’m breathing.”
Avery’s heart pounded.
She didn’t know what the future held. She didn’t know how dangerous the Reapers really were. She didn’t know what came next.
But she knew one thing:
Rook wasn’t letting her face it alone.
And for the first time in a long time…
She didn’t want to run.