Chapter 12
TWELVE
JAX
Ainsley is still sleeping between Knox and me, and I don't move because I don't want to wake her.
Her dark hair is spread across the pillow, her face soft and peaceful in a way I've never seen before.
Her lips are slightly parted, her breathing slow and even, and one hand is curled against Knox's chest while the other rests on my arm like she's anchoring herself to us even in sleep.
She's beautiful and she's ours. The thought still hits me hard every time it crosses my mind, especially after everything it took to get her here. To get her to trust us enough to fall asleep between us without fear keeping one eye open.
Knox shifts beside her, his eyes opening to meet mine over her head.
He doesn't say anything at first because he doesn't need to.
I can see the same thing I'm feeling written all over his face.
We need to protect her. Protect Owen. Make damn sure Justin never gets close enough to hurt either of them again.
"We need to lock the cottage down today," Knox says quietly, his voice rough with sleep.
I nod because we've already talked about it. Half the damn club has, actually. "What did Riot say?"
"He's got everything ready. Cameras covering the entire property. Motion sensors. New locks. Reinforced windows." Knox pauses, his jaw tightening before he adds, "Panic buttons in the bedroom and living room. One in Owen's room too."
My eyebrows go up. "You put a panic button in a toddler's room?"
"Where she can reach it if she's in there with him."
That makes more sense, although I should've known Knox had already thought through every possible scenario before he ever opened his mouth about it. "Anything else?"
"Tank's tying the cameras into the clubhouse system. Someone will have eyes on the cottage twenty-four seven until Williams is handled."
I study him for a second. "You realize she's going to lose her shit when she sees all of this."
"She can lose her shit while she's safe."
A laugh almost gets out of me, but I swallow it when Ainsley shifts between us. Her eyes flutter open, and for a second, she looks confused. Her body goes tense before her gaze finds me, then Knox, and I watch the fear leave her face as she remembers where she is and who's lying beside her.
"Morning," I murmur, brushing a strand of hair away from her cheek.
"Morning." Her voice is still thick with sleep.
Knox presses a kiss to her shoulder. "How'd you sleep?"
She looks between us before a small smile pulls at her lips. "Better than I have in years."
Something tightens in my chest at how easily she says it, like sleeping without fear is still some kind of luxury instead of something she should've had every night of her life.
"Good." I kiss her forehead. "Because there's going to be a lot of noise around the cottage today."
Her eyebrows pull together. "Why?"
Knox answers before I can. "We're upgrading the security."
She pushes herself up a little, tugging the sheet with her. "What kind of upgrades?"
I glance at Knox, but he doesn't even blink before giving her the list like he's discussing the weather instead of turning her little cottage into the safest building on club property.
"Cameras. Motion sensors. Reinforced locks. Window alarms. Panic buttons."
Her eyes get progressively wider with every word.
"And someone at the clubhouse will be monitoring the cameras," I add.
She stares at us for a second before saying, "You're serious."
"Very," Knox says.
"Guys."
"Ainsley."
She gives him a look. "I don't need my house turned into Fort Knox."
I bite the inside of my cheek, but Knox's eyes narrow immediately.
"Don't."
That does it. I laugh, and Ainsley turns her head toward me with her lips already starting to twitch.
"Did I just make a Knox joke without meaning to?"
"You absolutely fucking did."
Her smile lasts for another second before it fades, and I know what's coming before she even says it because I'm starting to recognize that look. It's the one she gets whenever somebody does something for her and she starts calculating what it's going to cost everyone else.
"I don't want everyone rearranging their lives because of me."
"We're not," I tell her.
"You just said someone is going to watch my house twenty-four hours a day."
"Watch the cameras," I correct. "Not your house."
"Jax."
"Baby, Justin has already proven he isn't going to stop because you told him to. Until this is over, we're not taking chances."
Her gaze drops, and I hate the way her shoulders curl inward. I can practically see the guilt settling over her, turning something Justin caused into another burden she thinks she has to carry.
I reach for her chin and gently bring her eyes back to mine. "You're not the problem here."
"I know."
"Do you?"
She doesn't answer, which is answer enough.
Knox moves closer behind her, his hand settling against her hip. His voice is quieter when he speaks again, but there's nothing soft about the certainty behind it.
"We're not moving you," he says. "We're not taking the cottage away from you. We're making sure nobody can take it from you."
Her expression changes, and it's small enough that I might have missed it a few days ago. I don't miss much when it comes to her anymore.
The cottage matters.
Of course it fucking does.
It's the first thing she's had since running that belongs to her.
The first door she's been able to close without worrying about what waits on the other side.
She picked where Owen's things went. She drinks coffee on that old porch swing.
She's started making that place hers, and the last thing she needs is another man deciding where she's allowed to live because he thinks he knows what's best for her.
"You get to stay home," I tell her, running my thumb over her cheek. "We're just making home safer."
Her eyes fill, but she blinks quickly and nods. "Okay."
Knox kisses her temple. "Okay."
Two hours later, the cottage looks like the Iron Reapers are preparing for war, which, considering the number of bikes parked outside and the number of armed bikers crawling all over the property, might not be far from the truth.
Riot is on a ladder installing another camera beneath the edge of the roof.
Tank is inside setting up the monitoring system while Tiny and Steele replace the screws in the exterior doorframes with longer ones.
Cole is working on the windows, and I haven't seen Rook in ten minutes because apparently he's decided the backyard is his personal security project.
Ainsley stands on the porch with Owen on her hip, staring at all of them like she's trying to figure out whether to laugh or start kicking people off her property.
"This is insane."
"It's thorough," Knox corrects.
She looks at him. "There are six grown men working on a two-bedroom cottage."
"Seven," I tell her. "Rook's around back."
Her mouth falls open, and I can't stop myself from grinning.
"Don't encourage him," Knox mutters.
Owen reaches toward the yard, bouncing against Ainsley's hip. "Da-da-da!"
I look over and realize he's reaching for me. That still gets me every damn time. I walk over and take him from Ainsley, and the second he's in my arms, his little fingers wrap around my beard and pull.
"What's up, little man?" I wince when he gives my beard another tug. "Yeah, that's mine."
Ainsley laughs, and the sound stops me for a second. Not because I haven't heard her laugh before, but because she's standing on the porch of her cottage with club brothers crawling all over the property, her son trying to rip out my facial hair, and for once she's not looking over her shoulder.
She's just here.
Knox comes up behind her and rests his hand against the small of her back. "Come inside. I want to show you something."
Her suspicion returns immediately. "What else did you do?"
"Ainsley."
"That isn't an answer."
I follow them inside with Owen, who's still fascinated with my beard. Tank is crouched beside the television messing with a small black box, and when he sees us, he stands and hands Knox a tablet.
"All yours."
Knox passes it to Ainsley, and she looks down at the screen. Six camera feeds fill it. The front porch, back door, side yard, driveway, the path toward the clubhouse, and the tree line behind the cottage are all visible at once. Her thumb moves across the screen as she studies each one.
"You'll be able to see everything from here," Knox explains. "Or your phone once Riot sets it up."
"And these?" She points to small icons along the bottom.
"Window and door sensors," Tank says. "Green means secure. If anything opens, you'll know exactly where."
Ainsley looks at Knox. "You thought of all of this?"
"Most of it."
"Riot thought of the rest," I add, because Knox looks entirely too pleased with himself.
He shoots me a look.
"What? Give the man some credit."
Ainsley shakes her head, but she's smiling again when Knox walks her down the hallway. He stops outside Owen's room and points to a small button mounted high enough that Owen can't reach it but low enough that Ainsley can.
"This is the panic button."
Her smile disappears as she looks at it.
"If you hit it," Knox continues, "the clubhouse gets an alert immediately. So do Jax and me."
She stares at the button, and I move closer because I know exactly where her mind is going. This isn't a camera or a better lock. It's something she'd use when she's afraid, and she knows better than most people what it means to need help and wonder if anyone is coming.
"You don't have to get to your phone," I tell her. "You don't have to call anybody. You hit that, and we're coming."
Her throat works. "What if I hit it by accident?"
"Then we're coming," Knox says.
A watery laugh escapes her. "You're ridiculous."
"Probably."
She turns toward him, and the humor fades into something softer. "But thank you."
Knox cups the back of her neck and kisses her forehead. "You never have to thank us for keeping you safe."
Her eyes close for a second as she leans into him, and I watch the tension slowly leave her shoulders.
Something settles inside me as I stand there looking at them.
We're not taking her somewhere else. We're not uprooting her again because some asshole refuses to accept that she left him. Justin already forced enough changes on her life. He doesn't get to decide where she lives now too.
This cottage is hers.
So instead of teaching her to run every time she's afraid, we're making damn sure she finally has somewhere she can stay.
By the time everyone finishes, it's almost four in the afternoon, and somehow that's the best part. The cottage still looks exactly the same.
Her porch swing is still there. Owen's toys are scattered across the living room. His high chair is tucked beside the kitchen table, and her blanket is still thrown over the back of the couch. We haven't taken anything from her or changed the home she's started building.
We've just made it a hell of a lot harder for Justin Williams to get anywhere near it.
Ainsley stands in the middle of the living room, looking around before her gaze eventually settles on us.
"You okay?" I ask.
She nods, then looks at Knox before turning back to me. "Yeah," she says quietly. "I think I am."
I pull her against me. "Good."
Owen comes toddling down the hallway, babbling at the top of his lungs, and Knox scoops him up when he gets close. Ainsley's body relaxes against mine as she watches them together.
This time when she looks around the cottage, I don't see her checking the windows or listening for something outside. I don't see her preparing to run.
For the first time, she looks like she believes she might actually get to stay.