Chapter 17
SEVENTEEN
AINSLEY
When I wake up it feels like something invisible has shifted overnight and now everything is holding its breath. I lie still for a moment, listening.
Knox is already up, I can hear him moving around downstairs, his footsteps deliberate and controlled. Jax is in the shower. The water runs longer than usual, and I wonder if he's trying to wash away the tension I can feel radiating through the walls.
Owen is still asleep in his crib, his soft breathing the only peaceful sound in the house.
I pull on one of Jax's T-shirts and a pair of leggings, then pad downstairs barefoot.
Knox is in the kitchen, standing at the counter with his phone pressed to his ear.
His jaw is tight, his shoulders rigid. He's wearing his cut, which he rarely does this early in the morning unless there's club business.
When he sees me, his expression softens slightly, but the tension doesn't leave his body.
"Yeah," he says into the phone. "I'll be there in twenty."
He hangs up and sets the phone down, then crosses the room to me. "Morning," he says, his voice low.
"What's going on?" I ask.
He hesitates, and that hesitation tells me everything I need to know.
"Knox," I say, my voice sharper. "What's going on?"
He exhales slowly, his hand coming up to cup my face. "Justin's been spotted. Close."
My stomach drops.
"How close?"
"Close enough that we're tightening security. Mason's calling an emergency meeting at the clubhouse. I need to go."
"I'm coming with you," I say immediately.
"No," Knox says firmly. "You're staying here with Owen. Jax will stay with you until I get back."
"Knox—"
"Ainsley." His voice is gentle but unyielding. "I need to know you're safe. Please."
I want to argue, but the look in his eyes stops me.
He's terrified.
Not for himself.
For me.
"Okay," I whisper.
He kisses me, hard and possessive, then pulls back. "I'll be back soon. Lock the doors. Don't open them for anyone except me or Jax."
"I will."
He kisses me again, then grabs his keys and walks out the door.
The sound of his bike roaring to life echoes through the quiet morning, and then he's gone.
I stand in the kitchen, my heart pounding, my hands shaking.
He's close.
Justin is close.
By the time Jax comes downstairs, I've already fed Owen and dressed him in a onesie covered in tiny dinosaurs.
Jax walks into the kitchen, his hair still damp from the shower, his expression tight.
"You okay?" he asks.
"No," I say honestly. "But I will be."
He crosses the room and pulls me into his arms, holding me tightly.
"We're not going to let him get to you," he says, his voice fierce. "You know that, right?"
"I know," I whisper.
But the fear is still there, coiled tight in my chest.
Later that afternoon, Jax insists I come to Perdition with him.
"I don't want you alone," he says. "And Knox will feel better knowing you're at the clubhouse where there's more security."
I don't argue.
Owen is strapped into his car seat, happily chewing on a teething ring, and I sit in the passenger seat, staring out the window as we drive.
The clubhouse is buzzing when we arrive.
Brothers are everywhere, some working on bikes, some standing in tight groups talking in low voices. The Old Ladies are gathered near the bar, their expressions tense.
Tessa spots me immediately and walks over.
"Hey," she says, pulling me into a hug. "You okay?"
"I don't know," I admit.
"Come on," she says, looping her arm through mine. "Let's get you inside."
I'm behind the bar, wiping down glasses, when the door opens.
A man in a police uniform walks in.
My entire body goes rigid.
The glass slips from my hand and shatters on the floor.
Justin.
No.
Not Justin.
But the uniform, the badge, the gun on his hip, it's all the same.
My vision tunnels.
My chest tightens.
I can't breathe.
"Ainsley?"
Tessa's voice sounds far away.
"Ainsley, hey, look at me."
I blink, and suddenly she's in front of me, her hands on my shoulders.
"It's not him," she says firmly. "It's not Justin. That's Officer Daniels. He's here to talk to Mason about something unrelated. It's not him."
I nod, but my hands are shaking so hard I can barely hold onto the bar.
"Come on," Tessa says, guiding me toward the back hallway. "Let's get you out of here."
We end up in a small storage room, the door closed behind us.
I sink onto a crate, my head in my hands, trying to breathe.
"I'm sorry," I whisper. "I'm sorry, I just.”
"Don't apologize," Tessa says, crouching in front of me. "You have nothing to apologize for."
"I saw the uniform and I just, I panicked."
"Of course you did," she says. "Ainsley, you've been through hell. It's going to take time to heal from that."
"But what if I never stop being afraid?" I ask, my voice breaking. "What if I'm always waiting for him to show up?"
"You won't be," Tessa says firmly. "Because we're going to end this. Justin is not going to get to you. The brothers won't let that happen. And neither will we."
Before I can respond, the door opens and Lucy steps in.
"Everything okay?" she asks, her eyes flicking between us.
"She's spiraling," Tessa says.
Lucy's expression softens, and she walks over to me. "Ainsley, honey, talk to us."
I take a shaky breath. "I just, I keep waiting for something to go wrong. For Justin to show up. For this all to fall apart."
Tessa squeezes my shoulder. "You've got a whole army behind you, Ainsley. And we're not going anywhere."
I feel tears prick my eyes, and I blink them back. "Thank you."
"Anytime," Lucy says, pulling me into a hug.
Tessa joins in, and for a moment, the three of us just stand there, holding each other.
When we finally pull apart, I feel lighter.
Not completely healed. But lighter.
Later that evening, after Owen is asleep and the clubhouse has quieted down, I sit on the couch in the common room, staring at my phone.
Jax is across the room, talking to Steele and Riot in low voices.
Knox finished his meeting about an hour ago and has been moving through the clubhouse, checking in with brothers, his presence a steady anchor in the chaos.
I glance at the clock. My stomach twists. What if something happened? What if Justin, no. I shake my head, trying to push the thought away. But the fear is still there, coiled tight in my chest.
My phone buzzes. I look down.
Knox: You doing okay?
I let out a slow breath, some of the tension finally easing from my shoulders. They're okay. Knox is okay. Whatever else is going on, I can hold on to that for now.
I'm still staring at his message when another notification appears at the top of my screen.
For half a second, I assume it's him again. Maybe he's sending me another update or telling me when they'll be back, but when I glance down, there's no name attached to the message.
Just a number I don't recognize.
The relief I'd felt a second ago disappears as unease settles low in my stomach. I stare at the screen, trying to convince myself it could be anyone. A wrong number. Spam. Something completely harmless that doesn't deserve the sudden pounding of my heart.
I should ignore it.
Better yet, I should delete it without opening it and block the number. After everything that's happened, I know better than to invite another problem into my life when I already have more than enough.
But my thumb hovers over the notification.
Because there's another possibility, and once it enters my head, I can't push it away.
Justin.
My hand tightens around the phone.
Don't open it, Ainsley.
I know I shouldn't, but not knowing suddenly feels worse. Before I can talk myself out of it, I tap the notification and open the message.
There's no greeting. No explanation.
Just a few words waiting for me on the screen.
Unknown: I'm coming for you.
My blood runs cold.
I drop the phone like it's burned me.
"Ainsley?"
I look up to see Jax standing in front of me, his expression concerned.
"What's wrong?" he asks.
I can't speak.
I just point at the phone.
He picks it up, reads the message, and his entire body goes rigid.
"Fuck," he says, his voice low and deadly.
Knox appears beside him almost instantly, his eyes sharp and assessing. "What happened?"
Jax hands him the phone without a word.
Knox reads the message, and his jaw tightens.
He looks at me, his eyes blazing with fury and fear, then back at Jax.
"That's it," Knox says, his voice cold and final. "We're ending this. Now."
Jax nods, his expression matching Knox's deadly calm. "Agreed."
Knox crouches in front of me, his hands framing my face, forcing me to look at him.
"You're safe," he says, his voice fierce and protective. "I promise you, Ainsley. You're safe."
But as I sit there, staring between them, I can't shake the feeling that something is about to break.
That the peace we've built is about to shatter.
And there's nothing I can do to stop it.