Chapter 11 – Phoenix #2
Cole doesn't respond. Just turns and walks toward the door, the other three Vipers following. Razor pauses at the threshold, looking back at me. For a moment, I see the man he used to be. The brother he could have been if he'd made different choices.
"Your father would be proud of what you built here," he says. "For what it's worth."
Then he's gone, following Cole out into the early morning light.
Diesel and Saint escort them out, making sure they actually get on their bikes and leave. I can hear the engines starting up, the roar of four motorcycles heading back toward Viper territory.
The moment they're gone, I turn to face my brothers.
Judge, Canvas, Wraith, and Saint are all watching me, waiting. I take a necessary long and deep breath.
"I need to tell you all something," I start. "And I know this is going to sound crazy. You might even disagree with me, and that's fair. But I'm saying it anyway because you deserve to know."
They're all focused on me now, completely still.
"Ivy and I… We're together now." The words feel both strange and right in my mouth.
"I know the timing is insane. I know we barely know each other.
I know there's a war coming and bringing a woman into this is complicated as hell.
But she's staying. And I'm going to protect her with everything I have. "
Silence.
Then Canvas starts to laugh.
"What?" I ask, defensive.
"Nothing, it's just—" Canvas shakes his head, grinning. "Never thought the first one to stop being single in this MC would be the president. You've been preaching the 'lone wolf' lifestyle for years, and you fall for a woman in less than twenty-four hours?"
"Well… It’s almost forty-eight hours, technically," Judge corrects, but he's smiling too.
"Oh, well, almost forty-eight hours. That's totally reasonable then," Wraith adds, his tone dry but his eyes warm.
Saint claps me on the shoulder. "About damn time, brother. You've been alone too long."
The tension breaks. They're not judging me, not questioning my decision. They're genuinely happy for me.
"So, we're protecting her because she's under Phoenix's protection and because she's Phoenix's woman now?" Diesel clarifies.
"Yeah," I say. "Both."
"Works for me." He shrugs. "Cole's a piece of shit anyway. War was always coming. At least now we're fighting for something that matters."
"Someone," Judge corrects gently. "Someone who matters."
"This is going to get bloody," I warn them. "Demon won't back down. The Vipers will come with everything they have."
"Let them come," Saint says, and there's steel in his voice. "We'll be ready."
"From ash, we rise," Canvas says.
"From ash, we rise," the others echo.
I take the stairs two at a time, needing to get back to Ivy. Needing to see her face, to reassure her that everything I promised is still true.
Brick is still standing guard outside the door.
"They're gone," I tell him. "For now."
He nods and steps aside.
I knock softly. "Ivy, it's me. It's Phoenix."
I hear movement inside, then the lock clicking. The door opens, and Ivy is standing there, dressed now in the clothes from yesterday, her eyes searching my face.
"Are you okay?" she asks immediately, her hands reaching for me, checking for injuries. "Did they hurt you?"
The fact that she's asking about me when she's the one who was terrified awakens something in my chest. She deserves the whole world.
"I'm fine." I pull her into my arms, feeling her press against me. "They're gone. Cole's gone. You're safe."
"I heard," she whispers against my chest.
I pull back to look at her. "Heard what?"
"Everything. The walls aren't that thick." Her cheeks flush slightly. "I heard Cole call me a bitch. Heard you hit him. Heard you tell Razor I was under your protection."
She pauses, her green eyes searching mine.
"Heard you tell your brothers that we're together now."
My heart stops. "Ivy—"
"Is that true?" she asks. "Are we together? Or did you just say that because it makes protecting me easier to justify?"
I cup her face in my hands, thumbs brushing across her cheeks.
"It's true," I say. "I know the timing is insane.
I know we barely know each other. I know there's an age gap and a war coming and a thousand reasons why this is a terrible idea.
But when I'm with you, none of that matters.
You make me feel things I haven't felt in years.
Make me want things I thought I'd given up on. "
"Like what?" Her voice is barely a whisper.
"Like a future. Like peace. Like maybe I deserve something good in this life instead of just surviving." I lean my forehead against hers. "I'm all in, Ivy. If you want this, if you want me, I'm all in."
She's quiet for a long moment, and I can see her processing. Working through the fear, the trauma and uncertainty.
"I want this," she says finally. "I want you. Even though I'm scared. Even though everything is complicated. Even though I don't know what tomorrow brings. Right now, in this moment, I choose you. But what does that mean for us? What do we do now?" she asks.
I pull her back toward the bed, sitting down and bringing her with me until she's settled against my chest, both of us leaning against the headboard.
"Now," I say, wrapping my arms around her, "we stay right here. The brothers can handle things downstairs. You and I… We take this moment before everything gets complicated again."
She tilts her head back to look at me. "Are you sure? Shouldn't you be down there planning?"
"Judge knows what to do. They all do." I press a kiss to her temple. "Right now, the most important thing I can do is be here with you. Make sure you know you're not alone in this."
Ivy settles deeper into my embrace, her hand coming to rest over my heart. "I've never had this," she whispers. "Someone who just... holds me. Who makes me feel safe without demanding anything in return."
"Get used to it," I murmur against her hair. "Because I plan on holding you as often as you'll let me."
We fall into silence, the morning light streaming through the window, the sounds of the clubhouse muted and distant. Outside this room, there's a war brewing. The Vipers will come back, probably with more numbers, more weapons, more determination.
But in here, there's just us.
"Phoenix?" Ivy's voice is soft.
"Yeah?"
"When this is over, when the war is done and the Vipers are dealt with, what do you want? For us, I mean."
I think about it for a moment. Think about all the things I've denied myself for years, all the normal life I convinced myself I couldn't have.
"I want mornings like this," I confess. "I want to wake up with you in my arms. I want to watch you become the teacher you dream of being.
I want to come home after a long day and find you here, safe and happy.
I want—" I pause, the vulnerability of it catching in my throat.
"I want to build something with you. Something real and lasting that has nothing to do with war or violence or the past."
Her hand tightens over my heart. "That sounds perfect."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah." She turns in my arms, straddling my lap so she can look me in the eyes.
"I spent two years having my dreams beaten out of me.
Having every hope crushed until I couldn't remember what wanting something felt like.
But you—" Her voice cracks slightly. "You make me want to dream again.
Make me believe that maybe I can have a future that's more than just surviving. "
I cup her face again, memorizing every detail. The green of her eyes, the freckles across her nose, the way her short auburn hair falls in choppy layers. She's the most beautiful woman I've ever seen, and she's choosing me despite every reason not to.
"We'll have that future," I promise. "I'll fight every day to make sure you get everything you deserve.
Peace. Safety. A life where you can just...
be. Where you can teach kids about books and learning without looking over your shoulder.
Where the worst thing you have to worry about is whether Diesel's pancakes are actually edible. "
She laughs, and the sound fills the room, fills my chest, fills every dark corner I've been carrying around for three years.
"I love you," she says, catching me off guard. "I know it's too soon. I know we barely know each other. But I'm done pretending I don't feel what I feel. I love you, Eli Blake. And whatever comes next, I want to face it with you."
No one has said that to me in years. Not since my parents died. Not since I learned that loving someone means risking the pain of losing them. But looking at Ivy, brave, beautiful, broken but rebuilding, I realize I'm already too far gone to protect myself.
"I love you too," I say, and the admission is both terrifying and liberating.
"From the moment you knocked on my door, I think part of me knew.
Knew you were going to change everything.
Knew I'd do whatever it took to keep you safe.
Knew that I'd finally found something worth fighting for beyond just honor and principle. "
"Thank you," she whispers.
"For what?"
"For being exactly who you are. For building a club based on protecting people instead of hurting them. For making me feel human again." She pulls back enough to look at me. "For loving me even though I come with complications and trauma attached to me."
"You're not a complication, Ivy. You're a gift. And I'll spend every day proving that to you if you let me."
"I'll let you," she says. "For as long as you want me."
"Forever, then." I pull her close again, tucking her against my chest. "Because that's how long I plan on keeping you."
We stay like that as the morning stretches on, wrapped in each other, the war waiting just outside the door but unable to touch us in this moment.
Downstairs, I can hear my brothers moving around, preparing defenses, planning strategies. Judge will handle it. He always does. Right now, my place is here, with the woman who walked into my life at four in the morning and changed everything.