Chapter 9
Chapter Nine
ELENA
Ihate feeling useless. The club moves constantly around me while I sit upstairs trying not to panic every time a phone rings downstairs. Men come and go at all hours. Engines roar into the lot. Voices turn quiet when I walk into rooms. War is building around me. And I’m the reason for it.
I sit cross-legged on the bed with one of Ivy’s hoodies pulled over my knees while staring at the inheritance documents again.
Numbers, clauses and legal wording. The thing Grant wanted badly enough to break me for.
A knock sounds at the door. Not loud or demanding.
Three soft taps. Ryder. I know his knock already.
“Come in.” He enters carrying food and a fresh roll of bandages.
“You skipped breakfast.”
“I wasn’t hungry.”
“You also skipped lunch.”
I sigh. “Are you always this bossy?”
“Yes.”
The answer comes instantly. It pulls a small smile from me before I can stop it.
Ryder notices. His eyes linger on my mouth for half a second too long.
Heat curls low in my stomach. Dangerous.
Everything with him feels dangerous now.
Not because I fear him. Because I don’t.
And that might be worse. He sets the tray down and crouches in front of me.
“Feet.”
I blink. “What?”
“Bandages need changing.”
“Oh.”
I slowly stretch my legs toward him. Ryder handles my injured feet with the same care he always does, steady hands, gentle pressure, patience I wouldn’t expect from a man who looks built for violence.
“You missed a spot,” he mutters.
“What spot?”
He lightly brushes his thumb near my ankle.
“Bruising.”
My pulse jumps. The touch is brief. Accidental maybe. Still, it sends warmth racing through me. Ryder notices my breathing hitch and immediately leans back.
“Sorry.”
There’s that word again. That carefulness.
“No,” I say quickly. “You didn’t do anything wrong.”
His eyes lift to mine slowly. The air changes. Heavy. Hot. Someone shouts downstairs, breaking the moment. Ryder stands immediately. Distance again. Part of me hates it.
“Bishop wants everyone in church,” he says.
“Church?”
“Club meeting.”
I nod. Then, before I can lose my nerve “Can I come?”
He hesitates. Not because he wants to exclude me. Because he’s calculating risk, finally he says “Stay close to me.” Warmth spreads through my chest.
The room downstairs is packed with bikers by the time we enter.
Conversation dies immediately when they see me.
Not unfriendly. Protective. Ryder’s hand settles lightly at my lower back as he guides me toward the table.
The contact steadies me instantly. Bishop looks up from a map spread across the wood.
“Knuckles found something.”
Knuckles swivels his laptop toward us. Security footage fills the screen. Grant. A hotel hallway. Another woman. My stomach twists instantly. The timestamp is from eight months ago.
“He paid this one off,” Knuckles says quietly. “Private settlement. NDA.”
The footage shows Grant grabbing the woman hard enough to slam her into the wall. My breathing stops. Because I know that look on his face. I know exactly what came after the camera cut.
“Jesus,” Ivy whispers from the doorway.
Beast mutters something vicious under his breath. I stare at the screen, numb.
“There’s more,” Knuckles says carefully. “Financial records too. Grant moved money into offshore accounts tied to the marriage transfer.”
“So once we married…” I whisper.
“He’d bleed you dry,” Bishop finishes.
The humiliation burns worse than the bruises ever did. I was never a fiancée. Never a partner. Just an investment. Ryder notices my expression immediately.
“Hey.” I blink toward him.
“This isn’t on you.”
“I should’ve seen it.”
“Abusers make damn sure you don’t.”
The certainty in his voice nearly undoes me. Bishop folds his arms.
“The problem is, evidence like this takes time. Meanwhile, Grant’s escalating.”
Right on cue, a prospect bursts through the clubhouse doors.
“Black SUV two miles out.”
The room explodes into movement. Guns. Boots. Engines. My pulse crashes against my ribs. Ryder turns toward me instantly.
“Upstairs.”
“I’m tired of hiding.”
His jaw tightens. “Elena”
“I’m serious.” My voice shakes anyway. “Every time I hide, he wins.”
Silence falls around us. The room watches.
Then Beast speaks from near the door.
“She stays in sightline.”
Everyone turns toward the enforcer.
Beast shrugs once. “Girl’s right. Fear’s already controlling enough.”
Ryder looks like he wants to argue. Instead, he looks at me. Really looks. Then nods once.
“Stay behind me.”
The SUVs pull into the lot minutes later. Grant steps out in another perfect suit. Like violence can’t touch him if he dresses expensive enough. His eyes find me immediately. Possessive,cold,calculated and furious.
“Elena.”
My stomach turns. But Ryder steps in front of me before Grant can take another step. Grant smiles tightly.
“You really think outlaw bikers can protect you forever?”
Ryder’s voice stays calm. “Long enough.”
Grant’s gaze shifts past him to me.
“Sweetheart, you’re embarrassing yourself.”
I flinch before I can stop it. Ryder notices. And something terrifying settles over his face. The kind of calm that comes before bloodshed. Grant sees it too.
“You don’t know what he is,” Grant says to me. “Men like him are violent animals.”
Ryder laughs once. Cold.
“Coming from you, that’s funny.”
Grant’s jaw flexes. “You think she’ll stay once she sees the real you?”
Ryder doesn’t answer immediately, then says “She already saw me. Still chose me.”
The words hit me like a punch to the chest. Because they’re true. Grant takes one more step. Bad move. Ryder moves so fast I barely see it. One second Grant’s standing. The next he’s slammed against the hood of the SUV with Ryder’s forearm crushing his throat.
Gasps erupt around us. Grant’s security reaches for weapons. Every biker in the lot reaches too. Tension snaps tight as wire. Ryder leans close to Grant’s face.
“You threaten her again,” he says softly, “and I stop being polite.”
Grant glares at him. “You think she isn’t terrified of you?”
My heart pounds hard enough to hurt. Because this moment matters.
Grant waits for me to shrink. To deny Ryder.
To fear him. Instead, I step forward. And place my hand on Ryder’s arm.
Not pulling him away. Choosing his side.
The entire lot goes still. Ryder looks down at my hand like it means something dangerous.
Grant sees it. Hatred twists his face instantly.
And for the first time since I ran… I think he realizes he’s actually losing me.