29. Soul
Soul
The bacon has just started popping when Emery’s footsteps creak down the stairs. She turns the corner, rubbing her eyes, which tugs the hem of my T-shirt higher up her thighs. Her dark hair is messy around her shoulders.
In my entire life, I’ve never seen anything more beautiful.
Emery yawns, dropping her hands to her sides. “You’re home. I didn’t hear you come in last night.”
“I stayed down here so I wouldn’t wake you up. Wasn’t tired anyway.”
“So you started making breakfast?” Her eyebrow hitches as she pads into the kitchen. “You’re going to spoil me.”
“I like spoiling you.” My grin has her blush climbing her cheeks.
“Well, if you’re getting tired now, I can finish up so you can get some sleep before Charlie wakes up.”
“Still not tired.” I turn back to the pan, flipping a piece of bacon.
I’m still wired from last night and not ready to lie down.
Nothing gets the adrenaline pumping like a night of torture, and I’m still riding that high hours later.
While Havoc and Legacy took the women in the van to one of our safe houses, the rest of us stayed behind to ask Eli’s men a few questions.
Unfortunately, they were weak and easy to break, making for a somewhat disappointing evening.
Eli clearly hasn’t trained his men to withstand anything.
They started giving up information after losing their first finger, and we knew the extent of his trafficking operation by the time we reached the last.
I didn’t feel the least bit bad about it.
Anyone willing to buy, sell, and rape a woman deserves every bit of pain we inflict. Which is why I enjoyed watching Ghost flay the skin from their bones. With every piece that left their bodies, the weight on my shoulders eased.
We’re bad men, but the things we do are to worse people. People who deserve the kind of judgment only hell can properly inflict on them.
I turn off the bacon and cover it as Emery circles the island, making sure the grease doesn’t pop and get her. She stops behind me, wrapping her arms around my waist and resting her forehead on my back.
“Did everything go okay?” she asks, and I realize she’s comforting me.
No one ever comforts me.
I spin until she’s in my arms, looking up at me with her bright-blue eyes.
I didn’t tell her where I was going last night, but she senses the change this morning.
The vibration of my energy still hangs in the air.
I never understood brothers letting their old ladies in on so many of our club secrets.
But with Emery in my arms, staring up at me like she sees straight through me, I don’t want there to be secrets between us.
“We had a run-in with some of Eli’s men,” I admit, and color drains from her face.
“Was he there? My uncle—”
I shake my head. “It was just a few guys who worked for Eli. They were moving around imports.”
“Imports?”
I nod once, and her eyes widen. She knows they were moving women without me having to say it. Emery doesn’t talk about it often, but it’s clear she’s still haunted by the things she witnessed living with her uncle.
Her gaze falls from mine. “I kept wanting to believe he would stop. That he would realize what he’s doing is wrong. But he won’t ever stop, will he?”
“No, he won’t.” I tip her chin up, brushing my thumb over her lower lip.
A glassy sheen coats her eyes. If I had the power to erase her pain, I’d give up everything else.
Emery’s mouth opens—something is on the tip of her tongue. But then she snaps it shut. Her fingers clutch my T-shirt, but she’s shifting on her feet.
When she tries to look away, I tilt her chin up. “What’s wrong?”
Whatever is on her mind has nothing to do with last night. This is something else.
“You can talk to me,” I assure her.
“I can’t.” Her voice trembles.
My hands move to her cheeks, my fingers threading through her silky hair. “Look at me, Emery. You can trust me. But I can’t help you if you don’t talk to me. What’s wrong?”
“It’s just—” She takes a slow breath, steadying her voice. “He’ll kill me if I tell you. Or worse.”
“Your uncle?”
She nods.
“Nothing is going to happen to you or Charlie. I promise.”
“You can’t promise that.” She shakes her head, trying to shake my grip as well, but I don’t let her. “My uncle is too rich. Too powerful. I’m only here right now because he’s allowing it.”
“Is that what he said to you?” My teeth clench.
She never told me what her uncle said to her when she and Charlie were taken, and I didn’t push out of respect. But maybe I should have. Something is making her doubt us, and she’s been sitting with it.
“He said that and other things.” She swallows hard. “And he’s right. You saw how easy it was for him to take us. All he has to do is make another call, and they’ll be back.”
Hearing Emery doesn’t trust me to keep her safe hits harder than I expect. But she’s right. I promised her that her uncle couldn’t get to her here, and I was wrong. All Zane has to do is call on his friends at the Feds, and they’ll come back.
The club gets away with a lot of shit because Vegas cops don’t have the resources to make much stick, but the Feds are a different story. So long as Zane wants their attention on us, no one is safe here.
Heartbreak swells in Emery’s eyes, and it splinters through me. I should be able to protect my family, and I can’t. My hands thread into her hair as if that can be enough to keep her safe.
“I failed you,” I admit, defeat heavy in my chest. “I put you in this position. Me, my club, the shit between us and your uncle… You and Charlie shouldn’t be in the middle of this. This is my fault.”
“It’s not just on you, Hayes.”
“It is.” I tuck her hair behind her ear.
“But it’s worse than that because even knowing that, I can’t let you go, Emery.
You and Charlie are everything to me. Your uncle can send the Feds to my doorstep.
He can call you in for questioning. He can lock me in a fucking cell, and I will still fight to give you and Charlie the life you deserve. A life where you’re happy and safe.”
“We’re never safe from him.” She blinks back her tears. “I haven’t been telling you everything.”
“Tell me now.” I hold her closer when she shudders a breath.
“When I was taken, my uncle told me things.”
“He threatened you?”
She nods. “Please don’t be angry.”
“I could never be angry with you.”
“You haven’t heard what he said.”
“Emery.” My voice is firmer now. “I will never be angry with you. I promise. Now tell me what he threatened?”
“He said that he needs me to help him with you and your club.” She bites her lower lip, watching my every reaction. “He said that I owe him for sneaking out, and I need to repay him. That’s why he sent me back here. He wants me to help him destroy the club.”
“Do you want to help him destroy my club?”
Her face blanches. “Of course not.”
“There you go.” I smirk, but she shakes her head.
“That’s not all.” Her fingers grip my T-shirt tighter. “He didn’t just threaten me. He said if I don’t help him, then he’ll use Charlie to make me help.”
Rage is a fire coursing through my veins. This time, when Emery pulls back, I let her. I’m in shock. My arms hang at my sides while she rakes her fingers into her hair.
I probably shouldn’t be surprised. Men like Zane aren’t above threatening their own family. But to hear it in such plain terms. To know he said that to Emery has my blood boiling.
“My uncle said that if I don’t help him, I’ll never see Charlie again. That he’ll keep her until she’s old enough to be useful. He’ll—”
She doesn’t finish that sentence, but I know how it ends. The women we rescued last night are proof of the lengths Zane will go to if Emery doesn’t help him.
“Hayes…” Tears fill her eyes. “I was willing to do it. I was willing to come back here and help him if it meant keeping Charlie safe. Not because I wanted to do that to you. But I have to protect her.”
“We have to protect her.” I step forward, pulling Emery close.
“I understand why you agreed to help him. I love that you’d go to any lengths to protect our daughter.
But you’re not in this alone, Emery. Zane might think he has the upper hand, but I promise he doesn’t.
I’m going to fix this. I’m going to protect you. ”
“You’re not angry with me?”
I can’t help the small smile that forms in the corner of my mouth. “I already told you I can’t be angry with you.”
Emery’s eyes fill with hope. With peace. She pushes onto her toes and wraps her arms around me. Our bodies crush together as her lips press to mine, and I slide my hands under her thighs and lift her onto the counter.
“I’m sorry,” she whispers against my mouth.
“You don’t have anything to be sorry for,” I remind her.
It’s my fault anyway—not hers. She’s been a pawn in her uncle’s game, and I’m the one who should be protecting her. She’s my family. The mother of my child. My wife.
The love of my life.
I strip my T-shirt from her body and lie her back on the island.
She’s a beautiful display of flesh. No bra.
Her nipples peak, and I lean down to draw a gentle circle around one bud, then the next.
Emery arches with every pass of my thumb.
Moans with every touch. And when I peel her underwear off, she spreads her knees, welcoming my fingers into her dripping cunt.
The hiss that escapes her lips as I add another finger is my favorite melody.
Her body rises in pleasure, and it’s my every fantasy.
I shove my pants down and drive into her, pulling her hips down the counter to thrust deep. Until there is no her and me. There is only us and this connection that can’t be broken.
I understand her fear. Hell, it’s a living, breathing thing inside me. But I meant what I said; I’m not letting her go.
Emery’s nails dig into my arms as I lean over her and fuck her until she’s panting.
Until her pussy grips me so tightly I can’t hold back.
My cum shoots into her, and I seal my hips to her body, filling her deep.
I’m going to grow a family with this girl.
We’re going to have everything I never knew I needed until I met her.
And I’ll kill every person who tries to stand in my way.