33. Emery
Emery
Mid-November begins my favorite time of year in Vegas because the desert is finally bearable. The stifling heat of summer has faded, and here, at the Twisted Kings compound, open desert extends for miles as I stare out at the sunset.
A nice breeze drifts over my bare legs as I stretch them out on the patio chair, waiting for the sound of Hayes’s motorcycle to cut through the silence.
Charlie’s coos sound through the baby monitor, and I watch her slowly put herself back to sleep. She rolls toward the camera, showing off her round cheeks and perfect little nose, and I place my hand over my stomach.
It’s been unsettled all day, turning since I first climbed out of bed. For a moment, I let myself hope that might mean I was pregnant until a single pink line dashed those thoughts.
It’s for the best.
Hayes and I are struggling to protect what we have without bringing another child into this. Still, when my stomach fluttered, I couldn’t help imagining growing our family. Laughter and small footsteps filling the house. More little Hayes Romans running around.
The slider opens behind me, making me jump. I was so lost in thought, I didn’t hear Hayes pull up.
“Everything okay?” His green eyes slide to my hand resting on my stomach.
I quickly pull it away. “Fine. Don’t worry, I’m not pregnant.”
Hayes crosses the patio, stopping at my chair, and snagging my hand. In one sweep, he pulls me up and drops into my seat, sitting me on top of him. His fingers lace in my hair as he angles my face to his.
“Of all the worries I’ve got right now, that would have been the least of them.” His gaze softens. “Are you disappointed?”
“I know it’s ridiculous—”
“It’s not.” He shrugs, brushing his thumb over my jaw. “I’m disappointed.”
“You are?” My eyebrows pinch.
“Of course.” He rests a hand on my stomach. “I never saw myself as a family man before you and Charlie, but now, I’ll happily take all the babies you’re willing to give me. I want it all with you, Emery. As many kids as you’re willing to have. We got lucky with Charlie. We’ll get lucky again.”
“I love that you consider our little surprise baby a good thing.” I wrap my arms around his shoulders, pressing my forehead to his.
“The best thing.” He kisses the tip of my nose. “And you’re not so bad yourself.”
“Such a charmer, Hayes Roman.”
“Only for you, Mrs. Roman.” He kisses the side of my neck, drifting his lips down the path of my shoulder and nipping at my skin as he goes, making me giggle. “That sound… you’re absolutely perfect.”
His words are loving yet weighted with something else tonight. A heaviness he’s carrying around. I pull back, looking him in the eyes.
“What’s wrong?” My eyebrows pinch, and I slide off his lap, perching on the edge of the lounger beside him. “You look like something’s on your mind.”
He tips his head back, taking a deep breath. “You see straight through me.”
“You do the same.”
He smiles, but it’s sad. Tension stiffens his shoulders as his hand rests on my thigh. Something is definitely bothering him.
“We’ve been digging into your uncle’s bank accounts.” He sighs, and my spine stiffens at the mention of my uncle. “It’s mostly what you’d expect. He filters anything illegal overseas so it can’t be traced. He splits it between entities to reduce his tax obligations. That kind of thing.”
“But…” I push, sensing there’s more.
“We found an account in your name that he’s been sending regular deposits to.”
My eyebrows pinch. “What are you talking about? I don’t have a bank account. Uncle Rick was adamant about it, actually. He said it wasn’t necessary because I could use his cards whenever I needed something.”
Now that I think about it, how did I not see that he was using that to control me? To fortify the ties binding me to him.
Embarrassment heats my cheeks. Hearing myself say that out loud makes me sound so incredibly naive. I always knew my uncle was manipulating me, but how did I not question the extent of it until now?
“I should’ve known.” It’s nearly a whisper.
“It’s not your fault. Zane is good at what he does.” Hayes reaches out, squeezing my hand. “His faults are not on you.”
I wish his words were enough to convince me. “So you’re saying my uncle opened a bank account in my name and didn’t tell me about it? How much is in it?”
“A lot.” Hayes winces. “From what Legacy can tell, he hasn’t touched the funds since he put them in there.
He’s using it as a holding account, setting it aside for safekeeping.
That way, if he ever got into legal trouble, he’d have liquid assets available for quick access.
Since it’s in your name, they wouldn’t be able to touch it. ”
“But if it’s in my name, he would need—” My mind races as I put the pieces together.
“He would need you to access the funds.”
I swallow hard. “You don’t think I had anything to do with this, do you? I swear, I had no idea about the account. I didn’t think I had any money in general. That’s one of the reasons I never left.”
“I already know you had nothing to do with this.” Hayes reaches forward, cupping my cheeks.
“Zane is a manipulator, Emery. A con man. He played you the way he plays everyone else, and he probably already worked out how to use you to access the money without you ever finding out about it. I hate that you dealt with him for so long.”
“I survived.”
His expression darkens, and he drops his hands. “Yeah… about that.”
“What?” I ask when Hayes pulls back a little more.
The warmth of the evening has settled around us, but in my core, my temperature drops. Ice shoots through my veins, realizing there’s something Hayes has yet to say. Something I doubt I’ll like if his expression is any indication.
“The accounts aren’t the only thing that we found.” His grip is gentler now. “Legacy found another transfer at the same time as your account was opened. A wire sent to a trust in the name of the Williamson family.”
Williamson.
That name still turns my blood cold.
When I close my eyes, I can still see the car barreling toward us—not slowing. It happened so fast, I didn’t scream. At least not until after I opened my eyes and was met with blood. With my mother’s empty eyes.
My heart thunders. “The same Williamson family of the man who killed my parents?”
Hayes nods, squeezing my hands. “Right after the accident, your uncle sent a large payment to the family of the man who caused it.”
“That doesn’t sound right. Why would he do that?”
“There’s only one reason I can think of.”
My eyes widen, and I shoot out of the lounger. “You think my uncle set it all up.”
A rush of blood swims between my temples, and I almost lose my footing as I stumble back. Hayes is on his feet, grabbing my shoulders the moment before I drop to my knees on the patio. But I can’t breathe. I can’t see. His face is a blur as he squats before me.
“Why would he do that?” A tear slips down my cheek. “He and my father were close. That’s why I trusted him, even when he did horrible things. I knew he was a bad man, but he was my uncle. He wouldn’t—”
Bile rises in my throat as my stomach flips.
The darkness is no longer just the night around me. I’m losing focus.
“We don’t know what happened exactly.” Hayes’s tone is so steady.
“Our best guess is that he and your father had a falling out over something with the casino. But they were co-owners, so Zane couldn’t just push your father out.
The only way for one of them to take control of the empire would be if the other was dead. ”
“And what about me? Should I be dead too?”
“No,” Hayes snaps, curling back like the thought of that is vile. “I don’t think that’s what he intended. When your father died, his assets technically went to you.”
“But I was only six…”
“Right. And as the only living relative, Zane became your guardian, giving him access to all of it.”
“It was all for money?” My tongue sours. “He killed his own brother over a disagreement? An inheritance?”
“It seems like it.”
My stomach clenches. “And you think he kept me alive to get access to my father’s assets?”
There’s no stopping the tears now. I’ve cracked open.
My uncle is a bad man. I’ve always known that. But to kill his own brother over a casino… He has no limits. No one is safe. Not me. Not Charlie.
Hayes tucks my hair behind my ear with the gentlest touch. “You know how it works with men like him. Nothing is ever enough.”
A sob shakes my chest, and my last bit of composure falters.
I bury my face in Hayes’s shoulder and soak his shirt with my tears.
He rocks back, sitting on the patio and pulling me into his lap.
It can’t be comfortable, but he says nothing.
Hayes holds me as the last of the sunset fades. As night settles.
When the tears finally stop, my eyes burn. My cheeks are soaked. Hayes swipes his thumbs under my eyes, looking at me with so much love it breaks my heart even more.
“Thank you for telling me.” My throat is raw, rasping my words. “And thank you for believing I’d have nothing to do with that.”
“I’ll always be honest with you. And I’ll always believe you.” His thumb drags down my cheek, wiping the tears away.
A man with a history of violence, and yet, I trust every word he says. He isn’t my uncle, ruining others for his own benefit. Hayes protects those who can’t fight for themselves. He stands up for those he cares about.
“I love you.” It slips out, and his fingers freeze. “I don’t know what comes next or how we fix this. And you don’t need to say it back, I just—”
“I love you too, Emery.” A beautiful, genuine smile blooms on his face, heating through to the coldest parts of my heart. “I’ve loved you since the moment I laid eyes on you.”
“Are you sure that was love?” The laugh that breaks free is part sob from the whiplash of emotion. “I think it might have just been the pink dress.”
Hayes’s smile widens, and he pulls me closer. “Maybe it was a combination of both. I do love that pink dress too.”
He pulls me in for a kiss, and even if everything is broken, his love is a balm over the shattered pieces. His lips seal to mine, and he hands me the one thing I didn’t think could come from tonight’s confessions—hope.
Hope that together, we can find a way to make this right.
Hope that the truth is out so we can work our way through now.
I’m still clinging to it as Hayes’s phone rings, cutting through the moment.
“Hold that thought.” He pulls it out, opening his mouth as he answers, until a voice on the other end of the line cuts him off. “When? They weren’t stopped at the gate?”
The ease from a moment ago shatters as Hayes’s eyes darken, tightening the knot in my stomach.
“Fuck… All right… Yeah… Who else?”
The hair on the back of my neck stands tall when he hangs up, shoving his phone into his pocket.
“What’s wrong?”
“Cops.” Hayes helps me to my feet. “They’re headed here now.”
“I’m not ready. I can’t—”
“Emery.” He cups my cheeks. “They aren’t here for you. This isn’t the Feds, and it’s not your uncle. They’re here for me.”
“For you?”
He swallows hard, his fingers grazing the sides of my neck. “After the Iron Sinners fell, we put a few contingencies into place so that if anything tied the explosion back to the club, it would fall on me, Chaos, and Venom.”
“Why you three?”
“We had nothing to lose at the time. And now—” He shakes his head. “Don’t worry, our attorney will deal with it. Steel said Tanner is already headed to the station, and he’ll meet us there.”
“You just said you set yourselves up? How is he going to get you out of it?”
“We’ll figure it out.” His words say one thing but his eyes another.
The three of them did this intentionally before Charlie and I were in the picture, which means they would have ensured it would stick to protect the rest of the club.
Did Willa know about this?
Lights flare in the night. A strobe of red and blue lights up the dark desert. They aren’t here for me, and yet, that does nothing to ease what’s happening.
“Look at me, Emery.” Hayes tilts my face up. “I promise Tanner will figure out a way to get us out of this. I’m not leaving you and Charlie. Everything is going to be okay.”
Nothing is okay.
The sirens near, and the first car pulls to a stop outside the house. They don’t bother knocking, breaking the door off its hinges simply to prove their point. They rush inside, and Hayes doesn’t fight them as they drag him away.
This time, it isn’t my uncle’s doing. It’s the other side of Hayes’s world—a world that is also mine now.
A world that does nothing but tear things apart.