34. Emery
Emery
Defeat is strange.
It’s thorough.
I lean against the porch with Charlie in my arms, watching Steel and Legacy tear the broken doorframe down to the studs, and embrace the fact that some things can’t be fixed. They can’t be salvaged.
Defeat comes in accepting that.
But I accept nothing as I glance down at my daughter, our little phoenix who rose from the ashes. Hope that bloomed on a night I had none left.
Her green eyes blink up at me—her father’s eyes. This might be the moment I’m supposed to give up. After all, Hayes is in jail, and they won’t let me see him. Tanner is running out of ideas. All around, everything is falling apart.
Broken beyond repair.
But then Legacy jogs down the steps and grabs the fresh pieces of wood. A new frame. New hinges. A new door.
And I cling to something else.
Some things can’t be fixed or repurposed. They can only be replaced by something new—something stronger.
Charlie wraps her fingers around mine, and I let defeat consume me.
I let it take every last drop of the girl I was—the one who cowered before my uncle.
Who let him use her. Who let him terrify her and manipulate her.
That girl can burn because I’m not bowing down to them anymore.
I’m someone new. Someone who will fight for Hayes and Charlie. And myself.
Tempe walks out of the house carrying water bottles for the guys. Steel gives her a quick kiss, and her cheeks are still red when she stops beside me.
“They weren’t joking when they said they’d get it fixed,” I say, rocking Charlie.
After Hayes, Chaos, and Venom were arrested last night, the club descended on the neighborhood. It was a moment I thought I’d feel alone, but I didn’t. The club surrounded me and Willa, and I finally saw the full force of what this family is.
Charlie and I slept at Tempe’s house last night. I told them I was fine, but Steel said Hayes would kill him if he found out I slept in a house without a front door, and I couldn’t argue.
First thing this morning, Steel and Legacy got started on replacing it.
“They’re handy when they want to be.” Tempe smirks, crossing her arms over her chest and watching her man work. “You’re welcome to stay with us longer if you’d like.”
“I’d rather be here,” I admit.
This house might carry nothing but bad memories for Hayes, but for me, it’s home.
It’s where my daughter had her first room.
Where I fell in love with her father. It’s where I learned to love myself—to stick up for myself.
And even if it carries the memories of the cops taking Hayes away, this is where Charlie and I belong.
“Besides…” I glance over my shoulder as a car rolls to a stop outside. “I won’t be alone.”
Willa climbs out with a bag in hand. Her smile doesn’t hide the red around her eyes, but like me, she’s pushing through.
“Look at you putting the guys to work.” She winks when she stops beside me.
I was surprised myself when the club’s president showed up to fix my door. There are plenty of members around who could probably do it. Prospects even. So when Steel showed up with Legacy, I had to choke back my emotion. He isn’t here as the president of the club. He’s here as a friend of Hayes.
“How are you two holding up?” Willa asks, brushing her fingers through Charlie’s wisps of hair.
“I’ll be better after the hearing on Monday.” I sigh. “At least then we’ll know what we’re dealing with.”
“Agreed.”
“At least Charlie is too young to know what’s going on. Still, I think she notices when he’s not here. She got used to him putting her to bed at night.”
“Babies take in more than we realize.” Tempe frowns. “She’ll have her daddy back soon though. The guys will make sure of it.”
My throat tightens as I glance at Steel. He paused what he was doing to listen to Tempe. Determination blazes in his eyes, and even though he goes back to work, not saying anything, I know he’s going to fight for my husband.
“I should get Charlie inside; she’s probably hungry.” I lift off the railing as she starts to stir.
“While you feed her, I’ll make us lunch,” Willa says.
“I’ll help,” Tempe offers.
“You don’t have to give up all your plans for me. I’m sure you have other things to do.”
“Nope. Pearl has the kids, and anything else can wait. I’m all yours.” Tempe links one arm through Willa’s and the other through mine, pulling us toward the house. “This is what we do for each other around here. You two are family.”
Family.
Tears swell in Willa’s eyes as they burn in mine. Like me, she’s not used to this.
After all that’s been taken, I look around at all I’ve gained. Things might be bleak, but Hayes was right; everything will be okay. I’m not the girl who showed up here, helpless, looking to be saved. I’m no longer scared or alone.
I’m surrounded by family.
Days might as well be months.
I’m tired of staring at walls.
Of waiting.
I expected my uncle to reach out to me the moment Hayes was behind bars. But he’s been silent, which is even more unnerving.
Willa has been staying in the living room, sleeping on the couch. Not that either of us is sleeping much at all. We watch TV or play cards. Sometimes we just sit in silence in the backyard and stare out at the desert.
Emotions roll in waves. Willa and I trade off. One moment we’re missing them, the next we’re angry that they set themselves up to take the fall for their club.
They’re not here because they were too busy playing hero to think of their own well-being.
I get the impression Steel didn’t know they’d done that either. Tempe said he’s barely slept. He and the other guys have been in constant communication with Tanner, but with the court closed on the weekends, there’s been no progress.
The club has stepped in. Between the guys randomly dropping by the house to fix things that don’t need fixing and the girls bringing us premade meals, Willa and I are more pampered than when Hayes and Chaos are here.
It’s appreciated, but none of it replaces them.
At least today, I finally get to see Hayes. Willa sits in the seat beside me, staring out the window as the car takes another turn.
It took a few days, but the judge finally set a date for their bail hearing. Steel didn’t like the idea of me and Willa leaving the compound with everything going on, but Tempe convinced him that if he were the one in jail, no one could stop her from attending. He finally caved after that.
Tanner sits in the front seat while a member of the club drives us. Tanner is scrolling on his phone, reading the files he brought with him. A few moments ago, Steel called to go over the plan again.
At least they’re thorough.
“What are the chances they’ll set bail?” I ask Tanner.
He frowns, setting down his phone. “The district attorney is pushing to hold them for their club affiliations, and this judge in particular is pretty harsh. But we’re going to do everything we can.”
At least he doesn’t sugarcoat it for me.
“And what happens if they don’t set bail? They stay in there?”
Tanner’s single nod makes my stomach turn.
“We’ll figure this out.” Willa reaches across the seat and takes my hand.
She forces a smile, but her pinched eyebrows make it clear she didn’t find Tanner’s words any more comforting than I did.
If anything, she’s probably more terrified than I am.
Officially speaking, Hayes doesn’t have a record, but Chaos has spent time behind bars.
This isn’t his first strike, and they’ll use that against him.
When we finally reach the city, my heart is racing.
Every turn adds to the weight on my shoulders. Three days have been a lifetime without him. What would a month feel like? A year?
“Almost there.” Tanner tucks his papers away. “Remember that they probably won’t let you near them. Let me do the talking. I’m going to do everything I can to get them out today, but regardless, this will go to trial.”
I glance at Willa, whose smile tightens.
“If we—” Tanner is cut off by the car jerking to the right.
The sharp turn jolts me in my seat, and my hands search for something—anything—to hold onto. For a second, I’m not here. I’m back to being six years old, in the back of my parents’ car, the world moving upside down through the windows.
Except this time, it’s not a car that hits us. It’s an oversized green truck.
Metal crunches beneath the weight of the vehicle. For a second, we’re spinning, and then the car begins to roll. Glass shatters. And when I reach for Willa’s hand, I can’t find her.
I brace my palms on the roof overhead as we start to roll again. My neck jerks, and my vision darkens.
When the car finally comes to a stop, we’re upside down, and my seatbelt is all that holds me in place. Blood drips down my neck, but nothing in particular hurts as I ache all over.
I look to my left, finding Willa dangling unconscious.
“Willa?” Her name comes out in a cough. “Willa, are you okay?”
She doesn’t answer, but there’s a rise and fall to her chest, so she’s alive.
In the front seat, blood stains the broken windshield, and the man who was driving is no longer in the car. Tanner hangs suspended upside down, moving enough for me to know he’s still alive.
I’m groggy as I reach from my seatbelt, bracing one hand on the roof overhead as I undo it. My body slumps down, tweaking my neck as I fall onto the glass-covered roof.
“Willa.” I inch for her, slicing my knee on the glass, but I don’t get anywhere as a hand snags my ankle.
Someone reaches into the car, gripping me tightly and pulling me across the shattered glass through the window. I kick and scratch and try to wrestle myself free, but with my head throbbing and my vision blurred, it’s no use.
My body slams onto the pavement as a man dressed in all black towers over me.
There’s no mercy in his blue eyes, which are barely visible through the slit in his mask.
He flips me around, shoving my chest into the pavement to secure a zip tie around my wrists.
Then, he’s tugging me to standing, pulling me with him.
“No!” I try to kick, but there’s no strength in my legs.
“Shut the fuck up.” The man tugs my shoulder, and it burns from how it’s bound behind my back.
“Willa!” I yell, looking back at the car.
Smoke plumes from the engine, and I panic.
“Stop. We can’t leave her.” I twist and squirm, but it makes the man hold tighter. “A fire could start. We can’t leave!”
He ignores my cries as he drags me to a dark SUV parked at the curb.
“Please—”
I’m shoved inside, the door slamming behind me.
The cool air isn’t comforting, even on this hot day.
My sweaty, bloody skin sticks to the leather seat.
I peel my face from it, but with my arms bound behind my back, it’s a struggle to sit.
When I finally do, I realize I’m not alone.
A man in the seat ahead of me grins widely, and it’s not my uncle, like I expect.
“Did you think you could break our deal and get away with it?” Eli angles his head, his cold eyes drifting over me. “Your uncle made me a promise, Emery. You’re going to fulfill it.”