Chapter 26 #2
“No damaged locks?”
Shadow shakes his head.
A knot forms in my stomach. “Then how did he get inside?”
Again, the men exchange looks. I suddenly hate that look. The one that says they’ve already had a conversation without me. The one that says they’ve reached conclusions.
“Someone used a key,” Chief says carefully.
The words suck the air from the room. “He had a key?” I ask, confusion and disbelief making my tongue thick.
Trigger slams his palm against the counter. “It was Ethan.” The name explodes from him. “He had access. He knows the house. He knows where everything is.”
Shadow nods grimly. “It makes sense, Sadie.”
I close my eyes briefly. When I open them again, all three men are watching me. Waiting. Expecting me to agree. I shake my head. “No.”
“No?” Trigger sputters.
I fold my arms across my chest. “No.” I take a breath, trying to organize my thoughts. “You’re jumping to conclusions without any proof.”
“Sadie—”
“No, listen.” The frustration building inside me finally spills over. “Yes, Ethan used to have a key. Yes, Ethan knows the house. But he isn’t the only person who could have gotten one.”
The men remain unconvinced. I continue anyway. “For years, I kept a spare key under the doormat.” That gets their attention. I gesture helplessly. “I know it was stupid. Believe me, I know. But I lived there alone with Owen, and it made me feel better knowing I couldn’t lock us out.”
Trigger’s face darkens, muttering a curse.
I ignore him. “Anyone could have taken it. Anyone could have copied it and put it back without me ever knowing.”
For the first time, I see uncertainty flicker across their faces.
“It could still be Ethan,” I admit. “I’m not saying it couldn’t.
” The words taste bitter. Part of me is wondering if they’re right, if it could really be Ethan behind all this.
I keep thinking about the phone calls, the desperation in Ethan’s voice, the strange comments, the growing instability.
But another part of me remembers the man I married.
The man who taught Owen how to ride a bike.
The man who used to bring me flowers for absolutely no reason.
The man who, despite everything, never frightened me.
“I just don’t think we can assume it was him yet. ”
My gaze drifts back to the note. I don’t know which possibility is worse, that Ethan did this or that somebody else did, because if it wasn’t Ethan, then somewhere out there is a stranger who has been watching me, watching Owen, collecting pieces of our lives without either of us noticing.
That possibility is terrifying enough that I find myself wishing I hadn’t insisted on knowing the details.
“It was him.” Trigger insists, jaw grinding, foot tapping. Every movement is sharp and restless, as though he is burning through adrenaline faster than his body can process it. Trigger mutters something under his breath.
Shadow and Chief glance at each other, silently communicating. Something about the expressions on their faces makes a fresh wave of dread wash through me.
“What was that?” My eyes narrow. “What aren’t you telling me?”
Trigger suddenly becomes very interested in the coffee pot. Shadow studies a point somewhere over my shoulder. Even Chief looks vaguely uncomfortable, as if he knows and wishes he didn’t.
Trigger meets my eye, eyes flashing with conviction. “It was him. I don’t care what he says.”
Understanding dawns. “Oh, my God.” The words come out flat. “What did you do?”
“We stopped by Ethan’s place before coming home.” He sounds utterly convinced he didn’t do anything wrong.
For a moment, I genuinely can’t speak. “You what?” The words shatter like ice. Trigger flinches, as if caught in a hailstorm.
“Sadie, we didn’t touch him,” Shadow says quickly.
“That’s not the point!” My voice comes out louder than intended, and I quickly drop it to a low, calm tone. The last thing I want is for Owen to walk in. “You can’t go threatening my ex-husband every time something happens.”
Trigger slaps his palm down on the counter. “He broke into your house.”
“You don’t know that! Did he admit it?”
“He didn’t need to. The fucker had guilt written all over his face.”
I don’t want to defend Ethan, but I’m furious.
“Two bikers turn up on his doorstep in the early hours of the morning, no doubt threatening him. How’s he supposed to look?
” I say, stabbing a finger toward him. “And if you get arrested for intimidating him, or if he tells a judge that his son is living with a motorcycle club that is harassing him, who do you think that hurts?”
The silence that follows tells me they know exactly how badly they fucked up.
“Owen,” I say quietly. “It hurts Owen.”
Some of the anger drains from Trigger’s face, guilt seeps into his eyes.
“You could jeopardize my custody arrangement if you act like this,” I continue. “You’re supposed to be protecting us, not handing Ethan ammunition to take my son from me.” Nobody argues, which somehow makes me even more frustrated. “How could you be so reckless?”
My phone pings and I automatically glance at it. It’s a voicenote from Ethan. I don’t need to listen to it to know what it says.
“We’re trying to protect you,” Trigger says, his voice wheedling, as if he’s trying to convince himself as much as me.
“Really? Because from where I’m standing, it feels like you’re making things worse.” I try to ignore the flash of pain that crosses their faces, my words cutting like a knife.
The worst case scenarios run through my mind. Ethan winning custody, Owen being taken away from me. If that happens, I won’t even care what the stalker has planned for me, my world will be destroyed already.
“Maybe this was a mistake.”
I don’t even realize I’ve said the thought aloud until Chief quietly asks. “What was?”
Shadow doesn’t move, doesn’t speak, as if he already knows my answer. Trigger’s jaw finally unclenches, his mouth hanging open, his eyes frantically searching my face.
“This,” I gesture widely. “All of it.” I suddenly feel bone weary.
I turn my back and walk toward Owen’s room, ignoring the guys’ questions as they follow behind me, ignoring their pleas as they realize what I’m doing.
Owen doesn’t wake as I enter his room, but Dash does.
He blinks, blearily looking up at us all in confusion, his hair standing on end.
Realization dawns in his expression as he figures out that something is wrong, very wrong.
“Sadie? Is everything—”
“Can you help me get Owen settled in the car?” I ask. Right now, Dash is the only one I’m not pissed at. He was here all night babysitting. Though I’m sure the guys didn’t keep him totally in the dark like me, he still wasn’t part of it.
He blinks. “Now?”
“Yes. I’m going to Dani’s place.”
His eyes warily look to the guys behind me.
“If you don’t, I’ll do it myself. But we’re going.”
He nods once. “Okay.” He stands and gently scoops Owen up. Owen stirs and sighs before nuzzling in closer, his head lolling on Dash’s shoulder.
Trigger tries to block my path. “Sadie. Don’t go.” His pained expression almost makes me pause, but I harden my heart. I need to think of Owen now.
“Trigger. Move.” When he doesn’t, I soften my tone, trying to convey that I’m not ending things, at least I don’t think I am. “I need space to process all this.”
Chief places a hand on his shoulder, and after a moment, Trigger slumps and steps aside. Shadow steps forward. “Sadie, promise me you won’t go home?”
“That house stopped being home a long time ago.”
Before this even, before Ethan left. No. I won’t go back. Not now, maybe not ever.
The clubhouse had been starting to feel like home, but now I’m not so sure.
“Owen is my home. My world. I would sacrifice everything for him.”
I don’t need to say the rest; they already know. For Owen, I’d give up the Wild Riders, I’d give up whatever tentative, fragile, incredible thing has been blossoming between the guys and me. Even if my heart is breaking as we walk out the door.