For that alone, he’ll die.
He’ll die painfully for all the rest.
“What else?” Reaper urges her to keep going while moving toward her.
Ember takes a breath and gives us the rest. Tells us about the debt we all knew didn’t belong to a member of this club, but rather to Diablo’s stepfather. It was one none of us would pay. Ember explains how her car started acting funny, and she pulled over only for them to surround the vehicle. She went withthem peacefully to keep from being hurt. They’d taken her to a warehouse, not far from where I found her walking.
“He said you can check all you want, but you won’t find them there. They’d be gone and that . . .” She pauses for a moment and shifts out of Reaper’s embrace. “He also had another message.”
“What’s the other message?” Reaper grinds out.
“Tell them, the Scarlet Needles group, they’ve moved on. They have me to thank for that, so they’ll be wanting to see that debt of Diablo’s taken care of. The sooner the better, but I’ll give them seven days to see it taken care of.” She quotes word for word and clears her throat. “He also shared he’d see me again and that I should think of his leniency when he does.”
That motherfucker won’t be seeing her again.
No fucking way.
I don’t even give a shit about the Scarlet Needles and whatnot. None of that shit means anything to me right now. No, what matters to me is Ember and the fact that I fucked up years ago and let her get away from me. She ran, and now she’s back. What I have to worry about is getting her back and at the same time protecting her from the enemy.
I’ve got to make things right with Ember. I don’t know how the fuck I’m gonna do that, just that I will.She’s gonna be mine again whether she wants to or not. I simply have to show her that she’ll want exactly what I do. While I show her this, I’m gonna find out what the fuck happened to her while she was at school. No way in hell will I let her keep carrying around secrets of what I’m sure is a nightmare she lived through.
CHAPTER 3
EMBER
“You gonna be okay sleeping in here?” Reaper asks. His large frame leaning against the doorframe.
“I’ll be fine.” It was a total lie. I wasn’t okay. Nowhere near okay.
I didn’t want to be sleeping at the clubhouse, but that’s exactly where I was sleeping. To make it worse, I was in the room right next door to Cerberus’s. I’d seen him go into his room earlier when Reaper and Angel showed me to this one. Before I went away to school, my room had been next to Reaper’s and across from Angel’s, but that one is now used by the twins when they’re here. Which they were now.
After I shared with the club what went downwith Samir, Reaper made a call to Ivy. Within twenty minutes, all the women and kids were at the clubhouse, and Reaper called for a partial lockdown.
My other two uncles were pissed with Reaper though. He never shared, and I’m thankful for that, but Tombstone and Angel were not. They wanted to ask me about it more, though they didn’t.
I should’ve taken Cerberus up on his offer for a shirt before they got back. Instead, I was stubborn and refused his offer. I’d been surprised by the fact he was being kind to me or even speaking at all. I get him seeing me and giving me a lift. Being a part of the club, me being who I am to the club, it’s part of his job, I suppose.
With everything that went down between us back when we were finishing high school, I’d let it go. No matter what anyone thinks, I’d let it go. Since leaving and going to school, I’ve grown up. Found the type of person I wanted to be.
What did get to me was that when I came back home, Cerberus had looked right through me. Didn’t seem to care one bit that I was back. It shouldn’t bother me, but I mean, he was the first guy I really cared about, maybe even loved.
I knew for certain that I’d loved Dex, but I wasn’t in love with him, and he hadn’t been in love with me.Our ending the relationship worked out for the best. Plus, as beautiful as Montana is, it wasn’t home. Texas is home, and it always will be.
“You need anything, you know where to find one of us,” Reaper grunts straightening from the doorframe.
“I know.” I nod and meet his gaze. “Thank you.”
“For what?” he asks, cocking a brow.
“For not telling them,” I whisper, dropping my gaze.
“You talk to anyone about it?” Reaper steps into the room, not closing the door fully but just enough to give us privacy.
“Not really.” I shrug. “I try not to think about it, but how can I not when I’m scarred with reminders of what happened?”
“You should talk to someone, Em,” he murmurs. “I’ll listen. Like I did when you first confided in me, but you need to talk to someone. Whether it be a professional or someone else.” Sitting on the edge of my bed, he keeps his head twisted to watch me.
“I did talk to a counselor about it, but it didn’t help. I just need to overcome the nightmare.” I don’t think I ever will, though.
