Page 18 of Emmy's Ride

My stomach twisted because they weren’t wrong. Austin hated this. I could see it in the way his fists clenched at his sides, in the way his nostrils flared just slightly as he reined himself in. The Austin I had known when we were young would’ve already gone hunting. Would’ve already been tearing through town looking for blood. But this man—Prez—was holding back.

“Somebody sent a warning,” Austin said, voice quiet but certain. “That means they’re watching, waiting to see how we react.” His gaze swept the room. “If we charge in blind, we’re walking straight into their trap.”

Tank’s chin dropped as his fingers raked over his beard before he gave a slow nod. “Fine. We wait.”

Diesel cracked his neck. “But not for long.”

Austin’s expression darkened. “Not for long.”

The conversation was over, but my pulse pounded. I had grown up in this world. I’d spent my whole childhood surrounded by men who lived and breathed for the Kings of Chaos. My father had died for this club. My brother had sacrificed for it.

What would my life have been like if my mother had been in my life? If cancer hadn’t taken her from me before my sixth birthday. Would she have given me the understanding of how to be in Austin’s world and the maturity to deal with all that came with it?

I had spent most of my life trying to escape the brotherhood. But right now I was seeing it through different eyes. I had never seen Austin fully in his role as leader before. Not like this.

I hated it.

And I loved it.

Because no matter how much I tried to convince myself otherwise, this was who he was meant to be.

Back when we were young, before he’d earned his patch, before he’d risen through the ranks, he had already belonged to the club more than he had ever belonged to me. I had known it. I had felt it. And I had walked away because of it.

Watching him take control with nothing but a tone of authority and a meaningful stare, watching his men follow him without hesitation—I realized something. I hadn’t truly understood back then. I hadn’t really known what it meant for Austin to belong to the club. He wasn’t just part of the Kings of Chaos. He was the damn foundation they stood on.

Tank questioned him, Diesel pushed back, but in the end, they all fell in line. Because Austin owned this room. My heart clenched at the realization that he always had.

What scared me the most, though, was how much I wanted to step closer. How much I wanted to touch him, to feel that strength, that presence, that power.

But I wouldn’t. I knew exactly what this life had taken from me.

Austin turned to me, and for a brief second, his mask slipped. Just enough for me to see him—not the Prez, not the leader of a notorious MC. Just Austin. The man I had once loved. The man who still had the ability to destroy me. That sent a chill down my spine even as need unfurled deep in my gut.

“You should get some sleep,” he said.

I let out a dry laugh, shaking my head. “Yeah, not sure that’s in the cards tonight.”

He shook his head. “Just try.”

Try. Like it was that simple.

The exhaustion made me sigh, the night’s events made me weary to the bone, but I knew sleep wouldn’t come. My mind wouldn’t allow it.

Austin reached for me. His fingers wrapped gently around my wrist, his touch warm, reassuring. “You’re safe here, Emmy.”

The words sent something painful cracking through my chest. That was a lie. I wasn’t safe. Not from whoever had a vendetta against the Kings. And sure as hell not from Austin.

For a split second, I let myself sink into it. Let myself remember what it felt like to trust him, to believe him… but I couldn’t afford that. Not again. So I pulled away. His fingers lingered for just a fraction longer before I stepped back, putting distance where there hadn’t been any.

I didn’t give him time to say anything else. Didn’t give myself time to second-guess the way my body still ached for him. I turned and walked away.

Austin didn’t stop me, but I felt his eyes on me the entire way up the stairs. As I slipped into the bedroom, closing thedoor behind me, I pressed my back against the wood, heart hammering.

The war the Kings of Chaos now found themselves in was just beginning, but the battle inside me was already fully underway.

Austin

After a sleepless night in one of the vacant bedrooms, I spent most of the next day chasing down leads, making calls, and shaking the right trees. I’d tasked the other brothers with looking into the fire incident last night, which left me to deal with Luke’s disappearance. It hadn’t taken long to find what I was looking for. A contact from one of our friendly clubs had seen Luke at Rusty’s Bar the same night he vanished.

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