Page 30 of Emmy's Ride

The drive to the industrial park was dark, lit only by the occasional streetlamp and the steady beam of my headlights slicing through the inky black. My mind raced as I navigated the narrow back roads, each mile steeped in tension and the possibility of impending confrontation.

When I arrived, there was a faint buzz of activity.Not so abandoned after all.

Shadows flitted between the buildings. Somewhere in the distance, a siren wailed, a constant reminder that trouble was never far away.

I parked my bike near an outbuilding and stepped off, my senses on high alert. Every sound, every movement was magnified in the stillness of the night. My thoughts were interrupted by the sound of muffled voices and the scrape of metal on concrete. I followed the noise to a secluded area behind one of the warehouses.

A little further, I found a door propped open. Inside, the corridor was narrow, lit by a single, flickering fluorescent light. The shadows here were deeper, almost tangible.

Peeking around the corner, I saw two men sitting at a table, playing cards while trash-talking each other. I listened for a while for any mention of a shipment coming in or references to a boss. Nothing. With the men focused on their game, I took a look in some of the other spaces and found most of them empty, no locked doors, or suspicious packages. A dead end.

My distrustful mind had to wonder why there was chatter about this location. Unless someone purposefully led us on a merry goose chase for grins and giggles, or was there a purpose? That seemed to be the bigger question.

In my pocket, my phone vibrated. A text from Tank.

No sign of Luke. New chatter of suspicious shipments near the old docks. We might have a lead.

My grip on my phone tightened. Not much to go on, but it was a start.

I replied.Nothing here. Tighten up that lead. Someone could be playing us with false leads.

That could be a big piece of the puzzle. My resolve hardened. If we discovered The Ghost was responsible, I’d hunt him down and any accomplice who dared to harm my family. But more than that, I was determined to protect Emmy from a world that had long tried to crush her spirit. I’d made the decision once to let her go for her own good, and I’d do it again if it meant her being happy.

As I mounted my bike and revved the engine, the roar of the machine seemed to echo my inner battle. The road ahead was uncertain, paved with danger and old wounds, but I was going to get answers. And I was going to bring justice to those who had dared to send their threats.

With the cold night air whipping past me and memories of Emmy’s fierce determination driving me on, I sped into the darkness, the image of her eyes—a mix of defiance and longing—etched in my mind like a promise I could never break.

Memories of the past still haunted my every thought as I pushed the throttle of my bike, knowing I was heading into a situation more treacherous than anything I’d faced before. But there was no turning back now. Not when it involved Emmy. Not when Luke’s life hung in the balance. As the bike roared beneath me, carrying me toward answers I didn’t fully understand, Iknew this wasn’t just about protecting the Kings—it was about protecting the people I’d once loved, the people I’d never stopped loving. Including her.

The compound was silent when I returned, the kind of quiet that sank deep into my bones. My body ached from the fights, from the tension coiled inside me, but none of it compared to the war raging in my head. This entire day had been hell, but it wasn’t the underground ring or the men throwing punches in the dark that haunted me.

It was Emmy.

Lying beside her the night before had been a test of my willpower, and I had barely survived it. One more night like that, and I’d break. So I made the decision—I would sleep in my office. The worn couch was better than the alternative. One of the vacant bedrooms was simply too close to the temptation of being with her. Anything was better than letting myself have another taste of what I could never truly keep.

But as I stepped inside, exhaustion dragging at my limbs, I knew there was no way I’d be able to sleep like this. I needed a shower.

I’d be quick. Sneak into my room, grab clean clothes, and get out before I had to face her again. Before I was tempted to do something I couldn’t take back. My distraction was the only explanation why I didn’t hear the water running and being turned off because the second I opened the bathroom door, all thoughts of restraint evaporated.

Steam curled around me, the scent of her soap lingering in the air, but it wasn’t the mist or the warmth that had me frozen in place. It was Emmy.

She’d just stepped from the shower. Water cascaded down her bare skin, tracing the curve of her back, the swell of her breasts, the lines of her toned thighs. Her hair clung to her shoulders, slicked back from her face. It had been years since I’dseen all of her. She’d matured and gown into a stunning woman. Her breasts were bigger, and their globes hung lower. Her waist had always been within the span of my two hands, but now her hips flared outward, making it appear even smaller. There was also a slight roundness to her stomach now that had once been painfully flat dipping inward from her hip bones.

She was breathtaking.

She looked up and locked eyes with me. Neither of us moved.

I should have left. Should have turned on my heel and walked out before this went too far. But I couldn’t because she wasn’t hiding.

She didn’t scramble for a towel or shield herself from my stare. No, Emmy stood proud, unflinching, her chin lifted in defiance as if daring me to look away.

“You ran,” she said, her voice cutting through the haze of steam and tension like a blade.

My jaw tightened. “Em?—”

“You left this morning without a word. Ignored me all damn day.” She took a step forward, water dripping from her skin, her gaze unrelenting. “You think that makes you noble? That pushing me away somehow protects me?”

I tried to think of a response, my mind still focusing on all that creamy skin, but she wasn’t done.

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