Page 83 of Emmy's Ride

"You were." My eyes burned. "And you know it."

He raked a hand through his hair, glaring down at me. "I have to do this."

"No," I snapped. "What you have to do is be here." I shoved at his chest. "With me."

His entire body went still. My lower lip trembled.

"Because I don’t know how to come back from this," I admitted, voice cracking. "I don’t know how to fix what’s broken inside me."

My eyes met his, pleading. "But I know I can’t do it without you."

Without a word, Austin pulled me in. He wrapped his arms around me, crushing me against him, his lips pressing to my hair. "I’m here," he murmured against my skin. "I swear it, sweetheart. I’m here."

For the first time since I’d been taken, I believed him. I wasn’t alone, and together we would find a way forward.

The morning light filtered through the thin curtains, but I had hardly slept. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw the cold, leering faces of the men I imagined watching me, the ones who had controlled my every move. Even though I was free, the phantom weight of their commands lingered.

But Austin was here. He hadn’t left me, hadn’t walked out that door to chase down The Ghost like I feared he would.

I lay curled against his side, my head resting on his chest, listening to the steady beat of his heart. It was the only thing anchoring me. The only thing keeping me from unraveling completely.

Austin shifted, his fingers combing lazily through my hair. “You awake?”

His voice was raspy with sleep, but the edge of worry was still there. It hadn’t left since the moment he’d found me.

“Yeah,” I whispered, but I didn’t move.

For a while, we just lay there. No words. No expectations. Just warmth and safety.

But safety was temporary. I knew it. He knew it.

A knock on the bedroom door shattered the fragile peace. Austin tensed beside me, then sighed. “Come in.”

Riot stepped in.

“You!” I screamed and fought against Austin’s hold.

Riot took a step back, his face drawn tight, his usual cocky demeanor stripped away as he held up his hands in surrender. “Emmy, I’m sorry. You’ll never know how much.”

Austin’s arms tightened around me as I thrashed in his hold, fury crackling like live wire under my skin.

“Let me go!” I screamed, struggling against him, clawing at the covers. “He’s the reason I was taken!”

Riot flinched but he didn’t move from the doorway. “I didn’t know what they were going to do to you. I swear to God, Emmy.”

My chest heaved, the air in the room suddenly too thick to breathe. “You tossed me in the back of a van like garbage, and then you left me with him.Don’tstand there and pretend you didn’t know he was going to sell me.”

Riot took a slow step forward, still keeping his hands raised. “I knew he wanted leverage. That’s what I was told. I thought it was just a warning, a scare tactic—something to put pressure on Luke. I didn’t know they’d hurt you. I sure as hell didn’t know he was putting you up for auction.”

“And that made it okay?”

“I tried to fix it,” Riot said quickly, desperation bleeding through his tone. “I went back to get you, but you were already gone.”

I froze. “You went back?”

His gaze met mine. “You were gone by the time I got there. I swear, Emmy. I never wanted you hurt. I made a deal I didn’t fully understand, and when I realized what it cost, I did everything I could to undo it.”

I didn’t know what to do with that. My body was still trembling, the echo of his betrayal too loud to ignore. But something in his eyes—haunted, hollow—made the fight drain from me, just a little.

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