Page 55 of Hammer

My throat closed up, breath shallow and quick in my chest.I backpedaled until my spine pressed against my car door, trapping me.

“What are you doing here?”My voice came out steadier than I felt, a small victory.

He moved closer, every step measured, predatory.The smell hit me before he did -- whiskey, cigarettes, and that cologne he always wore, the one that used to cling to my clothes after he’d been near me.His eyes, cold and calculating despite the whiskey on his breath, raked over me.

“That’s not much of a greeting after I drove all this way.”His lips curved into something that wasn’t quite a smile.“But then, you never did have proper respect.”

I gripped my keys tighter, pressing the sharp edge of one between my knuckles the way Aura had shown me.A small defense.Probably useless, but it steadied me.

“What do you want?”I asked, though I knew.Of course I knew.

“Where are my boys?”He spat the words, all pretense of casual conversation vanishing.His hand shot out, fingers closing around my upper arm with bruising force.“Where are you hiding them?”

The pain radiated up my arm, but I refused to wince.“They’re not your boys,” I said.“They never were.You never wanted them except as punching bags and leverage.”

His grip tightened, fingers digging deeper.I could feel the cold metal of his rings against my skin, pressing little circles of ice where bruises would form tomorrow.

“Mouthy bitch,” he growled, yanking me closer until his face was inches from mine.“You think you can just take my sons?My blood?”His other hand came up to grip my chin, forcing my face up.“Tell me where they are, Amelia.Now.”

I stared into the eyes I’d once thought I loved, seeing nothing but emptiness and rage reflected back.My hands trembled, and my heart pounded so hard I was sure he could hear it, but I held his gaze.

“They’re safe,” I said.“They’re happy.That’s all you need to know.”

Something dangerous flashed across his face.“You think you’re so fucking smart, don’t you?Running to another club, spreading your legs for protection?”His fingers dug deeper into my chin.“Who is he?Which one of these backwater bikers are you fucking?”

I said nothing, which only infuriated him more.His hand slid from my chin to my throat, not squeezing yet, but the threat was clear.

“It doesn’t matter,” he continued, voice dropping to a whisper that frightened me more than his shouting ever had.“I’ll find them.And when I do, I’ll make sure they understand what happens to boys who betray their father.”

My fear crystallized into something harder, sharper.“You’ll never touch them again,” I said, each word deliberate despite the tremor in my voice.“They’re not yours anymore.”

His face contorted, ugly with rage.“Everything I own has my mark on it, baby.Including you.Including them.”The hand at my throat tightened fractionally.“The only way you escape me is if you’re dead.Is that what you want?”

The threat hung in the air between us, heavy and real in a way that made my skin go cold.I’d known he would come eventually.Had prepared myself mentally for this moment.But standing here, with his hands on me again, the reality was so much worse than my imagination.

“Why now?”I asked, playing for time, hoping Phil might come out, though I knew he always left through the front.“You never cared about them before.Chase spent years trying to gain your attention, your approval.You barely noticed him.”

“They’re mine,” he snarled, as if that explained everything.“My property.My bloodline.You think I’ll let some other man raise my sons?”His breath, hot and whiskey-sour, washed over my face.“Is that who you’re with now?Some father figure for them?Some replacement for me?”

The image of Hammer -- strong, steady, gentle with the boys despite his gruff exterior -- flashed through my mind.The absolute opposite of the man before me.

“They deserve better than you,” I said, the words escaping before I could stop them.

His fingers spasmed against my throat, and for a moment, I thought he might actually strangle me right here in the parking lot.Instead, he leaned closer, his voice dropping to that terrifying whisper again.

“I’m going to find them, Amelia.I’m going to take them back.And before I do, I’m going to make you watch while I dismantle every piece of this new life you think you’ve built.”The metal of his rings bit deeper into my skin.“Starting with whatever old man you’ve tricked into protecting you.”

My breath caught.He knew about Hammer.Maybe not specifically, but he knew there was someone.Fear flooded through me, no longer just for myself or my boys, but for Hammer too.

“Leave us alone,” I said, hating the pleading note that crept into my voice.“Just let us go.”

Piston’s laugh was cold and hollow.“You know that’s not how this works, baby.You’re mine until you’re dead.”His eyes, flat and shark-like, bore into mine.“And maybe I won’t let you go even then.”

Piston shoved me hard against the car, my back hitting the cold metal with enough force to knock the air from my lungs.His face loomed over mine, features twisted with a rage I knew too well -- the same expression that had preceded broken bones and black eyes in our past life together.I braced myself, muscles tensing, my body remembering exactly how to curl inward to protect vital organs.But something had changed in the weeks since I’d fled Florida.The fear was still there, primitive and overwhelming, but alongside it burned something new -- a certainty that I deserved better than this man’s rage, that my boys deserved their freedom, that the life we were building with Hammer was worth fighting for.

“They don’t want you,” I said, my voice stronger now despite the pain radiating across my back.“They’re happy now.Happier than they ever were with you.”

His eyes narrowed to slits, nostrils flaring with each heavy breath.“Happy?With some washed-up old biker?”

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