“We don’t qualify as innocent.”I stepped closer.“We’re the Savage Raptors.We chose this life.We chose you.Danger comes with the package.”
“This danger feels different.”
“How?”Another step brought me within arm’s reach.“Because he wears a badge?You think a badge scares us?”
“It should.”She dropped the backpack, the thud underscoring her panic.“He can destroy you legally.The bar.The club.Audits.Investigations.Raids.He’ll rip everything apart until he finds leverage.Everyone has something to lose.”
Truth settled between us.Mercer could absolutely weaponize the system.The club carried a history no courtroom would accept.
But he assumed we would play by the rules.
“Let me handle this.”
“How am I supposed to stand here and watch him hurt people because of me?Because I wasn’t strong enough to leave him properly the first time?”
“You weren’t weak.”Anger roughened my tone, anger aimed at Mercer and every lie he’d fed her.“You survived an abuser.You escaped.That took more strength than most people ever have to use.”
“It doesn’t matter what it took.What matters is he’ll hurt you if I stay.”She reached for the backpack again, and I caught her wrist before she could grab the strap.
“I don’t scare easy.I’ve faced threats that would make a detective from Oakridge lose control of his bladder.Some cop with a god complex doesn’t even rank.”
“This isn’t about toughness.”
“Then what?”I didn’t release her wrist.My thumb pressed against her pulse, fast and terrified.“You’re so used to surviving alone you can’t accept someone who refuses to let you fight by yourself.”
She tried to pull away.I didn’t let her go.Never hurting her.Just holding her here, holding her in this moment instead of letting fear drag her back to flight.
“You don’t understand what he can do,” she whispered.“He ruined my landlord.Blacklisted my friend from every restaurant.They lost everything because they helped me.They wished they’d never met me.”
“That’s his strategy.Isolation.Isolation makes you believe you’re toxic.Makes you push away anyone who cares.Leaves you vulnerable.That’s the result he wants.”
“I can handle it.”
“I know.You already proved plenty.”I let my free hand hover near her face, close enough to touch yet paused for permission.“You don’t have to stand alone anymore.The Savage Raptors never walk away from family when danger grows.We dig in.We fight.We win.”
“You can’t promise victory.”
“I can promise he’ll go down, and I won’t go down easily.”
Her gaze locked on mine, searching for any sign of empty bravado.She found none.Every truth I carried stayed visible across my face.
Realization flickered through her expression.This connection wasn’t limited to club loyalty.
“Why?”she asked softly.“Why fight this hard for me?”
The honest answer held enough weight to alter everything between us.I said the words anyway.
“Because something real has taken root between us.Something worth defending.And running destroys any hope for a future before we ever learn what we could become.”
Chapter Seven
Marci
The cabin waited at the end of a dirt road we spent forty minutes hunting down, tucked in a stand of pines where the last daylight slanted through in thin amber lines.I climbed out of Ace’s truck on stiff legs, my body still wired from the past few days, tension clinging like extra weight.The air turned cooler and cleaner, sharp from pine resin and the mineral tang of a nearby creek I could hear but not see.
Atilla handed over the keys without explanation and told Ace we could stay as long as we needed.I never asked why he owned a place this remote or what purpose the cabin served.Some subjects belonged in the category of Leave Alone.
Ace hauled our bags from the truck bed, both of them.His carried enough for a short stay away from his house.The cabin itself stood small and weathered, built for function rather than charm.One story, covered porch, blank windows throwing the dying light back at us.I followed him up the soft boards, my sneakers whispering over wood worn by age and weather.
