Page 107 of The Oath We Take

I grab my laptop and open the video footage of the night the men first approached Ember.

“What are you doing?” Em asks.

“Just checking something.” I cue the video from the night the men first approached Ember and skip ahead to the part where Rocco goes down, playing it one individual frame at a time.

“Oh my God,” Ember says as she sees what I see. “They didn’t even really hurt him. It was all for show so that I’d trust Rocco.”

At such a slow speed, we can see what the regular-speed playback failed to reveal. It was a staged fight. There wasn’t real contact. Every action was pulled at the last second.

Apart from when Ember was hit.

That was real.

“Fuckers,” I say. “Now, it also makes sense how they didn’t know we switched from hitting their warehouse to hitting a safe house. Shit.Thatwas why Dice reported they were clearing it out. They knew that was where we planned to hit. But we changed our mind outside of church based on the intel, so they didn’t know.”

I tighten my arms around her and can feel the way her whole body shakes. “Take a breath, Em. I need to get ahold of your father.”

“But he hates you right now.”

Again, I think about my grandfather.

The best revenge is not to be like your enemy.

“Just because he was an asshole to me, doesn’t mean I need to be an asshole back. I can still act with integrity for what is in the best interests of the club.”

She tilts her chin and looks up at me. “You’re a bigger man than me, because I can’t even think about being good to Dad right now.”

“Steps, sweetheart. Get everyone safe, then decide if we forgive them. We can be the bigger people. We can do this on our own terms.”

“Are you going back to the clubhouse?”

He nods. “I should. I’m gonna call Wraith on the way.”

“Why not Dad?”

“Because Wraith should have called me this morning when your dad was setting me up for a fall. And I should call him now, because as sergeant at arms, it’s his job to lead the plan.”

“What should I do?”

“Lev Zakharov or whatever the fuck Rocco is really called, isn’t expecting us. I don’t know if the club have already moved the bug, but if they haven’t, maybe we can feed them some misinformation of our own. I don’t know.”

“How can I help? What should I do?”

I glance around. “The safest thing you can do is stay here, out of the way.”

“But I want to be useful.”

I stroke her cheek, then cup it to kiss her. “I know. But Zakharov has caught us out at every turn. He’s been to the clubhouse, he’s been to the bar, but he hasn’t been here to my home. He doesn’t know what the deal is between the club and the ranch or how closely connected they are, beyond sitting on the land. And he certainly doesn’t know you’re with me on this property. You’re safest here.”

“Then go end this for us, Hudson. And know I won’t accept anything less than you coming back to me in one piece.”

I grin at that. “I don’t know, I kind of like playing with Nurse Deeks.”

“Just go and do what you have to do.” She slips out of my hold and messily serves up a plate of food before placing it in front of me. “Here. Eat this first. You’ll function better if you aren’t hungry. And don’t forget to let me know if you’ll be home for dinner.”

I slap her ass, then shovel some food into my mouth. “I like this domestic situation we have going on.” The words are mumbled through a mouthful of eggs.

“For the record, I will not be cooking every evening. You are more than capable of cooking us dinner. But I will make it tonight, seeing I’m cooped up in here. Might even think about tossing my pill away while I’m cooking it.”

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