Page 48 of The Oath We Take

“Just a lot on my mind. I feel like we’ve been back two minutes, and Dad has already messaged me to take a meeting he should be having.” I sigh and put the tools away. “Plus, I’m not sure what those guys’ end game was. They have to know Ember would tell her father. They have to know we’d take steps to stop them getting their money.”

Just as I say the last word, Ember steps out of the clubhouse with Rocco. The summer breeze catches the ends of her hair, and I can almost conjure the scent of her shampoo as I inhale.

God, she’s pretty.

“Wraith said the same thing.”

Jesus! Focus!

“One thing I know for sure, is if we don’t protect the town, they’ll lose faith in us. That doesn’t sit well.”

Neither does the hug between Ember and Rocco that’s longer than fucking lambing season. It’s grinding my last gear.

Rocco gets into the truck and drives down the trail, and it reminds me. I send a quick text.

Me:Vex. You get any details on those vehicle registrations?

Vex:Shit got busy here for a second. Yeah. Got you some details.

The Russian truck comes with a company address in Denver. I’m guessing it’s one of the Bratva businesses and won’t be hard to check.

The second, the flashy car belonging to Rocco, is a rental from Denver airport.

That doesn’t make any sense. I mean, I guess the truck he’s driving today could have been in for a service or some shit, so he hired a car for the night.

Why would a man who lives in the next town over be hiring a car from the airport to take a woman on a date?

Me:Thanks. Any chance you can run this plate too and break into their systems and find out who hired it?

I add the plate from the truck.

Vex:Yeah, but won’t be able to get to it until tomorrow afternoon. That cool?

I worry about what I’m asking. Is this jealous boyfriend shit, or do I have a valid concern? Does it even matter? If Ember tells me she set him straight, then I have no reason to worry.

Except my gut is usually right.

Me:Yeah. No rush. Club business first.

I look to Catfish, who has finished packing up the rest of the tools we used. “Got Vex from New Jersey following up on some shit for us. The truck those guys used to threaten the town? Registered to a company in Denver.”

“You should go tell Butcher,” he says. “I’ll see these tools get put away in the workshop.”

Perfect. Because there’s a woman I need to see. “On it.”

I jog the short distance across the edge of the meadow and follow Ember back into the clubhouse. “Kitchen, now.” My words are blunt when I see her.

She looks up at me, obviously confused by my mood. “Please don’t speak to me like that.”

I raise an eyebrow. “Kitchen.”

Just as she’s about to reply, Butcher comes out of his office into the bar. “Seems like a decent guy. Starting to wonder if he’s got a bit of a death wish, stepping in front of the Bratva, then daring to walk into a motorcycle club uninvited.”

Ember puts her hands on her hips. “According to you, no guy is going to be perfect for me, Dad. If he hadn’t looked out for me in front of the Bratva, you would have called him a coward. You would have told me I deserved someone who is going to protect me. If he’d come to the clubhouse and been meek and lacked confidence, you would have called him a pussy, or some other highly misogynistic word. You would have said whoever I ended up with should have the courage to meet you eye to eye. But the only other person with the balls to look you in the eye would be a biker, just because of who you are, and if I’d shown up with one of those, you would have shot them.”

Butcher laughs. “Calm down, Spitfire. I’m just telling you the guy was okay.”

“Well, I wasn’t asking your permission, and I didn’t bring him here to meet you. That was an accident. He didn’t know he wasn’t supposed to just show up here.”

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