Page 10 of Shared By Her Brother's Best Friends

It’s clear that she’s right, he’s had a nightmare, which is no surprise after what the kid’s been through today. I back away slowly, leaving mother and son, not wanting to intrude further on such an intimate moment. I do a quick sweep and confirm there’s no one upstairs before going back down.

“All good?” J-Bird asks as he sees me.

“Yep, just a nightmare,” I confirm, taking my seat.

“Good,” he nods. “While Emma is upstairs, I want to take a moment to speak to you all.”

“You can save the ‘keep your hands off my little sister’ talk, Prez. You’ve made it loud and clear that you’ll chop our balls off if we try anything with your lil’ sis,” Jax says.

J-Bird looks a little irritated at Jax’s flippant tone, but he lets it drop, “I’m glad we have an understanding,” he says sternly. “Now, the sooner we figure out who’s trying to get to Max and Emma, the better,” he adds before running us through what Emma has already told him and who the potential suspects might be.

Ty confidently replies, “It seems to me the most likely candidates are a rival club trying to get at us, or even specifically at you.”

“I’m inclined to agree, the Hell Riders have been trying to muscle in on our turf for years, and they’ve got a new president who’s eager to prove himself,” I add.

J-Bird sighs, “It’s a strong possibility. I don’t know which I’d prefer, that it’s those sons of bitches or someone else. If it’s them, it means it’s my fault Emma and Max are in danger, but I can easily take those fuckers out. If it’s not, we’re facing an unknown enemy which I don’t like at all, but…” he says, his voice trailing off as he loses himself in thought.

He doesn’t finish his sentence, but I sense he’s thinking that at least he wouldn’t be the cause of his family’s suffering.

After a moment, he speaks again, “I’ll have the guys prioritize looking into the Hell Riders first thing. In the meantime, Mason, if you can get onto our PI, get him to look into everything that sleazeball husband of Emma’s got up to before he died. Both legitimate and illegal loans. If it’s got anything to do with his past, there should be something we can uncover.”

“Will do, Prez. What about the family?” I ask.

“Get him to look into them too, like Emma says, it seems unlikely, but it’s worth exploring every avenue,” he confirms.

At that moment, we hear Emma coming back downstairs and quickly change the subject, not wanting to worry her further. It’s our job to take care of her and Max now and keep them safe, she doesn’t need to know everything.

“Is Max okay?” Ty asks gently, surprising me a little. Ty isn’t exactly the parental type so his concern over something as trivial as Max having a nightmare is out of character.

“He’s fine, thank you,” Emma replies softly, her trusting blue eyes meeting his, “It’s been a traumatic day for him. You’ll find the bastards who are doing this, won’t you?” she says, her eyes flashing with steel that hadn’t been there a moment before, as she meets each of our gazes.

“We will,” her brother promises, squeezing her on the shoulder and we nod in agreement.

We stay up late, drinking and chatting until our Prez eventually decides to crash. “It’s late we should get to bed, we’ve got a big day tomorrow,” he says deliberately including us all in the statement.

“Of course,” Emma agrees, “Why don’t you take my bed? It’s too late and you’ve drank too much to drive home. I can share with Max for the night.”

“All right, thank you,” he agrees. When none of us begin to follow he stops and silently watches us.

“We’ll clear up and head to bed soon too, Scout’s honor,” Jax says, placing his hand on his heart and giving a mock salute.

J-Bird sighs but doesn’t fight it. “All right, no funny business,” he agrees looking pointedly at us all before heading upstairs.

With J-Bird gone, the atmosphere feels a little awkward. I’m not one to be tongue-tied, but quite frankly, meeting Emma has thrown me for a loop, and I don’t want to play with fire. Yes, she’s beautiful, but she’s also a nice lady and the sister of one of my best friends, who also happens to be the president of the Iron Serpents MC. I don’t wanna upset her or J-Bird by thinking with my dick and overstepping a line. He’s been good to me, to all of us, the Iron Serpents are more important to me than anything else in the world.

It’s clear that Emma doesn’t yet feel comfortable alone around us either as the second Jacob is gone, she pushes back her chair and starts to clear the table.

“There’s no need to do that we’ll tidy up,” I say, standing and taking the plates out of her delicate hands.

My fingers graze one of her slender fingers and she jolts back as if electrocuted. Her breath hitches and I realize I’ve invaded her personal space. I force myself to take a step back, my body feeling like it’s fighting an invisible gravitational pull emanating from her that wants to draw me in.

Jax chimes in, detracting the attention from our awkward exchange, “Really, you’ve had a long stressful day, let us take care of it.”

She looks as if she’s considering arguing but decides against it. “All right, thank you. Not just for clearing up but for dinner, and for well, everything. I know you don’t have to do this. There are probably a million things you’d rather be doing over the next however many days other than being cooped up with a six-year-old and your friend’s sister, so thank you,” she says sincerely, though the slightly defiant slope of her shoulders suggests she’s not comfortable nor used to accepting help.

“It’s no trouble,” Ty says softly, his dark eyes smoldering as they trace the contours of her face.

“Yeah, we’re happy to help,” Jax adds with a boyish grin, his gaze involuntarily flicking a little further south than appropriate.

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