Page 72 of Atlas

“It’s on the kitchen counter.”

I guide Agatha to the couch and sit down with her, trying not to think about how we were just held here by force. I don’t want to go back there in my mind. Not now, not ever. I might clutch Agatha tightly in my arms, smoothing her hair away from her face, but my eye stay fixed on Phil the whole time. He’s still unconscious, his head lolling to the side.

Atlas uses Agatha’s phone. It might be old, but it works perfectly.

When he walks back into the room, he stops right in front of Agatha. He kneels down, taking her hands and examining her face. “Are you hurt anywhere else?”

She sniffs. “Only my pride in every sense of the word. He came to me begging me to give him the money to pay off the others that he owes. Apparently, he was part of a massive crime ring. This was some big scam that cashed out early. He hid the money until he could figure out a way to get out of the country. Fake IDs take time. He thought he had it, but he didn’t. His wife was a major leader in whatever scam he was running. He didn’t even say, but given that he’s a lawyer, I’m sure he knew the ins and outs. When she went back for all the money, she double-crossed him and everyone else. The guys he’s in deep with are not the patient, forgiving kind of people.”

Atlas and I listen while she continues.

“He wanted me to save him from this mess of his own making and when I refused, he called me a monster and started saying that I’d never loved him. He said I’d only ever loved this place and if I wouldn’t sign it over or give him the money, then he was as good as dead and I cared nothing. I was going to offer him enough money to leave and start over, but that’s when he pulled out his gun. He wanted to know everything, soI told him about the club. I figured a bunch of bikers could take care of themselves and that there wasn’t any harm in it. He was unhinged and this wasn’t what I wanted for my son. I thought he might actually kill me, so I had to give him something. Not for me, but for him. After he found out about the club, he wanted me to make that call to lure someone here that he could hold for ransom. I made it, figuring that they’d sense something was off and would send a lot of someone’s and scare Phil off or tackle that gun away from him. I never thought that you two would show up alone.”

“It’s okay.” Atlas brings her hands to his lips and kisses her knuckles. “It’s going to be okay now, Agatha, but I need you to know that Phil is going to go to jail. Not for what he did here to us, but because he stole money from people. There are victims out there.” He pauses because Agatha has started sniffling. Huge tears roll down her cheeks, highlighting the livid bruise forming on the right side of her face. I stroke her hair again, searching Atlas’ face, begging him to make this better. “We know where the money is. Wizard put tracking devices in the bills. The club wants to hire this guy who is good at finding people. I mean, he’s good at tech stuff too, which is really what we need him for, but we can make sure that Phil’s wife is also caught and that the money is returned to the rightful owners.”

I follow Agatha’s eyes to Phil. Atlas tipped his head back when he tied him, so he wouldn’t fall forward on that rope and choke himself. There’s no mistaking the tenderness on her face.

“I know that he and his wife are going to have to face what they’ve done. I just can’t believe it. I can’t believe that he’d hold a gun on you, or that he’d hit me, or say those things, or make you hurt Atlas.”

My own tears are hot on my cheeks. I don’t even know how long I’ve been crying.

“It’s okay, Agatha. It all worked out. I’ve had worse sports injuries before. I meant what I said.” How Atlas can kneel down in front of me and cup my face with such reverence, I’ll never know. “I’ll wear any brand or mark Willa leaves on me with pride.”

My throat works violently but I can’t say anything. There’s too much there, all of it jumbled up and stuck in place. I thought I’d reached my capacity for feeling so much all at once, but I was wrong.

“Just let it go, Willa. You had no choice.” Atlas brushes his thumb over my lips, then strokes my chin and makes his way down to my pulse point. It’s throbbing so irregularly that I could black out. “We’re going to be okay. It’s almost all over. I love you.” This time, his arms encompass us both. pressing Agatha and I close together. He’s like an avenging angel blanketing us with his wings, watching over us like that angel on the back of his leather jacket.

“I love you too, Agatha,” he whispers, holding us just a little bit tighter.”

“Me too.” I turn my face and tell her hair, where her ear should be.

Lynette was my only family for most of my life. She found Bullet here and in loving him, she found a family in the club. I found friends, my best friend even, but I was so hesitant to claim anything more because I was afraid it would all crash and burn, wreck and ruin.

Nothing is ruined.

I lean harder into Agatha and let Atlas drape his broad body over us, soaking up his shelter and tender, furious, galvanizing love.

It’s not just Lynette who found a family. It’s me too. Agatha. The club. Atlas’ parents and his siblings. Hart.

Lynette and I spent years searching for home. We had no idea we were so lost until it came crashing right into us.

And now… I’m truly there. I’m trulyhome.

Chapter 20

Atlas

Tyrant and Raiden were first to arrive. That low, throaty, unmistakable rumble of bikes pulling up was never so welcome.

They took charge, waking up Fucker Phil and going through a round of questions that involved him telling them everything or Raiden doing things with a hot poker to Phil that he wasn’t going to like. Of course the fucker is one of those who dishes it out, but can’t take it. He pissed himself just looking at Raiden.

And then Crow arrived, but it wasn’t Crow at all. It was his other personality, Raven, and he was in full on, gleeful torture mode. Crow must have unleashed him on the drive, because the first thing Raven did after getting off his bike was to crack his neck and knuckles and ask where the fuck the party was at.

Most of it was just talk.

Raiden and Tyrant get no delight out of that part of club business. They try to make sure it happens as little as possible. Tyrant is a good Prez and he has the club’s safety and wellbeing at the forefront of his mind at all times. To him, looking after the men who made him their leader and put all their trust in him doesn’t mean picking stupid fights or going to war. Now that we have Lynette as our club’s lawyer, there’s been a big shift to doing things more above board than illegal. The transition is a slow one, but we could all see the benefit in getting out ofsome of the shit we were doing and transitioning to more passive income, or what we hope will be passive one day.

Wizard, Odin, Grave, Decay, and Gunner rode in maybe ten minutes after Tyrant and Raiden arrived, but Raven had already intimidated Phil into telling them everything.

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