Page 50 of Hammer

“Exactly.”Venom smiled.“Man doesn’t run from things he doesn’t care about.”He leaned closer, lowering his voice.“You scare the hell out of him, Amelia Williams.And that’s a good thing.Man his age needs shaking up.”

Before I could respond, the boys came running up the porch steps.Both started talking simultaneously, their words tumbling over each other in a rush I hadn’t heard from them in years.

“Mom, you gotta see the garage --”

“Theo showed us this Panhead that’s like sixty years old --”

“Atlas says he can teach me some advanced coding --”

I held up my hands, laughing at their enthusiasm.“Slow down.One at a time!”

Venom smiled, nodding to me as he quietly excused himself.Chase barely paused to acknowledge his departure before launching back into his story about engine parts I couldn’t begin to understand.Levi kept interrupting with his own discoveries about the compound’s security system, his eyes bright behind his glasses.

“Can we come back tomorrow?”Levi asked, a note of pleading in his voice I’d never heard before.“Atlas said he could show me how to access the camera feeds from my laptop.For security practice,” he added quickly, seeing my expression.

“And Theo’s dad said he’d let me help with an oil change on his Harley,” Chase added, trying to sound casual though his excitement shone through.

I pulled them both into a hug, overcome with emotion at the simple normalcy of their request.Until now, I’d hugged them sparingly, knowing they had an aversion to being touched.But right now, they were just boys wanting to hang out with friends, pursue interests, learn new skills.Everything I’d wished for them but never thought possible while living under Piston’s shadow.

“Yes,” I said, my voice thick with unshed tears.“Yes, of course you can.”

As they hugged me back -- even Chase -- I felt something settle deep in my chest.Not just hope, but something more substantial.A sense of foundation.Of roots beginning to take hold in this unexpected soil.

For the first time since we’d fled Florida, I allowed myself to believe that we might truly belong somewhere after all.Not just as refugees seeking temporary shelter, but as family.I’d dressed up tonight to play a part, not realizing all I had to really do was embrace my role as Hammer’s old lady.And that realization was both terrifying and exhilarating in equal measure.

Chapter Fourteen

Hammer

I tightened the carburetor bolt with practiced precision, my weathered hands moving through motions I could perform blindfolded after more than forty years of working on bikes.The Softail’s engine had been giving Tank fits for weeks, but the problem was obvious to me -- timing was off, fuel mixture too rich.Simple fixes for simple problems.If only the rest of my life could be diagnosed and repaired so easily.The thought of Amelia waiting at home -- my home that was somehow now our home -- made my chest tighten in a way no amount of mechanical knowledge could fix.

The garage hummed with the comfortable soundtrack of my life -- metal tools clinking against steel parts, the hiss of the air compressor kicking on, classic rock playing from the ancient radio I refused to replace despite Aura’s complaints about its poor reception.Oil stains marked the concrete floor like a roadmap of past repairs, each dark splatter a memory of some brother’s broken-down ride.The familiar smell of gasoline, metal, and the sweet tang of WD-40 filled my nostrils with every breath.

Pegboards lined the walls, tools hanging in their designated spots.I’d enforced that system with iron discipline -- any Prospect who put a wrench back in the wrong place quickly learned the error of his ways.Order in the garage meant safety.Meant control.Something I felt slipping through my fingers with every passing day of this unexpected marriage.

I glanced at the clock -- just past four.Amelia would be finishing her shift at the diner soon.The boys would be home from school.As much as I’d wanted to put them on lockdown, Amelia had argued that they needed things to remain as normal as possible.And now, they’d be waiting, this ready-made family that had dropped into my life overnight thanks to a hacker kid’s idea of helping.I still wanted to throttle Atlas for that stunt with the marriage certificate, but I couldn’t deny the results.The boys were settling in.Amelia was safer.And I…

I was confused as hell.

She’d tried to seduce me the other night -- hell, she’d been trying for quite a few nights -- wearing those shorts that showed off her legs.She deserved better than some worn-out old biker with trouble even getting it up half the time.

I wiped my forehead with the back of my hand, leaving a streak of grease I didn’t bother cleaning.My reflection caught in the chrome of the engine -- silver hair, weathered face lined with too many years of hard living.Christ, I looked every one of my sixty-one years today.

“You look like you’re trying to solve world hunger instead of fixing that carburetor,” a voice commented from behind me.

I didn’t turn around, recognizing Dice’s distinctive drawl.The kid was Spider’s son from the Hades Abyss MC, patched over to us after he fell for Flicker’s sister.

“Just thinking,” I grunted, reaching for the intake manifold.

“Dangerous habit,” Dice replied, moving around to lean against the workbench.His dark hair was pulled back in a ponytail, his beard neatly trimmed unlike my wild silver mess.“Sarge was looking for you earlier.Something about parts for the Road King.”

“Already ordered them,” I muttered, focusing on the engine in front of me.“Should be here tomorrow.”

Dice didn’t leave like I’d hoped.Instead, he folded his arms across his chest, studying me with an intensity that made my skin itch.“So,” he said finally.“How’s married life treating you?”

My hands stilled for just a moment before resuming their work.“Fine.”

“Fine?”Dice chuckled.“Man, you go from confirmed bachelor to instant family with a hot wife and two teenagers, and all you’ve got is ‘fine’?”

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