Page 77 of Hammer

Once outside, I found Chase and Levi at the small picnic table we’d set up on the back lawn.They were eating in silence, but both looked up as I approached.

“Mom’s okay?”Chase asked immediately.

“She’s fine,” I assured him.“Just needs a few minutes alone.”

From where I stood, I could see Amelia through the kitchen window.She paced back and forth, the phone pressed to her ear, her free hand gesturing as she spoke.I couldn’t hear her words, but I could read her body language -- tense, then gradually relaxing.At one point, she laughed, the sound carrying faintly through the closed window.Something in my chest loosened at the sound.

I’d been afraid -- was still afraid, if I was being honest -- that her father would somehow take away what we’d built.That blood would prove stronger than what we had.But watching her through the window, seeing her face animated as she spoke to the man who’d helped create her, I realized something.

Family isn’t always about blood.Sometimes it’s about who stands beside you when the world goes to shit.Who holds you together when everything falls apart.Who accepts you, protects you, loves you without condition or expectation.

By those measures, Amelia, Chase, and Levi were my family.And I was theirs.Nothing -- not Piston, not distance, not even blood -- could change that now.

Epilogue

Amelia

One Week Later

The Las Vegas airport buzzed with activity as we collected our bags from the carousel, the harsh fluorescent lighting highlighting the exhaustion etched on all our faces after the cross-country flight.Hammer stayed close to my right side, his substantial frame a constant presence I’d come to rely on more than I cared to admit.My stomach churned with nerves, a lifetime of questions about to be answered in the next hour.Thirty-six years of wondering who my father was, and now we were in his city, about to meet the man who’d never known I existed until a week ago.Mom might have told me he was a biker who went by Wrath, but it wasn’t like I’d had any proof she’d been telling the truth.Nor had I really known many details about him.She’d never wanted to talk about him.

“You okay?”Hammer asked, his voice low enough that only I could hear.His hand rested at the small of my back, steady and warm.

I nodded, not trusting my voice.The week since that first phone call with Wrath had passed in a blur of preparations -- arrangements with the diner for time off, the boys’ school absences, Hammer coordinating with the club.Through it all, I’d oscillated between excitement and terror, unable to settle on how I actually felt about meeting my father.

“Got it,” Chase announced, hefting the last of our bags from the carousel.My oldest son had insisted on handling the luggage, his shoulders squared with the responsibility he’d always taken too seriously for his age.Beside him, Levi fidgeted with his backpack straps, eyes darting nervously around the crowded terminal.

Aura appeared at my left, her arm linking through mine.“Vegas is wild,” she commented, nodding toward a group of bachelorettes staggering past in matching pink sashes and tiaras.“Never been here before.”

I was grateful for her attempt at normalcy, at distraction.That was Aura -- perceptive enough to know exactly what everyone needed.She’d become such an essential part of our strange little family that I couldn’t imagine making this trip without her.

“Dad,” she said suddenly, her voice dropping to match his earlier tone.“Three o’clock.Cuts.”

I followed her gaze across the baggage claim area to where three men stood near the exit doors.Even without the leather vests emblazoned with the Savage Knights insignia, I would have recognized them as bikers.It was in their stance, the watchful way they surveyed the crowd, the invisible bubble of space other travelers unconsciously gave them.

Hammer shifted subtly, positioning himself slightly behind me where he’d have better access to his waistband if necessary.I knew he wasn’t carrying -- we’d flown commercial -- but the instinct to protect was bone-deep for him.

“That’s our welcoming committee,” he said, his voice neutral though I could feel the tension radiating from him.“Stay together.”

Chase moved closer to Levi, one hand on his younger brother’s shoulder.The protective gesture made my heart ache -- he’d been doing that since he was tiny, standing between Levi and any potential threat.

The three men began walking toward us with measured steps, their eyes locked on our group.The tallest led the way, his face creased in a permanent scowl beneath a bandana tied around his head.The patch on his cut identified him as the Sergeant-at-Arms.

“Amelia,” the tall one said as they reached us, my name sounding strange in his gravelly voice.His eyes flicked briefly to me before settling on Hammer with open assessment.“These the boys?”

I nodded, finding my voice.“Yes.Chase and Levi.”I gestured to each of them in turn, then to Aura.“And this is Aura.Hammer’s daughter.”

The man nodded once, his gaze still fixed on Hammer.I could feel the silent evaluation happening -- sizing up the man who’d claimed me as his, measuring him against whatever standard these men used to judge others.

“Knuckles,” he finally introduced himself, extending a hand to Hammer first.“Sergeant-at-Arms for the Knights.Wrath sent us to bring you to the clubhouse.”

Hammer grasped the offered hand, neither man flinching at what I suspected was a test of strength disguised as a handshake.“Appreciate the escort,” Hammer replied, his tone carefully neutral.

Knuckles’ mouth twitched in something that might have been approval.“Got a van outside.Your luggage is coming with Diesel and Quake in the truck.”He gestured to the two men flanking him, who nodded in acknowledgment.

The walk through the terminal felt like running a gauntlet, with Knuckles leading the way, the other Knights taking up positions behind us, and Hammer keeping me tucked against his side.Aura had fallen in step with the boys, her arm slung casually around Levi’s shoulders while Chase walked on his other side.

Outside, the dry Vegas heat hit like a physical wall after the air-conditioned terminal.Knuckles led us to a black van with tinted windows parked in the loading zone.A man in a Knights cut sat behind the wheel, nodding once as Knuckles opened the side door for us.

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