“It’s okay if you’re shy,” the girl says under her breath. “I promise I’ll play nice.”
Shy isn’t my problem, but crushing Emily is. There’s only one girl I crave to be with and she’s alone inside Olivia’s house.
Then I hear it again. “Let me go!”
The chick in front of me fades away as my heart stalls. That was Emily’s voice.
Another hand on my chest and I shove it away. “Everyone shut the hell up!”
The guys surrounding us go quiet and peer at me like I’ve lost my mind. I strain to listen past the electric guitars.
“Let me go! Let me go! Let me go!”
Suddenly I’m pushing through the crowd. Grabbing guys and thrusting them out of my way.
“Oz!” Dad stands on a chair on the other side of the room. “What’s the damage?”
“It’s Emily!” I roar.
With my words the music rips off, guys snap their heads in the direction of the yard and I finally emerge from the clubhouse.
Red. I see red. Emily is in the yard, clawing to get away. Her arm locked in the grasp of a man. He’s yelling at her. She’s yelling at him.
“Emily!”
Her head whips to me and there’s relief in her eyes. Pure relief and that causes a deadliness to unfurl within my bloodstream. She was scared. This man scared her.
“Oz!” she shouts.
My arm is yanked back by someone, but I’m a damned steamroller without brakes. At the sight of me coming, he releases her and Emily is pulling so hard that she falls to her ass. His hands are in the air and there’s shouting all around me. My fist collides with his jaw and he lands on the ground.
A body slams into mine and I fight to go forward, fight to pick up the asshole and beat the hell out of him. Another guy rams into me and I don’t go down, but they do stop my advance. A jostle of arms then Dad’s in my face. “He’s a brother! A Reign of Terror! It’s a brother, Oz! We got this. Calm down! You hit a brother.”
I breathe deeply to try to silence the pounding in my head. A brother. I attacked a brother, which can be an automatic out of the club. My eyes shoot to the asshole who laid hands on Emily and I can’t see him because he’s surrounded by Terror cuts and there’s lot of nasty words being tossed in his direction. The anger in the air is palpable.
I tear away from Dad and he shields me from heading to the group, but I’m going in the opposite direction. Emily’s still on the ground, blinking, moving in slow motion. Her gaze snaps to mine and as she attempts to stand, I clutch her hand and draw her into me.
Emily’s arms weave around my waist and she burrows her head into my chest. One of my hands presses her closer and the other fists her hair. I inhale her sweet scent to confirm that it’s Emily. That she’s safe.
She sniffs and I pull her back, framing her face with my hands. Another round of anger courses within me when I spot the moisture in her eyes. Dammit. “Are you hurt?”
She shakes her head and opens her mouth—
“Oz!” Eli stalks out of the crowd, his eyes narrowing in on my hands on Emily’s face. “Let her go.”
I shift then nudge my shoulder in front hers to protect her from Eli’s wrath. Emily shocks me by surging forward. “You went to prison!”
Eli rears back like she slapped him and the blood drains from my head and out my toes. Someone told her. Someone told Emily the one secret we all knew and Emily was never supposed to find out.
“You went to prison!” she yells again.
There’s not a sound in the yard except for shuffling on the porch. It’s Violet and she holds her elbows to her chest. I briefly shut my eyes. Violet.
“Who told you?” Eli demands.
“It doesn’t matter who told me. What matters is that you didn’t and what matters is that the reason you went to prison was for attempted murder and the reason my mom left is because you tried to kill her brother!”
“Emily...” Eli drops his head and my soul is breaking for both of them.
“You lied,” she spits out. She scans the yard as Olivia and Mom squeeze through the crowd. “You are all liars! You said you’re legit. You said this isn’t how you behave and you went to prison!”
Emily’s shaking. She’s shaking and she’s wiping her eyes. This is killing her and that’s when it hits me, I’m not the only one she fell in love with. She also learned to love her biological father. I touch her back, daring to offer her comfort, and her shoulders roll forward.
“Did you know?” she whispers to me. “Is this what he forbade you to tell me?”
A few hours ago, I told Emily that we needed to play our cards right to make this work. I could lie to her now to save my relationship with the club and Eli. I could act as if she doesn’t matter to me, but I won’t hurt Emily. “Yes.”
She glances at me from over her shoulder and the pure pain there strikes me hard and fast. “Let me get you inside,” I say so only she can hear.
“Emily,” Eli tries again, but she raises her hand in the air.
“Just don’t.” I don’t like how her body sways from one side to the next. “I want to go home, Oz.”
“All right,” I say softly, “I’ll get you home.”
Like I did the first night Emily arrived, I bend my knees and swing her up into my arms. And also like that night, Emily grabs on to me and rests her head in the crook of my neck.