“You’re in Warlord territory.”

“Why?”

“Because you need to be looked after.”

Panic shot through me. I shook my head. “No, no, no, Hawke. I want to see Borden. I don’t want to go to the club –”

“I can’t take you to Borden, Emma.”

“Why the hell not?”

He tapped the roof of the car, looking away from me.

“Hawke,” I pressed, sitting up in my seat. I winced at the pounding in my head and placed a hand on it.

“Are you hurt?” he suddenly asked. “Did they do something to your head?”

I took a few breaths. “I got knocked around a bit.”

“What did they do?”

“Kicked me, beat me against a tree, that sort of thing.”

“That sort of thing,” he repeated, his nostrils flaring. His breathing changed as he studied me. “I didn’t fucking see that part.”

“It’s fine.”

“Like fuck it is.”

I shook my head. “It doesn’t matter right now. Where is Borden?”

“I don’t know. He fucking disappeared. The last anyone’s seen him was at the port.”

“Where the hell could he disappear to?”

“If I knew, I’d take you to him, Emma. I’m in the dark too.”

Worry replaced my fear. “They got him, don’t they?”

He didn’t answer.

I sucked in a breath, but it felt like my lungs were compressed. “They got him.”

“We don’t know that.”

But I did know that. “The bald guy…” I breathed out unsteadily, “he said tonight everything was going down.”

“What did he mean?”

“It means they got him.”

He exhaled. “You need to quit thinking, Emma. Let us do that, alright? Get out of the car and come inside. You’re going to be looked after –”

“I don’t want to be looked after,” I interrupted on a shout. He blinked at me in surprise for my outburst, but I felt like I’d reached the end of my rope. “I’ve had the worst day of my life. I watched a man I care for get killed. Then I got buried alive. And now you’re telling me that Borden’s disappeared. The last thing I want to do is get dropped off in a biker den filled with fuck heads who don’t give a shit!”

“You’re talking like you have a fucking choice,” he replied calmly, his dark eyes burning into my own. “Unfortunately, darling, you’re shit out of luck. You’ve got no choice in the matter. You’re coming in, you’re getting a room, and that’s where you’ll be until Borden is located. Got it?”

“Fuck you!”

“Emma,” his voice came out as a warning.

I pushed at his hard chest, more tears falling. “Go away! Leave me here.”

“In a car, all alone, looking the way you do? You’re having a fucking meltdown.”

“I’d rather be on my own in this car than around a group of crazy, strange men.”

“You won’t. I’ll be there with you.”

I froze and my arms fell. “You don’t mean that,” I muttered sceptically.

“Of course I mean that. You think I’d just leave you around by yourself with these guys? Borden would have my head. I’m not going anywhere, alright? I promise.”

I deliberated for a few moments. He let me have my illusion of choice. Frankly, I knew I didn’t have one. I would have to go. I didn’t trust what was out there, and after tonight, I felt stripped of the strong girl I thought I was and reduced to a vulnerable, terrified mess. Borden had said before that there were people out there that wanted to hurt me just for being with him. I understood that, but tonight reality struck me numb with the experience. I never wanted to have a similar experience again.

“Come on,” Hawke whispered, a note of desperation in his voice. “Nothing will happen to you. I got you this far, didn’t I?”

I nodded dazedly. With trembling fingers I undid my seatbelt. He asked me if I needed help getting out of the car and I stubbornly shook my head. I didn’t think I would need any, but then my body swayed and my vision dizzied. I took a few breaths and caught the seat as I slid off of it. Hawke didn’t help me, but he remained close in case I fell. There was concern in him. I knew he wanted to carry me in, but I objected to his touch. I needed only one man’s hands on me, and it wasn’t Hawke’s.

We walked to the opened door of the large tattoo parlour. Cautious, I looked around, waiting for something bad to happen. Maybe a teensy part of me thought Hawke would turn on me, or something. It was bad to think that way because he saved me, but I didn’t trust the bikers and I didn’t have much faith in people.

If Borden trusts him, you must too.

He let me step in first, and I was immediately greeted with the sight of both the men that answered the door and Hector, who was leaning back against the reception desk at the front with his arms crossed. All three pair of eyes looked me over immediately. If they were dismayed by the filthy sight of me, they didn’t show it on their faces. Hawke followed after me and slammed the door shut, locking the deadbolt.

“What the fuck is going on?” Hector immediately asked.

“A deal is a deal,” Hawke replied coldly. “You gotta honour your deals, brother.”

Hector’s jaw ticked. “I gotta honour my deals? What deal are you referring to exactly? Because as far as I’m concerned, Borden was the one that left us high and fucking dry. I’m not taking that bitch in over whatever the fuck has happened on your end –”

“Borden’s disappeared, asshole,” Hawke cut in, stepping beside me. His body shook with unconcealed rage. “His girl got kidnapped, got beaten around, watched men get blown to smithereens, and then she was buried alive, and you’re going to fucking stand there and tell me you’re not gonna take her in?”

All three men looked back at me, their blank faces twisting into mortification. Silence followed, until Hawke nudged me and said, “Get in that chair, Emma.”

I sat down on a waiting chair against the wall beside the desk. All at once, my body gave out and I buried my face in my hands. It took a few deep breaths before I had the energy to even look up at them. They were still staring at me. Hector, in particular, couldn’t seem to look away, caught up in a wave of both indifference and curiosity.