Chapter 3: Ghost Returns

EMILIA POV

The clubhouse was quieter than I remembered.

Not because fewer people were there, but because grief had settled over every corner of the Iron Serpents' home.

The laughter that usually echoed through the garage was gone.

Even the music had been turned off.

Everyone was waiting for my father's funeral.

Everyone was waiting for revenge.

I wandered into the garage early the next morning, hoping the smell of gasoline and engine oil would somehow calm my restless mind.

It always had when I was younger.

Dad used to bring me here every Saturday.

He'd sit me on a workbench while teaching Marco and Axel how to rebuild old Harleys.

"A motorcycle tells you the truth," Dad always said.

"People lie. Machines don't."

A faint smile crossed my lips.

"Still talking to yourself?"

I turned around.

Ghost stood beside a half-disassembled motorcycle, wiping grease from his hands.

Sunlight streamed through the open garage door, making the silver streaks in his dark hair almost glow.

"I could ask you the same thing," I replied.

"Old habits."

Neither of us moved.

The silence wasn't comfortable.

It never had been between us.

There had always been too much emotion hiding beneath every glance.

"Marco said you'll be staying here," Ghost finally said.

"Just until after the funeral."

"And the war?"

"We'll see."

He nodded once.

"You shouldn't wander around alone."

"I can take care of myself."

"I know."

"Then stop treating me like I'm sixteen."

Ghost leaned against the motorcycle.

"You're right."

"You're not sixteen anymore."

His eyes slowly traveled over me.

Not disrespectfully.

Just... carefully.

As though trying to memorize every detail.

"You've changed," he admitted.

"So have you."

"Yeah."

"You look like you've been through hell."

A faint smile tugged at one corner of his mouth.

"Maybe I have."

"Where were you all these years?"

The question escaped before I could stop it.

Ghost's expression immediately hardened.

"Everywhere."

"That's not an answer."

"It's the only one I've got."

"You disappeared without saying goodbye."

"I know."

"Do you?"

"Because I spent months wondering what I'd done wrong."

"I waited for your calls."

"Your messages."

"Anything."

"Nothing ever came."

Ghost stared at the concrete floor.

"You didn't do anything wrong."

"Then why?"

For the first time since I'd returned...

He looked genuinely broken.

"Because leaving you was the only way I knew how to protect you."

"Protect me from what?"

"Me."

His answer made absolutely no sense.

"That's ridiculous."

"Maybe."

"But it was the truth."

Before I could press him further, Marco entered the garage.

"There you two are."

His eyes immediately narrowed as he noticed how close we were standing.

"Ghost."

"Yeah?"

"Ride with me."

"Now."

Ghost looked at me one last time before following Marco outside.

Curiosity got the better of me.

I quietly slipped toward the side door and listened.

"You need to get yourself under control," Marco growled.

"What are you talking about?"

"Don't play dumb."

"I saw the way you looked at my sister."

Silence.

"She's vulnerable right now."

"She just lost Dad."

"I'm not going to hurt her."

"You already did once."

Those words hit harder than any punch.

"I know," Ghost replied quietly.

"Then don't do it again."

"You're my brother."

"But if you break her heart a second time..."

"I'll kill you myself."

Ghost didn't argue.

"You won't have to."

"Because I won't let anyone hurt her."

"Including me."

I stepped back before they noticed me listening.

Minutes later, Ghost returned to the garage.

Neither of us mentioned what I'd overheard.

Instead, he handed me an old wrench.

"Help me."

"Seriously?"

"You used to be better with engines than Marco."

"That was years ago."

"Let's see if you've forgotten."

Despite myself, I smiled.

For the next hour, we worked together in comfortable silence.

Just like we used to.

At one point, our hands brushed while reaching for the same socket wrench.

Electricity shot through me.

Ghost froze too.

Neither of us pulled away immediately.

"Axel..."

"Don't," he whispered.

"If you say my name like that..."

"Like what?"

"I'll forget every promise I made."

My breath caught.

"What promises?"

Before he could answer, a motorcycle roared into the parking lot.

One of the club's scouts jumped off his bike.

"Marco!" he shouted.

"We've got trouble!"

The clubhouse instantly came alive.

Every patched member grabbed weapons.

"The Reapers just crossed into our territory."

"Three trucks."

"Armed."

"Where?" Marco demanded.

"Highway Nine."

"Looks like they're heading straight here."

Marco's face turned deadly serious.

"Everyone move!"

"Positions!"

Ghost immediately grabbed a rifle from the wall.

Then he turned toward me.

"Inside."

"Now."

"I'm not hiding."

"Emilia."

"No."

"Listen to me."

He stepped closer.

So close I could feel the heat radiating from his body.

"If anything happens to you..."

"I won't survive it."

For a second, the entire world disappeared.

Only Ghost existed.

Only his eyes.

Only the way he was looking at me.

Then Marco shouted from outside.

"Ghost! Move!"

Ghost cursed under his breath.

"Stay inside."

"Please."

He ran toward the parking lot.

I watched as he climbed onto his Harley.

The engine roared to life.

Within seconds, nearly twenty Iron Serpents raced out of the clubhouse like a pack of wolves heading into battle.

Ghost never looked back.

But somehow...

I knew he was thinking about me.

Just as I couldn't stop thinking about him.

Six years apart hadn't changed one simple truth.

I still loved the only man I was never supposed to love.

And judging by the way he'd looked at me today...

Ghost had never stopped loving me either.