“Because she asked me not to leave. And because helping her… helps me forgive myself a little.”
Weeks turned into months. Jake carved a wooden horse for Emma, taught her about different woods, shared slivers of his past. Sarah learned about Lily, about the guilt that had driven him into the Wolves and then out again. They became a quiet unit: dinners, bedtime stories, small repairs around Sarah’s apartment.
Then the Wolves found him.
A note under his wiper: Time to talk. Viper waited at an abandoned warehouse with five bikes behind him. The president’s threat was simple — return or Sarah and Emma would pay.
Jake moved them to his hidden mountain cabin. For a few fragile days they played house: pancakes, s’mores by the fire, Emma asking if Jake loved Aunt Sarah. He answered honestly. Sarah answered too.
A tracker on his bike forced another flight — this time to Marcus Rivera’s ranch, a former Marine who asked no questions. There, Jake wrote a goodbye letter he hoped they would never read and rode to face Viper at an old quarry.