“Fucking hell,” he mutters.
He glances towards the bar, but I watch the way every single muscle in his body tenses, and it gives me a sense of satisfaction so pure that I almost cry out in triumph.
“So no, I’m not going to stay away. We’re not as different as you think we are. I don’t care about the life you lead. I know what you’ve done for this town. I know how many people the club has helped. You did it for everyone, all of us. Youarethis town. You’re the heart and soul of this place, and I’m not going to stop. I’m not going to stop until you’ve claimed me.”
A dark chuckle, the last thing I expect, drifts over the parking lot. It spirals out into the black night between us, thick and alive.
“Darlin’, you have no idea what being claimed by me means. For starters, your father would like nothing better than to see me ruined. He wants to drive this club out of Helena for more than one reason. You think he’d ever let his baby girl fuckhis enemies? I don’t think so. It doesn’t fucking matter what I want. As Prez, it’s not about me. It’s about what’s best for the club. For my brothers. And getting involved with someone like you is the last thing me or my club needs.”
“I don’t care what my father thinks.”
“No? That might be, but I do. I have enough problems. My club has enough problems. Don’t need to make life worse for anyone.”
“Steel—”
“No. I’m heading back into that bar, and you’re gonna call a cab. I’ll watch until you’re safe inside and you’re not gonna do anything so stupid as come around here again.”
Steel turns and strides back into the bar, his heavy boots scraping over the pavement. If he feels half of what I do, his whole body aches with the weight of walking away.
I thought it was painful before, but now… now I know what true torture is.
Even as I take my phone out to call for a ride back home, I keep my head held high. It’s not in my nature to back down. Not now. Not ever.
I won’t stop until Steel is mine.
Chapter Three
Steel
“Who’s the girl?”
Igive a non-committal grunt, mostly because even though it’s noon, I’m hungover as fuck, for the first time in years. After Leah got in that cab, I got on my bike stone cold sober because that’s another rule the club has—no drinkin’ and ridin’ ever. I went back to the clubhouse, locked myself in my room, and drank myself stupid.
After I woke up, morning light spilling in through the small window in my room, feeling like death had just rolled over on me, I figured the best way to detox was either pour myself another drink or hit the gym and sweat it out.
Since I am thirty fucking eight and have a daughter to live for, a teenage daughter who is home from college for the holidays, and is sleeping at my house on the outskirts of town at the moment—I chose the latter. I know from experience that a body can only take so much hard living. I watched my old man go down that path; he cooked his liver by the time he was forty. Not going out that way.
I set the weights back on the stand and glare at Edge. The bastard drank his fair share last night, I’m dead sure, but there he is, all bright-eyed and fucking bushy-tailed, flashing me his shit-eating grin.
“You asking me as my VP or as a friend?”
That grin never fades. “Could have asked around and found out who she was myself, but I figured that you’d want to tell me and it wasn’t anyone else’s business, so I didn’t bother with that. Don’t make me regret it.”
I shake my head and slam the back of my hand up onto my forehead, wiping a few drops of stinging sweat from my eyes. My brain feels like it has been thrown in a microwave and nuked before being stitched back into my useless skull.
“I regret ever meeting you at the moment.”
“I’m sure the feeling is often mutual.” Edge’s grin fades away, and he crouches down, suddenly serious, though his face is still too pretty, even when he’s not trying to be. “Saw you spent the night here. I stopped by your house this morning. Harley was asleep. It’s all good.”
I nod my thanks. This is what a family is. This is what a brotherhood is. “I wasn’t worried about her. She’s nineteen now. Doesn’t want her dad up in her business embarrassing her.”
Edge runs a hand through his hair. He does it often, which means he shouldn’t have got that stupid fucking hipster cut where it’s all gone on the sides and long at the very top. When he rakes it with his fingers it falls all over the place and looks fucking ridiculous. Still, I had to admit that the bastard is family. For me, a guy who grew up with a drug addict mother and an alcoholic father and zero siblings—since they didn’t want to be saddled with a brat in the first place—family is everything I never thought I’d have.
“Shit. And here I thought that’s what being a father is about. Embarrassing your kid. What’s this world coming to?”
“We’ll get our chance right away. The Christmas concert at the community center’s coming up. Harley’s involved.”
“We should bring everyone like we did last year. I think she appreciated it as much as the town did.”
