Page 19 of Elite Metal: Warriors

When Chrome and Steele exchanged a glance, she paled. She glanced at Sterling for confirmation that torture was, indeed, on the table, but he felt no desire to reassure her. Not after her last comment. Not with some weird thing that felt like jealousy and betrayal swirling in his belly. He set his teeth and stared her down.

Her obstinate expression faltered. Her gaze skirted the room, flicking from one face to another, and then she gulped as she realized…they would not back down.

He didn’t know why relief gushed through him as she let out a breath and dropped her adamant stance. “Oh, all right. It’s not like I cared about this story anyway.”

“Then why were you doing it?” Steele asked.

The mulish expression returned. She crossed her arms—again, a pointless gesture, but telling. “It’s my job.” Not a lie, but not the truth. Sterling resolved to explore her true reasons for taking this on…later.

“So how did you find the team?”

“It was pretty easy.”

Sterling made a strangled sound.

Her lips quirked. “It was. I had a lead that a couple high-level ex-military operatives were spotted in a bar in Dallas. They both left on motorcycles.”

“Seems pretty vague,” Steele said.

Roni sighed. “Right. But bikers love their bikes. Treat them like their babies.”

Nods around the room.

“They always have their favorite garages. So I dolled up and started visiting bike shops. Cozied up to the mechanics and told them I was looking for my ex.” She pouted. “He owed me child support.” That explained the picture in her wallet. What man with warm blood in his veins could deny a kid in a wheelchair? “It took a while to get a ping. And there were a couple false leads. But then I visited a parts supplier in Deep Ellum. Unlike all the other shops, no one at this one would even talk to me once I mentioned I was looking for a military guy.” She skated a look around the room. “Dead giveaway. So I kind of snuck in after hours and went through their billing records.”

“Breaking and entering?” Steele drummed his fingers on the table. “What is that? Five to ten?”

Roni make a sound that sounded like pffft. “I found way too many references to a single address in Deep Ellum. That, and the fact they didn’t want to talk about our military heroes?” She fluttered her lashes. “Too coincidental not to explore.” She shrugged. “So I decided to investigate. Got a job at Bone Daddy’s and started asking around.” She shot a look at Steele. “A lot of people in town wonder about your crew, you know. You might need a better cover.”

Steele and Chrome exchanged another glance.

And damn, she was right. If they were this easy to find…

“How much of this have you reported back?” Chrome asked.

Roni sat back in her chair and fiddled with the sleeve of her sweater. “I don’t think I should answer that question.”

To a man, they gaped at her.

“Not until I get some kind of assurance that I’m going to walk away from this in one piece.”

Steele frowned. “Honey, we can’t make an assurance like that.”

The veiled threat did nothing but make her features harden. Sterling had the sense that intimidating her would only shut her down. He leaned forward and set his hand on hers; she jumped and then fixed him with a wide-eyed stare. “We can’t afford to let this story leak, Roni. Lives are at stake. Can you understand that?”

It took her a moment, but she nodded. “Yeah. I understand. But I have a lot at stake too.” She frowned at him. “Besides, I already told you I wasn’t going to pursue the story. You’re the one who brought me here.”

“You’re dangerous to us,” Steele said. “Surely you can see that.”

“Just the fact that you know we’re here. That you were able to find us, is a huge issue,” Chrome added.

She glared at him. Which was funny. He was ruthless and intimidating as hell, but somehow she wasn’t cowed. “It’s not my fault your secret base isn’t as secret as you want it to be. If nothing else, you should take from this that you have some holes that need to be filled.”

And hell, she was right.

A sizzling silence swirled.

Steele folded his fingers and studied them as though he’d never seen them before. After a while he said in a low voice, “What did you mean when you said you have a lot at stake too?”