34. Steel

34

Steel

Havoc hands me a beer, and I walk over to where my grandma is still sitting in her chair on the beach, holding an ice cream for Austin for when he and Tempe are done in the bathroom.

That kid’s excitement for the smallest things has me feeling some kind of way. It doesn’t take much to brighten his day, and I wish that was something easier to hold on to the older a person gets.

“Come sit,” Grandma says, shielding her eyes with her hand as she looks up at me.

I drop into a beach chair beside her. “I see Austin took it upon himself to protect you from intruding armies.”

She looks down at the moat, smiling. The water is already gone, but she still hasn’t moved her chair.

“He did. And I hear you did something smart.” Grandma reaches for my hand and squeezes it. “It’s good seeing you happy, Jameson. ”

“They make me happy.” I take a sip of my beer, mulling over that word.

Happy .

It’s not something I’ve really strived for. My men need me diligent, attentive, present.

But happy?

My mood’s never mattered, so long as I can protect my club.

With Tempe and Austin, it’s different.

Yes, I need to protect them. But my vigilance isn’t what gets me smiles from them first thing in the morning. They aren’t solely concerned with what I do for them. They just want me around. My purpose when I walk through the door to my house has nothing to do with the patch on my cut. They just need me—Jameson.

A better man than I’ve been in the past, and I want to be that for them.

“This is the best decision I’ve made in a while.” I stare out at the water. “I hear I should thank you for talking to Tempe. Bringing her up to speed on what it means to be an old lady.”

Grandma laughs. “Someone had to. You boys have all been runnin’ wild for far too long, so there’s no one else to support her through this. She’ll need that, no matter how tough the girl is.”

I glance over at my grandma. “Thank you for being there for both of us.”

“All I did was point out what we both already knew: that she can handle this so long as she can handle you. She’s a strong girl. One with the backbone needed to stand at your side and the good sense to challenge your ego if you’re acting up.”

“She will.” I chuckle. “She’s a lot like you. Not scared of shit. Sticks up for herself—”

“Makes you a better man.”

I rake my hair back, taking a sip of my beer. “I’m trying.”

“You put too much pressure on yourself, Jameson. You do a lot of good for these men.” She glances back at the guys laughing around the barbeque. “Your grandad and your father would be proud of you. Our boy growing up. Living up to the legacy they left. I know you haven’t always wanted the pressure that cut places on you, but you’ve embraced it in ways even they couldn’t have thought possible.”

I look down at my president patch, remembering slipping this on for the first time the night my dad was gunned down. There was still blood staining the white stitching at the time, and I wore it as a badge of honor until I got revenge for his death. It was a reminder of what I was expected to give to my club if it came to it.

My blood.

My life.

I was young and thought I knew so much more than I did back then. It was a baptism by fire while I was on a path of vengeance. I had a lot to learn, and looking back, it took me far too long to do it.

I grew up with this club. Around these men. And in the process of being what they needed, I somehow found and lost who I was. I forgot what we were really fighting for until Tempe stormed in and reminded me .

She had the blood of a traitor running through her veins, but she wasn’t him. She was fate trying to tell me something.

“I’m gonna ask her to marry me,” I admit, looking over at Grandma. “I haven’t said anything to the guys yet, but tonight, I’m going to ask her.”

Grandma smiles, and it’s the only approval I need. This part doesn’t require a vote from my men, and it doesn’t technically need Grandma’s either, but I want it.

She’s been here through my best and worst times.

Through my mom’s death.

My grandad’s.

Through my dad’s— her son’s.

She’s been here for me as much as the men in the club.

“Good.” Grandma squeezes my hand and sits back in her chair, smiling as she looks out at the water.

A slow breeze ripples the surface, and it tickles the back of my neck.

I glance back over my shoulder at the overlook above, but I can’t see the bathroom from here, and something about how they still haven’t returned feels wrong.

They should have been back by now.

“Everything all right?” Grandma asks, her gaze moving to where I’m scanning the hill.

“I don’t know. It shouldn’t take this long.” I climb out of my chair and set my beer down as I pull out my phone and dial Sonny.

It rings until it goes to voicemail, so I dial Reyes.

Same thing.

I start making my way across the beach with a sour feeling settling in my gut. “Havoc, why aren’t the prospects answering?”

He looks up from where he’s grilling burgers, immediately handing the spatula to one of the prospects milling around. “Where are they?”

“Austin had to go to the bathroom, so Sonny and Reyes took him and Tempe.” I point to the overlook as I start up the path up the hill.

Havoc meets my pace, pulling his hair back and reaching for his phone. He must not get an answer either because he just as quickly tucks it away.

“I swear to God if something’s wrong—” I shake my head and move faster.

“Steel?” I hear Ghost yell from a distance, but I don’t slow down.

I’m already up the hill and crossing the parking lot. It’s filled with our trucks and bikes, and the bathroom is on the opposite side.

There’s no sound. No movement.

I know before turning the corner something’s not right, and when I see Sonny bloody on the ground, my fears are confirmed.

“Fuck.” Havoc drops to Sonny’s side, feeling for a pulse.

I’ve got my phone out, and I’m dialing Patch, but when Havoc shakes his head, I know it’s already too late.

“Never mind.” I hang up when Patch answers and dial Ghost instead. “Get to the bathrooms.”

Hanging up, I storm into the bathrooms, only to find them empty. There’s no sign of Tempe, Austin, or Reyes. By the time I walk out, Ghost is crossing the parking lot toward us with an ice-cold glare.

“This is not happening.” I grit my teeth, heading toward Ghost.

“We’ll find ’em, Steel. I swear on my fucking life.” Havoc pulls out his phone and calls Mayhem, who’s still back at the clubhouse.

I vaguely hear him giving orders to organize the men there, but I’m too focused on Ghost to pay attention.

“We have a problem.” Ghost stops in front of us.

“No fucking shit. Tempe and Austin are gone.”

Every ounce of sanity I have left is being tested, and those words cause something in my brain to snap.

I close my eyes and tip my head back, taking a deep breath. No good comes from me losing it right now. All it’ll do is put Tempe and Austin at risk. They need the man I swore I’d be for them. The man who runs this club and protects what’s his.

Exhaling, I look back at Ghost. “What is it?”

“It’s about Tempe and Austin.” He flips his phone around so I can see the screen; it’s a text message from an unknown number.

Unknown : How does it feel to lose, Steel? First your business. Now your girl. Your club is next. We’re coming for you.

Ghost opens the picture attached to the text, and it’s an image of Tempe and Austin in the back of a van. Both of them have their eyes closed, so I’m guessing they’ve been knocked out with something. Dimitri is holding Tempe’s head up so he can show her off to the camera, and his lips are so close to her cheek that it makes my skin crawl.

“They don’t mention a trade,” Havoc says, looking over my shoulder and reading the message.

“I noticed.”

And no trade is more concerning than if Dimitri was asking for something.

No trade means he already has what he was looking for.

What he said to Tempe at the bar rattles around in my head. He didn’t send her to the club for the flash drive.

He wanted her here.

But for what?

Havoc hangs up with Mayhem, and the rest of the guys have made their way up the hill toward us, either because Havoc waved for them or they sensed something was off.

I turn to Ghost. “Is there any way to tell where the picture was taken?”

“I need to get it back to my computer at the clubhouse to see if I can trace it, but if I had to guess, it’s a burner phone. And there’s no geotag on the image.”

“So, nothing?”

Ghost shakes his head, not looking any happier about it than I am.

We’ve been tracking Dimitri for weeks. And even when we found the house in his name, he wasn’t there. Now he has Tempe and Austin, and we’re still no closer to finding where he’s hiding out.

I take a deep breath, smoothing my hands down my cut and finding my center.

Focusing my rage .

Honing my clarity.

They don’t need me falling apart. For them, I have to keep it together.

“Everyone back to the clubhouse; we need to regroup.” I look around at my men. “Find my family. And if they touch so much as a hair on either of their heads, we’re going to burn this city to the fucking ground.”