6. Steel

6

Steel

Tempe stands in the middle of the kitchen like a bundle of dynamite. Her shoulders are rolled back, and her arms are gripping her middle like she’s holding in an explosion. And when she narrows her pretty hazel eyes, I sense it.

A match being lit.

The fuse burning.

“You done in here?” I ask when she doesn’t so much as blink while she stares at me.

“I guess.” She shrugs.

“What’s wrong?” And why does she keep making it my problem?

“Nothing.”

I drag my fingers through my hair.

Games.

Attitude.

Everything about this girl is so fucking irritating .

It’s not my fault she tried to steal from my club. It’s not my fault she got herself into trouble. But here I am, dealing with her shit. And she’s the one who is pissed at me about it.

“Fine. You want to know what’s wrong?” She throws her arms to her sides and takes a step toward me when I’m quiet for a minute. “If you’re going to hold us hostage, you could at least feed us.”

I glance down at the granola bars in her hand. “Is that so?”

“Yes.” Her spine straightens, and she gives me a sharp nod. “You’re a rude host.”

“This isn’t a hotel, princess.” I pop my knuckles. “And I’m not hosting shit.”

I’m getting really tired of her pushing my buttons just to see what I’ll do about it.

Taking a step toward her, I don’t miss that her breath catches. That her cheeks turn a pretty shade of pink, complementing her perfectly puffy lips.

“You forget you’re a little thief, Tempe.” I tip her chin up, but she immediately pulls her face away from my grip. “You’re worried about starving when you should be thankful that I was nice enough to give you a bed to sleep in last night.”

My bed, on top of it.

It’s going to take a whole new set of linens to erase her cherry-blossom scent from my room.

Tempe rolls her eyes. “I already told you I had nothing to do with what happened last night. I didn’t want to steal anything. I didn’t even know what they sent me to get. I told you everything I know—which is basically nothing. So if you don’t like me being here, let us leave.”

“Wish I could, wildfire.”

Her eyes light up at the nickname I gave her, and I take another step closer. She backs up for every step I advance, but she can’t hide.

There’s no running.

Until I figure her out, I won’t allow it.

“Why can’t you?” There’s the slightest quiver to her tone. “You know where to find us if absolutely necessary.”

“Because you’ve already proved yourself to be trouble.” I pause once she’s backed against the counter. “Besides, if I send you back now, who’s to say the guys who sent you here won’t immediately show back up? You already folded for them once. I’m sure they could convince you to do it again.”

“I—” Her eyebrows pinch as she cuts herself off, and something new washes over her expression. “They wouldn’t.”

She was probably going to argue and run that smart little mouth of hers, but her momentary confidence is replaced with something else.

Fear .

Tempe’s tough. I’ll give her that. But at my mention of the men who sent her here, her voice shakes and goes up in pitch. She chews the inside of her cheek, and her eyes dart around the room.

I’d like to think she’s not this innocent, and she’s just good at playing men. But her reaction is more proof that she’s nothing like Helix .

“You think they’ll come back?”

I could lie to her—soften the blow. But I’m not that nice, and after last night, this girl needs a dose of reality.

“Probably. They still don’t have what they wanted.”

“Which is what exactly?”

“That’s none of your business.” Just because they sent her here looking for the thumb drive doesn’t mean she has a right to know we found it. Especially when I don’t know what’s on it yet.

“You’re right. This isn’t my business . This is my life .” She narrows her eyes, but they’re glossy from the tears she’s holding back. “And you’re holding me hostage until what—you decide if I’m lying to you? My mom is dead, and I’m all my brother has. Trust me, what happens to your club is the least of my concerns. I don’t know what I’m stuck in the middle of, but I didn’t ask for this, and neither did my brother.”

Her shoulders are squared, and her face is a shade redder with her frustration.

“I have a right to answers if you’re going to keep us here.” She glares at me. “If I don’t show up at work tonight, I’ll get fired. And rent’s already ten days past due. I don’t know what those men want from you, but why couldn’t you all just leave me out of it?”

Tempe dips her chin and rakes her fingers along her scalp, messing up her ponytail so she has to redo it. When it’s slicked back again, she curls her arms around her body and deflates against the counter.

I don’t know what to make of her. Her guard flies up as quickly as it crumbles. One second, she’s fighting me, and the next, her eyes are begging me to help her. She hates me as much as I hate her, but we’re both stuck in this fucked-up predicament.

Tempe is a walking contradiction.

A beautiful distraction.

The enemy.

She’s going to make me lose my mind.

“I need some fucking coffee.” I cross the kitchen and grab a mug, filling it up.

The first sip burns my tongue, but I take another right after. I’m running on zero sleep, and this girl won’t stop talking.

Last night, I crashed in Chaos’s room but couldn’t sleep. There was too much going through my mind between the Trojan horse standing in my kitchen and the brawl with the Iron Sinners at Sapphire Rise.

Between exhaustion and upheaval, I can’t think clearly.

Tempe could be putting on this act to save her ass, but with her brother involved, would she really risk it?

He’s just a kid caught in the middle. A kid who’s seen too much for his age. A kid who wouldn’t talk to anyone but his sister last night because he probably doesn’t trust us any more than the men who stormed his house.

Still, when she carried him to my room, he stared at me over her shoulder.

Watching me.

Seeing me.

They’re both going to be the death of me if I’m not careful .

Taking another sip of coffee, my tastebuds numb as I swallow it down and turn to face Tempe. I sort through everything she just said and do what I do best: make a list in my head and take action.

“Ghost is looking into the guys who sent you here. We’ll take care of that so you don’t have to worry about it when you get home.”

“And my job?” Her voice quivers, and it slices something inside me.

“I’ll have a couple of guys get you to work tonight so you don’t lose your job. They’ll hang out and keep an eye on you, then bring you back here when your shift’s over. That part’s nonnegotiable.”

I’m starting to believe her, but I’ve been wrong before, and I can’t risk it.

“Here?” She glances around, taking in the kitchen.

“Something wrong with your accommodations, princess?”

“It’s fine,” she says, even as her pursed lips contradict it.

She opens her mouth like she’s going to say more when the kitchen door flies open, and a superhero runs in.

Whatever smart comment she was about to say falls from her tongue the moment she sees her brother. She squats down, catching him and wrapping him in a hug. The girl is pure fire, but the second Austin is around, he puts it out.

“Hey, Prez,” Ghost says, propping his forearm on the doorframe while Austin runs over to Tempe. “Sonny caught this guy sneaking out of your room. ”

“Austin.” Tempe grips his shoulders, frowning. “I told you to stay put.”

“He wasn’t supposed to catch me. I’m wearing my invisibility cloak.” Austin waves his cape around his legs. “I was careful.”

“I’m sure you were.” Tempe frowns. “Still, just because you’re wearing an invisibility cloak doesn’t mean you don’t have to listen.”

“Sorry, Tempe.” He frowns, dropping his chin.

Invisibility cloak?

I can’t figure out why this kid is always dressed like a superhero or what to make of it. And when I look up at Ghost, and he shrugs, I’m guessing he thinks the same.

“Can we eat yet?” Austin asks Tempe. “I’m hungry.”

“Yes, I was just bringing these back to you.”

She stands and grabs the granola bars off the counter to show him.

“Nola bars?”

“ Gra nola bars. You like these ones.”

He groans, and I don’t know what makes me feel worse: holding a kid hostage when I don’t even know if his sister is to blame or the fact that I’m apparently starving him.

Behind Ghost, a few patch bunnies walk by in bikinis. If I had to guess, they’ll lay out in the yard and pretend it’s closer to summer. They’ll have their tops off the moment the guys start waking up, and it’s a reminder of why Legacy keeps his kid out of the clubhouse.

Tempe and Austin can’t stay here. Not that I can let them go either.

Fuck .

There’s only one option, and I’m regretting it before the thought fully forms. She’s more trouble than I have time for, and I’m planting dynamite in the center of my life by suggesting this to her.

“Grab your shit.”

Austin’s eyes widen. “That’s a bad word.”

Wonderful, the kid who won’t talk to the guys says something to me, and he’s judging me like his fucking sister.

I sigh. “ Stuff … Get your stuff.”

He smiles— actually fucking smiles .

Kids usually fear me or avoid me. Even Legacy’s daughter keeps her distance because she senses I’m not a kid person. I’d rather wait to talk to them when they’re old enough to not have to filter myself.

But this kid in his superhero cape, with his arms wrapped around his sister’s leg, looks up at me with the brightest fucking eyes, and I hate that it does something inside my chest.

I squat down to bring myself to his height. “Austin, right?”

Austin nods, burying the side of his face against Tempe’s leg as she holds her hand on his cheek.

“I’m Steel.”

“Mr. Steel.” He laughs. “That’s a funny name.”

“Yeah, I guess so.” I shake my head, not prepared to explain road names to a four-year-old. “It’s my last name. But you can call me Jameson if you like. ”

No one calls me by my first name but my grandma, and Ghost must not miss me caving for this kid because he chuckles.

“Okay, Mr. Jameson.”

Mr. Jameson . Like I’m not president of the most feared MC on the West Coast.

“No mister. Just Jameson. So how about it, you hungry, Austin?”

“Yes.”

“You like pancakes?”

His eyes widen, and a smile curls in the corners of his mouth. “They’re my favorite.”

“Mine too.” I stand up, looking down at him and Tempe, but I don’t know how to read the way she’s looking at me. “Grab your things. I need to touch base with the guys, but we’ll head out in thirty.”

“Okay,” she says, sounding a little nervous. “Where are we going?”

Someplace that is going to make this a hell of a lot more complicated than it already is. “My house.”