7. Steel

7

Steel

“Take your fucking time, why don’t you.” I lean back in my chair, lighting a cigarette.

I swear I’m going to quit smoking.

Just one final nicotine hit to burn this morning from my lungs, and then I’ll throw away the pack.

Being in the same room as Tempe is borderline torture. She talks back, doesn’t shut up, and makes me question every decision. She’s a wildfire ripping through all my good intentions, and I fucking hate it.

I’m the president of this club.

My word is law, and people don’t question me.

Until her.

She has the nerve to show up on my doorstep and be pissed about the fact that I’m making her play by my rules on my turf. I’ll let her leave when I say she can fucking leave. And if she doesn’t like it—good. Maybe then she’ll learn not to fuck with the Twisted Kings .

Soul is the last of the guys to walk through the door and sit in his seat on my right at the long, oval-shaped wooden table. It’s a thick maple with the Twisted Kings’ crowned skull and wings carved into the center of it.

Beside Soul is Ghost, with an empty chair on his right where Chaos, my road captain, would be if he wasn’t behind bars.

To my left is Havoc, with Legacy, my treasurer, beside him. At the end is Mayhem, the tail gunner, sitting in for Chaos until he returns.

Sometimes, church involves all voting members, but today, it’s only those with rank because I’m trying to keep what happened last night under wraps until I figure out what to do about it. With everything that’s gone down in the past forty-eight hours, I don’t know who I can trust.

Soul leans back, rubbing his temples. “If I’d have known we were having church at nine-thirty in the fucking morning, I wouldn’t have gone to bed an hour ago.”

“You can sleep when our enemies aren’t stealing shit from our club.” I take another drag of my cigarette, and Legacy hitches an eyebrow at me because I just told him yesterday that I was done smoking.

“Enemies?” Soul grins, leaning back in his chair and lacing his hands around the back of his head. “Is that what you’re calling the girl who kept your bed warm last night, Prez?”

Soul being Soul was bound to give me shit. If Chaos wasn’t behind bars, he’d be fucking with me too. I glance at his empty seat at the table and remind myself I need to call the lawyer today and figure out the next steps .

“Better than having her wandering the grounds getting into more trouble.” I take another drag of my cigarette, slowly exhaling the smoke before turning to Ghost. “Did you figure out what’s on the drive yet?”

Ghost shakes his head. “Not yet. The encryption is a spiderweb of tripwires. If I’m not careful, I’ll trigger the code that wipes the data.”

“Helix wasn’t that smart.”

“Nope.” Ghost shakes his head. “Which means that even if he is the one who hid the drive in his room, he’s not the one who encrypted it.”

“Then who did?”

“Still trying to figure that out.” Ghost leans forward, crossing one tattooed arm over the other on the table. “Doesn’t look like any of the signatures I’m used to.”

“The Iron Sinners?”

“Not unless they have someone other than Richter doing their tech work.”

Richter’s been with them as long as I’ve been alive, so that’s not likely.

“All right. Well, keep me updated.”

“Will do, Prez.” Ghost nods, sinking back in his seat.

His fingers tap away on the arms of his chair while I move on. Ghost would rather be behind a laptop, phone, or any kind of screen, but I don’t allow distractions in church.

“Any other updates on what went down with the Sinners last night?” I look around the room.

Legacy leans forward, raking his dark-blond hair off his forehead. “The contractor called first thing this morning. We’re looking at thirty thousand to fix the hole they blew in the wall between the VIP room and the bathrooms.”

“Fucking hell.” I tip my head back and scratch my jaw, itching to grab another cigarette. “See if you can get him down to twenty and then get started. And figure out a way to do it without closing the doors. Sapphire Rise is one of the few businesses on the Strip that’s still floating after Zane had the city enforce their new building regulations.”

Rick Zane owns half the casinos in Las Vegas, and he’s made it his mission to push the Twisted Kings off the Strip to advance his interests. It’s been going on for a while now, but lately, his attempts are getting more aggressive.

“Kansas said one of the strippers broke a finger in the scuffle. She wants us to pay for it.”

“If it’ll keep her quiet, make it happen.” I might not like it, but it’s easier than her making a fuss about her lack of health insurance. “Mayhem, when’s the next shipment coming in?”

“Next week. But Victor’s now saying we’re going to have to meet ’em halfway.”

“Why?”

“The Road Rebels have been running into issues on the New Mexico and Arizona border. The furthest they’ll take it is Santa Fe. They said they don’t have the backup if shit goes sideways. If we want it, we’re going to have to go get it. ”

I don’t like my guys transporting shipments across state lines, which is why we usually meet the Road Rebels out in Pahrump and pay them transport fees.

“We need the shipment,” Legacy cuts in. “Cash has been running low since we lost the guns we had coming from up north.”

“Understood. Mayhem, take backup and meet ’em in Santa Fe.” I glance at Havoc. “Get him whatever he needs to be ready for whatever Victor is worried about. We can’t risk losing this shipment too.”

Havoc nods, and I turn back to Mayhem.

“Tell The Road Rebels we’re only paying a third of the transport fee for the trouble, and get it done.”

“Want me to join them?” Soul asks.

I shake my head. “I need you here while we figure out who sent Tempe to the clubhouse last night. If you can search her house for anything they might have left behind, we might find something that leads us to them.”

“Doubt we will if they’re good.”

“Then let’s hope they aren’t.” Because that would mean Tempe isn’t leaving anytime soon.

“So what’s the deal then? You’re keeping her here until we figure this out?” Soul smirks, baiting me.

“Not much of a choice.” I nod. “Except tonight, I need a couple of prospects to take her to work. She’s got a shift at the bar.”

“You’re holding her hostage but letting her go to work?”

“It’s the only way to see if the guys from last night will show their faces. ”

“So she’s bait.” Havoc shakes his head, and it’s clear he doesn’t like the idea. “Don’t you think you're taking this a little too far, Prez?”

“Is there such a thing?” I pull out another cigarette and light it, mentally restarting the clock once more for quitting. “Helix was working against us for eight years under our fucking noses. I'm not taking that chance again.”

“And what if she’s just like dear old dad?” Soul asks.

We’re usually in agreement, and I don’t like that my second-in-command is questioning this.

“Then I’ll deal with it. But she’s not walking out of here until I know she won’t be dragging more shit back to our doorstep.”

“Who says her being here won’t do just that?”

Taking a long drag, I look around the table, reading my men. They’re split, and I don’t blame them. I don’t do gray areas , and that’s what Tempe is. An unknown.

But this is my call, and I’m making it. She’s the daughter of the man who nearly ripped my club apart, and I’m keeping her close until I know for sure she’s not just like him.

“You saying we can’t protect what’s ours?” I challenge.

“I’m not saying—”

“Then what the fuck are you saying, Soul?” I put my cigarette out and rest my elbows on the table. “If they come for her, I expect you to do your fucking job and protect our club. But I’m not sending her back home where they can use her against us again. Especially with how close they got the first time. ”

“Understood.” Soul leans back in his seat. “But where you gonna keep her? Your room couldn’t hold down the four-year-old this morning.”

“You haven’t heard?” Havoc grins, tipping his chin up at me. “Prez is putting the girl up in his house.”

Soul’s face is blank for a minute, and then it cracks with the biggest smile as he tips his head back and laughs.

“Steel’s putting up a girl? We’re all fucked.”

A few of the guys start laughing with him, and I know I’m screwed, but I can’t come up with any better options.

“You want her gone?” I say. “Then everyone do your fucking jobs and figure out who sent her here in the first place.”

“You got it, Prez.” Soul grins, shaking his head.

“Get to it.” The guys disperse, but I hang back, watching them disappear into the different parts of the clubhouse through the windows that look out from the room where we hold church.

Ghost is the last to leave, and he pauses in the doorway like he’s going to say something. But he doesn’t.

And when I see Tempe and Austin come out from around the corner with his bag in her hand, I’m frozen for a moment. Her hair is down again and messy. Her eyes are even puffier this morning. Her gaze meets mine through the glass, and as she wets her lips, I have to remind myself what I’m doing this for.

Who I am.

What I represent to my brothers and my family.

I was young when I was given this throne, and I’ve failed my club a few times since. My VP betrayed me right under my nose, and I didn’t see it until there was already too much damage. I won't let that happen again. No matter how much this girl makes me question what I’m doing as she holds her brother at her side.

Standing up, I make my way out of the room and walk over to Tempe. Her cheeks are pink at my approach, and there’s something so innocent about how she blushes in my presence.

I want to convince myself she’s working against me so I don’t have to admit she’s chipping away at something I didn’t know was there before I met her.

Women don’t affect me, and yet, this girl and her brother have me making stupid decisions.

“Come on.” I walk straight past her, not waiting for her to follow.

They stick close as I guide the way out of the clubhouse to my truck.

Propping the door open, I wait for them to climb in. Austin is first, settling in the middle, but Tempe pauses, turning to face me.

“Don’t think I can’t see through this just because he can’t.” She crosses her arms over her chest. “You’re not doing us any favors by keeping us here, Jameson, so don’t try to pretend you are.”

Jameson .

No one calls me by my first name, and it takes me a second to remember I told her brother to call me that.

“You’re right.” I grip the car door. “I’m not doing you a favor. I’m just keeping my club safe and you alive.”

“For how long?” She quirks an eyebrow in a challenge .

I rest my forearm against the door, and it brings me closer. I’m towering over her, and as a breeze kicks up, tossing her hair around, I’m hit with her cherry-blossom scent.

“Depends.”

“On what?”

“If you’re a good girl or not.”

Her cheeks burn with her blush now, and I really shouldn’t enjoy finding out how much Tempe likes being called that, but it has my blood pumping hot through me.

Tempe rolls her shoulders back. “Guess you’ll have to wait and find out.”

A devious smile ticks up in the corner of her mouth, and I’m so fucking tempted to put this girl on her knees and tame her smart little mouth. But she climbs in the truck and avoids my gaze as I shut the door behind her.

She’s fearless when she should be scared.

Outspoken when she should be quiet.

Tempe is a spark blowing in the wind, hovering over the sagebrush, ready to light my whole life up in flames.