Chapter One

Lisa

“I’m hooome !”

I drop my bags to the floor, kick my shoes off, and fling myself onto the couch with a dramatic sigh. The soft cushions envelop me like a warm hug, and I close my eyes, feeling the weight of the week slowly lifting off my shoulders.

And what a week it has been. A few days ago, I traveled to Dallas to finally meet my idol, Glenda Jones, a writer who was holding a book tour in the city, but I just never expected how overwhelming the whole thing would be.

Who knew catfights could happen at book readings? I chuckle at the memory, eager to tell Sasha all about it. Speaking of my cousin and roommate, why hasn’t she come out of her room yet? Glancing around the room, the silence feels strange, and I furrow my brow, wondering why it’s so quiet. Usually, there’s some noise in the apartment that reminds me I don’t live alone. A tv, music, sounds from the kitchen . . . but there’s nothing. I sit up, a hint of unease creeping in.

“Sasha?” I call out. No response.

The stillness hangs in the air, making me feel a bit uneasy. I get up, my footsteps echoing through the quiet apartment my cousin and I share. The short walk down the hallway to her room is filled with anticipation, but when I peek into her bedroom, it’s empty.

Okay, now this is concerning.

Like me, Sasha is an introverted homebody. When she’s not working or on the campaign trail with her family, she’s at home. On weekends, she typically hangs out around the apartment, catching up on things before the next week starts. But she is nowhere to be found.

Oh God, what if something happened to her while I was away?

I rush through the apartment, calling out to her and checking every room, but soon realize she’s nowhere in our penthouse apartment. My next move is to call her, but her phone sends me straight to voicemail.

Okay, now I am panicking.

I call her brother, assuming that someone has to know where she is before I go to the police to report her missing.

“Hey, Danny,” I say with a sigh once the call connects.

“Hi Lisa, I’m a little busy right now—”

“Sasha is missing,” I blurt out, urgency ringing in my voice. “I just came home from Dallas, and our apartment is empty and her phone is switched off. This is not like her.”

Long beats of silence pass before he finally speaks. “She didn’t tell you?”

“W-what . . . tell me what?”

Danny lets out an aggravated sigh, and I can hear from background noise that proves he is indeed busy. “If Sasha is not at home, then she’s probably with that biker.”

Biker!

“Danny, what bi—”

“Lisa, I have to go, but it was nice chatting with you.”

“Wait! Wait!” I yell before he can hang up. “What biker are you talking about?”

“The Steel Order MC. You’ve heard of them, right?”

Everyone in Austin has heard of them, and no one has anything good to say about the notorious motorcycle club. The older generation of bikers are cooling their butts in prison cells after their drug and weapons trafficking ring was raided, but I’ve heard the new generation is just as terrible, if not worse.

“Why would she be there, Danny?”

“She’s dating one of the guys . . .” His voice trails off, and I hear him speak to someone else in the background before turning back to me. “I really have to go, Lisa. Let’s catch up some other time.”

He hangs up before I can grill him further, and I am left staring blankly at the wall. Sasha is dating a member of the Steel Order club?

When the hell did she get a boyfriend? And why wouldn’t she tell me?

The last time I checked, my cousin was a clumsy, shy college girl interning for the prosecutor’s office. A week ago, she could barely look a guy in the eye, and now she’s dating a biker?

Am I dreaming? In a coma perhaps?

Jesus Christ, I travel out of the city for a few days, and when I come back, my timid little cousin is all shacked up with a criminal boyfriend, and even her family knows all about it, which might be the most outrageous part of this whole thing.

I was gone less than a week!

I fall back down on the couch, feeling less relaxed than I had moments ago. Talk about being completely blindsided, and I don’t like this feeling. Besides being my roommate and cousin, Sasha is my best friend. For her to keep this from me bothers me.

You know why she didn’t tell you.

I ignore the little voice that pierces through my thoughts and try to focus on something else, like the fact that my cousin is out there with a very dangerous man, and she probably has no idea just how much trouble she’s in. Why would her family not do anything about it? Someone needs to step in and show her just how dangerous it is to date a man from a biker gang.

Don’t even think about it, Lisa. Don’t you dare . . .

I must be out of my mind to even consider going after Sasha, but well, I can’t exactly wait around until she gets hurt. I quickly slip back into my shoes, grab my oversized purse, and rush out of the apartment, my heart pounding with every step.

I flag down a taxi when I reach the sidewalk, jump in when one stops, and blurt out my destination, expecting the driver to pick up on my urgency and tear away from the curb, but he doesn’t move.

“You want to be taken where?”

I repeat the address impatiently. “You know where that is, right?”

“I do,” the man says, his eyes locking on mine in the rearview mirror. “But do you know what’s at that address?”

“Yes,” I say. “Of course, I do.”

“So, you know it’s the headquarters of one of the most notorious and powerful bike clubs in Texas?”

Honestly, I’m surprised this taxi driver knows. It’s not like the Steel Order advertises where their clubhouse is. I only know because I’d recently written an MC romance novel and had researched the Steel Order for my book.

“I wouldn’t ask you to take me there if I didn’t know that’s where the clubhouse is. I’m very familiar with the Steel Order MC,” I answer the driver with a half-lie. I do know a lot about the MC, though I’ve never met any of the members.

“Alright then, if you say so.”

The man finally pulls away from the curb, and I relax into the seat. The city whizzes by outside the window as I impatiently tap my foot and ignore the little voice at the back of my head calling me crazy for acting so irrationally.

But I need to save Sasha.

A part of me—a selfish and twisted part—actually wants Sasha to be in a position where she needs saving because the alternative would mean that she does know the man she’s seeing is dangerous and still wants to be with him.

What would that mean for me?

Sasha and I have been each other’s lifelines since we were little girls, not that we had much of a choice anyway. Our parents were too busy to bother with us so they hired a nanny. So, we grew up spending every day together. As teens, we went to the same private boarding school. But once I graduated, my parents didn’t want me to move back home, so they got me an apartment. Sasha and I begged her parents to let her move in with me while she was in college, and they’d reluctantly agreed. In my entire life, I don’t think I’ve gone more than a couple weeks without seeing Sasha.

Her parents were involved in her life enough to dictate her behavior and bully her into studying law, but mine couldn’t be bothered to stick around to hear what my plans were for the future. They spent most of my life traveling and moved Europe right after I graduated from high school, and I haven’t seen them since. I only ever hear from them during the holidays when I call to remind them of my existence.

In the past, I’ve tried my best to get their attention by being a typical spoiled rich girl and spending their money recklessly on designer clothes and expensive gadgets I didn’t need, but my cry for attention fell on deaf ears. Nothing I did ever made them want to come back home to see me even if it was just to scold me, so I stopped trying.

No, I don’t hate them.

Hating them would imply that I believe in love, which I don’t. The closest thing to that emotion I have ever felt is for my cousin, Sasha, and if I lose her too, then I’ll be left with nothing.

I didn’t think she believed in love either. At least not the kind that involves walking down the aisle and making babies.

She and I were supposed to grow into bitter old spinsters who owned a hundred cats and cursed at the younger generations before finally fading into oblivion, and now she’s what? In love?

No, that can’t be true. It’s obvious this biker came into her life and manipulated her into following his dark path.

Good thing Sasha has me to rescue her.

And yes, I know it’s a crazy idea to show up at the doors of one of the most notorious biker clubs in the city, but I care about my cousin enough to do anything to help her escape some criminal.

Liar.

I ignore the little voice at the back of my head calling me out for lying to myself. While it’s true that I care for my cousin’s well-being, I’m also scared of being left alone. I’m honest enough to admit that much to myself.

“You know . . .” the taxi driver begins, drawing my attention to him. Our eyes lock in the rearview mirror for a second before he thankfully shifts back to the road. “It’s not often that I get people who want me to drive them to the Steel Order clubhouse, but a few weeks ago, I drove a girl to that very location.”

“You did?” I whisper, suddenly intrigued.

“Sure did. A pretty girl, about your age,” the man says, and I perk up, curious if he’s talking about my cousin, but the timeline doesn’t add up. Sasha only met her biker about a week ago according to her brother.

“What did she look like?”

“Redhead, cute freckles. She seemed scared. I offered to drive her back to the city, but she turned me down.”

“W-what do you think happened to her?”

“Don’t know,” he says, his eyes focused on the road. “They are probably keeping her in a basement or something.”

“No!” I gasp, my eyes widening to the size of saucers before the man chuckles at the horror in my voice.

“I’m kidding, of course. There is a rumor that she’s dating the vice president of the club.” Our eyes lock in the mirror once more, and I notice the worry swimming in his eyes. “Of course, the rumor could be an attempt to hide the truth of what happens in that club.”

“And what do you think happens?”

“Nefarious things,” he says, feeding into my fears. “My brother’s best friend’s barber told him that he heard a rumor that they keep a torture room and hold people there who piss them off.”

Oh God!

If what he’s saying is true, then my na?ve little cousin really does need saving.

I chew on my lips worriedly, his words feeding more into my fears of what could’ve happened to Sasha. “H-have you ever met one of the bikers from that club?”

“I’ve seen a couple around town, and I can tell you they are built like motherfuckers with fierce tattoos all over their bodies. I’ve heard stories about them too that would give sweet-looking girls like you nightmares.”

The driver tells me more rumors he’s heard about the club, and by the time we reach our destination, I am shaking like a leaf. Somewhere along the drive, I’d stopped paying attention to our surroundings, and we’re now parked outside a massive gate.

“Where are we?” I ask.

“The Steel Order clubhouse,” he tells me, forcing me to look out the window and stare through the gate down a long lane that don’t expose much of what lies at the end of it. I roll down the window to get a better view, but there’s not much to see. We’re in the middle of nowhere, and perhaps I should have paid more attention to where the driver was taking me instead of focusing on his wild tales.

“Are you sure this is the place?”

“I thought you said you’ve been here before,” the driver calls me out on my previous lie, and I let out a sigh, digging into my bag for money. I pay the driver before climbing out of the taxi and looking around. I start for the imposing gate, but I suddenly think of something and turn back to speak to the driver, who I can tell is getting ready to leave.

“Can you wait for me?” I ask, looking around. If he leaves, there is no way I can make it back to the city on my own. “I just need to pick up someone, and then we’ll be on our way back. Please.”

The driver lets out a sigh. “Miss, I don’t think you understand what you’re asking me to do. You don’t want to be caught lurking on the MC’s property.”

“Please,” I plead, desperation in my voice, but I am not above begging. “I just need to grab my cousin, and we’ll be out in a few minutes.” The man shakes his head, forcing me to take a different approach. “I’ll pay you, double. Triple what I just did. Please.”

He scratches his short beard, and I can tell he’s thinking about the offer when his eyes cross to someone behind me, and I watch in fascination as the driver’s eyes widen and his expression morphs into one of undiluted fear.

I turn to see what’s caused this reaction, and I take a step back when my eyes connect with the darkest ones I have ever seen in my life; they’re almost black. Standing barely twenty feet away from me is the most terrifying man I have ever seen. He has to be at least six-foot-three, but it’s his physique that sends a tremble of both fear and heat racing down my spine. His chest is broad, and his biceps bulge with power in the plain white t-shirt he’s wearing. His hands are folded in front of his chest to reveal forearms as sturdy as oak branches.

The way he holds himself exudes danger, and when he starts walking toward us, I instinctively take a step back, like one would do when approached by a predator.

“I have to go,” the driver says, but his voice barely registers as my eyes stay focused on the mountain lion slowly approaching me. Everything about this man screams threat, but I don’t run, not that I think I would get very far even if I tried.

My heart is hammering wildly in my chest when the imposing man stops in front of me, running his blank gaze over my much shorter frame before shifting his gaze back to mine and sending a fresh wave of heat rocking through me when he finally speaks. His deep, granite rough voice is just as commanding as the rest of him.

“Are you lost, little girl?”