Torch (Diamond MC #4)

Chapter 1

CHAPTER ONE

TORCH

S he was here. The one who’d been in my head and on my mind since the night I heard her screams. The night she woke yelling for help. The night her cries slid into my chest and wrapped around my beating organ like barbed wire to skin and stayed.

Since then, I wanted to know her.

Since then, I couldn’t stop thinking about her.

And since that first time, she’d become my obsession.

My addiction.

A part of my life where I needed to see or hear her every day.

Not that she knew.

Wren was what her sister called her.

Wrenley was her full name.

I liked it.

Her name had my lips tipping up. Not many things could do that for me. Except my brothers. My brethren who were my family. My only family. One I didn’t come from but stepped into.

They’d accepted me.

They understood pain and the craving I had for blood. The want I had to make people hurt.

Shoving those thoughts away, I blinked down at my obsession, who was currently in my domain. She came toward the area where I hid in the covered darkness. A position where I could admire without judgment or fear from others.

My blood raced through my veins; she was prettier this close.

Stunning.

I was happy for my brother Death that he found his woman, Raya—Wrenley’s sister. I glanced to where the couple stood near the door of the compound watching Wrenley as she approached my dog. Death would know I lurked close by. He was a good brother and deserved Raya, but the best part about them two together was that it brought Wrenley into my orbit.

I was surprised he’d agreed that I could meet Wrenley when I first asked, especially as he’d tensed from my question.

He knew me.

Knew I wasn’t exactly right in the head at times. But he trusted me.

So, I’d do good by him. I would have anyway since this was her .

The screaming beauty of the night.

I fisted my hands at my sides as I watched her drop to her knees and coo at my new dog, who growled low. But she didn’t seem to care and kept talking to him in her reassuring, comforting tone.

She’s sweet, soft, and gentle.

She was trying to woo him, yet my brothers were scared of my dog.

She cooed again. “What’s your name, buddy? I bet you’ve got a good one. You’re such a handsome boy.” She ducked her head, and then she called back to Death and Raya, “Yep, he’s a boy.”

My brother chuckled.

I wanted her attention. I wanted her words.

My dog stopped growling. She’d already won him over. But I knew she would.

Moving out from the shadows, I ran a couple of fingers over my lips. I didn’t know what to say. Would she like how I looked? Would she run scared? I pushed my fingers up to tap at my temple. Too many thoughts spazzed me out.

Her voice broke through when she said, “See, you are a good boy. You know I won’t hurt you. Yes, you do.” She crawled— crawled —closer. My dog could have lunged at her, but from his wagging tail, he trusted her.

“Harley,” I blurted, tone low.

My obsession jolted from my word and glanced up. Looked right at me.

Fuck.

“Sorry?” she asked.

“His name,” I told her.

She gifted me with a smile. “Harley?”

I nodded, drinking her in with my eyes.

Pretty.

Blonde curly hair was down around her shoulders, moving in the breeze.

I wanted to be that breeze. I wanted to touch it. Would it be soft?

She shifted her blue eyes away and back down to my dog. He was lucky.

“Harley,” she murmured. “That’s a good name for you at a biker compound.”

I’d thought so too. She reached out to him and rubbed over his head.

When her warm gaze shot up to me again, something hard clenched in my chest. “I’m Wrenley.” She pointed over her shoulder. “Raya is my sister. She’s with Death.”

Knew all of it.

But she didn’t know that.

“I heard. Just hadn’t met you.”

Wanted to.

Needed to.

And now that I had, my obsession just grew.

Surprise flickered through me when she sat her ass on the grass-covered ground. Like she wanted to stay around me longer.

More tightness grew in my chest.

She petted my dog over and over, then looked back at me to ask, “Um, is Harley yours?”

Now my gut acted up. I kicked at some rocks to distract that feeling. “Yeah.”

Death cleared his throat. “My brother saved me when Harley went to attack me after finding him. Now he’s Torch’s. They claimed each other.”

I didn’t do much. His previous owners had hurt him. Made him do things.

Know that fucking feeling.

I bit the inside of my cheek, halting those thoughts, and tasted blood.

Wrenley smiled. “You must be a good person.”

I wasn’t. I’m not.

Coldness seeped into my blood, and annoyance surfaced. I shoved my hands in my pockets and looked away.

“No,” I said roughly.

“No?” she asked quietly.

I winced.

Fuck me, fuck me, fuck me.

I didn’t want to scare her. I didn’t want her to go. I didn’t want to lose this. Her here with me.

Moving closer, I crouched at Harley’s back and petted him before I lifted my gaze to my brother and his woman.

Would they let me have her alone?

Death studied me for a beat. “Wrenley, we’re gonna head in for a drink. You want?—”

She didn’t turn to them but waved over her shoulder. “I’ll stay with Harley for a little longer.”

My gaze swung down to her. My lips tugged up at the corner. She wanted to stay. She knew I was here with Harley and wanted to be here even with me around.

My body shuddered.

“You got it, kid,” Death called. “Just don’t be too long. Torch, ten, yeah?”

Ten . I could do that. Without looking away from Wrenley, I nodded.

I’d do anything just to have her alone.

But fuck, what did I say? What did we talk about? Would she think me awkward? Stupid? A monster?

I was a monster. I liked to hurt people. I liked to kill. Even now, as the thought crossed my mind, I wanted to draw blood and watch it drain from someone who deserved it.

But Wrenley didn’t deserve any pain.

She needed to be taken care of.

She was sweet, soft, and gentle.

I had to be careful with her. I couldn’t hurt her.

“See you soon,” Raya said. Her tight tone told me she was a little worried about leaving her sister with me. I couldn’t blame her.

“Got it,” my pretty girl called back, lifting her eyes to me so I could see her roll them.

She thought her sister was being silly. She wasn’t, but I liked that she wanted to share that moment with me.

I wanted to say something, but what?

I lifted my free hand and pressed my knuckles into my temple. Fuckin’ work, brain. Usually, it worked fine around the brothers. I could hold a conversation—unless we had a job. Then I lost words more. Was my brain not working because I was nervous? At least, with the way my stomach flopped around, I thought I was nervous. Sometimes I had trouble working out the exact emotion.

Shit, shit, shit. I was going to lose my chance.

“Death called you Torch. I guess that’s your club name?”

“Yeah.” Did she like it? Should I ask her? That was a question.

She gave me a soft smile. “Cool.” Under the back light, I saw color hit her cheeks.

“You’re blushing.”

The color darkened even more. She laughed. “You’re not supposed to point it out.”

I cocked my head to the side. “Why?”

She shrugged and glanced around. “It’s so I don’t get embarrassed even more.”

I shook my head. “No. Why did you blush?”

There’d been no cause for it. I hadn’t said or done anything as far as I knew, only agreed my name was Torch.

“Oh,” she whispered, and the red spread down her neck. “I can’t remember why.” She bit her bottom lip, and that action made me think she was lying.

How long had we been sitting here?

I didn’t want to get her back to Death and Raya late. I didn’t want them to think I was doing something wrong. I wouldn’t.

But I wanted to.

Not in the harmful way. I would never ever hurt her. I just wanted to touch her, and that’d be wrong in their eyes. I wasn’t good for Wrenley. She needed someone smart. Someone good. Someone who didn’t have so much blood soaked into his skin.

I stood and flicked my hand to the back door. “You better go.”

She needed to stay away from me.

I saw her tense before she slowly got to her feet after patting Harley one more time.

If she stayed away, I could allow myself to watch her from afar. To protect her. I’d make sure nothing harmed her again. Nothing new that could cause her to wake in the middle of the night screaming like she did after her dad killed her mom.

“I’ll take you to your sister,” I told her and clenched my jaw to keep myself from saying more. I wanted to tell her she didn’t need to worry, that I’d keep an eye out for her. That she looked real pretty, and that I wished I could stare at her all the time.

But that shit was weird to say out loud.

Creepy.

I didn’t want her to worry I’d be a problem.

No one would. Not even me.

“Thanks, Torch.”

When she turned to face the compound, giving me her back, I closed my eyes for a second to take in her words. To freeze the moment for a beat because she’d said my name in such a nice way. Without fear, without disgust or anything horrible.

As she made her way back inside, I silently followed her.

I’d follow her anywhere, really.

Not that she knew. And she never would because then I’d worry that I’d see true fear in her pretty, pretty eyes.

Especially if she found out exactly what I was like.

Broken, beaten, and bloodthirsty.

For the rest of the night, I stayed near but just out of sight. Wrenley wasn’t in any trouble at the compound, but I couldn’t stop watching her.

My brothers were good. The only ones I hadn’t liked were long gone.

Dead Duck.

I’d enjoyed killing him.

He’d insulted Wreck.

He’d hurt Dusty, and she was important. She was the president’s old lady, so Duck’s blood was worth spilling.

My obsession listened to her sister as she talked with a bright smile on her face. She was happy. She loved her sister, and I could tell she liked Death for Raya when her eyes got soft after Death walked up to curl his arm around Raya.

I was glad she had her sister. Raya would take care of her in ways I couldn’t. I heard how Raya stepped up when my Wrenley witnessed their dad kill their mom. It was why they moved in together, so they could have each other’s backs.

That was how siblings were supposed to be.

Like my brothers were.

But the more I watched and listened to Wrenley, the more I believed there was something hidden in her gaze that sang to my tortured soul. But it was something that I didn’t like seeing in her blue depths. I wasn’t sure her sister knew, but I sensed my Wrenley was dealing with another situation, more than just the aftereffects of her murdering father.

She has a secret.

I clenched my jaw when sweet Wrenley suddenly tensed. Her smile dimmed a little as she pulled out her cell to only quickly place it back in her pocket.

There.

Her gaze dulled before she tried to hide it from her sister with a smile.

Wrenley’s attention was drawn away from Raya to Courtney, State’s old lady, but I saw Raya’s lips thin as she stared at her sister before she glanced up at Death.

Maybe they did know something.

Who’d been on the phone?

Who texted her and dulled her shine?

Whoever it was had ruined her mood. Her shoulders slumped and tightness coiled her body.

I needed to find out who it was.

Should I talk to Death about it first?

If I did, he could stop me.

If he stopped me, then whoever cast that cloud over Wrenley would get away with doing it again.

I couldn’t allow that.

I’d already promised myself I’d do anything to protect her, which meant that if I had to go behind people’s backs, I would. But it’d be for the right reasons.

She had to be safe.

If I lost my obsession, I’d torch the fucking world around me.