Chapter 13
Chapter
Thirteen
“Hey, how was the shoot?” Steel asks as soon as he walks in the change room. Without waiting for a response, he starts changing and pulls off his black tee, throwing it in the bag.
I’ve never hid shit from Steel or his brother. Not once since we were kids have I had to lie to either of them or not tell the whole truth because there’s never been anything that could tear us apart. But in the space of one afternoon, I’ve got walls up and excuses building because something tells me I need to hide the spunky, blonde hair, bubble-gum smelling Omega.
“Fine. I’ll get the funds wired over pretty soon so on the way home we can stop off at an ATM,” I say, stripping down bare. Probably a bad idea since I’m still sporting the lingering effects of meeting my scent-matched Omega, my dick still firm, but Steel’s seen me butt ass naked before.
I can’t get her out of my thoughts which makes fucking sense since she is who she is. I just hope it doesn’t take her long to figure out her side.
Steel spins around to face me, his eyes dropping straight to my cock. They stay there for a long time too until he brings his grey eyes to mine. As always they’re full of fucking excuses.
Twisting away from his regret, I put on training jocks followed by a pair of work out pants and leave him to sort himself out. I get it, I really fucking do. His father is a homophobic prick who has an unhealthy obsession with the concept of same sex couples. If he knew his son and I were regularly intimate, he’d take a pound of flesh from the both of us.
“Come on,” I mumble, “let’s forget about shit for a bit and just train.”
Tunda’s is an old school gym. Set up for training and testing your skills. A row of worn-out punching bags hang in the corner, there’s a painted-out area of concrete for cardio, another zone for grappling with a partner but it’s the huge cage that consumes most of the space.
No matter the time, the place always has a couple of people working out or fighting. Since the bags are being used, I head over to the cardio, drop my towel, and start on a punishing round of sit ups and burpees. Before I’ve finished my first set Steel takes position next to me.
“Mav,” he calls out, and without turning I can hear the apology he’s rehearsed on his way over. It’s pretty much always the same. ‘I wish things were different/I need you/I can’t risk anyone finding out/Can we hook up later?
Yep, I’m having an illicit affair with my best friend. Some days I got no beef living the lie we do because God knows our affair is more than physical but sometimes the burden of being his dirty secret cuts deep. Today is one of those days.
“Leave it. It’s not like I don’t know the deal.” I smile up at him, and as soon as he sits, I lean over into his space. “Just don’t stare at my cock like you need it to live or something, yeah?” Slapping his back, I hop up to my feet and grab us both a jump rope. If I can’t make him sweat sexually, I’m going to make him pay in here. Which is not the first time it’s happened and if his routine goes like it usually does, we’ll be pulling off into some dark park and fucking.
Waiting until we’re both covered in a light sheen, I turn to him as he’s finishing up his rope session. “I’ve signed up to do a fight.”
“What the fuck for?” He stops mid stride, an angry snarl pulling his top lip up, making his face twist.
“You said it yourself, Harley needs the money. If I place in the top three the prize pool is enough to get her set up for a couple of months, and also puts money in our emergency fund.”
“You don’t have to, Mav.”
“Yeah, I do, Steel. With the money from today we get closer to going. Tyson doesn’t need the distraction, let him focus on finishing and I can do this to fill the purse in the meantime.” My statement stops his argument before he even closes his mouth. I have to take a breath to calm down before I go on. I’d like to hold his hand but that ain’t gonna happen here. Instead, I hold his gaze and talk real slow so he can’t miss a word I say. “I’ve decided all this bullshit with Rex and the club has an end date. If you need to hang for whatever reason, then you need to hang, but I can’t anymore. Tyson agrees with me though, Steel. Once he’s done this rotation he’s out too.”
The way Steel looks at me is always the same—more than physical, really. His steely eyes nearly crumble my resolve; the grey today is like muted charcoal edging more towards his melancholy and moody side, and they darken angrily the instant he sees my determination. He gets defensive as a result. “You’d leave?” He scoffs, and it’s an ugly sound.
“Ask the question you want the answer to, Steel. Don’t fucking turn to water on me now.” I snatch the rope from his hand and lead us over to the grapple zone, bypassing the bags. No shit, I’d rather punch him than a bag any day. His sudden submissiveness has me cracking my neck in readiness to beat the shit out of him.
The light perspiration on his skin, and the lack of air in Tunda’s means his butterscotch scent is warm, almost gooey. Just how I like it and he knows what it does to me. Wiping a hand over my face, I grab bottles for the both of us and peg one at him while I purposely tip water over my head to dilute his scent. It never works though.
He waits until my eyes are shut before he shoves me in the chest to get my attention. “You’d really leave me?”
“Don’t want to, but…”
“Then don’t,” he insists.
“Steel, it’s getting old, this same shit different day routine we’ve been living. Today Rex is dangling your sister over your head, last week it was your Mom, the week before that he was going to break Tyson’s hands. You see the pattern?”
His jaw locks tight, letting me know I’ve hit a nerve but what I’m telling him is nothing but the truth.
“Every time he wants something from you, I help you do it and then he raises the stakes the second you tell him you did good. Every day he’s getting cockier, more manipulative. Someone is going to die, and I don’t want to stick around to watch someone I care about suffer. So, no, I don’t want to leave you, but I want off this trainwreck. Don’t get me wrong, you want to come with me in any context—as a friend, a pack mate, or to be with me—then I’m all for it. I’ll do everything and anything to get your mom and sister out, but this loop we’re stuck on has to stop.”
He shakes his head. “You don’t know what it’s like for me and Tyson.”
“Yeah, I do. I know first-hand because I have to watch you both. I might not be in as deep as you, but he drags me into the same thing you’re caught up in.”
“It’s my fucking family,” he growls, taking a step closer.
I’m only slightly taller than him, but I don’t want to loom over Steel unless he’s under me, but at the same time, I won’t be intimidated by him. Taking a step away gives me the chance to see the cage is free.
“Rex ain’t your family, Steel. Neither is this club. Tyson and I are, so are Harley and Sallyanne but no one else,” I say, climbing up the stairs. And like always as soon as I put both feet on the padded floor a sense of calm washes over me. Fighting quietens the noise in my head. All the conflict and doubt gets silenced when a part of me that is colder and calculated comes out to play.
Steel doesn’t even get a foot in before we both hear the unmistakable rumble of bikes coming down the street. Not knowing what’s coming, we both get out of the confined space and start walking towards the door.
This is the bullshit I hate, always waiting for trouble to find us.
Rex’s enforcer Bash walks in first, his beady eyes constantly moving. Cog is next, he’s like Bash in the hierarchy of the club. As an Alpha he’s bulkier but not as smart.
Then Rex walks in and like usual he makes all the hair on the back of my neck stand up in warning.
As an Alpha he has got the tell-tale signs of being one of the strongest Alphas. Except he’s lacking some pretty important qualities needed. None of the respect that is shown to Rex has been earned, instead he has loyal followers who are as skilled at intimidation and coercion as he is, which is how he maintains his position as Alpha of his pack and president of the Death Riders.
Like usual, he doesn’t give a shit about anyone or anything, so walking into Tunda’s smoking doesn’t surprise me in the least. He saunters past the person working the front desk, acting like he owns the place.
I risk cutting a glance to Steel. His face is an impassive mask, his usual butterscotch scent lost under a cloud of unease and anxiety. With a quick roll of his shoulders, he walks towards Rex, caution in every step, and I stay where I am since it’s clearly club business, plus I don’t trust any of these fuckers.
“Got wind of The Fallen cruising on the edge of town.” He looks past Steel, acting like he’s invisible while watching him like a hawk.
“You want me to go check it out?” Steel asks.
“See, I knew you were a fucking rocket scientist, smart as shit you are,” Rex says, mocking his own son in front of everyone. “But I thought we’d make a bit more of a statement than you could handle, so we’re all riding out.”
I stay stock still, hoping to blend into the background because if the whole club is out riding, this could be the chance we’ve been waiting for. All we need is an hour tops, and I could get Harley and Sallyanne on a bus in the opposite direction.
“Including him.” Rex flicks his head in my direction and my stomach drops. But with every person watching me, it’s not like I can do anything but agree.
“I’ll change.”
“Fucking lucky too. You look like a club slut wearing those tight pants of yours.”
I bite my tongue as I walk away. He knows why I wear compression tights, a lot of the Riders come watch when I have a fight probably to make sure I’m honest about how much I win.
Steel follows me into the room, and we barely look at each other but before he runs, I nab his arm and lean up into his ear barely talking. “Now’s your chance. Call your contact at The Phoenix Group, and they’ll send someone to help the girls disappear.”
His breathing hitches immediately, and I think for a second, he won’t, but he spins around and enters one of the cubicles, leaving the door open so anyone checking can see what he’s doing.
I store my bag in one of the lockers before I’m back in the main area of Tunda’s, hopefully giving Steel the precious time he needs.
“Hey, Rex, I’ve got a fight coming up. I’ll put your name on the door.” I stop close enough to him that I block the door to the change rooms from him and his higher ups. But they’re all getting hyped on a plan on what to do if they get lucky enough to actually catch any of The Fallen, so all I get is a nod as confirmation he heard.
Steel storms out of the locker room within moments, his cut on and his hair tied back. Without waiting for Rex or any of the others, he walks outside. I follow close behind but don’t risk asking how it went. As the others stream out, Steel looks over at me, and I know he’s done what needed doing. Which means we’re going to have to do the same, acting like Rex’s loyal soldiers, getting bloody if need be, anything to give the girls enough time to run.
“We’re riding out to the gas station on the edge of Highway 94. I want it surrounded, some of you come across the park. Anyone caught on our turf is fair game,” Rex yells over the heavy vibrations of the bikes idling. “Death Riders are going to teach these motherfuckers respect.”