Chapter Three
Steel
“Who’s the girl?”
I give a non-committal grunt, mostly because even though it’s noon, I’m hungover as fuck, for the first time in years.
After Leah got in that cab, I got on my bike stone cold sober because that’s another rule the club has—no drinkin’ and ridin’ ever.
I went back to the clubhouse, locked myself in my room, and drank myself stupid.
After I woke up, morning light spilling in through the small window in my room, feeling like death had just rolled over on me, I figured the best way to detox was either pour myself another drink or hit the gym and sweat it out.
Since I am thirty fucking eight and have a daughter to live for, a teenage daughter who is home from college for the holidays, and is sleeping at my house on the outskirts of town at the moment—I chose the latter.
I know from experience that a body can only take so much hard living.
I watched my old man go down that path; he cooked his liver by the time he was forty. Not going out that way.
I set the weights back on the stand and glare at Edge. The bastard drank his fair share last night, I’m dead sure, but there he is, all bright-eyed and fucking bushy-tailed, flashing me his shit-eating grin.
“You asking me as my VP or as a friend?”
That grin never fades. “Could have asked around and found out who she was myself, but I figured that you’d want to tell me and it wasn’t anyone else’s business, so I didn’t bother with that. Don’t make me regret it.”
I shake my head and slam the back of my hand up onto my forehead, wiping a few drops of stinging sweat from my eyes. My brain feels like it has been thrown in a microwave and nuked before being stitched back into my useless skull.
“I regret ever meeting you at the moment.”
“I’m sure the feeling is often mutual.” Edge’s grin fades away, and he crouches down, suddenly serious, though his face is still too pretty, even when he’s not trying to be. “Saw you spent the night here. I stopped by your house this morning. Harley was asleep. It’s all good.”
I nod my thanks. This is what a family is. This is what a brotherhood is. “I wasn’t worried about her. She’s nineteen now. Doesn’t want her dad up in her business embarrassing her.”
Edge runs a hand through his hair. He does it often, which means he shouldn’t have got that stupid fucking hipster cut where it’s all gone on the sides and long at the very top.
When he rakes it with his fingers it falls all over the place and looks fucking ridiculous.
Still, I had to admit that the bastard is family.
For me, a guy who grew up with a drug addict mother and an alcoholic father and zero siblings—since they didn’t want to be saddled with a brat in the first place—family is everything I never thought I’d have.
“Shit. And here I thought that’s what being a father is about. Embarrassing your kid. What’s this world coming to?”
“We’ll get our chance right away. The Christmas concert at the community center’s coming up. Harley’s involved.”
“We should bring everyone like we did last year. I think she appreciated it as much as the town did.”
I roll my eyes as I shift my weight off the bench. Nothing like talking to a guy like Edge, while lying flat on your back so that you have to look up, to get the hangover headache churning.
“Doesn’t matter. We’re all going. I know she hates it because we take up two rows and embarrass the hell out of her, but fuck it. Those buttoned up locals might think we’re scum, but most of ‘em know we’ve done a hell of a lotta good for this place.”
“And the rest just figure we rape, pillage, and steal in our plentiful spare time.”
“Yeah. Still going. Anyone who wants to join is welcome.”
I brush past Edge, intending to cut our conversation short, but he dodges past me and stands in front of the door to the club’s gym. Normally it’s packed with guys working out, but at noon on a Saturday morning, it’s a ghost town.
Edge crosses his arms, a gesture that isn’t at all intimidating, but I can tell from the way he narrows his eyes that he means business. “So who is she?”
I shake my head slowly. “Gonna ask you again, you want to know as my friend or my VP?”
Edge’s lips thin out. “I don’t know. Should I be asking as a VP?
I know who she is. She’s Donovan Harris’ daughter, which means she’s bad news.
Her father wants to push us out of this town.
We’re on the top of his shit list. He’s wanted to steamroll this clubhouse for years, slam up condos and shit. Then there’s—”
“That’s just his excuse. He wants us out.
Never liked having a club in town. The high rise he wants to put here is bullshit.
He could put that shit up anywhere he fucking wants to.
Doesn’t have to be in Helena. We’re a small fucking town for fuck’s sake.
He’s so damn transparent it’s laughable.
” I cut Edge off because I can’t talk business hungover as fuck.
“Not transparent enough,” Edge corrects.
He’s been in the business for a long time, and it is one of the reasons he’s my VP. He’s always the voice of reason, and he’s got a good working brain, even if it is packed behind that pretty boy face.
“We still don’t know why he wants us out. Just because we’re bikers and he has money and wears a suit to work doesn’t have to make us enemies. He doesn’t have any long-standing grudge or personal issues that we’ve been able to dredge up. Doesn’t really make sense.”
“Yeah, well, we’ll keep trying.”
“So why is his daughter suddenly sniffing around The Canteen? She can’t be more than—”
“She’s twenty,” I snap before I shut my stupid mouth.
Edge gives me a strange look. Like he has no idea what the fuck is going on. I let out a hard sigh as my brain swells up in my head. No wonder I am here, saying stupid shit, talking about things I don’t want to discuss.
“She had no business being there.”
“That’s what I figured. I was going to gently guide her towards the door last night, but I didn’t get the chance before you went all caveman on me.”
“If I lost my shit, the guys would still have been digging you out of the wall.”
“Don’t doubt it.” That shit-eating grin is back, so blinding it hurts my fucking eyes. “But seriously. Why’d she come around? She spying for her daddy now?”
“Doubtful,” I admit. “Cipher’s been keeping track of her since she left town. Ever since her brother died.”
Edge’s quick blink betrays his surprise. “Why the hell would you do that?”
“I felt responsible…” I pause. I never told anyone what she was doing on the water tower that night.
I decide to keep her secrets and tell a white lie to my VP.
“If she’s spying for her dear old fucking dad, it’s better to keep tabs on her.
No one notices a kid. She’s able to sneak around and get to places, see and hear things that other people wouldn’t.
She’s been at college in Sarasota, guess she’s back in town. ”
“Believe me, the guys noticed her last night, and she ain’t no kid anymore.”
I grind my teeth so hard my jaw doesn’t just crack; it makes a loud popping sound.
“Yeah, well, she grew up. Her mom’s barely in the picture.
She’s so doped up on pills that she isn’t around for her daughter.
I reckon last night’s little stunt is her attempt at rebellion.
She wants her parents to notice that she’s still alive and pay attention to her or some shit. ”
“Right.” Edge’s brows knit together the way they do when he is trying hard to process something. “She was driving. The girl. It was a few years ago, right?”
“It was in the paper. Took her brother for a ride. Wasn’t paying attention or something and ran a stop sign over on Alexandria and First Ave, where the speed limit is higher.
The truck that hit them had the right of way.
Slammed into the passenger side of the car where her brother was.
He was killed almost instantly. She only had minor injuries. Scrapes. Whiplash.”
“For a guy who isn’t really interested in her, you seem to know a lot about her.”
“Like I said, I was suspicious of her. Because of who her father is and all. He’s not above having her get close to us in some way to try and bring us down. Especially when it comes to Harley. I don’t let anything slide where she’s concerned.”
Edge’s eyes change. His features tighten. That’s normal. A brother’s family members are viewed as part of the club. We would fight to the death to protect our men’s kids and old ladies. Harley is my daughter, she might have been away at college for the past year, but she’s still my little girl.
“So that’s it? She’s just wanting to walk on the wild side and just happened to come by our bar looking for trouble because it was the best way she could think to piss off her father?”
“Yeah. Probably. I escorted her out. Made sure she understood that it wasn’t appropriate for her to be there for any reason, not the least of which there was a bunch of horny men in there who were watching her with her tits and ass on full display.
I made sure she got into a cab and got her ass home so we wouldn’t have further trouble with her father.
We don’t need another reason to have him pissed off at us.
Especially not while we’re expanding our operations. ”
“Right. We don’t need any attention. If he goes to the cops about his daughter, he’ll find out a few work on our payroll. We don’t need that to come to light. The people in this town trust us. Don’t need a reason for that to change.”
Edge gives me a hard look, but he backs off from the doorway, giving me room to pass through. Which is no small mercy because I need either a whiskey or a mug of coffee in the worst way. And a shower. Maybe that will put me to rights.
I pace off to my room, the shower suddenly seeming like a real good idea, and I don’t want to have any further conversation about Leah Harris with Edge. There isn’t anything to talk about. Nothing he needs to know where she’s concerned, because nothing is gonna happen.
What is gonna happen is that I am gonna hit that shower.
I’m going to beat off. I’m going to come until my balls are empty, thinking about Leah’s tight, sweet pussy, thinking about taking that virginity she offered up to me, thinking about tasting her taut nipples, her honeyed cunt, her beautiful ripe ass, and that is going to be that.
I will purge her from my mind, my body, my spirit.
I’m not gonna do anything to bring wrath down on my club, and getting anywhere near Donovan Harris’ daughter would do just that.
Three long fucking years I’ve thought about her.
Told myself it didn’t mean anything. That I just wanted to make sure the sweet girl who was about to throw herself from the town’s water tower was doing okay.
I’ve lied to myself, lusted after her, thought of her when I’ve fucked other women, done it without feeling, wishing they were her. I’ve dreamed of her, ached for her.
But my hand is the closest I’m gonna fucking get.
She’s off limits. For a thousand reasons.