7. Soul
Soul
My mind is spinning as I walk out of my room, leaving Emery and Charlie with Venom. I hate that I’m leaving them with anyone who isn’t me, but I’m needed in church, and given who her uncle is, Steel won’t risk them being unguarded.
At least with Venom, I know he’ll be respectful.
He might fuck around and have his fun, but he doesn’t look twice at the guys’ old ladies. And he sure as fuck won’t try anything with the mother of my child, whether I’ve claimed her yet or not.
I turn the corner into the main room and find Chaos leaning against a wall with his arms crossed over his chest.
“How you holding it together, Daddy?” Chaos grins.
“Hearing you call me Daddy makes me want to punch you in the fucking face.”
He chuckles, lifting off the wall. “Better get used to it.”
“From you? No thanks.” I shove his arm as he walks beside me. “How pissed is he?”
Chaos follows my gaze to Steel, already sitting at the head of the table in church. The rest of the guys are in their seats, waiting for us.
“He’ll cool off.” Chaos shrugs.
“I appreciate the optimism.”
Chaos walks in the room first, and I close the door behind us. No one speaks as I circle to my chair next to Steel’s. Irritation ripples off him as I take my seat.
He leans back, eyes narrowing. “Talk.”
Resting my forearms on the table, I tell my brothers everything.
About meeting Emery. About New Year’s. About spending the past ten months searching Vegas for her.
I tell them everything I’ve been keeping to myself.
And when I’m done, I move on to Emery’s story.
Explaining it as she did, while no one says a word.
When I’m done, I sit back in my chair, waiting for shit to hit the fan.
Steel looks over at Ghost. “You’ve been helping him look for almost a year and haven’t found anything?”
Ghost drags his dark hair back. “We knew what she looked like from the cameras on the casino floor, but her face didn’t come up in any records.”
“Probably Zane’s doing.”
Ghost nods, pulling out his phone. “If Zane really did have her locked up for the past ten months, it explains why she hasn’t popped up on any cameras since then.
Now that we have a name, I’ll see what I can find.
Right now, I’ve just got the basics. Emery Zane.
Twenty-two. She’s the daughter of Rick Zane’s brother.
Both her parents died when she was young, so it looks like her uncle might have raised her.
There’s not much out there, officially speaking, but I’ll keep digging. ”
My teeth clench at Ghost’s almost clinical delivery.
She’s the mother of my child, and yet, in the past ten minutes, he’s learned more about Emery than I’ve known about her for the past ten months.
She wouldn’t even tell me her last name the night we met, which I understand now. Everything is starting to make sense.
Why she was always looking over her shoulder that night.
How there was this constant sadness in her eyes.
How she was still a virgin at twenty-one.
Because her uncle was planning on fucking selling it.
That confession had me seeing red.
I could barely process the rest of her story after she admitted that much.
“Fuck.” Steel drags his hand over his face, his attention returning to me. “Zane’s niece?”
“I didn’t know that’s who she was at the time.”
“No shit.” His jaw tightens. “If Zane and Eli figured out her ties to the club, then we have to assume they know she’s here right now. He’ll have eyes on our property if she stays.”
“If she stays?” I laugh, but there’s absolutely no humor in it. “Where the fuck else would she go?”
“We don’t know that she’s on our side, Soul. For all we know, her uncle could have sent her here on purpose.”
“To what, use a baby against us?” Chaos is the one to speak up, and I appreciate it, even though this isn’t his fight.
“She’s not here for Zane,” I say.
Steel’s glare cuts to me. “How do you know?”
“I just know.”
“Really? Because a few hours ago, you didn’t know that girl well enough to find her in the same damn city.
But now, you know her intentions? Zane isn’t like the Iron Sinners.
He’s not like anyone else we’ve dealt with.
He’s ruthless. He’s not above sending her here to fuck with us. You know I’m right.”
“I’m telling you that’s not what this is. Zane might not be above it, but Emery wouldn’t do this.”
“Unless that’s exactly what she wants you to think. She’s the one who approached you at the casino, right? What if this was a fucking play from the start? Everything she’s told you could be a lie. Her sneaking out. Her kid.”
“What the fuck do you mean her kid?” I’m vibrating with anger at what he’s insinuating. “Go ahead. Say it, Prez.”
“We’re taking her at her word,” Steel says, his tone flat and cold. “The baby might not even be yours.”
“Fuck that. She’s my daughter.” My voice cracks.
It cracks for the first time in my life. My heart along with it.
Everything else might be a lie, but I know for a fact that Charlie is mine. I knew it the second I heard her cry, and something broke in my chest. So to hear my president—who I’ve sworn my life to—question it has me ready to draw blood.
I lean forward, forcing myself to stay calm. “You can question Emery’s loyalty, and you can question my choices, but you will not question if Charlie is my blood or if she deserves our club’s protection.”
Steel’s gaze is stone cold, and I know I’m crossing lines left and right. Whether I disagree with Steel or not doesn’t change the fact that he’s the president and that I shouldn’t be talking to him like this.
“It’s my job to protect the club, Soul. Hell, it’s your job to protect the club. What are you expecting me to do with this? You fucked Rick Zane’s niece—got her pregnant. Do you realize the hell that is about to rain down on all of us? And you want me to just trust her.”
“I’m not asking you to trust her. Trust me.”
“You think I don’t want to?” He shakes his head. “You’re my second. My VP. But this could level us. I have to think about the club and what Emery is about to bring to my fucking doorstep.”
“I don’t give a fuck what she brings to our doorstep.
It’s already been coming for a while now anyway.
It’s about time we end it.” My teeth clench.
“You want to know what I’m asking for right now?
I’ll tell you. I want your support. The same support I gave you through your shit with Tempe.
The same support I gave every one of my brothers at this table when they asked for it.
Yes, I care about this club, but that’s only because I care about the people in it.
All I’m asking for is the same damn thing I’ve given all of you. ”
Heat courses through my veins. My heartbeat roars between my temples. Steel might pull his gun out and plant a bullet in my head, but I don’t stop. I can’t.
“I can’t tell you how this is going to go down, but I’m not risking my daughter’s life out of fear of uncertainty.
So do what you need to do, but I will not back down on this.
That is my daughter and her mother in that room, and the only way you’re going to stop me from protecting them is by putting a bullet in my head. ”
Steel is silent for a long moment, looking around the room. His thumb taps against the arm of his chair as he thinks. The room is dead quiet apart from that tap, tap, tap. Until he finally stops.
“We’ve been brothers our whole lives, Soul,” Steel says, watching me. “I got a lot of shit for putting you in this chair as my second because you’re fucking reckless.”
He isn’t wrong. Steel took a lot of crap for promoting me to my rank when shit went down with his old VP, Helix. Honestly, at the time, I wasn’t really sure why he made me his second. I wasn’t ready, but I grew into it like I always do.
“I remember Havoc asking me why I did it.” Steel looks over at Havoc, and Havoc smirks.
“I told him it’s because I don’t need another version of myself sitting in your chair, agreeing with everything I say and do.
The club needs balance. Someone who challenges the status quo.
Someone who cares enough to make big swings when they need to be made. Who forces us to do the hard things.”
Havoc nods, crossing his arms over his chest.
“You’ve made me question my decisions a few times over the years—”
“Just a few?” Chaos quirks an eyebrow.
“Maybe more than a few. But what I’m saying is, this isn’t one of those moments.”
“It’s not?” My eyebrows pinch.
“You’re reckless, Soul. A live wire half the time.
I don’t like this fucking situation, but I’ve never seen you this committed to a damn thing, not even your club.
And it’s those instincts and that attitude that have steered us in the right direction more than a few times over the years.
I don’t trust her… yet.” Steel taps his thumb again.
“But you’re right, I do trust you. That’s why you’re in that chair. Even when you piss me the fuck off.”
Steel tips his head back, taking in a deep breath. When he looks at me again, some of the anger has washed away.
“You’re right. We’ve been content playing defense for too long now.
The Feds have backed off, and it’s time we end this.
But if Emery is lying about anything, we’re fucked, and it puts all our families at risk.
Her being here puts a target on our backs, and Zane will use that to his advantage.
Whether she is on his side or not, he will use her against us. ”
“I understand.”
“Yeah, I think you do,” Steel agrees, looking around the room. “How do we vote? Any objections to Emery staying at the compound?”
My shoulders are tight as I glance around the room. None of my brothers says a word. Chaos nods at me in reassurance.
“In that case.” Steel pulls out his gun and places it on the table. “We get ready for war.”