Page 109 of Steel

Steel grabs my hand, entwining his fingers with mine, and leads me back into the living room so we can clean up our mess from earlier. I’m putting away the board game when I decide to bring up Emmy Lou’s phone call.

“Steel?” He glances over at me. “Em called me tonight about her progress on stuff.”

“Just now tellin’ me?” He growls, running his hand through his hair. “She say anything that’ll help?”

After I put the board game up in the hall cabinet, I grab his hand and pull him to the couch. I wait for him to take a seat and then climb into his lap. His arms wrap around me, pulling me tighter against his body, and I rest one of my hands on the side of his neck.

“They said they weren’t able to find much of anything, but they believe they have someone who might get us further. It’d mean one of your club brothers finding out about everything.” I blowout a breath and squeeze his neck gently. “I think it’s time to bring them in, Steel.”

“Thrasher. They’re talking about his mom. Desdemona has control of the prison. They think she can get us something, and good chance they’re right. Killer’s got guys in.”

“She’s good enough to get information out of them?” I ask.

“Killed six men who raped her twin daughters when the police wouldn’t do anything about it. Did that shit on her own. Lawyer tried to get her an insanity plea because of what happened, but Desdemona wasn’t havin’ that. She admitted to what she did with a smile on her face.”

“Holy crap,” I whisper. “Are the girls okay?”

His breath whispers against my neck as he exhales deeply. “No. One overdosed, we think, and the other ended up in a psychiatric hospital.”

“Oh, no. No, no. Poor Desdemona. Poor Thrasher. And those girls . . . my god. How could anyone be expected to be any kind of normal after something like that? I know people eventually are, but how in the world could anyoneexpectthem to be?”

My heart is breaking for these people I don’t know. They say there’s nothing like a parent’s love. I’m not Lyric’s mom, but I already know there’snothingin this world I wouldn’t do for her, and that includes taking someone’s life if it came to it. Taking out the six men who horrifically raped your daughters? I’d have done the same thing. Knowing the little I do of Thrasher, I’m wondering if it’s something she did on her own. Because if she killed for her daughters, there’s no way she would let her only son and last child spend his life in prison for the rest of his life. I don’t have to know her or speak to her to understand that.

“Fucked world, baby girl,” Steel says, his chest vibrating against me as he speaks. “Won’t say much because it’s club business, but already planned on tellin’ them. Killer is going after club property, so it’ll come out anyway.”

I turn in his lap so I can face him and bring my hands up to cup his face in my palms. “Then we tell them together. You and me, Steel. I care too much about you to let you do this alone, no matter how close you are to them. You’re already going to be in enough trouble with them. I won’t let you get in deeper just because you’re trying to keep me protected.”

“Pay what I gotta pay, Hummingbird. Knew what I was doin’ when I agreed. Could’ve said no or went to them from the get-go and never did.”

“You’ll let me be there?” I ask.

“Can come to the clubhouse but won’t be able to be in on the meet unless they let you.”

“Don’t care as long as I’m there with you and we face it together.”

Something stark and powerful crosses his face right before he grabs me and slams my mouth to his. He shoves his tongue inside and snakes it around mine, coiling them together. Our hands grasp at each other until we’re fighting to crawl inside one another as our emotions overwhelm us and carry us away.

I’m only half aware as he climbs to his feet with me still wrapped around him. Somehow, on our way to the room, despite the way we stumble and slam into the walls, Lyric stays sleeping.

Facing the Dirty Mavericks isn’t something I’m exactly looking forward to because they’re some scary dudes, but it’s not something I can keep running from. Killer has started targeting the club’s businesses along with the girls they’ve already hurt. This has got to end, and I’m the one who holds the only evidence that could put a stop to it before more people get hurt. I’ll let Desdemona do her thing, but I’m worried it won’t be much. Emmy Lou and Willow have had every number that’s messaged me since this started, numbers that I know come from Killer and his men, but they’ve all been dead ends too, burner phones that didn’t result in anything. Not sure why I expected somethingdifferent from someone who has gotten away with this crap for a very long time.

Steel tosses me onto the bed, pulling me from thoughts I’d rather not be thinking right now anyway. When I peer up at him leaning over me, his eyes are telling me things I don’t know if I’m ready to hear or believe, so I grab his shirt in my fist and yank him to me so I can get lost in the madness with him once again.

There’s something building in my gut telling me to hold on to this as tightly as I can because change is coming and it’s not all going to be pretty.

Chapter twenty-nine

“Promise you’re good tospend time with your Mama when it’s supposed to be my weekend?” I ask Lyric.

Heather’s been doing good since we had our last blowout. Far as I know, she ain’t been fucking with drugs or dudes. Even said she’s been trying to find a job since she lost her last one at the diner. She apologized about the condom bullshit and the shit she tried pulling when she found out about Bailee. Don’t know whether she means any of it, but don’t really give a fuck as long as she does right by my little girl.

I’d been keeping Lyric until I knew Heather was good, not that she fought me on it. She only does that when she feels it benefits her to have a hold on me. She asked me today if I’d bring Lyric back home to her and let her have Lyric on my weekend so they could have more bonding time. I caved after agreement from our daughter. Lyric wants her mom to be a mom so damn bad, and she’s trying hard to give her the chance to do that. If my girl can, then I can do the same.

It’ll give me time with Bailee on our own. We don’t get much of that because it’s always one thing or the other pulling ourattention. Shit’s calm right now—almost too calm, if I’m honest—so I’m gonna take advantage of it and spend some time with my woman.

Lyric is excited the whole ride to her mom’s place. She’s bouncing in her seat, her little body unable to contain it all. There’s not been a quiet moment since we left, not that I mind. Her incessant chatter has always filled me with peace.

“Daddy?”

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