Page 143 of Steel

“You don’t sound it. When are you coming home?”

“Tomorrow.”

“You’re not okay,” she says sharply, knowing that I told her I’d be home tonight. “I shouldn’t have let you go there without me. Did you tell them?”

“Found out on their own. Fuckin’ forgot about the cameras,” I admit.

“Oh, crap,” she whispers. “Please tell me everything is okay between you and them.”

“Yeah, baby girl,” I rumble. “Listen, you and Lyra gonna be okay tonight? Since they know about you, I’ll get a couple prospects to sit on the house.”

“We’ll be okay, bossman. I got the gun.”

I can tell from her tone that she’s lying. She’s not good or okay with being there alone.

“Don’t care. Need my guys on you now that they know.”

“You can’t come home to us?” she asks quietly. “I don’t feel comfortable being around men I don’t know.”

“If that’s what you want, Hummingbird, I’ll be home,” I tell her.

“Can you drive?”

“You want me home,” I stress, “then I’ll make it happen. Don’t worry about how.”

“I want you home,” she admits in a whisper.

“Then you’ll have me. Be there as soon as I can.”

“Thank you. Love you,” she rushes out before hanging up.

I shove her words to the back of my mind since I can’t respond to them right now anyway.

Shooting off a quick message to Jordan, I tell him to get back up here because I need him. He must assume that something happened to me because he doesn’t waste any time in getting back to my room.

“It’s me,” he says, following the knock on the door.

“Come in,” I tell him, knowing he’s got a spare key like most brothers do.

When he steps through, I dive right into it. “Need your help. Grab my cut, a pair of socks, and my boots.”

Jordan gathers everything I requested and brings it over to the bed. “Need help with anything?”

“Need you to take me home. Goin’ to have to use the cage. No way in hell I’ll be able to sit up on a bike,” I tell him as I slide my socks on.

It expends more energy than I’m fucking expecting, and my breathing is sharp by the time I’m done.

Fuck, getting my ass kicked sucks.

“You sure you need to be going anywhere?”

“Don’t matter what I need right now. My woman needs me home.”

“Gotcha,” he says, and I know that he does because I’ve spotted him with that one of his that he doesn’t think anyone knows about.

“Dammit,” I growl, struggling to fit my boot over my foot.

“Let me, brother.” He grabs it and squats in front of me. “Lift your foot.”

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