Page 172 of Steel

My lips twitch when she pushes her glasses up her nose and starts muttering to herself about us considering her a threat so, of course, we wouldn’t want to shake her hand. The brothers behind me are working hard to contain their amusement too.

I watch her dance in place as she explains to Wraith and Crow that the people she’s been tracking for Crow found her location somehow and are after her. She says she has surface-level information from her deep dive, so she’s coming to us for protection. Not surprised that she couldn’t find more about us. Tweek and Jagger—or Ghoul and Whizz in her world—are fucking fantastic at what they do. I’m honestly surprised she was able to get through their walls at all.

“Whichever one of you is Hendrik, or Crow, or whatever the heck you go by, you got me into this mess, and I’m not some super-duper assassin who can take out my enemies with super spy skills,” she says.

Fuck. She reminds me so much of fucking Tweek.

Keegan goes on to explain to Crow how he owes her protection since he’s the one she is doing the work for. When he asks who is after her, her face contorts in a grimace before she tells him it’s the Castellano Cartel. We all tense and spit out curses. I don’t think there’s anyone in the U.S. who hasn’t heard of Big Daddy Castellano and his son, The Serpent.

Wraith asks Crow what he thinks, and he tells him that he believes she’s probably telling the truth, which makes her a bit huffy.

“I say she doesn’t get to roam free until Tweek and Jagger have done a thorough job of vetting her,” Crow says.

Normal people in our crowd would have an issue with that order, but not this chick. Fuck, no. She bounces on her goddamn feet in excitement instead.

“Oh, are you talking about Ghoul and Whizz? I’d love to meet them. They’re so good. Not as good as me, but way better than any others I’ve gone up against.”

She’s speaking nothing but truth. Tweek and Jagger are some of the best fucking hackers I’ve seen. So, if she was able to break through the walls they have in place to keep people out of our shit, then she’s damn good.

This woman isn’t even upset when Crow informs her again that she’s going to be locked in a room until we can clear her. She just tells him that the keys to her car are in it and that one of the guys can bring it while she’s taken to her cell. Ronin, the crazy fuck, about creams his damn pants, begging to be the one to get behind the wheel, and this chick leaves him stunned with the smile she aims at him. Then she skips along beside the restof us as we lead her up to the clubhouse, smiling and waving at everyone like she’s known them forever.

Until we close in on Tweek and they get a good look at each other. Their bodies jolt as if they’d been struck by a force we can’t see. Judging by their wide eyes and colorless faces, it’s not far off.

“Ian?” she whispers.

Well, fuck.

Given she used his birth name, she must be from that past of his that he doesn’t talk much about.

When he mutters her name in shock, her eyes flash with pain. She blinks, washing it away, and continues with her chirpy self.

I wonder how much of it is a facade and how much of it is the real her.

There’s a story behind that pain in both their eyes.

Thrasher and Wraith take Keegan inside while I stay behind with Crow to check on Tweek.

“You good?” Crow asks.

“Yeah.” Tweek’s throat convulses. “We sort of knew each other in high school.”

Seems more than asort offucking thing, but what the hell do I know.

“Those looks you exchanged were more than a ‘sort of knew each other’ deal. I don’t need your story. Just want to know you’re okay,” Crow replies.

Tweek runs shaky fingers through his bright blue hair and nibbles on his lip ring. “I’m good. I treated her shitty while we were together and seeing her now just fucked with me.”

Crow tells him to get his head straight, and then we move inside.

As soon as we get in, Wraith calls for Church. Bailee and Lyric aren’t around, so I’m guessing they took off up to my room already. As much as I want to go to them, they’ll have to wait.There’s too much going on that we need to clear up before we settle into the fucking lockdown.

With the information Keegan willingly gives us about the Castellano Cartel, we’re able to get a game plan in place. Instead of locking her in a cell, he’s asked Tweek and Jagger to work with her on finding everything they can on both the cartel and the Night Skulls. By the time Wraith pounds the gavel, calling an end to Church, we’ve plotted out our course of action.

I warned them that we’d be going to war. It’s coming for us faster than we were prepared for, but we’re the fucking Dirty Mavericks and we’ve never run from a fight.

It’s going to get rowdy, it’s going to get violent, and blood will be spilled.

The madness will descend upon us all when the battle begins.

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