Page 36 of Steel

I hate that I can’t relate to her background. I hate that while I could go out and buy an entire restaurant when I was younger, she had to fight off dirty hands just to provide her brother with a hot meal for the night. I’ve never cared for the money my family had. It’s not something I went crazy over or spent excessively, but it’s also something that I knew was there if I wanted to go to the store to buy something.

Talking to Kenna is a humbling experience, and it’s a conversation I’m glad I was able to have with her. These women come from shitty backgrounds, but they’ve never once let it tear them down. When their life knocked them down, they dustedthemselves off and fought back with a vengeance. It’s a lesson I could learn from them.

Thankfully, the member didn’t stay too long, so I was able to get back to work fairly quickly and get the orders completed before we closed for the night.

By the time the last person heads out, I’m so exhausted, I could probably fall asleep standing up. Before I do that, I need to give my brother a call because he’s going to start losing his mind before much longer.

I’m kicked back in the recliner with the phone resting on my stomach as I wait for Reed to answer. Just as my heavy eyes close, his voice finally comes over the line.

“Bails? Where the hell are you?”

“Hey, Bubba,” I murmur.

“What? What is it, Bailee?” he asks, picking up something in the tone of my voice.

“You’ve got to promise that you won’t go playing crazy big brother. I’m handling it.”

“Tell me what the hell is going on, Bailee.”

“Yesterday, when I went out to take pictures in those woods I told you about, I caught something on camera that I really wish I hadn’t.”

“Stop beating around the bush before I have Colby find out where the fuck you are.”

My eyes snap open, and I sit up with a wince. “No. You all need to stay away. I’m safe. I’m with Steel. Last night, I caught the president of another motorcycle club killing someone on camera. They saw and came after me. I was lucky enough to get away . . . relatively unscathed.”

“Relatively unscathed? Your pause tells me you’re a liar. Truth, Bails. Now.” I don’t say anything. “One . . . two . . .”

“Fine. I was shot—”

His explosion interrupts my words, and my heart aches at the anger and pain in it. Reed is huge on protecting his family ever since our father lost his shit and went on a killing spree with his best friends. My big brother doesn’t do well when things are out of his control.

“Bails.”

Tears fill my eyes at his broken voice. “I’m okay, Bubba. I promise. Steel made sure of it. He brought in a doctor because it wasn’t safe to go to a hospital. He’s working to find out everything he can so he can keep me safe and find the best way to deal with them. I can’t handle anyone else being hurt because of me, Reed.”

“Let me help. You know we can get shit done. No fucking way am I just going to sit on my ass while my sister is taking on a whole damn biker club.”

“Two, if the Dirty Mavericks find out Steel is hiding me on their property without their knowledge,” I admit quietly.

“Fucking hell, Bails. Do you have any idea what’s going to happen when they find out? They’re good guys, and I don’t want to have to go against them, but you know I’ll burn their world down if they touch you. Steel is going to be lucky to walk away with his life.”

I lift a hand to my chest and rub the ache there as my eyes water again. “I know, Reed. I freaking know, okay? I don’t like it, but Steel thinks it’s best right now. I honestly think he’s trying to protect everyone, and I’m really scared what’s going to happen when Wraith and the rest of the club finds out.”

“Then let me help so we can end this faster. I can get Em, Willow, and Colby on it. You know they’re damn good.”

“Is that a good idea? Their ties to Steel and Thrasher are strong. They’d have to lie to Thrasher, and I don’t think they’d like that.”

“Let me talk to them. If they know you’ll both be punished, there’s a higher chance they’ll understand. Emmy Lou isn’t going to want anything to happen to her best friend, and Willow knows it would destroy Thrasher if he’d have to go against his own club brother. They understand confidentiality, Bailee.”

I blow out a sharp breath. “Okay. If you think you can get them to keep their mouths shut because, Reed, friends or not, if they cause Steel any more trouble than he’s already going to be in, I’m going to come for them.” The threat catches us both by surprise, and I clear my throat. “He’s put everything on the line to help me, Bubba. I won’t let anyone jeopardize him because of that.”

We talk for a little bit longer, mostly just me listening to him moan about how stubborn our little sister, Macey, is being. A mixture of sadness and longing rush through me when I think about her. Emmy Lou and Willow found her and the rest of the guys’ siblings not long ago. Since then, Macey has taken delight in driving Reed up a wall as they get to know each other. It’s normally pretty funny to watch, but right now, I’d just about do anything to have a hug from either of them.

As soon as I hang up with Reed, I pull up Lena’s contact and hit the call button.

“Lee? Are you okay? You were supposed to text me back yesterday and you never did,” Lena answers.

“Define okay.”

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