Page 37 of Steel

“Bailee, stop playing and tell me what’s going on. I know something is. I can feel it in my gut.”

I give her a quick rundown of what happened and listen fondly as she rages at me for not letting her know sooner. Lena is normally a gentle soul. It’s rare to see her angry, but when she is, whoo boy, you better watch your shit because she’ll light the world on fire. Reed calls her a slow burner.

Finally, she inhales sharply before blowing it out. “You should’ve called me once you were safe.”

“You’re right. I’m sorry. My mind has been a mess since I saw them kill that man.”

“It doesn’t help that you’re with the same man who nearly destroyed you three years ago, Lee. Don’t get drawn back into his mess. He has his daughter, and that means Heather is still in his life. It’s just going to end up being the same toxic cycle all over again.”

“So, what you’re saying is now probably isn’t the best time to tell you that we fooled around already?” I ask sheepishly.

“Dammit, Lee.”

I groan. “I know, okay. I know. I’m as worried about it as you are. Do you really think I want to be in that kind of mess again? The person I turned into just so I could have a piece of him anytime he found me worthy of his time is someone I refuse to be again. I was weak and pathetic.”

“You were weak, but you also loved him. Love makes you do stupid shit sometimes. Just don’t let yourself fall into that same trap again. I know it’s hard to fight your feelings, but as long as he has Heather in his life, it’s going to be a constant cycle of back and forth between them.”

“He says they split up for good this time, but I can’t believe that. And even if I could, if I meant as much to him as he did to me, I would have been the first person he turned to instead of the club girls he’s been sleeping with. So, believe me, I know you’re right. We have too much shit on our plate anyway to worry about icky feelings. I don’t know how long this is going to take to clear up. Reed is going to help because the more people on this, the faster we could get it over with, then I can run as far away from Steel as possible.”

“You need to keep me up to date on everything. I want you to check in every day. Do you hear me? I want you to check in at least once a day with our code to let me know you’re okay. I have some work to do,” she says distractedly.

“Eggplant for okay, two melons for not okay. I got you. Love you, Lena.”

“Love you too, Lee.”

Lena isn’t the only one worried about me being around Steel. He’s always been my weakness. At least until I finally grew a spine and walked away from him. I know he says that he and Heather are no longer together, but it’s like I told Lena. If I meant to him anything near what he meant to me, he’d have come to me after they split up. But I’ve always known that my feelings for him were stronger than his were for me. If he even had any at all. There are plenty of times I had doubted it.

Hopefully, Emmy Lou and Willow agree to help protect Steel by keeping quiet that he’s got me at Sinful Saloon. I may not want to get tangled up in my feelings with him again, but I also don’t want anything happening to him either. If he would lose his club, it’d destroy him, and knowing it was because of me would absolutely gut me.

I don’t know how I’m going to protect him from that, but I need to try to find a way.

Maybe I just need to be brave and go to the Dirty Mavericks myself and ask them all for help instead of just Steel.

Chapter nine

I feel something isoff from the moment I wake up. Lyric normally comes to wake me up, but when I glance at the clock, I realize it’s way past the time she’s usually bouncing on the bed and hollering at me to wake up.

Noise from the other room has me snapping my brows together and I hurry from the bed. My gun is in the lockbox in my closet, so I grab my knife from the nightstand and make my way toward the noise.

Thank fuck I decided not to sleep naked last night because the last thing I need is to run to protect my child with my dick swinging in the air.

I stop inside the kitchen doorway and scowl at the scene in front of me. Lyric is nowhere to be seen, but Heather is standing at the stove, stirring something in a pan. She’s never been much of a cook, so there’s no telling what it is, but that’s not my fucking concern right now.

“The fuck are you doin’ here, and where is my daughter?”

Heather turns with a smile and bright eyes. “Hey, baby. I’m making breakfast forourdaughter. She’s down in the basement playing in that area you made her.”

“Doesn’t explain why you’re here. Didn’t invite you.”

“You agreed last night that we’d try, so that’s what I’m doing. We’re a family.”

“Said if you got clean then I’d think about it. From the look in your eyes, you’re not.”

Before I can say anything else, Lyric comes pounding up the stairs. “Daddy, you’re up! Mom is making breakfast. Are you going to eat with us before you go to work?”

I aim a sharp look at Heather but smile at Lyric. “Yeah, Princess, eatin’ with you. Goin’ to make a call to Uncle Wraith and Aunt Nova to see if they’re still comin’ to get you. You still wantin’ to stay the night with them?”

Lyric smiles wide and bounces on her feet. “Yes.”

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