Page 38 of Steel

Scrubbing a hand over the top of her head, I tell her, “Go wash your hands while your mom finishes up. Be back here in a second.”

While I get some clothes on, I put in a call to Wraith to find out when they’re going to come get Lyric because I need my girl out of the house before I lose my shit on her mother. After the dreams I had about Bailee and what went down between us before I went to sleep, the last thing I expected was waking up to my fucking toxic ex playing house under my fucking roof. I know it’s my own fault because of what I said to her last night, but she should know by now there’s no way she’d ever be able to follow through with her end of the deal. And even if she does, I honestly don’t know if I’ll ever be able to try again, for Lyric’s sake or not. Heather and I have been through too much shit for me to ever go there for real, and I know . . . I fucking know that it makes me a goddamn prick to lead her on and give her false hope, but if it gets her clean for my girl, then it’s what I’ll do.

Heather’s voice continues to grate on me, and it’s like someone is digging glass into my skin, so instead of waiting on Wraith and Nova to get here, I send Lyric outside to play so I can get her mom the fuck out of my house.

“Time to fuckin’ go,” I snap once I’m sure Lyric can’t hear me.

Heather swings around with wide eyes. “What?”

I fold my arms over my chest. “Said it’s time for you to fuckin’ go. Never said you could be here in the first place.”

“Don’t be silly, baby. You said last night you’d give us a chance at being a family. That means being together for breakfast and dinner. Hopefully, eventually moving back in together.”

“Heather, slow the fuck down. Didn’t agree to that shit, and you damn well know it. Stop pushin’ this shit. Said if you get clean, we’d think about it. Ain’t clean, so we ain’t fuckin’ thinkin’ about it. Now, get your shit and get the fuck out. Gotta go to work.” She opens her mouth to say something, and I unfold my arms and take a step toward her. “Listen to me good. Don’t come to my fuckin’ house unless I give you fuckin’ permission. Not your place. Get your fuckin’ shit and get the fuck gone. I’ll see you when I drop our daughter off.”

I follow her around until she has all her stuff and she’s striding angrily to her car. The sad part about Heather leaving without saying goodbye to our daughter is that it doesn’t even bother Lyric, but it pisses me the fuck off. I’m never going to get over the fact that I couldn’t provide my daughter with a better mother.

The girl has so much damn love around her that we try to make sure she doesn’t feel that loss, but I don’t think any of us can ever make up for that missing part.

I watch Lyric interact with Wraith, Nova, and Hendrick with a smile. She adores them so much that I hope when this shit falls on my head, she doesn’t catch backlash from it. Because if that happens, I’ll have to burn the fucking world down. Have your issues with me, hate me, want to kill me, but don’t let that shit bleed over onto my innocent child.

Before they leave, Wraith and I chat a bit about the shit going on with Crow. He’s so deep in trying to find the last few people who murdered his family that sometimes he lets it consume him. There are times when I don’t see the darkness in him, and that’s when he lets Sage around him, but then he does something that pushes her away and he’s back dancing with his demons.

The club has been helping him as much as they can, but it’s gotten to the point that we’re struggling with leads. It’s not just that, though. The club has been receiving threats against the girls, so all hell has broken loose. And now I have this shit going on with the Night Skulls, I’m being pulled thin. If I’m not careful, I’m going to end up dropping the ball somewhere, and that can’t fucking happen.

Once they head out with Lyric, I get ready for work and head to Dirty Wrench. With everything going on, we’re running a bit behind on getting customers’ vehicles out to them, and that’s not how we do business. We’re the number one mechanic and custom body workshop in the state for a reason, and I’m not going to let our reputation take a hit because of bullshit with the club and Crow.

Before I head in, I shoot off a text to Bailee telling her to have a good morning and that I’ll talk to her later, then I shove my phone in my pocket. Bryson is already underneath the hood of a truck and hard at work on the transmission. Michael, one of our newer guys, is working on another car, and Jaime, the only female mechanic on payroll, is breaking down the motor of another car.

Grabbing the clipboard hanging beside the door to the front office, I find out which customer is next in line, mark it off, and grab the keys from the lockbox. For the next few hours, we all work as a team to get these vehicles out of here. Thankfully, only the ones Jaime and Bryson are working on are bigger jobs, so it’s pretty easy to get the others out and back to their owners.

“How you been, man?” I ask Bryson while scrubbing my nails to get the grease and grime from underneath them.

“Been good. Just been working and spending time with Josh. That boy is growing faster than I like.”

Bryson has an ex who is much like mine. Hannah, his ex-wife, cheated on him when he was in prison and ended up having another kid. Shit was fucked-up too since the reason he went upriver in the first place was because of her fucking ass. Shit ain’t right—he spends years in prison and gets repaid by his bitch of a wife fucking another man. He’s a good dude, though. Him being an ex-con means shit to me. It’s a part of his past, not who he is as a person, and he shouldn’t be judged for his time spent behind bars. Wraith’s brother, Saint, went through the same bullshit when he got out, and it’s because of Saint that Bryson ended up working for us.

“That boy is you made all over again.”

Bryson chuckles. “Yeah. He’s got a pretty good head on his shoulders, though. Got him a pretty little girlfriend he seems to be crazy over, and she’s sweet on him too. Guess I can’t ask much more than that.”

“Still dealin’ with Hannah?”

He dries his hands and tosses the towel in the bin beside the sink. “Don’t know why she can’t get the hint. She knew when she cheated that there’d never be a chance for us again, so I don’t know why she’s still trying to push us to get back together. I love kids, man, but there’s no way I’ll be able to look at Scott and not see the man she cheated on me with. I just can’t. Hannah andI were never a love match, but she was my fucking wife, man, ya know? She’s the mother of my son, I went to prison for her ass, and when I get out, I find out she’s been fucking another man from nearly the moment I went in.” He laughs bitterly and shakes his head. “And then she comes around and wants back in when her man fucks around on her? Nah. Fuck that.”

“I hear you, man.”

“Heather giving you trouble still?”

“Something like that,” I mutter.

We go through the nightly routine of shutting the shop down and putting tools and shit away before heading out.

I toss my leg over the seat of my bike and peer over at Bryson as he does the same. He does well hiding his loneliness, but I see it. Especially at times like these, when it’s just us out here after closing up and he’s staring around like he doesn’t know what he’s going to do next. But I’ve noticed him a few times sitting in a booth at Sinful Saloon, watching a certain Pretty Peach as she dances.

“You know, I have it on good authority that if you’re craving something sweet, there’s a pretty little peach at Sinful Saloon tonight,” I tell him.

He jerks his head my way and stares at me, but after a few minutes, he gives a short nod of thanks and flicks his wrist, bringing his bike to life. Bryson gives me a two-finger salute before heading out.

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