Page 57 of Steel

Reva holds up a hand and shakes her head as she looks around, and I take it for the warning it is.

Too many prying eyes and listening ears.

When I follow her into the dressing room and spot Anna, one of our waitresses, huddled in the corner with an ashen Kenna, a furious Lennox and Georgia Rose, and a carefully blank Farryn, I figure out real quick that our night has just gone to shit and those eyes I felt on me weren’t out of the blue.

I blow out a heavy breath as I make my way over to the group of girls. “Hey, Anna.” Reaching out, I brush the hair from her face so I can look into her eyes. “Shit night, yeah?”

“The worst,” she whimpers.

“Now that it’s just us, you want to let me know what’s going on? What’s got you spooked so bad, beautiful girl?”

“This shit right here,” Lennox growls, shoving a box at me with her stiletto-covered foot.

A chill spins and leaps up my spine as I stare into it with wide eyes and a gaping mouth. The sight of the bloody, dead rat with a black rose laying on top of it sends my body into a fit of shudders.

Dead rat.

There’s no way that’s a coincidence. This was a threat meant for me but aimed at everyone else, and judging by the expression on Reva’s face, she knows that too.

“I’ve already called Steel. He and a few others will be here soon. He said to let you know to stay out of sight so you’re not recognized,” Reva says in a hard tone. “I like you, Bailee, but if this is your shit touching my girls, you might find that likestarting to dwindle. So, I really hope we find out what the fuck is going on before shit gets really bad around here.”

Her words are a kick to the gut because that was the biggest reason I didn’t want to bring anyone else into this mess to begin with. I’ll never be able to stand it if anyone gets hurt because of what I witnessed.

Maybe I should leave. Take off and chance being on my own, away from anyone who could become collateral damage in my fight with Killer and his club.

“Don’t be fucking stupid, girl,” Farryn says quietly when she catches the expression on my face. “You run and you know that man is just going to come after you. Reva is protective over us all, and she doesn’t like being out of control. This shit is as out of control as you can get. This sick fuck isn’t something you can help. We know your story and we know what we’re doing by helping you and Steel out. That’s been our choice since Steel brought it to us. We may not have exactly liked it at first, but you’re a bitch who’s grown on us,” Farryn says quietly.

My phone goes off, and I slide it from my pocket to find a message from Steel letting me know he’s here and I should be careful.

It’s freaking exhausting trying to hide.

From Killer, from his club, and from the Dirty Mavericks.

Even Steel, if I’m being honest. Because that’s what I have to do when he’s around, hide my true self and my true feelings from him. It’s a lot of work to constantly be on check so I don’t let anything slip.

I’m careful to keep out of the way of the other Dirty Mavericks wandering around the club as they deal with Anna and Kenna, but it’s much harder than I anticipated. I can’t make it too obvious, otherwise, it’s only going to make them suspicious.

For the last hour, I’ve been stuck in this dark corner, and I’ve had to watch the women flirt shamelessly with him. I supposethe one good thing about having to watch that is also getting to watch him ignore them too.

Occasionally, his bright eyes will fly through the club like a missile seeking its target until they clash with mine, creating a tiny explosion in my body and my heart. Those eyes of his speak a lot of words he refuses to give me out loud, but I don’t know how much I’m able to believe them. I thought they were speaking the same thing in the past too, only to be burned too badly.

Even with him in this space with me, I miss him, and it makes me a tiny bit angry because it’s not supposed to be happening this dang quickly again.

Sometimes, I’ll catch bits and pieces of the bikers’ conversations, mostly about what’s going on around here, some about the girls on stage or passing around drinks.

They’re walking past where I’m standing with my back angled toward them when I catch wind of their current conversation. I snag my bottom lip with my teeth to keep from smiling as they tease Steel about staying behind because he’s screwing someone here. He brushes them off with gruff excuses about keeping an eye out, but even I can hear the truth in his voice.

Their taunting laughter fades the farther away they get from me on their way out the door, and I blow out a breath, relieved I no longer have to play this game of hide-and-seek.

I’m about to head back behind the bar when a familiar firm hand grips my wrist, halting me in my tracks.

“Come on, baby girl,” Steel says loud enough for me to hear, his needy eyes staring into mine.

With a nod, I pass my serving tray off to Bridget as she walks by, earning me a scowl that I return with a smirk and an eye roll.

Bridget has this little problem with me—I’m the one Steel wants.

According to the girls, she’s been trying to get with him since the moment she was hired on, and he pulled a once and done with her a month ago. She thought she was going to get more, but he wasn’t having it.

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