Page 92 of Cold Hard Truth

I want to catch her. Hold her. Keep her.

Climbing off my bike, I make my way up the front steps of the clubhouse. Blaze is standing outside smoking a cigarette with his girlfriend, Candy, at his side. Her hair is bright green this week and tied up in a high ponytail.

Blaze holds his cigarette out for her, and she takes a drag.

“Sage.” Blaze stops me with a hand on my shoulder as I’m about to walk past. “Was wondering when you were going to show up.”

Unlike Kane, Blaze doesn’t have skin in the game when it comes to Lyla. He knows how I looked at her back then, and from the way he’s grinning at me now, I’m sure he still sees it. So when she showed up without me tonight, he no doubt knew I’d be close behind.

“Fight night delayed me.” I pause at the top of the steps. “Have you seen Kane?”

“He was inside talking with Lyla a little bit ago.”

Candy rolls her eyes. “Until he got distracted by Steel’s guys.”

“Steel?” My eyebrows pinch. “What’s the Vegas chapter doing in town?”

Steel and his men only show up when shit hits the fan. One of the obligations of being the president of the founding Twisted Kings club. The fact that he’s here now, the same way he was the first time Lyla was taken, has me on edge.

Blaze glances down at Candy, and she sighs at the silent message he’s sending her.

“All right. I’ll meet you back inside.”

“Thanks, babe.” He plants a kiss on her forehead before she pulls away.

Candy might be Blaze’s old lady now, but there are certain things the Twisted Kings don’t share with anyone who isn’t a member—especially their women. They say it’s for their protection, and while with Blaze, I believe he means it, for men like Kane, it’s because they like having all the power.

It’s one of the many reasons Lyla hated the men in the club. And why I understood how someone with her wild spirit could never be someone’s old lady.

Blaze watches Candy walk away, taking a long drag of his cigarette. I’m not a member of the club, so he probably shouldn’t tell me shit either. But even if I’m not patched, I grew up here, and I’m the one watching after Kane’s daughter. I’m a Twisted King by blood. By the fate I denied. I’m one of them in all the ways that edge right up to it being official, and I’ll continue to toe that line.

The door closes behind Candy, and Blaze turns to the railing, resting against it and taking a drag of his cigarette.

“I’m guessing it’s not a coincidence the Vegas chapter is in town?”

Blaze shakes his head, smoke curling out from between his lips as he releases the breath. “When shit went down eight years ago, the Vegas chapter was around for it.”

“I remember.” The club parties were intense and never-ending. Endless options for drowning your problems. “Are you saying Kane thinks they might have something to do with all this shit that’s happening?”

“He hasn’tsaidthat,” Blaze corrects me.

Of course Kane hasn’tsaidit. It doesn’t matter if he’s the president of the LA chapter, to accuse the original chapter of turning against their own—and worse, being responsible for what happened to Ellie and Lyla—would be a death sentence if he was wrong.

“So how’d he convince Steel to come to town if he doesn’t know what’s going on?”

Blaze chuckles, turning to face me. “Just because Kane hasn’t said shit, doesn’t mean Steel doesn’t know exactly why he’s here. He’s not an idiot.”

“He wants to help?”

Blaze nods, taking another drag of his cigarette. “If there’s anyone who hates a traitor more than Kane, it’s Steel.”

“Do you think we can trust him?”

“His great-grandfather started the Twisted Kings. There are legacies and then there’s the fucking MC bloodline. We can trust him.”

I don’t know Steel well, even if we’re the same age. He was granted his throne at twenty-one when his dad was taken down on a gun run gone bad. And every time he came through town, he spent most of his time with Kane and Blaze.

But Blaze is right. Legacies like me are one thing—loyal even when we don’t want to be. But being the blood ofthe club is another level, and I doubt Steel would betray the Twisted Kings.

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