Page 105 of Steel

Not dead.

“What are you talking about?” My heart hammers. “I saw them kill her. The blood—”

“She survived it.”

“How?”

“I don’t know.” He shakes his head. “But she did. Movement triggered a camera at your house, and Ghost got footage of her retrieving something.”

“I don’t get it.” I shake my head, trying to make sense of what he’s saying. “She was at my house? If she’s alive, why hasn’t she called? Why hasn’t she checked on Austin? Why—”

“Tempe.” Jameson pulls me in for a hug as tears sting my eyes.

He comforts me in his arms, not answering any of my questions. And as the first tear slips free, I hear what he’s actually saying. Mom’s alive, and she hasn’t reached outto me. She disappeared with those men the night they sent me to the clubhouse. This was all a setup.

I bury my face against Jameson’s chest, and my heart is racing. “What did she do?”

The question is more for me than him. And Jameson must sense that because he doesn’t answer. He rubs my back and holds me to him.

“She really just left him.” My heart aches for my brother.

“She probably was recovering at first.” Jameson tries to excuse her, and I know it’s for my sake because nothing about this situation could possibly look good from his end.

“But then she wasn’t.” I look up at him. “You said it yourself; she was at my house. She’s clearly feeling better, and she hasn’t even tried to come find us. Me, I get; I’m twenty-two and can take care of myself. But Austin… He deserves so much better than this.”

I wrangle my hair back, shaking my head.

“And you’ll give that to him.” Jameson tips my chin up.

“What if that’s not enough?” A tear slips free. “How am I supposed to explain that she just walked away? How do I fill that hole? I’m his sister, not his mom. How can I ever make this right for him?”

Tears streak my cheeks, and Jameson wipes them away with his thumb. “If there’s one thing the club has taught me about family, it’s that titles don’t matter all that much. Actions define what we are to the people around us. You’re there for Austin, and that’s what matters. You’re enough, Tempe. I’ve seen how that kid looks up to you. You’re all he needs.”

My chest expands as I soak in those words, knowing he understands it more than he admits in this moment.

“Thank you.” I force a smile when he rubs his thumb over my cheek.

“Of course, wildfire.” He cups my face in his hands, pulling me in for a gentle kiss.

The desert hums with the wind, and I let the peace of this empty land draw me in.

Resting my hands over Jameson’s, I look up at him. “Where do you think she’s been?”

“I don’t know. The plates on the car that brought her to your house were stolen.”

I don’t like the sound of that. “What did she get when she was there?”

“An envelope in the kitchen. It was underneath the silverware. Do you know what it was?”

“I didn’t know there was anything in there. Do you think—” I pause, dreading what I’m thinking. “Was she in on this?”

Since they shot her, I assumed she was just caught in the crosshairs. After all, I was the one Dimitri knew from the bar. He was there for me, not her.

Unless I was wrong.

Thinking back to what I saw in the kitchen, I remember how close they were standing. I remember the last words she said to him.

“Please don’t.”

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