by Franca Storm
I looked past him to my sister. I expected her to be on his side, but I needed to know for sure where I stood. “Lucy?”
“Stay away from me. You’ve suffocated me for long enough.”
With that, they linked hands and strode off together.
I forced myself to my feet and stormed toward the boys holding Natasha off. “Get your fucking hands off her or I’ll put you all down! Right the hell now!”
“All right, guys, back off,” Liam called, striding up on my right side.
When they took their sweet time, Slade bellowed out, “Now! She’s here to help us, fuckers.”
“To help us?” Van, our Road Captain, asked, as stunned as the rest of them seemed.
I tucked Natasha into my side as the boys took her in, studying her in shock.
“What’s going on, Slade?” Liam demanded. “I thought she was here for interrogation over the setup at the frat house.”
“There’s a load of complicated shit that’s gone down real fucking fast. I’m gonna lay it all out tomorrow in Church. ‘Til then, know she ain’t the enemy and she’s under club protection. Nobody lays a hand on her, no disrespect.” He gave a chin lift to her and what was almost a smile. Then, he turned back around and stomped into the clubhouse. I wasn’t surprised. There was a load of shit that needed putting in place before we went after Nik Stone. He was neck deep in it and likely working around the clock to sort everything in time, to make sure there were no stupid mistakes made.
It’d been years and years coming for him, longer than it had for me, to finally hit Nik with payback. And now it was finally here, I figured he couldn’t bear the idea of fucking up the shot.
Slade and I were in a similar boat, except I was the before version of him, the version who hadn’t lost the love of his life to that psychotic fucker. And I was damned well going to keep it that way.
“Sorry, brother,” a voice cut into my thoughts.
I blinked back to reality to see Tank walking up to us. He gave Natasha the first full smile she’d ever gotten from a club member, then squeezed my shoulder.
“No worries,” I told him. “You didn’t know.”
He was an enforcer and we’d been partnered on a load of jobs together. Like me, he was really intense about his work. It was something that’d bonded us. Outside of Mason, he was the closest brother to me.
“Glad you’re back.”
“Thanks.”
“He’ll calm down. Little Lucy, too. Just give ‘em time.”
“Yeah, I’m sure they will.”
As I watched him walk into the clubhouse, following with Natasha held against me, I wasn’t sure at all. After tonight, things between Mason, Luce and I—the Core Three—had been shattered. Trying to fix it would be a majorly tall order.
Right now, though, I had other priorities.
12
~Natasha~
“LET’S GET THIS SHIT STARTED,” Slade Mitchell’s voice boomed as I hung back at the threshold of his office.
I eyed Cole who was watching me from the hallway just outside. He gave me a reassuring nod, but I could see through his calm façade, the worry in his eyes giving him away. He hadn’t wanted me to meet with Slade alone, but Slade had insisted. Hell, he didn’t want me going anywhere without him by my side. He was more nervous than I’d ever seen him, more overprotective than I’d ever imagined him being even with the worst of it that I’d experienced in our years past. This baby, us actually being together at long last, had changed everything for him and he was struggling to adapt.
He wasn’t alone there.
I was worried too. Not so much for myself, not anymore. I’d lived with threats hanging over my head for so long that I was almost numb to it now. Truth be told, for a while now, the idea of meeting my demise at their hands had offered a sense of peace, an ending to all the pain, regret, fear and loneliness.
Then I’d found out about this baby, Cole had come back into my life and vowed he was finally in it for the long-haul and Slade had offered a way for all of that to become a safe, permanent reality. It’d changed everything for me too. And the thought of anything tearing away that life that I was so close to finally having was incomprehensible, irreconcilable. It’d become a waking fear that just wouldn’t abate.
But I needed to reel it all in and get a hold of myself.
I needed to remember who I was.
The no-nonsense survivor who had years of practice with dealing with overbearing, dangerous, self-proclaimed badasses.
Slade might have a notorious reputation, but so did I. He didn’t need to know how much of it was mere legend and how much was stone-cold truth.
He just needed to believe it. Just like him, I wasn’t someone who reacted well to being fucked with.
Drawing in a steadying breath, I gave Cole a nod, then closed the door and turned to face the formidable force that was the President of the Steel Titans Motorcycle Club.
“Have a seat, darlin’,” he said, as I approached his desk at the far end of the very simple room. Sparse furniture with only the oak desk he was sitting behind in his leather chair, the other two worn high-backed ones opposite him. A couple of filing cabinets in the corner were the extent of it. Aside from the photos of various memorable club events and moments lining one wall, there were very little knickknacks and comforts either. It was pretty much how I’d imagined it.
Just as I reached the desk, he had me jumping when he thrust his motorcycle boot out beneath the desk at one of the chairs, pushing it out for me. With a gasp, my gaze shot to his, to find a glint in his eye. Ah. He was testing me.
Dammit. Just a few seconds inside his office and he’d already gotten one up on me.
The old bastard was too good, just like his rep had suggested.
Sure, he was a hulk of a man, all muscle and tattoos. The sight alone as he leaned forward in his black t-shirt and leather cut with his inked arms folded across the desktop was intimidating enough to most just from a quick glance. Not to mention the soulless take he had on dealing out death if people made the mistake of crossing his path. But as far as I was concerned, it was his mind that was the most worrying aspect by far. He was a cunning strategist. He could plan things several moves ahead, see things that most others didn’t. And that made him dangerous to anyone whose agenda didn’t fall in line with his.
“Ain’t gonna hurt you,” he said, lifting his arms off the desktop and leaning back casually in his chair. “Know you’ve had enough of that with Nik.”
I studied him for several moments. There was no hint of a lie there. None at all.
Satisfied that he was sincere, I settled myself into the left high-backed chair.
“Besides, I don’t hurt women. Especially pregnant women.”
Oh my God. My gaze snapped to his.
Before I could get a word out, he told me, “Forgot I seen all ‘em symptoms and signs up close before with my late wife? Plus, you know, it ain’t like you to submit to nobody or nothing, least of all my boys giving you shit. I knew there was something up. Didn’t take much to figure out you were doing it to protect something, something real goddamn special.”
Special? Who would’ve thought that the notorious Slade Mitchell had a soft spot for babies?
“It’s true,” I admitted.
“We best protect each other then, yeah?”
“I thought that was what we were already planning on doing? You’d use me to draw Nik out so you and your club can finally be rid of him, then the club would give me and Cole their blessing.”
“We gotta be more careful now with you carrying that baby.”
I frowned. What was his game? “Why do you care?”
He smiled smugly, like he was proud of not being so easy to figure out.
“Twenty years back, I was in this same situation. We had Nik coming at us needing putting down and my wife was ready to pop. I had tunnel vision, the only thing I saw was destroying the threat of him and the Strikers so my coming family could be safe and w
ouldn’t have to worry. I shoulda had my eye on my immediate surroundings, the present, not the future. But I didn’t and Nik blindsided me. We headed out to take him and the club down, but he wasn’t where he was supposed to be. He doubled back, hit the club. By the time I got back my wife was at death’s door. She died a couple of hours after I got her to the ER.”
I shuddered at his words. Not only was it unbelievably tragic, but it also hit way too close to home.
“Don’t wanna see history repeat. Cole’s like a son to me. I’m sure you know that. And you, you remind me of her. You got caught up with that motherfucker not knowing what a psycho he was, just like she did.”
He rose from his chair and rounded the desk. As he made his way over to the window, staring outside at the yard, he went on, “Cole ain’t gonna go through with this. The second you’re put within a few feet of Nik, he’ll snap and compromise the mission.”
“Then why does he think he’s taking point?”
“It’s the only way I could get him to agree to the thing in the first place. And that was before we knew you were knocked up.”
“So, you want me to lie to him, go behind his back and break his trust so you can finally fulfill your long-time vengeance crusade against Nik?”
He turned around, his lip curled up with amusement. “You’ve got some stones, you know that? Talking to me like that.”
I shrugged. “I have nothing to fear from you. You already made it clear you’re not going to hurt me.”
All amusement emanating from him died a quick death, his expression completely sober as he told me, “Avenging my wife is just the cherry on top. I ain’t that short-sighted. And I ain’t gonna risk my boys for something so fucking selfish.”
So, that was why Nik was still breathing all these years later then.
He went on, “There’s rumors been going around for a while that he’s coming for the club, so I been shoring up our offense and defense big time. Now he’s made his move. Just happens it was through Cole, using the whole Mikhail thing. He’s trying to take out my best enforcer and tie our hands at the same time. It ain’t gonna be long before he comes at another one of us, tryin’ to pick us off one at a goddamn time.” He took a seat back behind his desk, his eyes drilling into mine. “I got eyes on my club, all the brothers, so word got to me ‘bout you and Cole, that he ain’t never really let you go after all. So, I saw our chance. You. This thing we’re doing here is gonna give you both some peace and end that motherfucker at the same time.”
I took his words in. The stakes were even higher than I’d believed. Putting aside the evidence Nik had on Cole, if I didn’t help them, the club would be thrust into open war anyway. According to Slade’s intel, Nik was determined to force it, to lay waste to the Steel Titans in any way he could.
He was fighting dirty.
And it was about time we all did the same.
“What do you need from me?”
Satisfaction shone in his eyes, knowing he’d succeeded in winning me over.
I shuddered as they abruptly darkened and he told me, “I need you to agree to let me trade you to him.”
My mouth went dry. I could only manage a rasp. “Excuse me?”
“You in exchange for him laying off the club.”
Was that supposed to be some sort of clarification? Honestly, it was just serving to ramp up the adrenaline shooting through my body, putting me even more on edge, something I hadn’t thought possible.
True to his rep, he read me well, seeing both my unease and my confusion. He leaned forward, resting his mammoth inked arms back on the desktop. “All right, listen real good, darlin’, cuz this is how it’s gonna go down.”
I nodded and braced myself, the self-preservationist in me wondering what the hell I’d actually gotten myself into.
13
~Natasha~
MY GAZE DRILLED into the display case housing some very appetizing pastries.
Maybe I was starting to get pregnancy cravings, because the apple tart there had my mouth watering and I wanted it like I hadn’t wanted anything in a long time.
I took in Java Joint, the quaint little coffee shop in the hometown of the Steel Titans Motorcycle Club. It was full of pastel-colored oversized couches and chairs, a few wooden ones sprinkled throughout the center area too. Packets of exotic coffee beans lined the shelves on one wall. On another, in the corner, there was a fireplace with cozy lilac seating arranged around it. It was all very calming, very soothing.
All of it except the fight that’d started up a few moments ago between Liam and a redhead Cole had informed me was the owner, Abigail Heeley. We’d been in the middle of Cole giving me a tour of the town and we’d stopped in here because my stomach had been grumbling at me. We were killing time until our appointment at the Warlow Clinic for me to get checked out and make sure everything was progressing well with the baby. We’d been just about to order when Liam had walked in and spoken in hushed tones to Cole, which had sent him hurrying outside to make a private call to Slade.
Although Liam and Abi had started off whisper-arguing, it’d graduated to being more than just slightly audible as things had heated between them. As hard as I tried to ignore it, there was only so much I could do, and only so long I could stay fixated solely on a bunch of pastries.
“Why can’t you just chill for once?”
“I’d chill, if you laid off pulling shit all the fucking time, woman!”
“Urgh! You’re overreacting! I told you, I just had to get to work.”
“So, wake me up, let me know. I coulda driven you.”
“I was fine.”
“It was pitch-black, Abi! Four in the fucking morning!”
“In Warlow, Liam. Geez, you’re intense about everything.”
“And you’re too relaxed.”
“Whatever.”
“Whatever? How’d you react if I snuck outta your bed like that after the intense shit that went down between us last night?”
“I… I don’t know. Fuck! Just… we’ll talk about it later. I have a coffee shop full of customers. Someone’s at the counter still waiting for me.”
“Where’s your other staff?”
“I’m short-handed this morning. Not that it’s any of your concern.”
“You’re my concern, Abi! Why ain’t you getting that by now?”
“God! I get it just fine, believe me! Just go… go for now. I can’t do this here. I’m busy.”
“Fine. I’ll hold you to it.”
“I don’t doubt it.”
With a final grunt, Liam stormed off out of the shop. I watched Abi tug on her ponytail in frustration, then get herself together quickly and walk behind the counter.
An almost-believable smile was plastered on her face in the next moment as she gave me her attention and asked, “How can I help you?”
“Are you okay?” I asked. Why? It wasn’t like me to interfere, or care, about other people’s business. Was I softening somehow? Was it the pregnancy, impending motherhood, the way my hormones were going crazy at the moment? Whatever it was, it seemed to be welcomed here in this small town as Abi smiled kindly, seeming grateful for my concern and told me, “Yeah, thanks. He’s just… intense. And I’m… laid back.”
I nodded, getting it well. “Most of the Steel Titans men are.”
Realization flashed in her eyes. “Yeah, I saw you with Cole. You must be Natasha.” She grinned. “The apparent troublemaker.”
I tensed at her description.
She quickly added in a conspiratorial whisper, “I’m a troublemaker too. Although, I prefer the term free spirit.”
That had me chuckling. “I hear you.”
“So, are you staying in town permanently with Cole?”
What a complicated question. I shrugged, giving the only answer I really could at this point, “Maybe. We’ll see.”
To her credit, she didn’t let any awkwardness settle and merely smiled, then got down to business. “So, Cole always goes for a l
arge black coffee, but what are you in the mood for?”
“Do you have green tea? Decaf?”
“Yup.”
“Great. I’ll take a small and a couple of those apple tarts, please.”
As she got to work on my order, the bell over the entrance sounded and I turned to see Cole walking back in.
He looked shaken. Haunted.
“What’s wrong?” I asked quietly when he reached me.
He wrapped his arm around me and whispered so the civilians in the shop couldn’t hear, “Just Slade wanting to know every detail of the shit that went down with Mikhail.”
A shudder ran through me at the mention of that maniac and that dark, awful night. “Why? Why would he make you relive that?”
“To help him with damage control. The more details he knows, the better. I told him everything instead of the CliffsNotes version I’d reported in when it’d all happened.”
I ran my hand up and down his back, trying to give him some comfort. “Do you want to talk it out?”
His face instantly hardened. “No.”
“Cole.”
His body tensed up as he gritted out, “I did what I had to do. There’s no more to it than that.”
Well, that was all bullshit. Of course there was more to it. I knew he carried a lot of guilt for actually taking things that far and taking a life that day. After that night, it’d shifted something in him, so much so, that he’d started trying harder than ever before to control his temper, to shift his approach to reacting rationally first, rather than going the destructive route right off the bat. It’d changed him irreparably.
He obviously wasn’t ready to admit it, or accept it yet. He’d shut me down so fast.
Abi returned from her brewing station then with our beverages. She shoved two apple tarts into a paper bag and asked Cole, “Anything else for you?”
“No,” he muttered. “I’m good.”
I pulled out my wallet as we followed Abi over to the cash register, but Cole batted my hand away gently. “Got it, baby.”
After we paid and grabbed our things, Cole gave me a reassuring squeeze as we headed out of the shop.
