The Salvatores Collection: A Steel Saviors MC Romance

by Ethan Egorov

  She was, however, an overall unusual woman, though. She had a heart of gold, but some people described her as having a lack of patience or being flighty. In Trent’s good moments, he chalked that up to her youth and impatience.

  In his less generous moments, though, he tended to see it as her being inherently unable to commit and unable to follow through on something promising.

  “Okay,” Trent said after putting his pants on. “Turn around, Kristina, I’m good here.”

  She turned around, and her eyes ran down his body, assessing him. The act only confused him further. Was this all an elaborate set up so that she could striptease him and then take off his clothes like so? If that was the case, why didn’t she just say something in the first place?

  “I like what I see,” she said.

  Trent rolled his eyes. This was getting too confusing, and he needed to just cut right through the bullshit.

  “Okay, first of all, damn, Kristina. It’s been forever. I thought you were off in Italy with what’s his name. Jake?”

  “John. It’s John,” she said, though she didn’t exactly sound enthused by the name. In fact, the very mention of his name seemed to repulse her. “We did go there for about a week, and let’s just say that John isn’t in the picture any longer. John and I broke up because he was cheating on me.”

  “You found proof of that?” Trent said, surprised.

  Kristina looked at him askance, perhaps bothered by his surprise. Trent didn’t want to sound condescending or rude, but usually, when Kristina had ended her relationships, it had not been because of someone cheating on her.

  “Yeah, in his phone. Sending these nasty messages to these Instagram hoes. I told him after that we were through. He was a bit of a dull head, anyway.”

  A part of Trent wanted to have sympathy for Kristina. But mostly, he remembered the past.

  And he remembered what happened right after they had broken up. As much as Trent wanted to believe it was all peace, forgiveness, and moving on, it wasn’t that. It was much more dramatic and intense.

  And with the confusion of her being in his room, those old feelings came rushing back. Whenever Trent got his feelings mixed with those memories, it was difficult for him to be anything other than a touch too snarky.

  “I give it two months,” he said with a snort.

  “Two months until what?” Kristina said, but both of them could already see where this was going— nowhere good.

  “Two months until you two kiss and makeup, that’s what.”

  Kristina glared at him, looked at the bed, and then flopped down beside Trent, letting her long red hair splayed out against his grey comforter. She had a thing for theatrics, which only made it worse.

  Or better? I wish I had some sort of idea where the hell this was heading.

  “Trent! I can’t believe you,” she said, to which Trent remained unaffected, at least in appearance. “You know you don’t have any better of a track record. What happened to what’s her name? That waitress you were seeing, Roxanne?”

  Fuck, I wish I could forget her name. I wish I could confuse her for a Roxanne.

  “Rachelle,” Trent said with a sigh. “Her name was Rachelle. We both knew it was nothing serious, and it just kind of, I don’t know, I guess it fizzled out or something. She eventually quit calling.”

  That’s the simple answer to it.

  “Was it because you made yourself super available like you always do?”

  For someone Trent had imagined came over to make conversation, and perhaps make love, it suddenly seemed quite apparent to Trent that perhaps Kristina had not come over to do either of those things, but had done so just to stir up trouble. It was a damn shame, too. For the longest time, he had kept the image in his head of a girl who was wonderful at heart and just had some rough times, but now he couldn’t say for sure who she was.

  Other than crazy.

  “Kristina! No, that’s not it. I’m sure she went ahead and found some other dude to knock boots with. Probably one with a lot more money than me.”

  Kristina just rolled her eyes. In some ways, Trent imagined this was going exactly as he should have expected. How else was someone who had broken into his apartment supposed to act other than batshit crazy? Did he really think having some distance or something to that effect would make her any saner?

  Had he run into her on the street, perhaps it would have been different. Perhaps their conversation would have been calmer, more relaxing. But now, it just seemed like they were destined to butt heads.

  “Oh, Trent. When are you ever going to learn? Money has nothing to do with it.”

  Trent rolled his eyes. There was a whole lot of evidence to the contrary. Maybe money didn’t have everything to do with it, but it certainly had something to do with it.

  “Oh yeah, I’m sure. I guess you didn’t end up staying with John because of the exotic vacations and the expensive jewelry he bought you.”

  “I’ll admit for a while it was a nice perk. In the end, though, he was super boring, and I’m glad it ended when it did.”

  “Oh, yeah? Is that why you’re back now to lick your wounds and recuperate?”

  Trent found it something of a miracle that Kristina didn’t slap him. Then again, the two had always had a rather unusual dynamic between the two of them. Even when they were together, when Trent looked back on things rationally and not with rose-colored glasses, he had to admit he didn’t pick the most stable of women.

  Or maybe he was looking at her now through black-colored lenses because of the context, and she was actually somewhere closer to the middle.

  “No, I’m back for a couple reasons. One is I had to deliver your birthday gift. The second reason is . . . well, Antonio messaged me, saying he needed my help. Apparently, things are bad again.”

  Oh, great, so now she’s going to stick around. This is lovely. This is just great.

  There was something else about her that seemed a little off, something in those words that just didn’t sit right. But with Trent in his current state, there was no way he was going to be able to parse what she had said well enough to figure it out.

  “Well . . . there have been a few issues here recently,” Trent admitted, but he didn’t want to give her any openings. “I’m sure it’s nothing we can’t handle, though.”

  “I don’t know, seemed pretty grave to me,” she said. “I just don’t know how they expect me to help.”

  You and me both.

  Trent, however, didn’t say another word. As he realized Kristina was in no rush to leave, and in fact, was starting to hint at suggestive poses on the bed, he decided he was just going to continue getting ready for the day.

  “What’s wrong, Trenton? You’re getting gloomy again?”

  Trent didn’t say a word. Hearing his full name from Kristina was jarring enough. Having it happen in this spot was too much to comprehend.

  “See, this is where you lose your girls right here.”

  Can’t a man just change in peace?

  “What are you talking about?” Trent said, trying to ignore her. “I’m a fun-loving guy.”

  “Sure, you are. What’s not to love about a sulky, brooding, mysterious man who won’t say more than five words after you make love?”

  Right to the point, huh?

  “I talk when the moment seems right. No one wants to have a full conversation after that anyway. They just want to fall asleep because they’re tired. At least, I do.”

  “Ever the romantic.”

  She rolled over and slapped him on the shoulder, and though he tried his hardest not to, he rewarded her with a smile. His eyes had a boyish amber glow about them when she was in the room. Sometimes, when he thought about her for just a few seconds, he was light-hearted and felt alive again.

  But he could never grab it when it was right in front of him. It seemed like he still couldn’t. And for that matter, he needed to control his emotions better than he was right now.

  “Quit jerking my
chain and tell me the real reason you’re in town.”

  “You know why I’m here. I just told you,” Kristina said with a smirk, but it seemed like she had to try to retain the smile.

  “There’s got to be something else. I know you wouldn’t come here at just Dad’s request. What else is in it for you?”

  Kristina smiled coyly as if she had just gotten caught in a truth she hadn’t quite meant to reveal.

  “Let’s just say I stand a chance to be a very rich lady here soon,” she said. “I have a job to the tune of a cool two million. It really shouldn’t take me long. I’ll be in and out of town before you know it.”

  Wait, two million?

  “Jesus, fuck! Kristina!” Trent said, struggling to find the words to convey just how he felt. “So you’re getting back in the game, huh?”

  “That’s all I can say,” she said.

  She waited expectantly for Trent to say something else, to follow up, but he was just getting frustrated. Why, of all people, would Kristina want to get back into the family business? That was the fastest way to an early grave, damnit.

  “Why can’t you just go live a normal life? Go marry some boring dickhead for his money and set up a house in some suburb. Why do you insist on doing it your way? Why do you keep coming back around?”

  “Because I don’t want a boring life, Trent,” she said. “I think you know I can’t stand the thought of being a kept woman. I don’t think that’s a chance I’m willing to take to be ‘safe’ in my job. I can take care of myself. You should know that by now.”

  I know that all too well.

  “Yeah, that’s what worries me.”

  “You know I’ve got this. Besides, I’m always cautious.”

  And with that, Kristina got up from the bed, smiling, and patted Trent on the shoulder.

  “Well, it’s been really nice chatting with you, but I guess I’ll be going now. Happy birthday again. And just a note, handsome . . . your present will be in the kitchen.”

  With that, Kristina stood up and quickly made her way out of the bedroom. And with her gone, Trent could finally drop his façade. He smiled and ran his hands along the still-warm spot where she laid on his bed. It had been years, but she still felt like home. The pillow smelled of her perfume. It was an odd scent he would have recognized anywhere.

  Kristine

  It was a good thing Kristine left when she had because she had made several near blunders.

  For one, while she and Antonio did keep in regular contact and he was aware of her having returned to town, it was wrong to say he had roped her in. She was aware on some level that something was going on, but she didn’t know specifics. If anything had gone down in the previous couple of days, it was beyond her.

  Second, she struggled not to get entangled in the emotional drama that was her and Trent. “Drama” wasn’t the right word. To some extent, she enjoyed toying with him, bantering with him, and teasing him a bit. But she knew the more she got bogged down talking about them and their past, the harder it would be for her to accomplish her goal.

  And third, did he really have to show up naked? Was that the first thing she had to see when he walked through the door? On the one hand, goodness, that was a fun sight to see. But on the other hand . . . well, her job was to seduce him up to a point, not sleep with him. That was why she walked out as abruptly as she did. She knew that if she stayed any longer, either the spell would wear off or she’d sleep with him right there, and he’d have no reason to keep pursuing her.

  As it was, it was a bit of a risk to trust that he was going to get the present in the kitchen. He could have easily taken it out of her hand when she grabbed it and took it, but he was still so dumbfounded that he didn’t seem to have the wherewithal to stop her. She knew he’d go eventually. He liked her too much and had too much attraction to her to not take it.

  The only question was if he’d follow the instructions as requested.

  For the time being, she made her way over to the hotel room. The room was already booked, and her instructions were to merely approach the front desk and ask for replacement keys. She did so with ease, having handled tasks like these with aplomb in the past. The front desk concierge gave her a replacement key without hesitation, and she took off to the top floor.

  This was the first she saw the hotel room, and she had to see it before Trent did. If they saw it at the same time, there was a serious risk of them both getting swept up.

  She had to walk down a long hallway to reach it. But boy, when she did, and when she opened it, she knew whoever her client was, they were treating her well.

  But to what end? Just stay alert.

  There was champagne already in the room. No, not the room, the penthouse. She could see the entirety of the city from where she stood. Paintings were adorning the place everywhere, far fancier than the run of the mill, cliché paintings in most hotel rooms. She stood, slack-jawed, impressed.

  And then she got a text.

  “Take care of Trent tonight. I will come to you tomorrow. Don’t leave the hotel room unless absolutely necessary and then return immediately.”

  The number was some sort of international number, impossible to decipher and unscramble. Kristina was going to have better luck figuring out whose number based on the writing style than the actual digits.

  But that didn’t matter for now. For now, she had a place to kick back, take a nap, and wait for Trent to arrive.

  And when that happened, she wasn’t going to be able to avoid mixing a little bit of business with a little bit of pleasure.

  Trent

  Eventually, Trent reluctantly got up out of bed, still smelling Kristina’s scent on his pillow. He wanted to trust her and believe everything she had said. Oh, how he would love to believe she had come back into his life to make things as they once were, and the two of them could go back to being the ferocious lovebirds they had been at one point.

  But at the same time, he knew even in his youth that she wasn’t his. She’d never be his completely— her soul was too wild to be settled. She needed every night to be filled with a certain magic to be content, and while Trent was many things, he was certainly no magician. While he might have been misevaluating why, he certainly knew that, logically and rationally, as cold as it may have seemed, they would not work out.

  After Trent, Kristina had gone on to make her way in the world and dated several different people. She jumped from one relationship to another, dating doctors, lawyers, rock stars, artists, and even accountants. Every single one was “the one” until they weren’t.

  In that regard, Trent wasn’t that much different from the rest of them. He had just been lucky to get out of the song and dance early enough that he didn’t get hurt too badly by it.

  That, of course, was a bit dramatic. They had a real connection. Even if she made the same claim about others as she had him, he knew on some level what they had was special. But it just didn’t seem special enough to believe it could be rekindled and made to last.

  A good start, though, would be seeing exactly what Kristina had left— if she had left a gift at all.

  As it turned out, Trent discovered that she wasn’t lying. She did leave him a present in the kitchen.

  “Well, fuck me, Kristina,” he said with a hint of a smile on his face. “Let’s see what you’ve done this time.”

  There was a square box wrapped in solid black wrapping paper with a white ribbon tied around it. He gently unwrapped it to discover a smaller box inside. He opened it, and his mouth dropped.

  Holy. Fucking. Shit.

  Inside was a lingerie box with a white lingerie set as well as a smaller box with a hotel key along with a handwritten note.

  “Hey, slugger. I think it’s been long enough, don’t you? If you’re serious about making amends, why don’t you meet me tonight in the hotel room? Here’s the key. I’ll be wearing what’s in the box when you bring it. Oh, and I suggest you pick up a bottle of my favorite wine to get on my good side. I�
��ve missed you more than you know. This will be the greatest birthday ever. I’ll make it a night to remember. —K.”

  What the . . . for real?

  Trent took the box and the hotel key and sat it on the counter in the kitchen. He then walked to the coffee pot and decided to make himself a cup in the hopes it might give him some clarity. Nothing about this made sense, and in a spot like this, where things didn’t hold a certain logic to them, it was usually a red flag.

  Though he was flattered by Kristina’s offering, there was something amiss. She wasn’t one apt to make amends or even recount old flames. She had mentioned a job of some sorts, a job that would pay her two million . . . but for whom? The Mikkelsons? That made zero sense. She was loyal to the Salvatores, and though two million was a nice sum to just about anyone worth less than a billion dollars, Kristina never lacked for money. She only lacked for stability, and an extra two million wasn’t going to give her that.

  Something was definitely wrong— he just needed to figure out what.

  Trent liked to think, though, if this were part of a job and she needed help, she’d know to contact him and he’d oblige. Either way, he only had one decision he could make and that was the right one, the one that would allow him to learn more, both for his own intuition and his own desire.

  He’d be at the hotel that night after he did his own private detective work. He was a gambling man, and if luck be a lady, that lady was always Kristina. Always.

  Even when Trent thought otherwise, it was.

  Even if Trent knew he couldn’t exactly say if this was luck until he got there.

  Even if Trent had a nagging suspicion that everything was tied together.

  But that still left a good ten hours until the evening. For now, Trent left the box where it was sitting. He knew he’d have time to return for it later. He’d take the day to think about Kristina’s odd request and how best to approach her when he finally saw her in the hotel room. He did find it suspicious that after all this time, she’d turn back up, especially with a request like that, but there was a difference between “suspicious about a reunion” and “suspicious about something far more nefarious.” It wasn’t enough to get him to avoid going that night.