Part 1 (1/2)

STEEL.

MY HEART.

Sons of Steel Motorcycle Club.

by Vivian Lux.

to B. my husband and partner in crime, who's always there to lend an ear, whether he wants to or not.

to N. and E. thank you for your patience.

to V.H., thank you for making me a better writer to H.B. for changing my life and to you dear reader. Thank you for supporting an independent author.

Keep the main thing the main thing. Live to Ride. Ride to Live.

David Charles Spurgeon - Mongols M.C.

Sometimes even to live is an act of courage.

Lucius Annaeus Seneca.

Prologue.

The further we got from the center of town, the slower Sammie drove. The slower she drove, the more anxious I became. It was eerie how empty the dark streets were of people. I would have felt completely alone if Sammie didn't pierce the tense silence by loudly cracking her knuckles over the steering wheel.

”Turn right here,” I pointed excitedly. Then I saw the narrow, darkened street through her eyes and gritted my teeth.

My best friend's eyes went wide as she made the turn so slowly I felt like we had a giant arrow pointing at us. Look at us! We don't belong here! the arrow shouted. ”You want me to take you into this neighborhood? In the middle of the night?”

”You said you'd help me.”

”I didn't know I had signed up for a one way ticket into the ghetto of North Philly.”

I s.h.i.+fted in my seat and sat on my hands. We didn't have time to debate this. ”It's up ahead. See? That brick building with the big parking lot.”

Sammie sucked in her teeth. ”Looks like a good place to get raped and murdered.”

”They're the only ones who can help me, Sam. Just leave me on the corner here.”

”Like f.u.c.k I'm leaving you here,” she snarled and popped her old station wagon into park. ”I'm sitting right here with my cell phone out. If you're not back in five minutes, I'm calling the cops.”

I tasted panic. ”Don't call the cops! Don't you understand that's the whole problem here? Haven't you been listening?”

Sammie clenched her steering wheel her knuckles white with tension. I could see she was fighting her best instincts. ”Fine. Go talk to your bikers. But I'm f.u.c.king staying with you.”

I was about to argue when I remembered everything J. said about having people in your corner. I had gone it alone for too long and look what it got me.

I sighed and looked at her. She stared ahead fiercely, but I could see the tears glittering in her eyes.

”Thank you Sam,” I whispered, cupping my hand over hers. Then I took a deep breath and leapt from the car.

I picked my way down the dark sidewalk. My thin-soled ballet flats offered little protection from the rough and broken pavement. The useless shapes of shot-out streetlamps hulked over me. The yellow haze of the city at night was my guide instead.

I reached the chain link fence with the barbed wire at the top. Immediately the guard dog sounded the alarm. The huge Rottweiler came snarling and snapping out of the dark, with slavering jaws already hungry to sink into my flesh.

”Hey Bonnie,” I called into the dark.

The barking stopped immediately.

”Who's out there!?” Crash called, his voice strained and muzzy with sleep. I had to smirk. Napping on guard duty again. Teach would be p.i.s.sed.

Bonnie trotted over to the fence and pulled herself up onto her hind legs to give my face a sniff. Her hot breath blasted my face with the smell of dog treats. ”Ooof, girl,” I muttered as I scratched her through the links. She whined and wagged her tail.

”It's me,” I called out to Crash. ”Emmy.”

I heard Crash stagger and shuffle, moving as quickly as he could. He emerged from the shadows, dragging his weak leg behind him as he ran for the fence. ”Emmy! Where the f.u.c.k is J.?”

”Can you let me in, Crash?”

”What the f.u.c.k happened to you two? You just...disappeared.” I could see him working, trying to force his damaged brain to make sense of my sudden appearance in the night.

”J.'s in jail, Crash.”

I clenched my fists at the memory of his shocked face as the policeman ground his head into the gravel. I had wanted to go to him, to cover him with my body and scream at them to let him go. He didn't do anything wrong. He was framed. Framed by the man who had held me down and forced me to watch. He had held my face so I couldn't look away as the man I loved was dragged away in handcuffs for a made-up crime.

”J.'s in jail and I'm going to get him out. But I need the rest of the Sons.”

I could see he wanted to ask more questions. But when I invoked the name of the club, he snapped into focus. ”I'll raise the call. What do we need to do?”

I looked back at Sammie, poised and ready to help. I had my back-up, now I was getting J.'s.

”Tell them it's time to ride out.”

Chapter 1.

Emmy.

(Two weeks earlier).

I rooted through the back of my closet, a lump already forming in the back of my throat. s.h.i.+t s.h.i.+t s.h.i.+t, I swore, swallowing back the panic.