1

Steel

“VP, is Booth due back today?” Seb called from across the yard. He was on Shiloh detail today, and the club princess was playing with Trigger and Winnie the cat.

She was so upset when we told her about Bullet, and my heart nearly broke when she cried in my arms. It did break, though, when she gave me her favourite stuffed plush dog shaped like a German shepherd. Just like my Bullet.

“Take this, Unca Coop. I sleep wif him, but now youse can. But if I can’t sleep wifout him, youse is going to hafta give him back. Okays, big fella?”

I chuckled at the memory of Shiloh handing over the stuffed toy, which I still had sitting on my bed. There was no way I was giving it back. That toy meant the world to me now just like Shiloh did.

“Yeah, brother, they should be rolling into the compound in a few hours.” There’s a big family get-together planned for the pres and his wife when they return from their wedding slash honeymoon. I was happy my former CO got the girl, especially after a lot of fucking about on his part. Stella was good for Booth, and she loved him with a fierceness just like Charlotte did Deck.

I felt the familiar pang in my chest. Did I miss Callie? That had to be the pang, right? It couldn’t be for anyone else. But the idea of missing her felt wrong. Sure, Callie had been in my life for three years now and in my bed just as long. But not on a regular basis, I conceded. Callie was never a one-man kind of woman. I wasn’t completely fucking stupid, and I knew she went around with some of the prospects. She was even with Darth before he and Vegas became whatever it was they were. But it never worried me. She always came back when she felt the need for me. Like the dumb arse I am, I waited for her. What a sap! I was just missing the ring in my nose for her to lead me around.

Pissing myself off with my train of thought, I slowly eased myself up from my seat at the picnic table. My leg wasn’t happy after the last few weeks of unnecessary action, and being in charge of the club in Booth’s absence meant I had been on my feet more hours a day than usual. Being the VP of the Wounded Souls MC, I had to fill Booth’s shoes at not only his gun shop and shooting range but also his duties at the club on top of my regular duties at my business, the Bar and Grill.

Basically, I was fucking stuffed. The club has been on high alert since someone took Stella—well, before that, really. The shit with Rogue has us pissed off, trying to keep our women safe, but since the bombing of Mia’s car and Bullet shot, both happening on club property, we’ve been on full alert.

The personal shit in my life had to take a back seat. I hadn’t laid eyes on Callie since that fucked-up night when she laughed at me when I got down on one knee and asked her to marry me. What the fuck was I thinking? Seriously? Marriage to Callie? Yeah, right. I might have liked her being in my bed, but I knew she had many flaws, her selfishness being a big one, but I always found myself gravitating back to her. Callie had never stayed at the compound for more than a week or so at a time when she was welcome, so I was used to her being gone. Sometimes she called, and I went wherever she happened to be at the time and spent a few days with her. Sex was our main connection.

Callie loved sex, but what she didn’t love was my leg—or lack of it. Running a hand through my hair, I stopped my mind from going where it was heading. I had too much to do today before my president got back, and self-analysing my non-relationship with Callie was not on my to-do list. That could happily wait for another decade.

Two hours later, I pulled into my appointed space at the Bar and Grill. I really wanted to ride my bike, but my leg needed a break, plus I had a shopping trip planned. First, I needed to pick up my shopping partner.

Going in the back entrance, I made my way through the kitchen. I took the time to say hello to the kitchen staff as they were getting ready for a busy Friday night, serving customers simple home-cooked food to soak up the copious amounts of alcohol they would consume.

“Seen Mia?” I asked Jimbo, the best cook the Bar and Grill had ever had. In the early years of opening the place, we went through a few cooks before Jimbo applied for the job. He was ex-military just like the rest of us, his experience in Iraq not a good one. But was there such a thing as a good experience in war? Not to my knowledge.

He helped revolutionise the menu of the place, and simple fun food became a big drawcard. The place was booming, and a lot of that credit went to Jimbo, who wasn’t only a good employee but a trusted and valued friend of the club.

“Yep. Cellar,” the large, quiet man said as he continued to marinate pork and beef for the night’s menu. I guessed meat subs were on for tonight. He gave Stella a run for her money in the cooking department, not that I would ever tell her that.

Giving him a chin lift and getting one in return, I made my way to the cellar door.

“Mia? You down here, sweetheart?” I called from the top of the stairs before I carefully made my way down. She had been plenty jumpy lately after the shit with Rogue and Stella’s stepfamily, not that I could blame her. But she had also gone into herself a bit, and her usual friendliness had turned more guarded. She was still friendly for sure, but there was sadness behind her remarkable chocolate-brown eyes. Sadness that I probably put there—well, okay, I had definitely put it there—but that was why I was here now instead of catching up on some sleep and resting my leg. I wanted to make Mia smile, and I had the perfect way to do that.

“Yeah, VP, I’m here.” Her soft voice carried up to me, and I flinched a bit at her use of my club position. She usually called me stud, and it wasn’t until then that I realised I liked that she did. I think I was in for some significant grovelling.

“Hey, Beauty, got a minute?” I didn’t miss the way her eyes softened at my endearment for her. She is a beauty. Fucking classically beautiful with her dark-brown hair that sat a smidge below her shoulders, her oval face and pretty shaped lips and the cutest button nose, but it was her eyes that hauled you in. The brown was like melted chocolate and almond in shape, giving her a sultry, sexy come-hither look. She had no idea of her pull for men—she was actually oblivious to it, in fact... unlike her older sister.

Callie was what some called ‘packed and stacked’ with platinum blonde hair, pouty, full lips, and big full breasts—all three bought and paid for. Callie would never think of leaving a room without a full face of make-up, perfectly curled hair, and dressed to the nines. Whereas I rarely saw Mia with make-up on as her lips had a natural dark-pink tint to them, her tanned skin offered up the foundation look, and she was happy in jeans and her silly slogan T-shirts. Today’s shirt had a picture of a roll of toilet paper and a toothbrush with the words ‘I hate my job’ coming from the toothbrush and the toilet paper saying ‘Seriously????’

Callie had a strict ‘don’t touch my hair’ rule. Mia kept a hair band around her wrist so when she got sick of her hair down, she could just put it up in a type of messy bun like she had now. Mia was uncomplicated where her sister was mind-boggling complicated. Callie had a mean streak she’d tried to keep hidden, and Mia was the sweetest, most thoughtful person I had ever met—well, along with Teach and Stella. The two sisters could not be more different.

Mia’s head bobbed up and down as she rooted through the box of what looked like whiskey. Her job as head bartender and manager was to keep track of the stock and replenish it whenever needed. Business had been good judging by the crowds coming in every night and the figures she sent over to Darth at the club. Darth and Ford took care of the financials and wages for all the club’s businesses.

“I need your help, Mia. Can you come with me to buy something?” I asked, taking her head bobbing as a yes.

She stopped what she as doing and gave me a guarded look. “Shopping for what and for whom?”

I knew what she was thinking, but I would never ask her to help me shop for Callie. Actually, I don’t think I’ve ever gone shopping for Callie. I had given her plenty of money to go shopping, but I never went with her or for her.

Mia and her sister didn’t get along. My obsession with the blonde had blinded me to the fact that Callie despised the younger sibling, but since Booth kicked her out after she mouthed off to him and Stella, I saw things in a different light. My obsession was dimming quite a bit.

Smirking at her, I laughed. “For Shiloh. I want to get her a puppy. I don’t think I can bring myself to replace Bullet, but Shiloh needs a new friend, and so does Trigger.” My old friend Trigger had been with me since before I was in the army and stayed with my grandparents for every deployment. The old girl was my best friend, and when Squirt came along, Trigger’s protective mode went up a notch—or ten. I got Bullet a year or so ago to be a companion for Trigger and wanted her to teach the new pup the right way to behave and protect. Trigger was getting on in years, so I believed she would go first with old age taking her in her sleep. But when that fucking arsehole Rogue shot Bullet, it broke not only my heart but Shiloh’s also.

Mia’s wary look was replaced with a genuine Mia smile, her entire face lighting up and her chocolate eyes sparkling and happy.

“You bet I would. Give me a sec to tell Tori,” she called over her shoulder as she bounded up the stairs, happy. Okay, then. Mission accomplished so far—Mia smiled. Interestingly enough, I did too.

————

I pinched the bridge of my nose and prayed for patience. What started out as a trip to buy Shiloh a puppy had turned into a journey where Mia fell in love with every single pup she’d laid eyes on. After searching the internet for the best breeds for kids and visiting three breeders, we—or should I say, Mia—finally decided on one.

She questioned every breeder with such military precision that even I was impressed. But she wanted the perfect dog for Shiloh, and once I took the German shepherd off the table, she finally picked one.

So here I stood, and yes, my leg was fucking killing me.

Mia noticed this about an hour ago and demanded that a chair be available for me if I needed it, not that I was going to use it. She always thought of me and was the only woman I had met so far who didn’t get grossed out by my amputation. My brothers’ women had not seen it yet, not that I expected them to have a negative reaction to it, but it was a sensitive issue for me, so I still kept it under jeans and military pants most of the time.

Mia’s caring nature was to think of others first and herself last, which was why she was taking so bloody long to make her decision.

I checked my watch and sighed. Booth was due back in the next hour. Vegas had everything under control at the club with the food and shit, and Charlotte was on top of the decorating with Deck keeping a close eye on his pregnant fiancée. The sergeant at arms hadn’t let her lift more than a finger since he knocked her up, not that I blamed him. The day they got confirmation of the impending arrival, Rogue blew up Charlotte’s car, sending both Deck and Charlotte crashing to the ground. Already pretty banged up from the car accident that took Dundee’s life, and even though she came out of the explosion reasonably unscathed, just scratches and such, Deck upped his game in the protection of her and Shiloh. Now, with Teach entering her second trimester, Deck didn’t let her out of his sight much.

But I needed to get back soon because I wanted to be there when Booth arrived back. I also couldn’t wait to give Shiloh her new friend. Once Mia decided on one, of course.

“Is this the one, Mia?” I prayed it was. Please, Lord, let this be the one.

“This is the one, Stud. She is perfect.”

My heart kicked in my chest at hearing her nickname for me. I hadn’t heard it for a while, and I’d missed it.

“You sure? You said that about the last three, remember?” I teased her, enjoying the fact that this was Mia of old.

Her pink tongue poked out between her pretty pink lips, and things down south stirred again. Oh, fuck me! Not again. I tried to ignore my cock’s movements and focused on anything other than her pink tongue—or what that pink tongue would feel like tracing a wet line up and down my thick, swollen shaft, dipping into the swollen head and the slit… Oh, shit. I gotta get out of here.

“Mia,” I said harder than I meant to. For Christ’s sake, I need to get drunk or something. I nearly kicked myself when the smile fell from her face, and the guarded look returned.

Nope, not happening. Reaching for Mia, I hooked my fingers in the belt loop of her jeans and pulled her closer to me. I ignored her shocked gasp as I wrapped my arms around both her and the bulldog pup she’d chosen for Shiloh. The tiny ball of pudgy fawn fat grunted happily between us.

“Beauty, I am sorry. I didn’t mean to be harsh, but, sweetheart, I am stuffed and tired, and my leg is killin’ me. Booth is due back real soon, and I just want to get this pup to Squirt and see her face. The club needs some good vibes, Beauty. That’s all.” I brushed a piece of hair behind her ear.

The gentle gesture shocked both of us, but I just couldn’t help doing it. Mia was sweet, and it just felt right. The soft look returned to her eyes, then she smiled at me and then down at the squirming pup in her arms. Her soft giggle filled my ears, making me glad I’d decided to do this. The fifteen-hundred dollars I was laying down for this animal was worth every cent, but the greatest enjoyment would be surprising Shiloh with it.

“Shiloh will love her, Steel. This is the one,” she confirmed, burying her face in the puppy’s soft fur and kissing it.

I wished it were my face—preferably my lips—that she was kissing right then. Yep, getting drunk is at the top of my list for tonight. Maybe getting blotto would stop the impure thoughts I was having.

Turning towards the lady who had been watching us with a kind but anxious look on her face, I nodded at her. “This is the one,” I said, releasing Mia and reaching into my back pocket for my wallet. Time to get out of here and surprise my little goddaughter.