5

STEEL

I kicked the stand on my bike down with more force than was necessary. I should have known Callie was going to pull some fucking shit. The woman really knew how to play me. I took her for a two-hour ride along the coast, but I didn’t feel the things I was supposed to feel with her on the back of my bike. I used to feel it all the fucking time. Having a beautiful woman behind me with her arms and long legs wrapped around me made me feel like a king, and that a woman as stunning as Callie would be interested in a beat-up, bent, broken soldier like me… but this time, I just wanted her off my bike and as far away from me as possible.

When I pulled up to her house, some guy was waiting for her. I mean—what the fuck? I had always known we were never exclusive, and that was fine as long as I didn’t have to see her with anyone else. At the compound, the guys all knew the score and were sensitive about how they went about taking her. But this guy was hiding behind her front window, the curtains obscuring his face from me, but his silhouette gave me a weird familiar vibe.

“I’m sorry you can’t come in, Steel. I have company, but thanks for the ride, baby.”

I let her press her lips to mine, but I made no move to reciprocate the kiss. Something just didn’t feel right about this whole deal. Apart from someone being in her house watching us, I felt like I was cheating on Mia, which was just fucking ridiculous because Mia and I were not a thing. I didn’t know what Mia and I were, but until I did, I had to end things completely with Callie. I was no cheater, and even though Mia and I weren’t together, I had feelings for her, and it would not be fair to her. Then there was the fact that everyone at the club hated Callie.

“Be seeing ya, Callie.” I gently disentangled myself from her hands with her trademark talon-like nails. Ignoring her pissed-off expression, I made my way back to my bike without looking back at her so not to see her repulsed leer as she watched me walk with a limp, which I normally did.

 “VP, we got a new shipment of that beer you like, and they are nice and cold,” Seb called out from behind the bar, catching me just as I made my way past the pool table. I had intended to have a hot bath to soak my sore leg then sleep, but a beer—maybe a few or ten—sounded fucking perfect right now.

“Hit me, prospect.” I made my way to the bar, and then took a seat and the offered bottle of my go-to lager. Putting it to my lips, I emptied the bottle in three chugs. I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand and slammed it down on the bar. Fuck! That hit the spot.

“Another,” I ordered, preparing for a few hours of drinking.

————

 “What the fuck are you doing here?”

I turned on the bar stool and raised my eyebrow at my road captain. Okay then, it seemed he was in a broody snit about something. Unfortunately, I wasn’t drunk, which had been the plan when I chugged the first beer over three hours ago, but I had been nursing my third for the last hour or so. Now I felt like sculling the fucking thing then changing to whiskey. Fuck Creed and his fucking moods.

“And where should I be, Apollo.” I almost laughed at the stupid nickname we gave him during selection and training for the commandos. Almost but I didn’t because the look he was giving me had my senses firing.

“You better not tell me Mia and Rainn are at the Bar and Grill without any detail.” Creed growled at me as I quickly scanned the main room of the compound and saw all the prospects were there.

“Fuck,” I shouted. I pushed myself to my feet and started running out to my bike. Jesus. Fuck, how could I be so irresponsible to leave the girls when I was supposed to be there on security? Please, let them be okay, I prayed silently.

“You know you are a fucking arsehole, right?” Creed shouted from behind me after following me out to the car park, but I wasn’t in the mood for his shit.

“What is your problem, Creed? Why are you pushing Mia in my face all the time lately?” I backed up my words with a shove to his chest, which he, of course, pushed back at me. Creed was a big guy, no doubt, but I was taller than him. It used to be an advantage before I lost my leg, and he knew this, so his shove was harder and put me off balance.

“My problem is you, fucker, not being able to see that a beautiful, sweet woman is in love with you, and you continually hurt her over and over again. The way you just forgot about Mia and went off with that whore Callie makes me want to punch your face in,” Creed shouted in my face. “She is talking about leaving the Bar and Grill, the club, and leaving town, Steel. So you better go deal with that or trust me, brother, I will. I will claim her for myself.” Creed spat at the toe of my boot, narrowly missing it. I could see he was furious, but what he just said—holy shit! Mia was not leaving the Bar and Grill, nor was she leaving the protection of the club. She certainly wasn’t leaving town—that was for sure. But what I knew for a fucking fact was Mia was not going to be claimed by Creed. Absolutely no fucking chance. Nope, that wasn’t happening.

————

 “Take your fucking hands off her right now, arsehole.” The words came out of my mouth in a deep roar. I saw red with what was before me. Some fucking yuppie wanker had his hands on Mia’s breast, and the other wanker was pulling her over the bar by her arms as her cries of distress went unheard by those around her. I made it to the two guys in less than three strides, ignoring the protest in my leg, and roughly yanked wanker number one away from Mia and the bar.

Grabbing him by the neck, I tossed behind me. I didn’t even turn to see if he landed on his feet or his arse, nor did I give a shit. My hands were on wanker number two a split second later, hauling him by the collar of his expensive upper-class shirt. Pfft, I had more money than the designer who made the shirt. I was not impressed by the show of wealth, and I was definitely not impressed with the red marks on Mia’s forearms.

“See what you did to her? Do you see the finger marks you left on my woman’s soft skin?” I yelled at him, spraying his face with bits of spit—but I didn’t give a fuck.

Mia’s shocked gasp barely registered in my mind as I dragged the fucking idiot out of the bar along with his mate.

“In case anyone else gets the sudden inclination to put their hands on my staff, I suggest you don’t,” I said to the room at large. The rest of the uni students were all cowering behind chairs, tables, and anything they could hide behind. Glaring at one of the other guys who had been standing at the bar but hadn’t been touching Mia, I directed my next comment to him.

“If your friends need to do something about this, let them know they are on security footage, and I will be sending a copy to the university’s chancellor. And if they try to do something stupid, remember the Wounded Souls own this place, and I am the VP of that club. Tell them to think carefully before they enter a bar again, but not this one because they are banned. Got it?” I barely hung on by a thread. What I wanted to do was to take Mia into my arms and hold her until I stopped seeing that scene play before my eyes. His hands on her tits—my tits. Whoa, okay, that’s new. I’d never had that thought before, not even about Callie—who I had never once claimed in any way. Hang on! Was I claiming Mia? No, no, I just wanted to make sure she was okay, right? Holy fucking shit! Was I going to claim Mia? Jesus, I needed another drink.