Heart of Steel: A Satan's Savages MC Novel #1 (18 page)

I slide into the booth and wince. Poor guy, he’s in a bad way.

“Girl troubles, hey?” He opens his eyes and his head bobs up and down as he tries to focus on me.

“I love her, man. Fucking love her. I gave up my life for her. Moved to England. I even wanted to marry her. I was a player, you know? A downright fucking bastard to women and she changed me, she fucking changed me, and then she broke me. The fucking whore!” he says and then rests his head in his hands.

I tense up looking around the room wondering what the fuck to do. “Well man, maybe you’re better off?”

His head flies up and he glares at me. “Better off? Better off! She’s off and in love with Chad fucking Everly, and I’m in Australia with no band and a fucking broken heart. She’s a fucking bitch. No, she’s a fucking whore… She’s the fucking love of my life, man. And I lost her to the fuckwit, Chad!”

“Well, if you want my advice—”

“Yes, please help me!”

I chuckle slightly. “You need to let her go, mate. Get back on the horse. You’re obviously American by the accent, Aussie chicks will dig that. Get balls deep in some Aussie pussy and forget all about… what’s her name?”

“Ella.”

“Forget all about this Ella! And as for your band… What’s it called? And what happened to it?”

“Maybe you’re right. I came to Australia to get away from England. I went back to America for a while, but I just needed to travel. Get as far away from her as possible. That’s why the band is broken. Because I’m in Oz and they’re in the States. We’re called Recoil, and my name’s Danger by the way.”

I open my mouth a little, I do know him! “Oh, shit dude! I do know you. I’ve heard a couple of your songs on the alternative stations. You guys are fuckin’ good. Why don’t you get your band mates to come Down Under, and you guys can gig in our clubs?”

He opens his eyes wide and smiles. “Our clubs?” he asks.

“Yeah! The name’s Steel. VP of the Satan’s Savages MC. We have patched members who own a few clubs and bars around town and we can get you guys playin’ in them if you want?”

He takes in a deep breath and nods his head. “Well, shit, dude, I don’t know what to say.”

I smile and nod. “Talk it over with your band mates. See if they want to come over to Oz. And if they do here’s my card, we can hook you guys up to play the club scene here in this state. Maybe get you goin’ interstate too, with our other clubs. Techie is in tune with the music biz, he might know a few people in the Australian music industry. I’m sure he can help you guys.”

He runs his fingers through his dark hair and shakes his head. “Fuck, man. You’re like a biker guardian fucken angel.”

I smirk and hand him my card with my number. This guy seems cool, and with a name like Danger he’s already in my good books.

I’ve spent the last few hours with Danger, getting to know him and hearing all about the love triangle between him, Ella, and Chad. To me, the warning signs were there all along, and I think he knew it too. He’s better off letting her be happy with her man. He needs to fuck a few chicks and get over the bitch. I noticed Lunar watching us all night as he sobered up. She seemed to take a liking to him, which is strange. I’ve never seen her like anyone, besides me. I’m not jealous, not at all, just a little shocked. She sat down with us at the end of her shift and they spoke for a little while and seemed to hit it off, but I wasn’t paying a whole lot of attention. My mind is still on Willow and how disappointed she’d be with how everything went down with Tyrell today.

Eventually, Danger left to go back to his hotel, and Lunar rode on the back of my bike to the clubhouse. As we walk toward the clubhouse doors after parking my bike, Lunar seems awfully upbeat.

“So have you ever met a rock star before?” she asks looping her arm with mine.

I chuckle and shake my head. “No, not really. But he’s not really an established rock star, is he?”

She scoffs and rolls her eyes. “Still, he’s played with Slayed. That’s gotta count for something.”

Pulling back the black door, I lead her inside and nod. “Yeah, s’pose it does.”

“So you wanna good fucking tonight?” she asks leaning in and kissing my neck.

I tense up and flare my nostrils. Normally after a day like today, a stress relief like a good hard fuck would be everything I’d need. But I made a promise to Willow, and I’m gonna keep it.

“Not tonight, darlin’.”

Lunar looks at me and raises an eyebrow. “Is this because of your Flame?”

I can’t help but notice the slight lift in her voice, and higher pitch in her throat that tells me she’s slightly jealous. I don’t want to lie to Lunar, there’d be no point in that, so I tell her the truth. “Yeah, we kinda made a pact that while we’re datin’, we wouldn’t sleep with anyone else.”

Lunar stops walking and turns to look at me with her mouth open wide. “Are you serious?”

I huff and rub the back of my neck to ease the awkward tension. “Yeah, I wanna do right by her.”

“So you’d sleep with only her… for her, and make her sleep only with you. But with me, it was still okay for me to be used by the other brothers?”

Shit!

“Lunar, it’s not like that—”

“Not like what?” She tilts her hip to the side placing her hand on it.

“Willow, she’s—”

“If you say different, I’m going to kick your pussy-whipped motherfucking arse, Steel.”

I smirk and decide not to say anything more. She huffs and shakes her head.

“Fine, I didn’t want to sleep with you anyway.” She turns from me and storms away.

I exhale and crack my neck to the sides. I don’t want to hurt Lunar, but she’s right. Willow is different. And I might be pussy-whipped, but I’d rather see where that takes me than wonder what if, if I never took the chance.

Going to bed thinking of Willow left me dreaming of her, which has left me waking up with a raging hard boner. Turning on my side, I grab my phone and unplug it from the charger, bringing the screen up into view. She’s on my mind again, and I just want to talk to her. Being a Tuesday I know she’ll be at work, but I’ll message her anyway and see if she writes back.

Me:
Hey babe, I’m really sorry about everythin’ that went down at the club when you were here. I just hope everythin’ is okay with us?

I hit
send
and even though I know I sound a little weak in the message, I need to know we’re okay. The thought of her drifting away already is doing my head in. My phone
beeps
and I smile as I and open her reply.

Willow:
We’re good. I look forward to seeing you again, but I can’t chat right now. Jackson thinks it’s fun to throw Lego at another kid. xo

I chuckle as the imagery comes into my mind and decide not to text her back. I don’t want to distract her while she’s working, especially if Jackson is misbehaving. I’m concerned he could be acting out and reacting to his father being away already. I just hope he’ll be okay in the long run.

Shit!

Right, enough of that pussy crap. I’d better get up for the day. After getting dressed, I head out to the wafting smell of fried bacon. The greasy smell invades my senses, and suddenly everything feels right in the world.

Bacon makes everything better!

As I clear the hallway and enter the clubroom, I see Knucklehead with one of those giant chef hats on, that I always think looks more like a mushroom cloud. He looks ridiculous, and it instantly makes me chuckle as I continue to Techie, who’s sitting down already eating. I lean over the top of him and steal a piece of his bacon, and he looks up at me and thumps me in the thigh as I chuckle and sit down next to him chomping on the delicious crispy pig.

“Bit late for breakfast, isn’t it?” I ask looking up at the giant clock above the bar to see it’s eleven in the morning.

“Brunch is just as good,” Techie says shovelling in a mouthful of sausage.

I smile as FIM walks over and places a large plate of breakfast in front of me. “Thanks, FIM. Whose idea was this?”

FIM smiles and shrugs. “Was mine and Doug’s. We wanted to do something for you guys.”

I huff and open my eyes wide to Techie, who smiles and continues to chew away on a piece of hash brown, as FIM walks over to the bar and starts to eat his breakfast with Knucklehead and Doug.

Since this has put me in a good mood and they’re being so friendly and shit, why don’t I change things up a bit and make an effort for them like they've done for us.

“Oi, prospects. Come eat with us.”

The room shifts to silence as my brothers all look at me, and Knucklehead raises his eyebrows at me. FIM and Doug casually walk over with their plates evidently not knowing what a privilege this is, as Knucklehead stands back cautiously.

“It’s not a test, Knucklehead. I’m in a good mood, come eat with us.”

“Steel, Mad Dog won’t like this,” Techie whispers to me.

I shrug shovelling bacon into my mouth. “Is he here?” Techie swallows and shakes his head. “Then it’s all good then, eh? Knucklehead get your arse over here before I think you don’t want to sit with us.”

His lips turn up into a smile as he grabs his plate and strides over to us. I pat the free seat next to me, and he sits down placing his plate on the table. He looks at me furrowing his brows like he still isn’t convinced this isn’t some sort of a test. I wrap my arm around his shoulders and pull him to me. He winces as I chuckle.

“Relax kid, just have brunch with us.”

He chuckles and nods his head and starts to eat his food. It’s actually nice to not have a rank system while we’re eating for once and to just have my brothers all eating together. The guys start to chat among themselves, and it’s great to see FIM and Doug settling into their new environment as we all welcome them in.

Suddenly, the roar of a vast number of motorbikes invades all my senses. I stand up and watch Knucklehead as he races over to turn the music down—the noise and rumble of the bikes now clearly evident. Everyone else stands up looking around the room for guidance.

Shit, this is not a drill!

I pull out my weapon and lock and load it. The rest of my brothers follow suit, all bringing out their pieces and loading them. The clicking of the bullets slipping into place is the only sound, other than the roaring of the bikes in the background. We aren’t expecting visitors, and by the sheer volume of bikes approaching, we’re in for something big.

“Techie, get on the cameras,” I call out. He pulls out his tablet and brings up the feed.

My heart is racing outside of my chest. I’m not in the mood for a fight, and it sounds like one is headed straight for us.

“Weapons down, guys. It’s the Aldinga Chapter pulling up at the gates. A lot of them too, Steel,” Techie declares as everyone slumps their bodies, including me.

The Aldinga Chapter is an offset of the Virginia Chapter, we’re up north of Adelaide, and they’re down south.

“Behemoth, go tell Gatekeeper to let ‘em in,” I say and Behemoth nods and races outside toward the gates.

Dad and Chops rush out of the assembly room holding rifles, just as we’re all putting our guns away.

“Get your weapons up and ready you fucking idiots!” Dad yells out to us all.

“No need, Prez. It’s Gator from Aldinga.”

Dad furrows his brows huffing and rests his rifle on the pool table and walks toward the back door. I decide to follow. I really want to know why Gator is here too. He’s a strange character—a
rebel without a cause
type of guy. He got his name
Gator
as in Road Gator—the slang meaning for the bits of shredded tyres littering a road after a semi truck’s tyres blow out or, in this case, are blown out. Gator was a prospect and doing a job for the Aldinga Chapter. A truck was getting away with their shipment, so Gator pulled out his sawed-off shotgun and blew the tyres out on the semi. The truck went over with their shipment in it, and the truck they had following was able to pick up the load and leave before the cops arrived. That’s how he earned his patch, and from there he worked his way up to become the president.

Walking outside into the compound, I watch as bike after bike file into the club. There’s gotta be around twenty. Looking at Dad, he’s frowning and I know he’s gotta be wondering what the hell is going on, just like I am. Gator pulls up and we pace over to him as he leaps off his Hog. He stands up and we walk right up to him. It’s been a while since I’ve seen him, and with his shoulder length blond hair and beard, he hasn’t changed at all.

Gator smiles at me as I grab and pull him to me for a man hug. He slaps my back as I laugh and rough him up a bit.

“Hey fucker, long time no see,” I say and notice all my brothers welcoming the others with the same manly hugs I greeted Gator with.

“Yeah, it’s been what? At least eight months, right?” he asks running his hand through his hair.

I nod as Dad slaps Gator’s shoulder. “What’s going on, Prez?”

Straight to the point!

Gator shakes his head and brings his hand up to rub his hairy chin. “The clubhouse was ambushed. We don’t know who. We lost men. Lots. All the brothers we have left are here. We don’t know who to trust, and we don’t know who’s after us. You’re the only chapter I thought we could turn to safely.”

My chest constricts as I gaze around to see just barely twenty bikers here if that. “This is bullshit Gator. You had the biggest chapter in South Australia. Well over forty men, and how many are left?”

Gator looks down to the ground and swallows hard. “Nineteen.”

My mouth drops open wide as I exhale and shake my head while my fists clench into tight balls.

“Hey Gator, where’s Smooth?” I ask searching around for him with my eyes.

He exhales rubbing the back of his neck shaking his head. “The VP didn’t make it through the battle.”

I slump my shoulders and sigh as Dad grabs Gator’s shoulder and squeezes. “You need anything, we’re here for you, brother. My club is yours until we can figure out who’s gunning for you. Do you have any ideas?” Dad asks.

Gator shakes his head. “None. It was a total shock. We’re trying to go legit with our dealings, and maybe someone doesn’t like it… I don’t know! I have no idea what the deal is.”

“We’ll figure it out, Gator.” I nod at him letting him know we’ll help him no matter how hard.

“I don’t want to crowd your clubhouse. Do you have any housing we can stay at?”

Dad nods. “We can work something out. But in the meantime, you can bunk with us. There’s plenty of rooms. Now come inside have some brew and relax, the girls will be in soon and they can help you all wind down.”

Gator nods and looks back to his men and gestures for them to all follow him. We all walk back inside the clubhouse. It’s going to be very crowded here now with all these bikers around. Some of them are new and I haven’t met them before. Hopefully, they won’t cause trouble.

As the Aldinga Chapter step in, I look over to FIM and Doug behind the bar. They’re both looking them over and fidgeting. Their actions make them seem nervous, so I walk over to the bar and sit on a stool as the noise level rises significantly just from the talking alone.

“You two okay?” I ask and they both look at me with wide eyes and nod a little too frantically.

Definitely nervous!

“Yeah, just got used to all our new brothers, and now we have a whole other chapter to meet and take care of. It’s a little daunting,” Doug says and I nod.

“You’ll get used to it. It’s part of the territory. You have your house brothers, but then there’s your club brothers from different chapters. The MC family is huge, boys.”

FIM nods and Doug starts to pour the beers for the brothers all sitting down at the bar around me.

“Beer!”

“I need sustenance.”

The guys all start taunting the prospects, and I chuckle as Doug starts to pour the beer in his usual terrible way. The head of it rising too fast. He places the first one on the counter, and I look at Knucklehead, who huffs and grabs it off the bar and then proceeds to pour it over Doug’s head. The amber liquid quickly pours down his face wetting his hair as he jolts from the sudden chill. I burst out laughing along with the rest of the room, as Doug huffs throwing a tea towel across the room in frustration. He wipes his face and then starts to pour another beer. His eyes squinting and his eyebrows forced together harshly, his tongue sticks out of his mouth slightly gripped by his teeth in utter concentration.

This beer is much better, still too much head, but the guys around me need their booze after a long ride so this one will be drunk not worn.

I turn around and make my way over to the lounges to sit with Gator and some of the other members I haven’t seen for a long time, and get lost in conversation as the club girls come out and a party soon erupts. Even though it’s still morning.

The party has continued all day and well into the night. I’ve been drinking all day, and right now my head is spinning and my stomach’s even a little queasy. As I sit in the chair under the burning tree—watching the yellow and orange flickers of the fire as they dance around the bonfire—I lick my lips. My mouth is dry and I feel the need for another drink, but I know I’ve had enough. However, drinking water at a party like this would be frowned upon. It’s a hot night, everyone’s drinking still, the girls are dancing, the music is blaring, and I haven’t had this much fun in a while being around my brothers. This right here is why I love the club.