Page 85 of Twisted Steel

Her mouth trembles once before she steps into me.Not hiding.Not surrendering.Choosing.

In front of the yard, she presses her forehead to my chest, and I close one hand over the back of her head.The gesture is small but still possessive, and it speaks volumes.

Mine, every man sees.

Hers, if they’re smart enough to understand.

Savage waits.Because he is my president.Because he knows this moment matters.

Raven’s voice cuts softly through the silence.“That’s the difference, boys.”No one asks what she means, but she says it anyway.“A leash pulls.A choice stands.”

Harper exhales against my chest, and I feel it everywhere.Harper pulls back first.Her eyes are clearer now.Not calm but decided.

“Go to your meeting,” she says, and I start to argue.She touches my jaw.“I’ll be here when you come back.”

Raven steps beside her.“I’ll stay with her.”Savage’s gaze snaps to Raven, and she arches a brow.“Problem?”Savage says nothing.

I look at Raven.“You see anything...”

“I scream dramatically and faint,” she says dramatically, and Harper snorts.

Raven’s smile thins.“I handle it, Steel.Go think before you hit things.Apparently, that’s your new brand.”

I should hate her, but I don’t.She’s just Raven.

I turn toward the war room, and every man in the yard looks away except Savage.He holds my gaze as I approach.

“You good?”he asks.

“No.”

His mouth curves grimly.“With the woman we choose, I’ve come to learn we will never be good.”

Inside, the war room fills fast.Map on the table.Saint marking the rail yard sector.Fury checking sight lines.Crimson silent now, smart enough to keep his mouth shut.

Savage stands at the head.“Reaper wants to force a split.He thinks Steel will choose Harper over the club, or the club over Harper.”He looks around the room.“Either way, he thinks we fracture.”

No one speaks.Savage’s gaze lands on me.“So we don’t.”

My hands rest on the table.Harper’s touch still burns on my wrist.“We make the choice irrelevant,” I say.

Saint nods slowly.“Hit him before he sets the stage.”

“Draw him out?”Fury asks.

“No,” I say.“Cut off his exits.Make him run where we want.”

Savage studies me.So does the room.The hammer is thinking, and it seems some people are freaked out by it.Good.Let them adjust.

I point to the rail yard map.“He’s using her to bait me, which means he expects my eyes on the obvious threat.So we give him that.He sees me coming.He thinks it worked.”

Saint’s mouth curves.“Meanwhile?”

“Meanwhile, Savage hits his supply line.Fury takes the west exit.Crimson holds the south road.”I look at Crimson.“If you can manage that without commentary.”

His jaw flexes.“I can hold a road.”

“Good.”