Page 113 of Steele

My brows furrowed. “Are you serious? You don’t take kilos of coke off the mafia and live to tell about it. Wake the fuck up, Scarlett. Your sister is riding with Kodiak. When they find him, and they will, you think they’re going to play nice? Think you’ll ever see your sister again? You won’t even know what happened. She’ll just be gone.”

“Okay. Wait. Let me think.” She turned around and stared at her friend on the couch.

“You might as well tell him. You’re already fucked.” The girl sparked up another joint.

“Oh god.” Scarlett covered her mouth with her hands. “This is bad. I didn’t know. I thought he was dealing with the Kings.” She glanced at the baggie on the table. “I stole his coke. He was pissed, but I told him I’d earn it out. Skye, too.” Her lips trembled. “Will the mafia come after me?”

I gripped her shoulders. “What about your fucking sister? You’re going to let her pay off your debt?”

“Kodiak isn’t going to whore her out. He’s not her pimp, and he’s not going to share her.”

“Jesus. You and your sister are paid pussy.”

I raked my fingers through my hair. She was delusional. Kodiak was in too deep. If Skye’s pussy could settle his debt, he’d sell her to the head of the fucking Bruno family.

“Where did he take her?”

“I don’t know, but you can trace her on my phone.” Scarlett grabbed her phone. “We have tracking on each other in case something goes wrong with a date.” She flipped the phone toward me.

She was on the west side. “Thanks.” I snatched her phone and headed for the door.

She tugged on my arm. “I need my phone.”

“I can’t track her without it. What’s your passcode on your lockscreen?”

She sank her teeth into her bottom lip.

“I need to track her.”

“Okay. 6969.”

The screen door slammed, and the pitty growled. I hurried down the steps, climbed onto my Harley, and took off across town. I just wanted this shit over. Fifteen minutes to the trap house, ten minutes telling Kodiak to get out of town, and then I was going to bust my ass for a quiet life with Jaymi and my kids.

My gut was tight, and my heart kicked as I rolled up to the house. The front windows were boarded up. Kodiak’s bike was in the drive, along with a couple others.

I dropped my sidestand and stared at the house. An uneasy feeling roiled in my gut, but I was cashing in a decade of friendship. We’d hit a crossroads. I wanted to be a family man, and Kodiak wasn’t ready to give up the outlaw lifestyle.

Just as I stepped onto the concrete porch, the door opened. I’d imagined a lot of scenarios, but this never crossed my mind. Crawlers. A sliver of fear snaked along my spine. I’d rather face the mafia than my former club—what was left of it.

“Hey, Jester. I’m looking for Kodiak, but I can come around later.” I took a step back.

“Nah. You’re here. You might as well come in.”

I glanced over my shoulder. Dizzy stood in the shadows behind me. He cocked his head to the side. The metal of his gun glinted in the moonlight.

Take a breath. Stay calm. I was here to warn them, not cause trouble. Still, the Heller patch on the back of my cut was going to be a problem. I stepped into the house. There were more weapons on the table, along with the tools of their trade. Stacks of money, scales, bags of sugar and cornstarch for cutting. Kodiak was the wholesaler, parting out the product to dealers.

“Steele.” Kodiak sat in the recliner. I felt a smidgen of relief when he smiled at me. Then Noose stepped out of the back bedroom. There was a moment of revelation when you wished you’d made other choices. Yeah, this was one of those. I was riding, full throttle, ignorant of the dangers I couldn’t see around the corner, and I’d just run out of road.

“You decided to join the party,” he said. Not much had changed except he wasn’t wearing the Crawler cut. Noose lived as if he was already dead. No loyalty to the patch. He’d piss on his cut if it got him what he wanted. He never gave a fuck about the brotherhood. But he got high off inflicting pain. He’d been enforcer for the Crawlers until he’d put Tin in a coma for touching his ride. Truth was Noose needed Tin out of the way so he could fuck Tin’s old lady. Noose didn’t care that Tin’s old lady wasn’t interested.

Only one of the reasons Noose was a piece of shit and no brother of mine.

Kodiak needed to take better care of his old lady. Noose stared at Skye. His lips twitched into a snarl. Maybe he’d already had her. Part of repaying the debt Kodiak owed. She was nude and passed out on the couch. White residue crusted around her nose. Hickeys and bruises marred her flesh. Muscles twitched, yet her body was flaccid and limp. Her arm fell over the side of the couch.

“Is she okay?” Her color wasn’t good.

Kodiak’s knee bounced. “Why are you here?”