Fire in the Stars (Steel Souls MC Book 2) Read online

  “Does a whore suck dick?” Tex replies and she props her pool cue against the wall before moving around the other side of the bar.

  “Hi,” Ramsey says quietly, not taking his eyes off mine as he walks toward me. He holds his hands out and slides them around my waist when he gets close enough, burying his head in my hair and inhaling deeply with a groan. “I missed you,” he whispers in my ear, his hot breath fanning my neck.

  “Are you okay?” I pull back, searching his face. It’s not that I don’t want him to miss me, but he’s only been gone a short while, and he’s holding me as though he never wants to let me go.

  “Yes, better for seeing you bent over that pool table.” He leans in and kisses my neck, then nips me with the edge of his teeth before his breath settles over my ear. “Do not play pool when the boys are here. The only person you should be bending over for is me.”

  I suck in a breath and shake off the shudder that trails over my shoulder and down my spine. He steps back with a smirk on his face. “I have something for you,” he says, reaching into the inside of his cut. When he pulls out a silver frame and places it in my hands, my eyes instantly gloss over. I know it’s the picture of my mom and brother without even having to look. I’ve held this frame in my hands many, many times.

  “How did you—” I look up at him, confused.

  “Does it matter? All that matters is that you have it.”

  “Ramsey.” I frown. “What did you do? Did you hurt Vaughn?” My voice raises as I panic and question him. I might have sent Vaughn away, but I don’t want him hurt.

  He frowns deeply. “No, Sadie. What do you think I am?” He huffs, his shoulders dropping and the excitement in his eyes dying at my accusation.

  “I…Ramsey, Thank you.” I kiss his cheek. “But how did you get it?”

  He glances over to Tex who’s taking no notice of us and making Marnie blush as he affectionately taps her on the nose and swigs a bottle of beer. I don’t know what’s going on over there—if it’s innocent or if there’s more to their exchange, but I know Ram would go crazy if Tex were like that with me, so I’m not sure how Marnie’s husband will be about it.

  “Ramsey…” I push.

  “We went to your house.” He leans back a little as though he’s waiting for me to get angry. “I knew this was special to you. I knew you would want it.”

  “What do you mean, you went to my house? Was Vaughn there? Ramsey?” Panic rushes through my voice. After Vaughn being here today, and the standoff we had, I want to know why Ramsey was at my house.

  “Chill. He wasn’t there,” he snaps with annoyance. “We just went to get this back for you.”

  “We?” I narrow my eyes at him.

  “Sadie. Do you want the picture or not?”

  “Yes, but—”

  “Look, I wanted to do a nice thing. I didn’t hurt Vaughn, even though I would have taken great pleasure in beating that fucker into the ground. I got your picture for you, didn’t I?”

  “Did you break into the place?” I ask, my voice raising as the situation becomes more unbelievable.

  “How else was I supposed to get in there? Put on a red fat suit and go down the fucking chimney?”

  “You’re an ass.” I shake my head.

  “And you’re fucking ungrateful.” He pushes past me and takes up a seat at the bar next to Tex. Marnie slides a glance my way, and I close my eyes, shaking my head with a sigh. What do I care if he broke into Vaughn’s house? It’s not like it’s a home that’s precious to me. I couldn’t care less if it burned to the ground. He said he didn’t hurt Vaughn, and that’s all that matters, isn’t it?

  I walk over to him, placing the photograph on the bar top and wrapping my arms around his waist from behind. “I’m sorry, I don’t mean to be ungrateful.” He doesn’t say a word in reply but takes a long swig of his beer. “Thank you for the photograph. It means…everything to me.” I hold him a little tighter, and I feel his body relax. He tugs gently on my hands, loosening my grip, then turns on the bar stool so he’s facing me.

  “I didn’t hurt Vaughn,” he insists. “He wasn’t even there.”

  “Okay.” I nod, kissing his cheek softly.

  “Now give me some sugar.” He grins, his gaze dropping from my eyes to my lips and back again. I return his grin, moving in slowly to kiss him.

  “Oh, man alive, get a fucking room, you two,” Tex comments, turning away on the bar stool. “Marnie, darlin’, keep ‘em coming until I say stop.” He bangs his beer bottle on the bar top and slaps his hands on his thighs.

  “Come on,” Ramsey whispers, giving me a slow wink. He hops off the stool, grabs the photograph from the bar, and tugs me toward the exit.

  “Where are you two going?” JJ shouts across the room from the kitchen.

  “Never you mind,” Ramsey calls back without slowing.

  “Not so fast!” JJ booms, stopping us in our tracks.

  Ramsey stops with a huff, closing his eyes tightly before turning with raised brows. “What?”

  “Lia has cooked.” He glares at Ramsey. “We’re going to pack it up and take it to the house, and she wondered if you and Sadie would come with us…”

  “What about me?” Tex interrupts.

  “You think I would leave you out?” Lia says, appearing from behind JJ. “I’ve plated yours up. It’s on the side in the kitchen. You kids, we’ll see you at the house in ten minutes, okay?” She turns and bounces away, and it’s clear that she has these men wrapped around her little finger.

  “Well, I guess we’re going to JJ’s for dinner then…” Ramsey mumbles under his breath.

  “Hey.” I laugh, tugging his arm playfully. “It’ll be nice.”

  “Nice…” he muses. “I know what I’d rather be eating.” He practically growls deep in his throat as he looks me up and down seductively.

  “Get a room!” Tex bellows, dropping his head dramatically on the bar top and making Marnie and me laugh.

  “We’re outta here!” JJ calls, tugging me along.

  “Thank fuck for that,” I hear Tex say in the background.

  “This is delicious, Lia. Thank you,” I say, stuffing another forkful of chicken in my mouth. It feels like I haven’t eaten proper home-cooked food in forever. Vaughn used to cook when we were back in Santa Cruz, more so when I was smaller. As I grew older, it was mainly me that did the cooking.

  “You’re welcome. Keep eating.” She nods, pushing a plate of stuffed bell peppers toward me. “It’s got to be eaten up.”

  “Oh, thank you, but if I eat too much more, I’m gonna burst.”

  “You won’t be the only one,” Ramsey grumbles, referring to our earlier exchange. JJ fires him a look which I don’t quite understand, and Ramsey shrugs, not taking any notice of him.

  Lia rolls her eyes and dismisses Ramsey’s comments with a wave of her hand. “Ramsey said you’re a bit of computer whiz.”

  “Oh, I wouldn’t say that.” I shake my head.

  “Don’t knock it, babe,” Ram mumbles between mouthfuls. “You’re fucking smart on that computer. I’ve seen you working. Couldn’t understand a damn thing you were doing.” He laughs as pride glistens in his eyes.

  “It’s easy really, when you know how.”

  “I’m sure it’s not as easy as you make out,” Lia remarks. “You’re a clever girl, Sadie. Be proud of that.”

  I feel a blush creeping across my cheeks. I’m not embarrassed or ashamed. I’ve just never had someone compliment me like that. “Thanks.” I shrug.

  “Lia tells me you grew up in San Francisco…” JJ says, placing his fork on his plate and focusing on me.

  “Yeah, we only moved here, to Reno, at the end of last year.”

  “You and…Vaughn is it?”

  “Yes,” I say, my voice small. I want to fold myself inward at the mention of his name. It’s crazy because until we moved here, he was the main focus of my day. The only person that my life revolved around in any way, shape, or form. “JJ, I’m
sorry about all that today. I know you have a lot already going on and—”

  “Don’t apologize.” He shakes his head with a frown. “Have you lived in San Francisco all your life?” he questions further. Ramsey huffs and drops his cutlery on the plate with a clatter, then leans forward, resting his elbows on the table.

  “No,” I answer, frowning at Ram’s apparent rudeness. “I used to live just out of town, here in Reno, I think. I don’t really remember much about it, and,” I grow quiet, “I don’t have my mom here to remind me where it even was.” JJ and Lia look between each other, and I start to feel a little uncomfortable at the silent exchanges and the change of atmosphere all of a sudden. “That was really lovely, Lia. Thank you.” I place my cutlery down and push my plate away.

  Lia closes her small, soft hand over mine and gives me a warm smile. “It’s okay to talk about your mom, sweetie. You must miss her.”

  “Yeah.” I shrug. “I suppose. I’ve been without her for more years than I was with her.”

  “I think we should go,” Ramsey announces abruptly, standing up and pushing his chair backward.

  “There’s no hurry, Ramsey, is there?” Lia asks, keeping her voice level but her gaze hard. “Sit down.”

  “I don’t think Sadie needs a hundred questions thrown at her,” he says through gritted teeth, glaring at Lia. “She’s not here to be interrogated, is she?”

  “What’s going on here guys?” I say, throwing my arms up and sitting back in my chair. They look between one another and exchange uneasy glances. “Just tell me, what the fuck is going on…”

  “Sadie.” JJ sits forward, clasping his hands together. “Do you remember your dad?”

  “I… A little, I guess. Why? What the hell is going on?”

  “I don’t think we should do this here,” Ramsey says anxiously. “Not now.”

  “Sadie,” JJ presses harder, ignoring Ramsey, “What do you remember about your father?”

  My mind recalls what I remember while I’m also trying to work out what the fuck is going on here. I’m so damn confused that I don’t know which way is up. But as the few memories I have of my father start coming back, I smile. “He had a bike. I rode it once. That was the last time I saw him,” I say quietly, and no one around the table moves a fraction, or even says a word. I recall my father’s deep voice, his kind eyes, his bushy beard. “He used to call me—”

  “Princess…” JJ’s voice interrupts my thoughts.

  I snap my head up and look directly at him. “What did you just say?”

  He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath, before opening them and focusing softly on me. “He used to call you Princess.”

  I stare at him for a long moment, and the room is silent as I look into his kind eyes.

  Familiar kind eyes.

  “How do you…” My voice trails off because I’m asking a question that deep down, in my gut, I already know the answer to. “You’re…I don’t understand…No.” I stand from the table on shaky legs, unsure if they will carry me to the door, but the oxygen is being sucked out of the room, and my head is starting to spin. Ramsey jumps up next to me and places his hand between my shoulder blades. “You can’t be…”

  “Yes, Sadie,” JJ says quietly, his voice thick with emotion. I clasp my hands together, holding them tightly to my chest as JJ comes around the table to stand in front of me. “I’m your dad. My Princess.”

  We look at each other for a long moment, through teary eyes and disbelief. I never imagined I would ever find my dad. I never thought it was possible. I never even knew his name, and my mom rarely spoke of him, so this moment is as unexpected as it is surreal.

  Ramsey rubs my back gently and kisses my cheek as Lia indicates he should leave with her. “I’ll be right next door, okay? You guys need some time,” he tells me, squeezing JJ’s shoulder as he passes. Lia smiles as she closes the door to the dining room, leaving us alone with a million unspoken words and a whole lifetime to catch up on. As soon as the door clicks shut, JJ pulls me into his arms, tucking me under his chin, and wrapping me up in a lifetime of lost moments.

  Then I cry.

  I sob into his chest with relief, grief, sadness, and overwhelming disbelief of what’s happening here. He lets me cry, stroking my hair and whispering over and over, “I’m so sorry, Princess. I’m here, and I’m never gonna let you go.”

  When I finally manage to halt the tears, I pull away and wipe my cheeks with my fingertips. “I’m sorry,” I say, laughing and pointing to my mascara smudges all down his white t-shirt.

  “That’s nothing.” He shakes his head with a smile. “Let me look at you.” He cups my chin gently with his big, rough hand and sighs. “I thought I’d never see you again.”

  “How did you realize…that I’m your daughter?” But as I ask the question and look into his eyes, it’s like looking into a mirror, and I know, just like he must have known. A father’s instinct.

  “It was just there, ya know? In your eyes. You’re so much like your mom, Sadie. But your eyes, they give you away. There’s no mistaking you’re mine. So Lia put out some calls, and we had you…checked out.” He looks a little guilty, but my head is swimming with so many words, so many mixed up feelings that I don’t care. “I looked for you, ya know?” He smiles sadly.

  “You did?” I spent so many nights wondering if he even remembered me or if he just let me slip away and never looked back.

  “Years, I looked for years. Your mom, she…” He shakes his head solemnly, and drops his hand from my face. “I wasn’t good to her, Sadie. I’m sorry.” He tilts his head up to look at me. “I deserved for her to leave me, but I didn’t deserve for her to take you and hide you away. You were my world. My everything.” His chin quivers as he fights back raw emotion and obvious deep-seated pain. I can’t even imagine how it would be for someone to have their child taken from them. “You told Lia your last name, and it all fitted into place.” He inclines his head, a soft expression in his eyes. “Your mother gave you her maiden name, and I looked—I looked a hundred times for all the names I thought she would place you under, but I never found anything. It was too painful to keep looking because each time I didn’t find you, it was like I had to deal with losing you all over again. The only thing that saved me from that pain was Lia.” He smiles. His world, coming to life and lighting up at the mere mention of Lia’s name.

  “She’s really lovely,” I tell him.

  “She’s my world, Sadie. And now you’re part of that world, too. If you’d like to be?”

  I had hoped I would be a part of his world, a part of Ramsey’s world, even before this. But being thrust into this life, being tossed into the middle of this crazy biker family and finding out that I’m not just on the periphery, I’m smack bang in the center, an MC President’s daughter, it feels like I’ve come home. It feels like everything I’ve been searching for has been thrown at my feet.

  Chapter 15

  It is surreal. Seeing them there. Watching their connection as their lives suddenly took on a new meaning, solidify my thoughts that Sadie was meant to be in my life. I never believed in fate or any mystical shit like that, but she was part of this world from the very beginning of her life. She’s meant to be here—it’s in her blood, and I’m meant to make her mine. I certainly have no intention of her being anyone else’s.

  JJ is a different man around her, much like he is with Lia. Under that tough exterior, he has so much love for these women, but along with that comes responsibility. He’s warned me of it previously. That protective urge that colors everything else around you and can lead to really fucking bad judgment. It makes a man vulnerable. But when you keep your heart encased in steel, how does it have any meaning? Day to day. Guns. Violence. Death. What’s it all for.

  “I’m going to take Sadie to my place.” I drape my arm over her shoulders and pull her in close. “Check in if there’s any news, yeah?”

  JJ nods then smiles down at Sadie. “Okay.”

  Sadie looks
between JJ and me, then breaks from my hold, wrapping her arms tightly around JJ’s waist and hugging him close.

  He rests his chin on her head and sighs contently. “It’s a new start, Princess.”

  Lia comes to his side and joins in the hug, too. “You getting in here, Ramsey?” she asks, laughing.

  “I’m good.” I roll my eyes. This is getting a little too weird. I mean, I like it. It feels…like family. But I don’t know what to do with a family like this. A mom, a dad. Even though JJ has always been like a father figure to me, is my relationship with Sadie going to change things?

  “Okay, we had better go.” Sadie gives Lia a girlie hug and tiptoes up to kiss JJ on the cheek. It almost melts the big man, and stabs me right in the heart, too.

  “Okay,” he booms, clearing his throat. “You kids be careful. Ram, drive safe.” He glares hard at me.

  I look at him in warning. If he’s gonna start this shit, we’re gonna fucking fall out. “Same as usual,” I tell him. “You taking Ruck’s wires out today, Lia?”

  “Yes, he’s doing much better. Will you stop in and see him later?”

  “No.” I shake my head. “When I saw him this morning he was grumpy as fuck. I ain’t bothering until he drops the fucking attitude.”

  “Ramsey,” Lia scolds, frowning. “He’s been through a lot the last couple of days.”

  “Yeah? We all have. You don’t see me bitchin’ at him, do you?” As the words leave my mouth, I feel like a total cunt. I know he’s had a fucking rough time, and in some ways, it’s been worse for him than it has for Dev. Dev’s still drugged up to his eyeballs and unaware of all the shit going down around him. Ruck is aware of everything now that the crank has left his system, and that’s gonna be enough to twist him up inside. But the lack of sleep and the extra worry has made me fucking irritable, and I just want some quiet time with my girl, in my own fucking house without someone mentioning Wolves, guns, deals, or whores. “Just…” I sigh. “Look, if he wants to come to the house, tell Tex to bring him out. But he didn’t want me there this morning, Lia, and he won’t want me there later, either.”