Twisted Steel: An MC Anthology: Second Edition by Elizabeth Knox (top 5 ebook reader txt) 📕

But I can’t find words because the stranger is still staring at me, causing my cheeks to heat. “Stay inside. Don’t you go looking for trouble next door. You hear me, Trinity?”

“Yeah, Mom,” I respond, holding back the sigh that threatens to escape. I know she’s going to want to lock me up since there’s a guy my age next door, but she has to realize I’m growing up, and there’s nothing she can do to stop it.

I watch my mother slide into the driver’s seat of our dark-blue Rover. She pulls out of the drive slowly, her eyes locked on our new neighbors. As she disappears around the corner, I notice the intriguing stranger coming toward me.

My heart kicks against my chest at his approach. When he stops inches from where I’m sitting, he offers me a stare that I can’t get a read on. I’m not sure if he’s angry or annoyed.

“Hey.”

“Hi,” I answer, my voice coming out croaky as I glance up, finally seeing him up close. And I wasn’t prepared for just how pretty he is. Yes, pretty. Because even under the sneer, he is one of the most beautiful guys I’ve ever seen. But looking at him so closely, I realize he’s a lot older than I thought. He’s not at all a boy—he’s a man. Possibly early to mid to late twenties, I would guess.

“My dad wanted to know if you knew where The Kovenant guys hang out,” he speaks, his voice deep and gravelly, nothing like the boys at school. “He’s supposed to meet Snake?”

Shit. Snake is our President. The motorcycle club my father was a member of doesn’t take on new members very often. When I glance behind my new neighbor, I see his father standing back, and I wonder if he sent his son over so I wouldn’t freak out.

Little does he know that Snake is like a father to me. Since mine left, he’s taken over the role, and deep down, I wonder if he and Mom will ever get together.

“They’re down at Davey’s,” I tell the stranger. “What’s your name?” I ask, but his dark eyes have the rest of my confidence withering under his glare.

“You don’t need to know that,” he informs me before turning and sauntering away, leaving me staring at his all-black outfit. The black denim pants along with his black hoodie make him seem like a mirage.

When he reaches his dad, they speak for a short moment before he turns and heads into his new home, leaving me staring at nothing but a truck of belongings that pique my curiosity even more.

And I realize this isn’t the end of our strange interaction.

It’s only the damn beginning.

2 Rogue

Bullshit.

I don’t spit out the word like I want to. But I’m sure the look on my face says it all. The men that surround the table take me in, then they look over at my father. I’m not about to become some fucking servant boy just to get my patch back. When we lived out in Colorado, the MC had given me my duties. The leather cut I wore for two years swore that I was a fully-fledged member. But then I fucked up, I did a number on my family, which is why Dad was adamant we had to come to Anchor Bay. A piece of shit town in a piece of shit state.

“Your Prez tells me you’re cut from the same cloth as all my men here in Anchor Bay,” Snake says. The man has eyes and a tongue like a serpent, which has me curious as to what the fuck happened to him. As much as I want to ask, I don’t because he doesn’t look like he’d take kindly to the query.

“We are. My son was patched in after serving two years as a prospect,” Dad informs them. “He is hard working. The MC runs through his veins.” And that’s the fucking truth. Since I was little, I wanted to be a member. I watched my father work his ass off to earn the VP patch, and then shit hit the fan, and we needed to leave. It wasn’t by choice, and the club didn’t want us to go, but there was no other choice.

“My brother said you’re both loyal fuckers, which is the main thing, and we can always use more hands in Anchor Bay.” Snake nods, a smile turning his expression sinister. I wonder which of the clubwhores bounces on his dick with that look on his face. None is what I’m guessing.

He lifts the gavel, waiting as he meets the gaze of each and every man around the table—a sign of a leader. Each of the brothers gives a yes, and each man looks at us with some form of a grin on their faces. And I wonder if this will be a turning point. Will the past leave me alone? I’m almost certain Snake knows what I did and why we had to run like fucking convicts. If he does, he doesn’t say anything though.

When the gavel hits the smooth mahogany, it brings me back to the present and the new venue for church. Luminous green eyes pin me to the spot, and for a moment, it’s as if he’s trying to see what sinister bullshit lies in my soul. It’s fucking disarming.

“It’s settled,” Snake announces before looking at Dad directly. “Kovenant, let’s welcome our new Treasurer and his son, who’ll be a patched member.” The tension in my muscles ease. Roars and shouts go up, whistles and cheers, along with back slaps and one-armed hugs.

I spent most of my life on the outside. Once I graduated high school, I walked away from the bullshit of that system and straight into the MC. My father wasn’t happy, forced me to study online. He said if I didn’t want to be around scholars, I’d do it alone. And I did.

Accounting was my major, and it felt like it would