Page 30 of Twisted Steel

I turn toward the door.“Five minutes.”

“Ten.”

“Seven.”

“Eight and you stop bargaining like a caveman.”

“Eight,” I agree.

I step into the hallway and close the bedroom door behind me.Then I stand there, breathing through the memory of the kiss.Through the taste of her.Through the knowledge that she called, and I came, and now there’s no clean way out of this.

My phone buzzes, a call from Savage.

“Is she alive?”he asks when I answer.

“Yes.”

“What was the threat?”

“A Broken Vulture hang-around.Sent by Reaper.He left breathing.”

A pause.“You’re sure?”

“He was carrying a message.”

Savage exhales slowly.“And Harper?”

I look at her closed bedroom door.Behind it, drawers open and close.Fabric rustles.A woman packing up her life because mine spilled into it.

“She’s coming to the clubhouse.”

“Willingly?”He sounds surprised.

I think of her mouth under mine.Her hand on my ribs.Her glare sharp enough to keep me honest.“For now,” I say.

Savage understands the difference.“Bring her in.And Steel?”

“Yeah.”

“Keep your head.”

I stare down at my bandaged hand.At the blood still under my nails.At the bedroom door between me and the woman who saves lives while I decide who stops breathing.

“It may be too late,” I say, and hang up.