Phoenix Bar: A Steel Demons MC Novel by Annelise Reynolds Page A

two very pissed enemies in the process.”
    ”What the hell aren’t you telling me? How can I protect her if I don’t know what the hell I’m protecting her from?”
                  “I can only tell you that when her grandmother passed away, her life changed. She was in potential danger from that moment on and I have done the only things that I could do in order to make certain that she is as safe as possible. Son, this did not start a few weeks ago. This nightmare started when she was a teenager and it has taken this long for everything to come to a head. As long as her grandmother was alive, she and Ember were safe. When her grandmother got sick, she came to me and told me everything. She told me all the key players and everything I would need to know to look out for her granddaughter and her friend. I’ve done what I can in order to keep them safe, and I will continue to do so, which is why I’m asking you to keep an eye out for her.”
                  I laughed at the irony of him coming to me to look after the woman he wanted me to stay away from, but the laugh was humorless. “I’m surprised you came to me to look after her then. I thought you wanted me to stay away from her.”
                  “I did, but you haven’t touched a woman at the club since you came back from Amarillo and this being a small town, I know you haven’t been with any of the women around her. You fucked up, we all know it, but I believe that you realize how badly you messed up and I trust you not to do it again. Plus, I have high hopes that she will be the one to help you finally move on.”
                  “Like you moved on after mom.”
                  “No, you’re right. I never moved on. I did the same thing you did after Monica, the only difference is I had you to keep me grounded, whereas, you have not had that. I’ve spent my life alone. I don’t want the same for you. I realized way too late that not every woman is like your mother was or like Monica ended up being.”
                  Gavel never talked about my mother. Honestly, she is just an egg donor as far as I’m concerned. She took off when I was two, so I have no recollection of her. Dad said she got introduced to drugs from one of his brothers and ended up hooked. Eventually she took off. That was back before the club went legal and were involved in drug and gun running. After what went on with my mother, Gavel separated himself from the club. He was still a member, but the only events that he participated in were family events. He didn’t go on rides or runs. More or less, he was just the lawyer for the club but stayed out of everything else. 
                  When the club decided to go clean and do things within the parameters of the law, Gavel went back, but kept my involvement to the minimum. I think him leaving jarred something in Stone. After Gavel walked away, Stone cleaned up the club. It took years to get everything separated out and to organize a steady income for the club where all the members would be taken care of legally. The crazy thing is, the club was better off going legit than from running shit. Everybody was more relaxed, but still worked hard. There was more a sense of pride among the brothers and the old ladies and we kept growing. 
                  “I know. She scares me shitless, but the thought of not being with her scares me more and I didn’t figure it out until it was too late.”
                  “Did you tell her that?”
                  “In not so many words, yeah. I had a talk with her today. I’m hoping I can still fix this.”
                  “If the way she looks at you is any indication, she’ll come around.” I grinned at his words, warmth spreading through my chest. “And if it’s any indication by the look on your face right now, you won’t fuck up again, at least not in