Too Wild To Ride (Steel Veins MC Romance, #1) by Adair Rymer

fortified. They were raided by the Feds five years ago and since then they've beefed up on everything. The clubhouse, number of members, drug and gun running, public presence, everything. They were becoming a real threat to not only us but the Angels, too. I stayed current with all the US clubs and their support, especially the hostile ones. I knew the names of all the board members along with their various criminal histories.
    A few Lobos had to leave their bikes at Teasers to drive us over. They didn't have any other passenger vehicles available so they had to take ours. I was put in the front seat and Star in the back of the Altima. I left out that Lorenzo was unconscious in the trunk and the fact that it was a stolen cop's car they now had in their parking lot. Might be able to use that little detail later if shit went tits up.
    The front entrance was a giant, painted, yellow wolf head with glowing red eyes. The doors in the wolf's grinning mouth were jerked open. With the smoke and noise that cascaded out to meet us it was easy to imagine we'd been eaten by a great beast. In a lot of ways, we had been.
    Just inside was the bar, booths, pool tables and a small army of Lobos. When Star walked in with her short skirt and top there was an explosion of catcalls. The worst ones were in Spanish. Rage bristled every hair on my body. Given half a chance, I’d grind them into so much steaming meat. Cut off their feet and see how well they stand. Bren's words forced me back into control. There would be a time for reckoning, but this wasn't it.
    All noise fled from the room like air from a crypt when I walked in a few steps behind her. I locked eyes with every motherfucker in there before moving on. My seething anger was palpable and oppressive. Our heavy footfalls were a funeral march. Whose funeral it was hadn't been decided yet.
    Star looked back at me, deep lines of concern wrinkled her soft, beautiful face. That churning  tide inside me gave way enough for me to flash her a smile. Her tenseness lightened a small bit, which in turn allowed me to calm and focus more. I had no idea how all this was going to shake out but I knew one thing. Whatever happened, come hell or high water, when this was all over Star would be walking out those fucking doors.
    In the next room was a darkened flat screen TV. I slowed to a stop at a familiar, inverted reflection of myself. It passively watched me through the black glass. I thought I'd killed that version of me in that Super 8 hotel room. Especially after Star miraculously showed up and saved me. But seeing the situation I'd put Star in now... I realized that it'd cost me much more than a few, ragged cuts on my knuckles and forearms to destroy that vast emptiness inside me. And until I did it was going to walk beside me everywhere I went.
    I was shoved forward to catch up with the rest of the group. I know it was only my reflection but I couldn’t help but wonder what those knowing, hollow grey eyes saw in me. It was only recently that I started developing these lofty dreams and hopes. Beneath all that I'm sure it was selfishness that it saw.
    She shouldn't be here. Had everything gone as planned I'd have dropped her off at a motel before driving Lorenzo here. But when the fuck has anything gone exactly as planned? What the fuck was I thinking, allowing her to stay? I should have found another way to get Lorenzo here that didn't put her in this much danger. But I needed to be near her. I was selfish and she might pay the price for that.
    They walked us past several other rooms— the kitchen, the hallway to lodging, a door to the basement. The few times I've been in situations like this, paying attention to every detail was the only way I made it out alive. Seeing Star roughly shoved around in front of me was incredibly distracting but for her sake, I had to put her out of my mind while I figured it all out. I didn't have the luxury of wallowing over my past mistakes. I needed to focus. One