Page 2 of Steel

“We’re gonna be making good memories here in spite of him and what he made our club represent.”

When Ares put a hand on Steel’s shoulder, he couldn’t help but smile. Ares had changed everything for them. Without him, they’d likely all still be stuck with Ronin. It had been over three years since they became the Disciples, and he didn’t regret a single second of it. Well, getting shot hadn’t been the best time of his life.

He ran his fingers over his clavicle.

It had been touch-and-go for a moment there, but they had gotten him to the hospital in time. His brother had been the club’s doctor for as long as Steel had been a patched member and Tony had made sure none of his colleagues would ask questions about the bullet hole he’d shown up with, then he’d scolded the hell out of Steel once he’d woken from the anesthesia.

“You wanna come see what they’ve done with the place?” Ares asked.

“Hell, yeah.”

Griff’s crew had been working on the place for a few weeks. He knew they weren’t finished yet, but there were quite a few bullet holes in the walls that needed patching, after all.

He followed Ares inside and from what he could tell, the first floor hadn’t been touched yet. There was no furniture but everything else looked exactly the same. It had chills running up his arms, but he repressed them as they walked up the stairs to the second floor.

There was equipment and paint cans all over the hallway and he could hear someone drilling further down the hall.

Ares led him into the first bedroom and Steel came to a sharp halt. The double bed that had once been there had been replaced by a bunk bed and there was a desk with a chair by the window and a closet in the corner. There were shelves on the wall filled with toys and books.

“Mia brought in some of her old stuff,” Ares said with a smile. “Sawyer bought the rest along with clothes and game consoles.”

Now that didn’t surprise him. He was sure Sawyer had been waiting very impatiently to buy everything in every toy store in the city.

Ares showed him a few more of the finished rooms and while his heart was weary from the knowledge of why they’d be filling up those rooms in no time, he was immensely glad that they’d decided to do this, that they’d be providing safety, meals, and a home to a whole lot of kids that desperately needed it.

“Can you imagine this place filled with kids?” Ares asked, his smile wide.

Actually, he could. He really could.

He hadn’t been this excited about something in a long time.

Sawyer, Skinner, Ares, and Jace had put all of this into motion. Skinner ran an outreach program for kids in Baltimore along with the Kings. Ares and Jace had come up with the idea and he supposed it was because they both wished someone had done something like this for Jace. Sawyer was already sponsoring Skinner’s program, so when he’d heard of this project, he’d jumped at the opportunity to give something back to the Disciples for saving his life. Well, that, and he had a soft spot for kids.

He wasn’t the only one.

Steel didn’t know exactly what his role would be in all this, but he knew he wanted to be involved as much as possible.

He’d always been a protector which was probably why the time with Ronin had been so hard on him. He’d managed to keep his brother’s identity a secret from Ronin by some miracle, and when Ares had asked him to leave with him, he hadn’t hesitated to follow him.

He’d never regretted that decision. In fact, it was the best one he’d ever made.

Kai

Screaming kids and their father’s loud groan had him chuckling. Elijah’s brother might still not be his biggest fan, but he at least felt safe enough with Kai to let him be around his kids. He’d take that win.

Obviously, it didn’t help that he was laughing at Tommy but, oh well. He couldn’t win every time.

Elijah and Nic had an open invitation for dinner on Sundays and Kai had taken advantage of said invitation many times. Who didn’t like a home-cooked meal?

The boys came running past him and Tommy, both screaming uncontrollably. The oldest was chasing the youngest who was holding a tablet to his chest. Emmett ran around the table and headed straight back to his dad, skidding to a halt in front of him. His hands moved way too fast for Kai to understand, but going off the way Tommy’s brows snapped together before he looked at Travis and waved him over, he’d say Emmett was tattling on his brother.

“He stole it out of my hands,” Travis grumbled.

“Because you didn’t give it to him when your dad told you it was his turn,” Tommy said, giving Travis a stern look.

Emmett stuck his tongue out at Travis.

“See?” Travis said, pointing accusingly at his brother. “He’s an asshole.”

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