Steel 6: Blackthorne MC #6 Read Free

creased with a frown. Crap. Had they already realized that Ella was gone? I’d wanted to give her as much time as I could.
    But what Chad said surprised me. “Victor is coming.”
    “Victor is coming here? Why?”  
    Dammit. How had Victor managed to find out about Ella so fast?
    There was no way I could ask Chad that question without confessing I knew Ella had gone. I tried to play it cool, and see if he’d offer up any more information.
    “I spoke to Damien on the phone,” Chad said. “He mentioned something about the Venom crew. Victor thinks they’re encroaching on his territory and wants to hit them hard.”
    I almost smiled. It had nothing to do with Ella. They didn’t know she was gone, and with this distraction, hopefully she’d have even more time to make her escape.
    As Chad carried on talking about the plan to get back at the Venom crew, I tuned him out, barely listening to the details. I couldn’t get up any enthusiasm for the dumb feuds between MCs.
    We went to the bar together to find Tom and fill him in. As usual, he was propped up against the bar, nursing a beer and enjoying the attention of a curvy blonde.
    When we joined them, the blonde turned to me, moving close and resting her hand on my chest.
    “Hello, handsome,” she whispered and winked at me.
    I gave a barely imperceptible shake of my head, and the smile fell from her painted lips.  
    She shrugged. “Suit yourself,” she said sulkily and stepped back over to Tom.
    But Tom had grown tired of her attentions, too. “Not now, sweetheart. We’ve got business to talk about.”
    After the blonde left us with a toss of her head, Chad filled Tom in on the latest developments.
    “Where’s Jackson?” I asked.
    I hadn’t seen him for a while, and I didn’t like it. I felt safer when I knew exactly where Jackson was. I didn’t trust him.
    As I turned, I saw Jackson enter the bar. Most of the females in the bar, turned to look at him, something that probably stroked his already overgrown ego.
    He was smart and coolheaded — a dangerous combination. Jackson had usurped my position in the Blackthorne crew.  
    Victor used to trust me and rely on my opinion, now he was much more likely to rely on Jackson. I knew that wasn’t the only reason I mistrusted Jackson, though.  
    He was so still and calm on the surface. He reminded me of that saying — still waters run deep . There was a lot I didn’t know about Jackson.
    Jackson joined us, but before we could tell him about the latest developments, there was a sudden change of atmosphere in the bar. Victor Blackthorne himself stomped in, and the conversations in the bar stopped suddenly as people fell silent to stare at him.
    Victor himself was anything but silent as he walked in, cursing and glaring at anyone who dared to look at him. Damien walked by his side, talking to his brother in urgent whispers.
    This had to be big. Victor normally used his crew to do his grunt work. For him to be here in person meant things were very serious indeed.
    When the brothers reached us, Victor glared at me.  
    Shit. What had I done this time?
    It was Damien who spoke first. “Ella’s been taken.”
    At first his words didn’t sink in. I thought he’d got it wrong, or confused somehow.  
    Ella had run away… She hadn’t been taken.
    But then my blood grew cold as the implication sunk in. All this time I’d wasted sitting around thinking that she was on her way home and really she’d needed my help.
    I looked at Damien searching his face for more information. “How?”
    “Apparently she ran away,” Victor spoke, his eyes cold and fixed on me, and I knew he thought I had something to do with it. At the very least, he suspected I knew she’d left.
    I couldn’t admit to that. Victor would kill me for the disloyalty.
    I shook my head. “I just saw her an hour ago. She has to be around here somewhere,” I said, hoping my acting skills would be convincing enough for Victor.
    “Apparently, from what