Fire in the Stars (Steel Souls MC Book 2)

by Nikki Groom

  “What?” Ramsey frowns.

  “You heard me.”

  “Sadie—”

  “Give me a goddamn motherfucking gun!” I yell, drawing JJ and Tex’s attention too. Ramsey eyes me cautiously through knitted brows, but slowly offers me Nate’s gun.

  “What are you gonna do, Sadie?” he asks, narrowing his eyes at me.

  “Something I should have done long ago. I’m taking control. Go and help Tex.” I snatch the gun from his hand, walking over to JJ who has Vaughn laying down on his front with his hands behind his back. I place my hand on JJ’s shoulder, reassuring him that I’m all right, and he smiles up at me, showing me he understands. A look of relief, bewilderment, and respect in his eyes. My heart warms, the long forgotten corners that I never knew existed coming to life and proving to me that good will always overcome evil. Hurt and pain only serves to remind us that we’re human and that you always have to believe there’s a way out, even when the darkness threatens to pull you under. “Get him up,” I order, raising my chin.

  “Sadie, I—”

  “Please,” I whisper, and he yanks at Vaughn’s arms, dragging him up off the concrete. Vaughn is pale, his breaths are shallow, and he’s lost a lot of blood. But he’s not dead yet, and I want answers.

  “Hey,” I say sharply, slapping his face. He hangs loosely in JJ’s arms, but raises his head, trying to focus on me through heavy-lidded eyes. “What was it all for, Vaughn? This was how you got your kicks?”

  “I’m sorry,” he mumbles, his head rolling downward. His words, those two little words, mean nothing to me. They mean he knows what he did was wrong, but he did it anyway. He’s selfish, fucked up, sick in the head, and I despise him. Because he’s not the man that brought me up. Not the man I recognize as being my father figure, protector, and in a weird way, a friend.

  All these years, he was all I had. But it was all a lie.

  “He ruined my life, Vaughn. He took my childhood and tore it apart!” My throat stings as I scream in his face. “You said he was dead. You said you killed the man that did that to me.”

  “Didn’t know.” He breathes out hoarsely. “Lied to me.”

  “He killed my mom and my brother!” Years of pent up anger, frustration, questioning why? Who? And he’s right here at my feet. “I hate you!” I scream at Rev’s lifeless body, unloading several bullets into his chest. His body jolts and JJ throws his shoulder up to shield him from the close impact of lead on flesh.

  I know he’s already dead. But it was always my life’s mission to find this man, to take his last breath, and to find some kind of justice for my mom and brother. Those bullets were my retribution, and in a weird, warped way, it’s given me some kind of closure.

  But Vaughn, he’s still here. Although the breaths are shallow in his chest, he breathes the air that my family should be breathing. He walks the earth, living his twisted dream, playing God and making no apologies for it. I stand directly in front of him, looking him up and down and seeing him for the man he really is, not the man he pretended to be, and I curl my lip—repulsion and hatred seeping out of my pores.

  I grab his face roughly, my fingernails digging into his skin, and force his faltering gaze to mine. “My family was never yours to take. My body was never yours to break. The only place you’re going now is hell.” I push the gun under his chin, expecting some kind of fear to flash in his eyes. But he laughs. A manic laughter that rings through my ears and echoes around my head.

  “Stupid girl,” he slurs.

  “Goodbye, Vaughn,” I say sadly, squeezing my finger on the trigger.

  “He’s not dead.” He laughs once again, stopping me in my tracks and making me hold back. “Your mother was a whore. But your brother was…” His words taper off, and I pull the gun from under his chin and grab his face with both hands.

  “NO! You don’t get to check out, Vaughn. My brother was what?”

  “Sold,” he whispers as his eyes roll back into his head and his body becomes a dead weight in JJ’s arms.

  “Fuck,” JJ hisses as I shake Vaughn fiercely, willing him to pull through for just one more minute.

  My brother. Does this mean what I think it means? Is he alive?

  “Drop him, JJ. I have to bring him back. I have to know,” I say desperately, my voice shaking with disbelief.

  “He’s gone, Princess.” He drops the body, laying him out on the ground, and I fall to my knees, starting compressions on his chest.

  The world echoes and spins around me. My arms grow tired from fighting to keep him alive. My body succumbs to the elevated emotion and fear that I’ve suffered for too long, and I cry. Slamming my fists into Vaughn’s empty chest, I cry.

  For everything.

  For all I’ve lost. The pain I’ve endured. The demons I’ve lived with, which will haunt me until the day I die.

  But amongst all that pain, is a glimmer of hope.

  A fire in the stars that burns brightly, even on the darkest of nights.

  Because if Vaughn’s right… My brother is alive.

  Chapter 27

  Tex floors it out of the hangar, taking Vinny to the hospital as fast as the truck will move. His shot wound is pretty bad, and I don’t know if he’s lost too much blood to be saved, but we have to try.

  How did it all get so fucked up?

  Life has never been so complicated before, so why now?

  Because of her.

  It isn’t that she’s brought the trouble. It’s that she makes it so there’s more at stake. Every fight the Steel Souls have had, every turf war, every gunshot wound and dead body were just business. It’s how we live and how we die.

  But when Sadie walked into my life, that flash of raven hair as she stood at the top of those steps and took Donny Carden’s life, her passion, her drive, everything she is, made the stakes so much higher. Suddenly risks become riskier, and choices more important because she made me want to live. Before her, I didn’t care if I died.

  As I walk toward her and JJ, his large frame encases her small one as she weeps on her knees of the cold concrete. His protective stance shows that nothing or no one is ever gonna touch her again, because not only would they have him to deal with, but they’d have me, and the rest of the Steel Souls, too.

  I place my hand carefully on his shoulder, warning him that I’m right there beside them without startling him. He stands, and as he turns his head, I notice a tear running down his cheek. “She’s hurtin’, man.” He coughs, wiping his cheek with the back of his bloodied hand and trying to cover the emotion that’s consuming him.

  “I know.” I nod, placing my hand on his arm. “We all are.”

  “What are we gonna do about that?” He points to the van that Rev and Vaughn turned up in, and I close my eyes and sigh.

  “Ya know, they’re not my problem. We’re already housing enough girls back at HQ until we can get them back to their families, and the only one I care about is right there.” I nod my head toward Sadie, who’s still sobbing. The sound of her heart breaking is enough to push a lump up through my throat.

  Her pain is my pain.

  “Let’s get out of here, Prez. I don’t wanna know who or what is in that van. I don’t care enough right now. Call the cops. Let them do their fucking jobs and deal with that shit. I'm done,” I tell him. I don't even hate that selfish part of me at that moment. I don't have enough shits to give for other people.

  The war is over.

  My brother is dead.

  But I've got my woman back, and everything else can go to hell.

  “You go. Take Sadie. Go home.” He clasps his hand around the back of my head, bringing my forehead to his. “I’ll sort it.”

  “Thanks, JJ.”

  He nods, then releases me, and I’m drawn to Sadie like a magnet. My body craves her. My mind needs her to function, and my heart needs her to survive. I pull her up off the ground and into my arms, and the second her eyes lock with mine, she starts to cry again. She opens her heart, letting
out all the hurt, pain, and regret that she’s held onto for all of these years.

  “It’s over,” I whisper into her hair. “I’ve got you, Sadie.” I kiss her face, covering her cheeks with kisses, pressing my lips against hers and promising her the world with my actions.

  “I love you, Ram,” she croaks through tear-stained lashes and broken eyes.

  “I love you more than I ever knew possible.” I kiss her lips, softer this time, hoping that my vow will start to mend her broken heart. “Let’s go home.”

  With Sadie on the back of my bike, where she belongs, I leave JJ at the hangar. Fuzz and Mickey are detouring over from San Francisco and meeting him there to sort the whole fucking thing out. And me, I’m heading back with my girl.

  I’m taking her to my home, my bed, my world, and never letting go.

  Epilogue

  A week later and my bruises are almost gone. The visible scars from those long, terrifying nights might fade, but the emotional scars will always be there. Regardless, I will always wear them with pride. I’m a fighter, a survivor, and it’s made me the strong, determined woman I am today.

  People say you shouldn’t live with regrets, but I’d rather live with them than never experience the passion and conviction that they’re carried out with. But I won’t dwell on them because life ahead of us is too promising to spend my days looking back.

  I swallow down my emotion as Ruck’s coffin is laid in the ground. His name engraved into the plaque adorning the lid of the box.

  The turnout is immense. Bikers from all the local chapters have come to pay their respects, and the graveyard is full of a sea of black leather.

  A proper biker send off.

  When you take away the somber reason for the occasion, it’s actually quite spectacular. For the past week, Ram has grieved hard for his brother. He cried himself to sleep for many nights, clutching at me for support. He’s drunk himself almost into a coma and yelled at everyone in the bar. And he’s tried to rationalize it all in his head. But he always came back to the same conclusion; Ruck is at peace now. No amount of wishes, promises, or tears could bring him back, and Ruck wouldn’t want anyone wasting time and putting their life on hold when they could be out there living every day as if it’s their last, and making every minute count.

  He lived for Ramsey, and now he will live on through him.

  Ram steps forward, raising a bottle of Jack in his hand, and taking a long draw from the bottle neck.

  “My brother, Ruck, was a pain in my ass!” he calls loudly, making everyone chuckle. “He was the most loyal, dedicated, funny fucker that I’ve ever known, and I’m gonna miss him more than I’d miss my right fucking arm.” He takes another swig, and someone calls from the crowd.

  “We know you’d be lost without your jerk-off arm, but maybe not now that you have your old lady.”

  He spins around, narrowing his eyes but with a genuinely big smile. “Thank you, Tank.” He glances down into the hole that the coffin has been laid in. “But seriously, you were the best brother a guy could have asked for. I’ll miss your stupid jokes. You moaning in my ear when you’re hungry on a stakeout,” he laughs but his breath catches in his chest, and he takes another large swig. “But most of all, I’ll miss knowing that you’re right across the hall—that I don’t get to see your face again or kick your ass at darts. I’m gonna miss everything about you, brother. Party hard up there, and make the most of it because one day, I’ll be up there with you and on your case.”

  His words trigger a sob that rattles through my chest, and the tears flow freely down my cheeks. Lia takes my hand between both of hers, and she leans into me, resting her head on my shoulder as Ram pours the remainder of the bottle onto the coffin. “Be at peace, brother. Souls forever. Forever Souls.”

  “Forever Souls!” Everyone around us chants, including Dev, who we managed to smuggle out of the hospital this morning. He stands quietly with Tex, his face still bandaged and his head hung low. The only person missing is Vinny. He’s pissed that he couldn’t be here, kicking up a storm in the hospital, and keeping the nurses on their toes. But it’s a miracle that he’s alive, and after life-saving surgery to remove the bullet from his chest, the nurses say he’s not well enough to travel the distance home yet.

  Ramsey kicks the earth surrounding the coffin, scattering it into the hole, and JJ steps forward, placing his arms around Ramsey and kicking earth in too. All the other close brothers from the MC follow their lead, Tex, Dev, Dingo, Razor, Fuzz, Mo and a few others whose names I haven’t learned yet. They all step forward until they’re standing around the coffin, arms draped across each other’s shoulders, and they all start kicking earth into the hole, covering the coffin.

  “And that’s how we do a send off.” Lia smiles wistfully as she watches the men.

  “Is JJ doing okay?” I ask her, not taking my eyes off Ramsey.

  “Yeah, he’ll be okay. He’s got you back.” She smiles up at me, linking her arm in mine and holding me tightly. “And you’re everything he’s wanted all his life.”

  “Thanks, Lia,” I whisper, dropping my chin to my chest.

  “What for?” she questions.

  “Everything.” I let out a huge sigh.

  For all we’ve been through, we’ve gained so much more. Loss might bring pain and tears, but it also demands respect. For life, for each other, for the new day that’s just around the corner. And, for me, that new day consists of my new family—my real family, and hope for our future, and that my brother is still alive. My heart is lighter knowing he’s out there somewhere, and maybe, if someone wanted him enough to buy him, I have to hope that they’ve treated him like the special kid he was.

  “Time to go, Raven.” Ram steps into me, giving me a long, lingering kiss. I’m not fooled by the bad boy persona, he’s seeking reassurance, and I’m more than happy to give it to him.

  Lia unlinks her arm from mine and slips her hands around JJ’s waist as he approaches.

  “Ready to get back?” JJ asks.

  “Ready to feed the five thousand, you mean?” Lia jokes.

  “Ready to party with my boys, and make sweet love to my woman.” JJ stoops low and nibbles on her neck, making her giggle like a schoolgirl.

  We ride back to HQ. Ram and me up front, followed by Lia and JJ, then the rest of the MC. It’s an open house today. A celebration of Ruck’s life and we’re sending him off with a hell of a bang.

  With the party in full swing and all the day’s formalities over, Ram lets loose and allows himself to smile properly for the first time since Ruck’s death. He’s been plagued with guilt and taunted by what ifs, but each day gets easier as he learns to live with his new reality. He can’t change the past or bring his brother back, but he can look ahead, to his future, to our future.

  “You good, babe?” he asks, slipping one arm around my waist and tugging me closer.

  “I’m always good in your arms, Ram.” I smile up at him, as the fire pit behind me blazes in the glossy reflection of his eyes.

  He tilts his head, a lazy smirk playing on his lips. “How’d I get so lucky?”

  “Must’a been a saint in a former life,” I say, and he laughs.

  “Haven’t been a saint in this one, that’s for sure.” He frowns, taking a swig from the beer bottle in his free hand.

  “No one is perfect, Ram. No one is ever trouble free, or even does the right thing one hundred percent of the time. But you have a good heart, and that’s all that matters. You’re a good man, Ram. You’re my man.” I slide my hand up his chest, settling it gently over his heart.

  “I’m gonna miss the moody fucker.” He nods, referring to Ruck.

  “I know.” I stroke my thumb softly across his chest. “There will always be a missing piece where he was, but you have a lifetime of memories, and a duty to make every moment count.”

  Ramsey tosses his beer bottle aside and takes my hand in his, pulling me in even tighter with his other hand around my waist. “We’ll find you
r brother, Sadie.”

  I nod. Not knowing if it’s at all possible, but vowing to search for him as long as there’s breath in my body. “We’ve missed so much of each other’s lives—like I did with JJ.”

  “You say my name?” JJ comments behind me, and I twist my head around. “You okay, princess?” he asks, placing his hand in the middle of my back.

  “Yeah.” I smile. “I was just telling Ram how much time we have to make up for.”

  “It’ll always be my regret, Sadie.” He lowers his head. “But I’ll spend my life trying to make up for it.”

  “Don’t try, JJ. Just be you, this…” I gesture around us. “Everything that you already are. I don’t want it any other way.”

  Lia moves into his side and pulls her arms around all of us, gathering us together as best she can manage, despite her arms not being long enough to reach around us all. And at that moment, the world is right. It might not be perfect, or conventional, but it’s mine—it’s ours, and it’s everything I ever wanted my life to be.

  ~Souls Forever. Forever Souls~

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  Other titles by Nikki Groom

  The Kingdom series

  Holding Aces (The Kingdom #1)

  High Stakes (The Kingdom #2)

  Lovestrong (The Kingdom #3)

  Headstrong (The Kingdom #4)

  Brighton Beach Series

  Against the Tide (Brighton Beach #1)

  Steels Souls Series

  Spark in the Ashes (Steel Souls #1)

  Acknowledgements

  This is always the hardest part because I’m afraid I will forget someone important!

  There are so many people that help me along the way to get this book into shape, promoted, and published. A team…an army, if you will. And I couldn’t, and wouldn’t want to do it without any of my people.