Sinner's Steel

—SINNER’S TRIBE MOTORCYCLE REPAIR MANUAL

“Where are the biker hotties today?” Co

“We already spent an hour talking about your biker love last night when I was supposed to be asleep.” Evie stashed her purse in the secure drawer under the till and tucked her phone in her pocket.

“Sleep? Who could sleep after that tribute to testosterone walked in the door last night?”

“You’re forgetting they had guns and clearly intended to shoot Axle in the back.” Evie still couldn’t believe Jagger, one of her two best childhood friends, had become an outlaw biker. What had happened to the boy who had been so proud to join the army, and fight for what was right? And why the hell wasn’t he dead? Not that she wanted him to be dead, but she’d heard from old friends in Stanton that shrapnel from an RPG had lodged in his heart while he was on tour in Afghanistan and he died in a hospital in London. Why did no one know he was still alive?

“At least Axle had time to give you Vipe’s message. Your new boyfriend doesn’t seem the type who would cope well with being stood up, although if that was an issue he should think about joining the twenty-first century and buying a phone.” Co

“His name is Viper, not Vipe.”

“Well, he’s not a relaxed, chilled out kinda guy,” Co

Evie flipped through the post, checking for sale flyers. Her custom paint business was doing so well, Bill had given her carte blanche to order new supplies. “Three dates doesn’t make Viper my boyfriend. And they were very chaste dates considering he’s the president of a biker gang. We went to a couple of bars, watched a game, went out for di

“Ah yes.” Co

“More like the biker who realized the dull civilian single mom wasn’t cut out for the excitement of biker life.” Evie had figured he wasn’t interested in her after their last date when he dropped her at home without even the usual goodnight kiss. Served her right for trying to spice up her love life with a badass biker. She knew better, but her wild streak had reared its head when Bill introduced them. Although Viper was much older than her, there was something about him—a confidence, an aura of power he projected the moment he walked into the shop, or maybe it was the darkness she sensed inside him—that reminded her of Zane. And even though she’d gotten over Zane and moved on with her life—as much as a person could do with a broken heart—she thought about him over the years, especially since she saw his face in miniature every day.

“Three dates plus how many times did he come here to the shop?” Co

Co

“I don’t know if I should go out with him again,” Evie said. “I have a nice, comfortable, normal life. I work. I chauffeur Ty and his friends to school and activities. Occasionally, I let you drag me out to a club or send me on a blind date where I meet comfortable, normal guys.”

“Ah…” Co

Maybe Co

She’d watched him for the better part of a year, the ferocity with which he defended Jagger, his total unconcern with being popular on the playground, and the bruises on his face that came and went, until one day his pain drew her in. After she’d tended his wounds, he became her protector, giving her the sense of safety and security she didn’t get at home. And then he’d abandoned her. Just like her parents.

Co

“They’re outlaw bikers,” Evie protested. “Jagger had a one percenter patch on his cut. He’s not the boy I knew growing up. He went from fighting for his country to flouting the law, all in the space of nine years.” Although Jagger had come from a broken home—his mother had walked out on him and his dad when Jagger was seven years old—he was the most straight-up person she’d ever known. Zane, on the other hand, had been the risk taker, darkly dangerous and as wild as her. He was the friend most willing to break the rules, the only person who had managed to see the side she kept so carefully hidden.

“If you’re trying to put me off,” Co