Page 67 of Iron Hearts

“It’s no worries, sorry we interrupted,” I said and she looked up at me then, and gave me a sort of half grin before going back to whatever she was trying to accomplish on her phone.

Aside from Shadow, Skull, and Bones, there was Scrubs, a member of the Jacksonville chapter who was just hanging out with Skull and Bones by all appearances.

“So, what’re your big plans for the rest of the day?” Shadow asked, sliding up onto one of the stools opposite ours.

“No real plans, figured we’d take the ride up this way and chill out for a bit. See where the night took us,” Striker said and he was grinning from ear to ear and threw me a wink when Shadow wasn’t looking.

“You give her the ten-cent tour?” Shadow asked.

“Yeah, for the most part,” Striker responded. “Haven’t shown her the chapel or the dungeon.”

I blinked and said, “Those are twoverydifferent things, and I don’t think I haveeverheard them used in the same sentence.”

Both Striker and Shadow laughed at that.

“Come on, I’ll show you the Chapel, and let Striker explain,” Shadow got up and came around the counter through the archway leading out onto the deck.

We followed him across the big room and past the bar, to the door Striker had neglected on his initial tour.

Inside was a sort of board room, with a long table, but it wasanythingbut corporate.

The one wall was painted black, making it seem like the room was smaller, or tighter somehow, but with windows on three sides, it wasn’t that bad. It wasn’t claustrophobic feeling at all. How could it be with all that glass?

Set under some track lighting in the center of the ceiling was the table and it was impressive. It was long, burnished steel, with the club logo cut out in the center, the steel heat treated and rainbowed out around the cuts with enough room at each place around the table for paperwork or whatever else a man needed in front of him.

“Wow, that’s reallynice,” I said running fingertips over the cool steel.

“Custom job, took forever for ‘em to make and get it here. Renegade paid a mint from the club coffers to get it, but it’s the pride of the clubhouse,” Shadow said.

“Why hide it back here?” I asked, curiously and genuinely at a loss for why. It was a piece that deserved to be seen.

“This is the chapel,” Striker explained, parking himself on the corner of the table and drawing me into the circle of his arm.

“This is the room that all club business goes down in. Every major or minor decision is made here according to our bylaws,” Shadow said, arms crossed over his chest.

“It’s as sacred of a place as you can get for us, and we don’t invite people outside the club in to just look at it very often.”

“To what do I owe the distinct honor then?” I asked them softly.

“You saved his life,” Shadow said succinctly.

I scoffed.

“You did,” Striker said jostling me a little bit. “Kept me from catching a bullet.”

“Consider this a small token of our appreciation,” Shadow said, grinning.

I smiled at that, and said, “Hey, we kepteach otheralive. You and yours got me and Gemma out unscathed. I can’t tell you how much we and our families appreciate that,” I countered.

Striker leaned in, and kissed me, then, and I felt my insides go loose. The stress and the justwhateverthat rode me melting away under the soft touch of his lips against my own.

Shadow’s light chuckle broke us apart, and he asked, “Shall we continue?”

I swallowed hard and nodded, high spots of color in my cheeks that Striker had a good laugh at, even as he smoothed some of it away with a gently swipe of his thumb against my skin that turned up the heat in a whole different sort of way.

CHAPTERTWENTY-FIVE

Striker…

---