Page 56 of Ghost

“She doesn’t need me to make it worse. Them taking her is one thing, but her ending up—” I cut myself off.

I can’t say it. I can’t even think it.

“Her ending up like Paulina?” Legacy finishes my sentence anyway. “I know that’s what this is about, and I can tell you a hundred more times that wasn’t your fault if you need to hear it, but you’re not going to believe it until you see that for yourself.”

“They were sending me a message. Itismy fault.”

“They were sending all of us a message. Because that’s what they fucking do. You tried to warn her, and she didn’t listen. She was too busy with that asshole boyfriend and not seeing past his shit.”

“It’s not her fault.”

Legacy frowns, dipping his thumbs in his pockets. “You’re right, just like it’s not yours. This is on the Iron Sinners, no one else. Paulina paid for things we were too young and naïve to know how to deal with at the time. But things have changed.We’vechanged. That shit’s not happening again. You know I’m right, Marcus.”

It’s rare we call each other by our legal names, especially in the clubhouse. But that’s how I know he’s serious.

Legacy cares. If anyone’s a brother to me, it’s him.

“Maybe.” I look over at him. “But I can’t unlearn that lesson after what they did to her. Paulina might have been fucking the wrong guy, but it was me being her friendthat made them do what they did. And I can’t risk that happening with Luna.”

“Whether you like it or not, she’s already in that kind of trouble.” He squeezes my shoulder. “People aren’t as oblivious as you seem to think. If we know how you feel about her, you better believe the Iron Sinners do too. Why else would they sendyouthat text? The second you brought her back from Albuquerque, you showed your hand. She’s tied to you whether you want her to be or not. There’s no point trying to fight it now.”

“I don’t deserve that girl.”

“Maybe she doesn’t deserve you. Have you ever thought about it like that?”

I hitch an eyebrow, and Legacy laughs.

“Just saying, at this point, you don’t have much else to lose.”

“Legacy,” Chaos shouts from across the bar, nearly falling off his barstool.

Two young club girls stand on either side, and I don’t recognize them, so they must be from one of the other clubs. He points to the blonde, knowing she’s Legacy’s type.

“Go. Have fun.”

Legacy grins, starting toward the bar and yelling at me over his shoulder, “You too, brother.”

He disappears, and I head over to Luna, even though I shouldn’t. She hasn’t taken her eyes off me since I stepped into the room, and I’m consumed by her attention.

Reaper spots me coming and dips away to have a drink with Havoc, telling me he’s still pissed at me for giving him a black eye the last time he was in town. I never told him it was because he put his lips on Luna, but if he wasn’t one of Steel’s closest friends, I would have done much worse.

“Making friends?” I stop in front of her.

“You know me.” She smiles, but there’s a challenge behind it.

She wants me to notice.

She wants me to do something about it.

Luna is a magnet for attention. And it’s not just because she’s beautiful. She’s a force like the sun. It’s impossible not to gravitate around her. She makes a damned man feel like his soul is worth saving, and in a club full of bikers who sacrificed theirs for their patch, we’re drawn to that kind of purity.

“I got the video you sent me.” She tries to maintain a stoic expression as she says it, but a blush crawls her cheeks.

“Figured I might not be the only one who wanted to remember it.”

“You were right.”

I know. Because I know her.