Page 6

Torrent

It’s been a hell of a week at Savage Steel.

When I first came up with the idea for the shop, it was supposed to be a cover. A smart front for the club’s gun-running business. I figured we’d get a few sales here and there, move our product more discreetly, and that would be that.

I never expected the place to blow up the way it has.

We’ve been open seven days, and we’ve already pulled in enough cash to keep every one of my brothers and their families comfortable for the next few months.

That’s not even counting the money rolling in from the shipments we’re moving on the side.

It’s insane. I’ve never had this kind of financial freedom in my life.

Never thought I’d be able to build something this solid for the club. It feels fucking good.

“Hey, Torrent,” Crab says, tapping his thick fingers on the glass case in front of him, snapping me out of my thoughts. “I was gonna hit the liquor store for tonight. We need anything else while I’m out?”

I glance at the back room where a few of the guys are gearing up for the night. “Nah, I think we’re good.”

Crab nods and turns to walk away, but I stop him.

“Hey Crab,” I call out, folding my arms across my chest. “You guys finish up that Hellcat pistol?”

He pauses, turning back with a grin already forming. “You gonna tell us who it’s for?”

I narrow my eyes, smirking slightly. “A friend. You get it done?”

His smile widens, and he gives me a lazy salute. “She’s done and sitting in the safe. Clean as hell. You’ll like it.”

I nod and let him go, but my mind’s already spinning with the reason behind that gun.

It’s for Tessa.

After she told me she always wanted to learn to shoot, I couldn’t get the image out of my head.

Her delicate hands wrapped around the grip, eyes focused, lips pressed together in concentration.

She’s small, but strong. The Hellcat will fit her perfectly.

I had it customized, balanced, and engraved.

It’s not just a weapon, it’s a symbol. A promise.

She’s going to argue when I give it to her. I already know that. She’s an independent, proud, guarded as all hell woman. She thinks I don’t see through the cracks in her armor, the shadows in her eyes, the weight she carries like it’s part of her damn spine.

But I do.

I’ve lived with my own ghosts long enough to recognize another soul that’s haunted. I don’t know her story yet, but I will. And when she tries to push me away and tries to tell me that this is too much, that I’m too much, I’ll plant my boots and hold the line.

I’ve seen what happens when a man doesn’t fight for what he wants.

Before I left Shattered Souls MC, one of my brothers made that mistake.

Fell for his best friend’s sister and let it simmer too long in silence.

When it all came out, it nearly tore us all apart.

I told him to fight like hell because sometimes losing everything is better than losing yourself in regret.

I’ve lost myself before.

Never again.

Tessa makes me feel things I thought were dead and buried. Real shit. Hope. Desire. Maybe even something dangerously close to love.

And I haven’t even kissed her.

She stirs me up, makes me want to be the kind of man who builds a life, not just burns everything down. She’s something different. Something special.

And I’m fucking done playing nice.

Friday night came fast, and tonight she’ll be here. First time outside that damn diner. First time I get to see her in my world.

I plan to make it count.

I’ve had this date burned into my brain all damn week.

Not a date, not officially. Tessa wouldn’t call it that. She probably still isn’t sure she’s actually going to show. But she said she’d come check out the shop. That’s something. A foot in the door. And I plan on making sure she doesn’t regret it.

The second I woke up this morning, I felt a low hum in my chest, a mix of nerves and something dangerously close to excitement. I haven’t felt this way in years. Not since, well, not since her. And even then, it was different. This with Tessa? It’s electric. It’s unstable. It’s real.

I spent the morning walking the floor of Savage Steel, checking every corner, every shelf, every piece of gear like it was a damn museum exhibit.

Crab and Ganges rolled their eyes when I made them dust the cases again, but they didn’t argue.

They know when something matters to me, I don’t half-ass it.

The shop looks perfect. Sleek. Clean. Dangerous in all the right ways.

The Hellcat pistol is locked in the safe, resting on a custom velvet lining.

Black and silver with a burnished slide and a small engraving on the grip of a single rose.

Subtle. A nod to her. She’ll pretend she doesn’t like it, but I’ll see it in her eyes.

I glance at the clock. Still hours until close. Still hours until I see her.

The club is buzzing, prepping for another party.

Fridays have become our unofficial celebration nights since we opened.

Word’s gotten around, and people show up just to be near us.

To drink with the Royal Bastards, to flirt, to feel that edge of danger in their blood.

It’s wild. Loud. Everything I should want.

But none of it means shit if she doesn’t walk through that door.

“Yo, Prez,” Drift calls from the back, stepping into the showroom. “You good? You’ve cleaned that counter four times already.”

I toss the rag aside and roll my shoulders. “Just making sure everything’s in place.”

He smirks like he knows exactly who I’m expecting. “She’s got you twisted, huh?”

I don’t answer. Don’t have to. He already knows.

“She’s something,” he adds after a beat. “Pretty. Smart. Kind of sad.”

I lift my eyes to him. “Yeah. I see that too.”

He nods and walks off, leaving me standing in the middle of the shop I built from nothing, waiting for a girl who still isn’t sure she should let me in.

But she will.

Because I’m not going to let her walk through this world alone anymore.

Not when I know she’s out there walking dark streets by herself.

Not when I see how her shoulders tense at loud noises or how she flinches when someone touches her without warning.

Not when she looks at me like she wants to believe I’m different, but doesn’t know how.

I head into the back room, open the safe, and pull out the pistol. It’s cool in my hand. Perfect weight. Balanced. Ready.

Just like me.

I run a cloth over it, check the chamber, and slide it into a slim case with a padded interior. I put it back in the safe and close the heavy door. She might not take it tonight. Hell, she might not even stay long.

But I’ll be ready either way.

This isn’t just about getting laid. It’s not about claiming some girl to hang off my bike. Tessa’s different. She’s got roots in her soul and ghosts in her eyes, and I’m ready to walk through every shadow she carries just to earn a place beside her.

I’ve made mistakes in my life. Chose the club over everything for years. Watched people I cared about die. Buried my heart under loyalty and blood and steel.

But tonight, when she walks in?

I’ll be standing right here.

And I’ll fight like hell to make her stay.