Read Steel: Blackthorne MC #1 for Free Online Page B

more clothes.
    Everyone seemed to be occupied. This could be my chance.
    I needed to get to a phone.

7

    I stayed hidden from view and studied them for a while. I wanted to get my hands on a cell phone, and I knew that my best chance would be to get one from someone in the bar. I’d need them to be drunk enough to let their guard down, so I could borrow their phone for five minutes without them noticing.
    The only trouble was that Chad, Tom and Damien were all in the bar drinking, and I definitely didn’t want to attract their attention.
    As I stood beside the doorway chewing my thumbnail, thinking hard about what I should do next, Chad got up from his seat. At least, I thought it was Chad. Those damn brothers looked so alike. He was a little unsteady on his feet, and I could see that he had already had a lot to drink since we’d arrived. That didn’t bother me one bit. The more drunk they were the less likely they were to be able to keep tabs on me. I knew that this was probably going to be my best chance of escape.
    Then my stomach gave a sudden lurch as I realized Chad was heading straight for me. I dived back into the corridor and pressed myself up against the wall. The lights were dim in the corridor compared to the bar, and I didn’t think he could see me.
    I breathed a sigh of relief as Chad leaned up against the bar and slammed his fist down on the polished wooden surface.
    “Where is Johnny?” he yelled at the barmaid.
    The girl behind the bar looked around my age. She seemed absolutely terrified of Chad, and I couldn’t say I blamed her.
    “He is just out the back, getting the money.”
    Chad turned and nodded and Damien, who now had two women fawning all over him, one perched on each knee as he caressed them.
    A harassed looking man with a bald head and tattoos all the way up his arms came out from behind the bar carrying a messenger bag. He pushed it over the counter to Chad. “It’s all there.”
    “Of course it is,” Chad said. “Because you wouldn’t be stupid enough to cheat us, would you, Johnny?”
    Johnny scowled down at the bar. He looked like the last thing he wanted to do was hand over cash to Chad.
    Chad reached across the bar and slapped him on the shoulder, almost sending Johnny flying. “Don’t look so depressed, Johnny. We’ve got your back now. It was good doing business with you.”
    Chad poked his nose in the bag and rifled around. Then, looking satisfied with what he saw, he tucked the bag under his arm and staggered back over to the table where Damien sat.
    They exchanged a few words, but from where I was hiding, I couldn’t hear what they were saying. I guessed Johnny had paid them some kind of protection money, or something like that. I already knew that the biker gang didn’t operate within the law.
    “What are you doing?” A voice said behind me and made me jump.
    I spun around to see a woman approximately ten years older than me, chewing gum and staring at me suspiciously.
    She took the lump of gum from her mouth and stretched it out between her fingers, inspected it and then popped it back in her mouth. “Who are you spying on?”
    I shook my head and tried to look innocent. I didn’t want her to say anything that would draw attention to us. “No one. I came here with those men.” I jerked my chin in Damien’s direction and hoped that I was coming across as confident.
    The woman’s eyes widened slightly and then she looked me up and down as if she couldn’t believe I was really with them. “You are with Damien Blackthorne? With the Blackthorne crew?”
    So that was what they called themselves. I shrugged as if it was of no significance. “Yeah, we arrived tonight. I rode with Nick.”
    I glanced around the bar to make sure no one was watching us.
    “You’re with Nick?” The woman’s eyes widened even further this time and she really did look impressed. I couldn’t say I blamed her. “Oh, my God, you lucky bitch! What’s he like in bed? I bet he is