Helpless (Steel Demons MC #5) - Crystal Ash Page 0,1

meantime, such as getting a haircut.”

I scoffed, running a hand back through my buzz cut that had grown shaggy. During the last few weeks of the semester, I said ‘fuck it’ to my weekly haircuts. I was fucking sick of them.

“Yeah, about that...” I let my arm fall back down to the couch. “I’m not taking the job.”

It was Jonathan’s turn to scoff, not that he was surprised. He even humored me with a smile as he poured himself a second drink. “Don’t be ridiculous, son. And sit up straight, you look like a fucking delinquent.”

I slouched further down into the chair, spreading my feet wide on the floor, adding insult to injury. Only then did I see the first hints of cruelty he displayed when he didn’t get his way. The pulse in his neck, the steely coldness in his eyes. Dad was used to me rebelling, that was why he sent me to live with my grandparents. If a five-year-old who poured ink all over his favorite ottoman while the nanny was distracted could be considered a rebel.

After that, he enjoyed toying with me when I said no. When I didn’t want to come to his parties so he could show me off like a prized pig, he sent men over to Gramps’ house, who punched and kicked me in the stomach until I agreed to come. When I refused to end things with Beth, the maid I was seeing, he sent her away and never told me where.

Like everything else he owned, he loved exerting control over me. He liked seeing me fight back until the moment I caved. But he never truly saw me stand up to him before.

“I’m not working at the fucking Pentagon,” I told him. “I’m not cutting my hair. I’m not doing a fucking thing you tell me to anymore.”

The snarl on his face used to scare me. Now he just looked like a tired old man. “I’m in no mood for your games tonight, Gunner. If I have to lock you in a room, strap you down, and take a razor to your head, I will.”

“I’d like to see you try, Jonathan.”

He slammed his hands down to push himself up and round his desk, but in the time it took to blink, I was already towering over him. My father’s confident motions skittered to a halt, eyes wide with the first glimpse of uncertainty I’d ever seen him express.

“Didn’t expect me to move so fast, did you?” I taunted, leaning down into his face. “From sitting like a delinquent.”

“So you did apply yourself to your studies.” His gaze roamed over me, as if noticing for the first time that his twenty-year-old son was taller and stronger than him. Shit, he probably never truly saw me this clearly in my whole life.

“I did,” I breathed softly, squaring my shoulders. “I have to thank you for that, at least. Shipping me off to McAlister was probably the best thing you ever did for me.”

“It was,” he agreed with a vigorous nod of his head. “Because a Youngblood must always be in power. By the time you’re thirty-five, you’ll be the perfect candidate for president, son! The Pentagon is just the next step—”

“Yeah, see, that’s where you got it wrong, old man.” I crossed my arms. “I’m not one of your puppets, not anymore. McAlister didn’t just test the limits of my body and teach me military strategy. I learned to think for myself, be my own person.” A grin stretched across my face at seeing the rage forming on his. “And I love that, to you, that’s the worst thing I could’ve become.”

“You are a Youngblood!” he bellowed. “You serve no other purpose than to honor and continue our family’s legacy! Do you understand? The only reason you exist is to follow after me.”

I spread my arms wide and lifted my shoulders in a shrug. “Well, the world’s about to end anyway, so doesn’t seem like it would’ve lasted long. I’m riding off into the sunset instead. And if you try to stop me?” I leaned in even closer, making him shrink back. “I don’t want to hurt your guys, but I can guarantee some broken fingers and ribs. Wouldn’t want you to waste your money on some hourly workers’ hospital bills.”

Turning on my heel, I made my way to the office doors, finally tugging the knot loose on my tie. I couldn’t wait to trample this whole fucking suit under my motorcycle