Broken (Soldiers of Darkness MC Book 1) by Michelle Betham Page A

information…’
    ‘You really think they won’t find out it was me? I’ve told you, Izzi, these men are dangerous. And I should know… Listen, sweetheart, you need to leave this alone. Seriously. You need to take a step back and think about this…’
    ‘You’re working with them, aren’t you?’
    ‘Jesus! Yeah, I’m working with them. And I’d rather have them on side, I don’t need the crazy fuckers as enemies. I’ve got enough of those as it is.’
    ‘Then it’s you I need to take a step back from. To protect you.’
    I laugh, I can’t help it. ‘You want to protect me? Shit, Izzi, come on, darlin’… You make one move on them and they’ll trace everything back to me…’
    ‘Get out.’
    Is she fucking kidding me?
    ‘Get out, Mack. You’re done here.’
    Like hell I am. ‘You got some kinda death wish? ‘Cause I think you’re way too pretty to die.’
    She fixes me with a look that makes my blood run cold.
    I have no idea who this woman is.
    I have no idea what she’s capable of.
    But I ain’t done here. I can’t leave her to do this alone.
    I can’t leave her. Period.

Chapter Nine
     
     
    Izzi
     
    ‘I might have messed things up, Sam.’ I lean back against the wall and stare up at the dark night sky. Even though it’s been days since Mack Slayer fucked me, my thighs still ache, and my skin is bruised and cut from the rough sex. I’ve played that morning out in my mind over and over again, each time allowing it to turn me on to the point where I’ve had to finger-fuck myself to a satisfactory endgame while I cry out his name and wish it was his cock inside me instead of my own fingers. But we haven’t gone there again. We’re still circling each other like wary wild animals, both of us waiting for the other to do something we’re not happy about. I told him to stay away, but he’s ignoring my wishes. And there’s a part of me that’s glad he’s defying me. But everything’s so fucked-up right now, I’m feeling a little bit lost. And I can’t have that. I need to sort my head out and get back in the game.
    ‘Then put it right.’
    ‘How?’
    ‘Listen, Izzi, did I not teach you how to handle yourself?’
    I close my eyes and breathe in deep. Sam taught me so much, but I might have gone a little off-plan now, and getting back on track might be tougher than I think.
    ‘He wants me to back off. For his safety as well as mine, and I can’t…’
    ‘And maybe he’s right.’
    I pause for a second, because I can’t believe he just said that. ‘Are you fucking serious?’
    ‘You may be getting out of your depth here, Izzi. Do you want me to send…?’
    ‘No! Jesus, no. No, Sam. I can do this, OK?’
    I hear him sigh down the line and I close my eyes again. ‘Get him back on side, Izzi. You need him, whether you like it or not. You need him. Remember what we taught you. You had him, OK? You had him. You can get him again.’
    ‘You really do want me to stay close to Mack Slayer, huh?’
    ‘It’s what we talked about. You knew what was needed.’
    ‘And you still expect me to…?’
    ‘Just do what you have to do, Izzi. Stick to the plan. Everything else, that’s up to me.’
    ‘And that’s all I get, is it?’
    His silence answers that question.
    I sigh and look back up at the sky, focusing on a cluster of tiny, twinkling stars.
    ‘Don’t take your eye off the ball, Izzi. Remember what I told you. You can do this, but you need to focus. I can only help you from a distance, for now. But you finding me, that was fate.’
    ‘You believe in fate?’
    The voice on the other end of the line chuckles quietly, and I can’t help but smile.
    ‘I believe in a lot of things, sweetheart.’
    I drop my gaze and stare down at the pavement, scuffing the heel of my boot against the wall behind me. ‘I’m so angry, Sam. The pain, it’s still so raw, and I can’t let go of the hate…’
    ‘And you shouldn’t. Once you let go of the hate you lose the strength. You lose