Page 1 of Craved By Gray
Chapter One
Scarlett
Whenever I think I’ve had enough of the city, I find my heart changing when I step into a different neighborhood, stare out a different window, or get a sweeping view from a terrace other than my own. Then I realize that I don’t actually want to pack everything I own and disappear.
The city always pulls me back in, and I figure that maybe…well, maybe living in the same city as my criminal father isn’t so bad after all. Not with a view like this at least.
It’s prettier in the afternoons with the sun, a warm golden orb hanging so low in the sky, casting long shadows across the cityscape. From this vantage point, the city stretches out like a tapestry of concrete and glass, punctured by the distant vibrant green of parks and the meandering blue-green of the Chicago River.
My father is going to kill me.
I shake off the thought as soon as it tries to take root, my eyes dropping to the bustling street below. Cars weave through the grid, and people are like little ants scurrying through a vast maze. I shift my focus back to the dipping sun, casting the city in a warm golden glow reflected by the windows of toweringbuildings. The sky above, once a brilliant blue, now shimmers with hues of orange and purple.
The man who sired me will, without doubt, use the dullest tool in his office to carve me into pieces when he finds out who I’ve been spending time with over these last couple of months. Or worse…he’ll pass me off to his men to deal with me as they wish.
I turn away from the view of the city to the people on the rooftop terrace with me. They’re bad company. The kind that could bring heaps of trouble to my door. I imagine when most parents warn their kids about being careful with the kind of friends they make, they mean kids who drink and smoke or commit petty crimes, but...not mine.
To the president of the Chrome Vipers Motorcycle Club, a merciless, homicidal man who I have the misfortune to call father, bad company is anyone whodoesn’tdo those things. In his territory, criminality and sadism are not only prized, but rewarded. But I happen to be on the other side of town, the side not under my father’s thumb. With my best friend. Someone I never should have befriended in the first place, and yet, I did. I stayed in the friendship even when I found out that she belonged to the one group of people my father hates more than anyone in the world.
The Steel Rebels MC.
He would kill me if he ever found out that not only have I become best friends with a girl from the MC, but I’m now fraternizing with the club members themselves, spending time at their clubhouse, eating and drinking with the very people he loathes with his entire being.
God, what even am I doing here?
I shouldn’t be here…in a space where the air is thick with the smell of grilling meat, soft music, and laughter. A space with big comfy-looking chairs and a table overflowing with food and drinks. The terrace itself is like a giant open-air living room with a view of the city stretching out in the distance.
A place that offers a different view of the city from one see from my window every day. Here, the air is warm and alive with quiet joy. It is so unlike the chaos and danger of the world I come from, where it’s always cold and quiet is dangerous.
This is not my world.
“Scarlett, are you having fun?”
I turn to the girl on my left to find her worrying her lips, her brows furrowed and gray eyes dark with concern. Brooke is one of the few people I’ve met who wear their hearts on their sleeves. A weakness, if you ask my father. My best friend is worried I’m uncomfortable here, that I might get up and leave. In all fairness, it’s something I’ve seriously considered doing from the second I arrived, but I would never do that to her.
“I’m fine,” I say, a fond smile touching my lips. “This is fun.”
Brooke studies me a moment longer before her mouth forms into a slight pout. “You don’t look like you’re having fun.”
“Brooke—”
“If you are really enjoying yourself, why do you have that worried, frightened look on your face? I know these guys are rough around the edges, but they’re all really good guys.”
Is that how I look?
I resist the urge to reach up and touch my face. I often make great effort to hide what I’m feeling, but I might have let something slip through the cracks. “I’m having fun,” I hurry tosay before she can argue. “It’s just… Well, I’ve never been to a cookout before.” My father would scoff at the mere idea of hosting a club cookout. The thought of his men casually drinking and having fun, building community would make him sick to the stomach. He would see this as a waste of time and resources. He wants his men at each other’s throats, competing for his favor. “The air is nice, and the view is magical. I’m just trying to take it all in.”
The worry in her eyes dissipates, and she returns my smile. “It’s something, isn’t it? The place and the people,” she says, her eyes sparking with mischief. “If you want, I can introduce you to some of the guys here. I’ve noticed a few checking you out.” Brooke winks before breaking into a fit of giggles, and my eyes automatically drop to her empty wine glass. Mine sits untouched in front of me. I don’t want to seem rude by not drinking, but more than that, I don’t want to get drunk and accidentally reveal to these people that I am not who they think I am.
The Rebels might treat each other like family, but there is no telling what they would do to me if they found out…and got their hands on me before my father could.
To them, I’m just some college friend Brooke brought to a private party, not the only child of their sworn enemy. Yeah, I bet that reveal would ruin everyone’s night.
“I don’t need you to set me up with anyone, Brooke.” Least of all, a Rebel. Nothing would come of it. My father would kill him and then make me pay for so much as allowing myself to breathe the same air as one of them.
“Come on, the guys are hot, right?” she teases, anchoring her elbow on the table and pushing to lean closer, which sends her arm slipping, but I catch her before she can fall forward ontothe table and face plant into her half-eaten plate. She giggles as she straightens up. “Most of the guys here are single, and did I mention hot?”
“You did.”
