Iced (VII Knights MC), page 1
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Also by Winter Travers
Devil’s Knights Series
Loving Lo
Finding Cyn
Gravel’s Road
Battling Troy
Gambler’s Longshot
Keeping Meg
Fighting Demon
Unraveling Fayth
Forever Lo
Devil’s Knights 2nd Gen
Passing the Torch
Riding the Line
Royal Mess
Changing Lanes
Bucking Tradition
Reining It In
Skid Row Kings Series
DownShift
PowerShift
BangShift
Fallen Lords MC Series
Nickel
Pipe
Maniac
Wrecker
Boink
Clash
Freak
Slayer
Brinks
Fallen Lords Christmas
Kings of Vengeance MC
Drop a Gear and Disappear
Lean Into It
Knees in the Breeze
Midnight Wreckage
Thrill Seeker
Livin’ on the Edge
Blacktop Freedom
Ride or Die
Powerhouse MA Series
Dropkick My Heart
Love on the Mat
Black Belt in Love
Black Belt Knockout
Nitro Crew Series
Burndown
Holeshot
Redlight
Shutdown
Royal Bastards MC: Sacramento, CA
Playboy
Six-Gun
Monk
Rebel
Barracuda
VII Knights MC: Golden, CO Chapter
Iced
Sweet Love Novellas
Sweet Burn
Five Alarm Donuts
Stand Alone Novellas
Kissing the Bad Boy
Trapped with the Bad Boy
Daddin’ Ain’t Easy
Silas: A Scrooged Christmas
Wanting More
Mama Didn’t Raise No Fool
Tangle My Tinsel
Mr. Motorcycle
Oral Communications
Coasting In
VII Knight MC
Radge
Esther E. Schmidt
Hero
MN Forgy
Beast
Hilary Storm
Iced
Winter Travers
Hunter
Sapphire Knight
Viking
Carmen Jenner
Antichrist
Amo Jones
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
About the Author
Coming Soon
Excerpt from Drop a Gear and Disappear
Thank you so much for picking up Iced.
I hope you enjoy this story loosely based on some of my favorite characters Anna, Elsa, Kristoff, and Sven. (and maybe you can figure out who ‘the love experts’ are.) ;)
Chapter One
Hannah
“Are you ready for the party?”
Nessa shrugged and rearranged the stack of papers on her desk. “I suppose. Marcus took care of almost everything for us. Mom and dad had most things planned before they died, so he just sort of made sure everything was in line.”
I sat back in my chair and sighed. It seemed so easy for Nessa to say mom and dad had died. “I know it’s been four months, but it still feels like it was yesterday when we got the news.”
You never really expect to lose your parents, let alone at the same time. Daddy was one of the best pilots this side of the Mississippi River, but he didn’t stand a chance against the front of storms and hail that suddenly appeared. He had tried to land, but the wind had other plans. It was as if the rain had grabbed his plane and just slammed it right into the Rocky Mountains.
Nessa sighed and ran her fingers through her long silvery hair. “It does, but there isn’t anything else we can do about it but to move on. Dad wouldn’t want us moping around when there is so much work to be done. I’m worried we’re going to lose three jobs. We need that money coming in.”
Nessa had a lot of work to do. Mom and Dad hadn’t willed me any of the business. They had left all of that to Nessa while I had gotten their house in the Rocky Mountains along with all of their cars.
It may seem like I had gotten off better, but Nessa had more. Mitcham Metals was the largest supplier of structural steel and miscellaneous metals fabrication in a six-state radius, and with that came lots of money and power.
Growing up, Nessa and I had been close for so many years, and then something changed when she turned thirteen. She stopped hanging out with me, spending most of her time in her room, and barely looking in my direction. Mom and Dad didn’t seem to care.
Once Nessa had graduated high school, dad had taken her under his wing and started grooming her for the job she now had. President of Mitcham Metals.
I had started working at Mitcham Metals after I had graduated college with a degree in accounting. I had worked my way up, and now I had my job at Mitcham as the head of accounting, but everyone knew that Nessa was the woman in charge now.
“I got the estimate from Bob for the Grace Church build. I don’t think we are charging enough.” Nessa grabbed a paper and handed it to me. “We’re barely going to break even. If we do this and then lose the three other jobs, I’m afraid times are going to be very hard.”
I scanned the paper. “I would have to sit down and actually look at this, but it seems he only charged them half of what we normally would for labor.”
“He did. I don’t know if he was doing it because it’s a church, but we can’t be cutting ourselves short.”
Nessa was right, but it wasn’t like Bob wrote up estimates like this all of the time. “Did you talk to him about it? Maybe there is a reason why.”
“I asked him to come in this afternoon to talk about it. I’m hoping it’s a mistake.”
Maybe it was. “Well, if you want me to crunch the numbers and see exactly how much he’s off by, I would be happy to.”
Nessa shook her head. “Not yet. If I do, I’ll let you know.”
I smiled wide and stood. “Well, I’m headed back to my office. Let me know if there is anything else you need from me.”
Nessa grabbed the paper back and set it in front of her. “Try not to go cross-eyed looking at all those numbers you love so much.”
A laugh bubbled from my lips. “Never.”
I made my way down two floors and parked my butt in my office.
Mitcham Metals was a four-story building that was across the yard from where the metal fabricating happened. The fabricating buildings were six times the size of the office building and stretched the length of two football fields.
Daddy always said that was where the magic happened, and he tended to spend more time over there than in his office chair.
I grabbed the three files of the companies that were threatening to take their business elsewhere. Dad had always said it was hard to keep everyone happy, but he always tried his best.
That was what Nessa was trying to do, but some people were having a problem with a twenty-eight-year-old woman taking over.
Marcus, who had been my dad’s right-hand man, was helping to advise Nessa what she needed to be doing, but things were a little bumpy.
The party that was to happen two days from now was supposed to be the annual employee appreciation. Still, Nessa and Marcus had decided to change gears instead and focus more on rebuilding Mitcham Metals. A sort of introduction to Nessa being the new boss and for everyone to get to know her.
Before Nessa had become president of Mitcham Metals, she worked as the head of advertising and helped dad with certain things. He had tried to have her learn everything, but he had died before that had happened.
That was another reason why I didn’t envy her. Sure, Mitcham Metals was part of me, but I knew I wasn’t ready to run a multi-million-dollar company. Nessa didn’t have the choice to say no.
I opened the first file and sighed. I was going to help Nessa as much as I could because she was my sister, and family never turned their backs on each other. Ever.
*
Chapter Two
Ice
“The load of steel should be here Monday.”
“They’re delivering to the site, right?” Mercury asked
I nodded and tossed my pen on the desk in front of me. Samson, my Sheepnees with one icy blue eye and one dark brown eye, was sprawled out next to me with his head resting on my foot. “Over on Dickson. We should be able to get back to work after lunchtime on Monday.” I reached down and ruffled Samson’s fluffy ears.
“I’m still not happy about having two days of downtime. We should be working on the addition to the garage right now. Thank god we have loyal customers who know shit is out of our hands.”
I shrugged and leaned back in my chair. “You had to know with Hal and Gretchen dying a few months back; things were going to be messed up over at Mitcham Steel. I’m just glad the place hasn’t folded.”
Mercury scoffed. “The Ice Queen would have to fuck up a whole lot for that place to go under. She’s got the world in the palm of her hand right now.”
“I still remember the day you called her Ice Queen to her face.” Man, that had been fucking crazy. “Pretty sure my eyebrows were scorched from the death glare she had given us.”
“Just calling it as I see it. Nessa Mitcham needs to be taken down a peg or two.”
“And you thought you were the person for the job?” Mercury was the president of the VII Knights MC, and that sometimes went to his head. He didn’t care if you were a member of the club or not; he was going to tell you whatever he wanted. Nice or not.
“She was walking around like she owned the fucking joint while her ol’ man, who actually built that company from the ground up, was doing all the heavy lifting and work. Yeah, she’s a fucking Ice Princess.”
“Yeah, she was being a bitch, but I don’t know how you got Ice Princess.”
Mercury pointed to his head. “The fucking white/silver hair, bro. Ice Princess.”
I guess he was right. Most would have called her beautiful and, well, hot, but she wasn’t my type. A woman with a bit of junk in her trunk, thick thighs, and big tits was what I liked. I didn’t really care about hair color, but red would be my choice if I had to choose.
Nessa Mitcham was not any of those things. She was svelte, tall, and had icy blonde hair.
Mercury’s phone rang. “Yo,” he called after he answered it. He listened for a few seconds, grunted a few times, and then hung up after he said we’ll be there. “Speak of the fucking devil,” he muttered as he tossed his phone on the desk.
I tipped my head to the side. “What? That was Nessa Mitcham?”
He shook his head and curled his lip. “As if that woman would actually take the task of calling me. That was her lackey, Marcus. We just scored an invite to the Mitcham Metals employee appreciation party this Friday.”
“We’re not employees,” I pointed out.
Mercury shrugged. “It seems that the party is going to be more than what they normally do. They’re inviting all of their customers and making it an employee and customer appreciation party.”
“Free booze?” I asked.
Mercury nodded. “Free everything, brother.”
“Count me in.” I could handle being at a party thrown by the Ice Princess if there was free booze. “Hell, you know you can count all of the brothers in, too.”
“Marcus said the whole crew was invited, so that is exactly who they are going to get.”
I stretched my arms over my head. “You think Marcus knows what he’s getting himself into by inviting all of the VII Knights? I mean, you know Samson is coming, right?” I laughed.
Mercury shook his head and smirked. “Hell, no, brother. But he’ll figure it out on Friday.”
*
Chapter Three
Hannah
Beep, beep, it’s party day. Beep, beep, it’s party day.
I blindly reached for my phone and cursed past me for thinking that a customizable alarm clock was a good thing. Normally I just set it with a boring beep to get me out of bed, but last night I thought it would be funny to announce it was party day.
My eyes snapped open, and a huge smile spread across my lips. “It’s party day,” I whispered. Today was the day that Nessa would be officially announced and welcomed as the new president of Mitcham Metals.
My hand landed on my phone as the alarm sounded again.
Today felt like a normal day.
It felt like an exciting day.
I hadn’t had one of those since the day mom and dad had died.
I was genuinely happy for Nessa, and I couldn’t wait to get the day started.
I rolled out of bed with a hitch in my step and started the shower.
Since mom and dad had been gone, the house had become mine.
Nessa had moved out two years prior, but I had still lived here at the time of the crash. I was still in the same room, and I never thought I would move into the master suite that had belonged to my parents.
My room was like a master suite in a normal size house. I had a large room with a walk-in closet and a large bathroom with a shower and a tub. Most people, and myself, would be more than happy with my bedroom.
Mom and dad’s master suite was basically like its own apartment. Maybe someday I would move in there, but for now, it was just a shrine to my parents, who weren’t here anymore.
After a thorough and steaming hot shower, I dressed for a half-day of work. Nessa had given all employees off for the day, but I had a few things I needed to get done before the weekend.
Nessa’s car was in the parking lot when I pulled up. Marcus’ truck was parked next to her and a white car I didn’t know.
I figured I wasn’t the only one who had some work to do before the weekend.
I took the elevator up to my floor and breezed into my office. Once my computer turned on, I started up my work playlist and grabbed the first customer invoice I needed to go over. Five other accountants worked beneath me, and it was one of my duties to go over their work. I was a second set of eyes for all money coming in and out of the company.
The four invoices I needed to go over all came out good. I grabbed two invoices from one of our suppliers and leaned back in my chair as I looked at them.
The price of everything we needed to stay in business seemed to be going up with every order we placed.
Mitcham Metals was sitting pretty when it came to incoming money, but I knew I should always be alert and on my toes with every cent going out. I knew that Nessa was worried about losing some accounts, but I didn’t think there was that much worry. I had seen customers leave, and there were always new ones coming in after them.
I finished going over the last of my paperwork and glanced out my window. Nessa’s car was still there, and so was Marcus’. It was strange that they were both still here. The party was only a few hours away.
I gathered up my purse and keys and took the elevator up two floors to check on Nessa.
As soon as the elevator doors slid open, Nessa’s shrill voice rang through the floor.
“You said this was fine. You said this wasn’t going to change anything!” Nessa screamed.
“I said in the end everything would be fine,” Marcus hollered back. “You’re foolish to think that there weren’t going to be casualties.”
The elevator door started to slide shut, and I stealthily stepped off and over to the side. Nessa’s office was at the end of the hallway in front of me, so I ducked down behind a large plant by her receptionist desk. Her door was open, and I didn’t want either of them to know that I was there. How they didn’t hear the elevator come up was beyond me, but they were pretty wrapped up in a screaming match.
What casualties were Nessa and Marcus talking about?
“I was foolish to listen to you! I should have listened to my head and done things the way my dad did.”
“Your dad?” Marcus laughed. “If your dad were still alive, he would still be running this place into the ground.”
