WASHING MY HANDS under the warm water, I thought over what happened recently. Confessing my love for Tray, which then turned into a bloodbath. I just hoped he understood everything I had to tell him. Hell, I wasn’t even sure I understood myself.
“I need your help.”
“I’m on my way to you,” I said, jumping into the large SUV. I knew Tray would stop me if he had the strength. I wondered if he knew that I stole his keys. I had just left their clubhouse so I knew I had to make this conversation quick, in case anyone came outside.
“Zillah, it’s going to turn into a fucking war if we don’t end this now.”
I stopped suddenly, gripping the phone tight in my hand, not liking the sound of my father’s voice. “What’s going on?”
“It’s Ripper. I found out some shit and we need to stop him.”
I laughed. “You’re just being paranoid.”
“No, Zee. Not this time. This isn’t me being protective of you. This is me as your father, telling you to leave. Get out of there but don’t come here. Please don’t come here.”
But I didn’t believe him and still drove to him instead, with Catch at my side.
“You’ll be grabbed. But I need you to act. Act like your life depends on it because, Zillah, it does. Fuck me it does.”
I didn’t understand what he had meant by that until Catch and I showed up at the clubhouse. Although, most of it wasn’t acting.
“Whatever you see, I need you to be strong.”
And I saw. I saw a fucking lot.
A hard knock on the door made me jump.
Shutting off the water, I dried my hands and opened the door.
Greyson stared down at me. The rest of his crew looked my way. The strip club had been closed to the public. But now I wished I could leave just the same.
“Tell me one thing,” Greyson demanded, his stance stiff. “Did you know? Did you know about any of this shit?”
“No.” I shook my head. “I didn’t at all.”
“She didn’t.”
Both of us turned to my father who sat in a booth, looking like the king of the motherfucking world. A fresh bandage was on his cheek. Kian sat beside him. He had been operated on. Much to my surprise, my dad had a whole system set up in this place. A room that was stocked full of hospital equipment for times like these. They could do surgeries there and everything. It saved them from having to go to the hospital itself, and it also stopped the police from getting involved. There were so many things I didn’t know and probably never would. And I was fine with that.
“Ripper had been acting off for the past several months,” my dad explained. “I didn’t know what was going on, so I had my mole check him out.”
River shifted in his seat beside my dad.
My eyes widened. “You?”
He shrugged, giving me wink, but he never answered my question.
“There are some things you don’t know, Zillah. That none of you do or will. I needed to keep my guys safe, just like you do, Greyson.” My dad crossed his arms under his chest.
“You called me. I’m here. But now I need answers. How did you find out this shit was going to happen?” Greyson asked, pulling up a chair, spun it around, and sat on it backwards. “I lost men because of this. Men who have been at my side since I became president. I have another one in the hospital.” He met my gaze that time. “He’s fine.”
I blew out a slow breath, my knees knocking.
Catch grabbed my arm, holding me steady.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered.
“I know.” He cupped my shoulder, giving it a light squeeze.
He was fine. Sammy was fine. I had found out that they weren’t thrown into a cooler, but a room used for storage. Ripper called it a cooler because they kept the room at a lower temperature to drown out the smell of decaying bodies.
“I followed him.” River shrugged like it was no big deal. “He wasn’t worried about me finding out shit. What could I do? I’m only a prospect. I’m new. Blah blah fucking blah. But what he didn’t know was that I was trained by the best. You know Demitry Bloom, right?”
Greyson sat up straighter. “How do you know him?”
River smirked. “He’s my uncle.”
“No fucking way.” Greyson looked our way. “Did you know?” he asked Catch.
“No.” Catch grunted, rubbing his jaw. He had a nice shiner just below his left eye and was nursing his right leg, but he was alive. Sammy was untouched. Thank God.
“Sneaky fucker.”
“It makes sense now.”
“He kind of looks like him.”
“Anyway.” River sat forward, ignoring the comments coming from the guys. “He always taught me to follow my gut. When Ripper insisted that Zillah work out in the shop, it didn’t seem right. Why did he want her so close by?” He glanced my way. “And when you approached me, it was hard as fuck not to tell you to be careful.”
“So, you knew?” I asked him. “You knew what Ripper wanted?”
“Not completely.” River shook his head.
“He wanted my help,” I said, speaking up. All eyes were suddenly on me and I realized then how dumb I sounded. I looked down at my feet.
“Zillah,” my dad barked. “Come here.”
I did as I was told and headed to the table my dad sat at.
“You did nothing wrong. Hell.” He chuckled. “You did more than most of us ever could.”
I wrung my hands together, pulling at my blood-splattered shirt. “I need a shower,” I said more to myself than to anyone. “I …” I met my dad’s gaze, glancing between him and my brother, who were both alive. “I knew going in not to expect what I saw to be real, but it didn’t hurt any less. Almost losing you. Thinking I’d lost you, even though you told me over and over what was before me, might not be what I thought.” I wasn’t making sense. I took a breath and then another. “I … I can’t do this anymore.”
“I know.” My dad muttered something to River.
River slid from the booth, swiping his hand out in front of him.
I sat, keeping my distance from my father when he grabbed my hand and pulled me to his side.
“Zillah, I’ll give you a moment with your dad and brother, but I know someone who is losing his fucking mind over not seeing you.” Greyson stood from his chair and headed to Catch who stood off to the side. They talked amongst themselves, a few of the other guys from Hell’s Harlem closing in around them.
“You did good, Zillah.” My dad cupped my hands. That small movement stopped them from shaking.
“I’m not like the rest of you but seeing …” I looked at Kian. “Seeing both of you, even though I knew you weren’t dead, I lost it.”
“Well, Ripper got your wrath. Hell hath no fury and all that jazz.” Kian shook his head. “I’m proud of you.”
“What about the pictures?” I asked them, needing to know who was taking photos of us.
“It was all Ripper.” My dad scrubbed a hand down his face. “He was obsessed with you. I didn’t know this. Hell, the bastard was a damn good actor too. A couple of the guys and him went out for drinks. He got shit-faced and they went back to his apartment. When he passed out, they searched the place after I demanded it. They probably thought I was paranoid too but thankfully they listened.” Dad cupped my cheek. “They went to the closet and found a shrine of you. It was sick. I wanted to kill him then but Kian …”
“It was my idea to use you as bait.” His brows furrowed. “I’m sorry.”
“Okay.” I blew out a slow breath. “But what about tonight? Or last night? I don’t even know what time it is right now. Who staged your deaths? Why was Greyson’s clubhouse shot up? Why was Sammy taken?”
“The guys Ripper thought he could trust were told about him in advance. They helped us stage our deaths. The rest was all on Ripper. But there were a few guys who had teamed up with him to take out Hell’s Harlem. They’ve since disappeared and we’re searching for them.” He glanced across the table. “We will get vengeance,” he called over to Greyson.
Grey nodded once.
“I promise I wouldn’t have brought you into this if I didn’t think you could handle it.” My dad squeezed my hands. “When I called you and told you to get out of there, Ripper had already stated his case and kicked my ass,” my dad continued. “I’m man enough to admit it, that fucker could hit.” Dad looked between both Kian and me. “I haven’t been the best father. I’m sorry for that. Your mom fucked me up. I`m man enough to admit that too. But I love you. Both of you. And, Zillah, just because you`re a female, doesn`t make you the lesser sex. I`m sorry if I led you to believe that. Hell, after tonight, I`d be scared to get on your bad side.”
I smiled softly, my cheeks burning. Guilt rested on my shoulders, but my family was safe. For now. Until the next bastard rolled in.
“I don’t know why Sammy was taken. I can only imagine it was because of who his father was.” My dad looked at Kian. “The men who took him, were killed.”
I nodded, not expecting any less. “Was it Ripper who took a picture of Tray and Catch too?”
“I can only assume so. I thought maybe it was to make you jealous, but it was before you and Tray. I don’t know what Ripper was thinking. I figured it was part of his surveillance to take them out.” My dad squeezed my shoulder. “But you are a good woman, Zillah.”
“You raised me well, Daddy. I don’t care what happened before me. I love Tray.” My heart beat for him. “I need to go see him.”
Dad nodded, cupping Kian’s nape. “This fucker is going to take over the roll as president faster than we thought. I’m getting too old for this shit.”
I kissed his cheek. “I’m just glad you’re both okay.”
“Me too, Zillah.” He sighed. “Me too.”
Sliding from the booth, I headed to the group of guys standing around Greyson and Catch.
“Zillah?”
I glanced back at my father.
“You have a car that’s waiting for you too,” he said, giving me a soft smile.
I nodded. That beast of a machine would be fixed up in no time, but first, I had a beast of a man I needed to take care of.
“You did good, Zillah,” someone called out.
“Thank you,” another said.
“It’s about fucking time someone took him out.”
With my head down, I pushed through the building crowd until I was standing in front of Greyson.
He glanced down at me with an eyebrow raised.
“Take me to him.” My voice cracked. “Please.”
(Tray)
I was losing my fucking mind.
Pacing back and forth, I took a drag of the smoke in my mouth. Inhale. Exhale. Repeat. My bones were stiff, my body sore. The wound in my side was stitched up fine and fucking dandy. But my mood was not.
“Tray, you’re going to wear a hole in the ground,” Eve said, shoving some garbage into a black bag. “They’ll be here soon.”
I sat my ass on the stool by the bar and waited like a good little boy.
When Grey had called and told me that he had Zillah, Catch, and Sammy, I almost wept like a fucking baby. Too much shit had happened to us within the last year. And now, we’d lost more club members. Brothers. Butcher. A man I had looked up to since I became a biker. I realized then what I had to do.
“Grey’s going to kick your ass for smoking in here,” Eve chided, pulling me from my thoughts.
I only grunted. I didn’t give a shit what he did, but I had a feeling that he would let me off this once at least.
“They really need to hurry the fuck up,” I grumbled, butting out the smoke on the bottom of my Shit-Kicker.
Vehicles sounded outside.
My heart jumped.
Rushing as best I could to the front door, I shoved it open as Zillah slid out of the SUV. Our eyes met. Her clothes were covered in blood. Her hair was a mess. But she was alive. My girl was fucking alive.
I wanted to run to her and scoop her up into my arms, but I was frozen.
Greyson and Catch came toward me with Sammy. Once they reached me, Sammy threw his arms around my waist and Catch cupped my shoulder.
I returned Sammy’s hug, my chest tightening.
The rest of the crew rolled in on their bikes. The air was thick and heavy around us. We had fought, and we won. I didn’t know what had happened but I didn’t care. Catch, Zillah, and Sammy were back. They were home. They were safe.
“Let’s go inside, Sammy.” Catch ruffled the boy’s hair. “I think your brother wants to see you.”
Sammy ran inside.
“Go to her, brother. She needs you right now.” Catch pulled me in for a hug. “She really needs you.”
“Fuck, man. I thought I lost you. I thought I lost both of you,” I said, my voice thick. I hugged him back, unable to take my gaze off of Zillah.
“We’re safe. We’ll explain everything after.” Catch leaned back, cupping my nape. “Go to her.”
He walked by me and into the house. “All right, fuckers. Who’s going to get me a drink?”
I chuckled, the door shutting behind me. Taking a deep breath, I waited. For what I wasn’t sure.
Zillah wrung her hands together in front of her, looking down at her feet.
“Look at me,” I demanded, my voice rough.
Her gaze popped to mine, a flush of red hitting her cheeks.
I took a step toward her, at the same time she moved. Once we closed the distance between us, we crashed into each other.
“Tray,” she whimpered, shaking against me. Her hands grabbed at my hoodie, her fingers reaching beneath my shirt, and brushing over the bandage in my side. “I thought I lost you.”
“Never, baby,” I said into her hair, rubbing my face into the crook of her neck. Lifting her in my arms, I carried her to the nearest bench and sat with her straddling my lap. A sharp pain hit my side at the extra weight my body was carrying but I didn’t give a shit. Getting shot wouldn’t stop me from holding my girl.
“God, I …” She trembled, clutching onto me like I was her lifeline. “I just … I need you. In ways I never even knew existed.”
“You have me. Always.” Running my fingers through her hair, I pulled her head back gently and placed a hard kiss on her mouth.
Her trembling seized, a soft sigh leaving her lips.
“Tell me what happened.” I pulled back. “And please tell me why the fuck you’re covered in blood.”
Her eyes welled, her throat working hard with each swallow. “Take me inside. I need a shower. And then I’ll tell you everything. I promise.”