He stiffens next to me, but I don’t say anything. “Good for her,” he mumbles.
“Yeah it is good,” I say, this time glancing at him. “You like her?”
“I don’t even know her,” he replies.
I laugh and finish off my beer. “Doesn’t mean you can’t like her, brother.”
“Z,” Finn yells and I get up. I get over to the bar and he hands me the burner phone. “It’s Brooks.”
“Yeah?”
“Be at the table at nine tomorrow morning,” he says.
“You called the burner phone for that shit?”
He’s quiet for a minute before I hear the anger in his voice. “Maybe if you answered your own fucking phone instead of chasing pussy, I wouldn’t need to get a hold of you another way.”
“Watch it,” I hiss.
“You’re still part of this club, Z. You need to start fucking acting like it,” he says and hangs up.
I throw the phone at Finn and grab two beers. Just what I fucking need, more shit thrown at me. I get back to the table and find it’s empty. My eyes go directly to Harper and I grin. Kace is out there dancing. He’s close to Ivy and she's smiling up at him.
I sit down and sip on my beer. Harper is as happy as I’ve ever seen her and it crushes me. She’s been through so fucking much. So much pain and suffering. The shit her father has done, it makes my body shake with anger. He should have protected her, gave her the world, but he didn’t. He used her, exploited her, physically and emotionally abused her. It’s just gotten worse since she’s been back. The secrets and lies being exposed. Her life on the line because of me. My chest feels like it’s being squeezed, so I decide to go outside to get some air. I lean against the building and close my eyes.
“What’s going on?” Kace asks, stepping beside me.
“I need to protect her, Kace. I’ll lay my life down for her, but I need to know she’ll be safe. Promise me, you’ll make sure she’s safe,” I say.
“Z, I’m not promising you shit. That sounds like you’re giving up and the Zane Madden I know would never fucking lay down and puss out.” He steps closer, grabbing my shirt in his fists. “We’re gonna kill Kingsley and anyone else that is a threat. Do you understand me? Stop taking this all on yourself. And don’t you fucking dare give up.”
I look at him, the seriousness in his face and I slap his back. “Fuck, you’re right. This is war and we’re gonna win.”
“Damn right we are.”
Chapter 18
Harper
I wake up deliciously sore from last night. Just when I think it can’t get better, it does. That man knows my body probably better than I do at this point. I take this rare opportunity to watch him sleep. He’s been on high alert, tense, and angry, because of me. Seeing him now, he looks so relaxed, so peaceful. This is what I wish for him.
The blanket is just covering him from the waist down. His upper body is on full display for me. He truly is a masterpiece, the tattoos telling the story of his life. It’s impossible to look away, even when my eyes come to rest on the tattoo that symbolizes his club. The skull with their club name, it’s sexy on him.
“Morning,” he rasps.
“Morning,” I say, pressing a kiss to his chest.
“You alright?”
His eyes are hardly open and he’s worrying about me already. I need to do something to stop his stress.
“I’m fine. I’m waking up with you, what could be better?”
He pulls me against his chest and holds me tight. He kisses my forehead and I tuck my head into the crook of his neck. “I need to get up in a few. I need to be around the table at nine.”
“Okay, baby.”
We lay there holding each other for a while until there’s a bang on the door. “Z, hurry up,” Alex says.
I groan when he moves and he kisses my lips quickly. “I shouldn’t be too long.”
He might not, but there’s no promise to that. It can be a quick fifteen minute talk or it can last hours. I watch him get dressed and once he’s ready he kisses me quickly, walking out the door. I flop down on the bed and stare at the ceiling. I can’t just stay in this room. I need to get out, go do something. I miss working and it’s fucked up because I should want to be anywhere but there. It’s just hard because it was my idea. I designed it. The construction teams changed that empty warehouse where they used to do all our dirty business, into my vision.
My phone rings and I jump to grab it. It’s probably Ivy. She and Kace got close last night. It was really sweet, and he told her he was going to bring her to work and pick her up after. She’s either calling to argue that or talk about how she was wrong about him.
I snag my phone and answer without even looking. “Hello?” I sing into the phone.
“It’s about time you answer my call.” I freeze. I’m completely unable to move or speak when I hear my father’s voice. “Where are you?”
I can’t show him fear. He’ll latch onto it and use it to his advantage. I need to relax my voice, even if my body doesn’t again.
“You’ve called?” I ask, deflecting.
“Don’t be obtuse,” he hisses. “Where have you been?”
“I don’t exactly know what you mean? I told you I was having girl time,” I say.
His manic laugh sends chills down my entire body. “Is that so?”
Any other time I’d be on top of it, throwing out bullshit stories. But, all
