“We’re sorry it took us so long to get you out. We knew it was gonna be rough,” Neon adds.
Zero waves his hand through the air. “Nothing I couldn’t handle.” He shifts, wincing a little, his hand moving to his side instinctively.
“You still in pain?” I ask.
He exhales. “Yeah. It’s not bad, more like a twinge than anything, but enough to annoy the fuck out of me.”
“You need Chills to check it out?” Neon grimaces.
“Nah, man. The doctors inside fixed me up. Had a minor surgery. Cherry doesn’t know how close it came, though. I swear if those guards hadn’t come in at the right time…” he trails off.
“We have Ethan to thank for that,” I tell him.
He jerks his head back. “What? As in Kevlar’s Ethan? ‘Straight down the line won’t help the club in any-fucking-way,’ Ethan?”
“Still not sure why. We need to bring him in, but we’ve been a little… preoccupied.”
He exhales. “Prinie’s neck?”
“Seems Damir and I go back further than I even knew.”
Zero narrows his eyes in on me. “Tell me… don’t hold back.”
“Damir, and another guy, Sava, they’re my blood brothers. My mother gave birth to them before me. She was a part of the Triglav Clan. Their father, Vlatko, who is my father, but Damir and Sava didn’t know that. Damir still doesn’t. They were told differently because by then, our mother was a whore, and bringing a whole pile of shame down on the Clan.”
Zero’s eyes widen. “So, what are you saying? You’re Serbian?”
“Only by DNA. In heart, I’m all Houston.”
“So, who came after you if Damir was inside with me?”
“Sava and Vlatko. My other brother and father. They took Prinie. Knocked Koda out cold—”
“What the fuck!”
“He’s okay… had a pretty good concussion, though.”
“And Prinie?”
“They wanted to kill her in front of me. Bring me pain by killing the one thing I love because apparently, I put our mother in a coma when I strangled her, and they had to pull the plug a year later. They loved her for some fucked-up reason I am yet to understand.”
Zero grits his teeth. “They tried to slit Prinie’s throat?”
“Tried. None of us would have let that happen, but Luc was instrumental in helping. If I were still acting president, I’d be giving the fucker his patch for what he did for Prinie and me in that damn church.”
Zero studies the prospect. He might be new to Houston, but he’s not new to Defiance. He’s paid his dues both here and in Chicago. Plus, he has one hell of an incentive waiting for him once he earns his patch. We all shoot our eyes toward Ruby, the club girl hanging off Luc’s arm.
Yeah, they both deserve this.
“Okay, I’ll take it on board. I’ll have a meeting with the prospect tomorrow. See where he sits.”
“Good idea,” I relay.
“Actually, while I have you both here, I just want to thank you. Especially you, Wraith, for running this joint, even if you did run into some trouble,” Zero offers.
I raise my beer. “Thanks, brother, but honestly, it’s not me you need to be thanking.”
I direct my eyes toward Neon. “If it weren’t for him and Fin, they wouldn’t have been able to put that Baron fucker away. Neon went above and beyond for you, put himself in the line of fire… maybe not gunfire, but if that smear campaign was ever traced back to him—”
“I get it…” Zero turns to Neon, “… thanks, man. You’ve always been there for me. Even when shit between us with me and your sister got real fucking weird.”
Neon scowls. “Zero, I was your best friend. We went through school together, put up with all those high school bullies together. Fuck, brother, I thought you were gonna marry into my family. Of course, I’m gonna put my ass out on the line for you.”
Zero stands, grabbing Neon, pulling him into a full-on back-slapping bromance-style hug. “Love you, man.”
“You, too, you fucking pussy.”
I stand, gripping Zero’s shoulder. “And my work here is done!” I turn to go find Prinie when Zero reaches out grabbing my arm. I turn back, Zero’s eyes convey so much. He’s against me being with Prinie, so it’s hard for him to say, but I can tell he’s thankful I’m taking care of his sister—I always will. “I know, Zero. I’ll look after her.”
Zero exhales with a nod and a grin, then turns back to Neon. And just like that, I finally feel like I have his blessing, even if he didn’t say a single word.
That one look means more than anything he could have ever said.
However, right now, I need to go find my woman and spend some much-needed time with her. She’s standing by the grill with Bub and Fox, so I stroll over, walking up behind her and wrapping my arms around her from behind. She leans back into me as I press my lips to the unharmed side of her neck.
“None of that hanky panky in front of my Old Lady, thank you, VP. You’ll give her ideas,” Fox blurts out.
Bub scoffs. “You tellin’ me you don’t want some of my famous lovin’ tonight, old man?” Bub squeezes her own breast for emphasis.
Fox groans. “Jesus, woman! See, this is what I was talking about. The second she sees any kind of loved-up couple, she starts puttin’ on a show. We’re too old for public displays, Bub.”
“I’ll never be too old to show people you’re my old man, Fox.” Bub leans in pressing her body up against his, kissing him deeply.
I spin Prinie in my arms to face me while Fox and Bub make out. Prinie’s eyes alight with humor as I grab her hands, leading her away. “C’mon, let’s
