Locking her fingers together, Prue stared up at the ceiling that passed. The only time she’d ever really been close to Zero was when her parents died. She’d been suffering from the worst nightmares of her life. They terrified her, giving her night terrors, leaving her afraid to sleep. Zero would hold her tight, sleep beside her, and the night terrors soon disappeared.
She hated being an inconvenience. The moment she stopped needing him, he walked away. He never stayed at the house after that apart from when he was too intoxicated to leave.
He stood beside the wall as they entered the private room.
“I can’t afford the private room. I thought I was going to a ward.” Her insurance only handled so much of her care while she paid for the rest.
“The Skulls is paying for this care,” he said.
The nurses got her settled and left. The blonde lingered a little too long for Prue’s taste.
“Leave,” Zero said.
Prue watched her walk out shooting a glare toward her. She stared at the woman, wondering what she expected. Bedding a biker doesn’t guarantee you’ll be in his life forever. Nothing guaranteed staying in Zero’s life.
“You f**ked her.” She turned back to look at him.
He nodded. His cheeks were red tinted.
“Are you embarrassed?” she asked, smiling. She needed to smile rather than cry. None of her emotions made any sense. Zero was a friend, nothing more.
Do you want him to be something extra?
“No, I’m not. I f**k who I want.”
Nodding, she sat up on the bed. Her stomach growled, and it was her turn to feel her cheeks heating.
“Breakfast will be along shortly.”
“Thank you,” she said, glancing at him.
“For what?”
“For being here for me. You’re the only person I know I can trust.”
He looked at the floor. “Prue, you can always come to me. I don’t care when, where, or how, I will always be here for you.”
His cell phone went off, interrupting their conversation. “I’ll be back soon.”
She watched him leave, missing him the moment he left the room.
Chapter Three
Zero found Tiny, Butch, Steven, and a couple of the others waiting outside in the waiting room. He shook Tiny’s hand and led him back toward Prue’s room. He was so nervous about Alan and told him everything that happened last night. They entered the room, and Prue had a plate in front of her. He stopped as she took a bite of banana. Her lips molded around the tip, and he was struck by the sudden image of his c**k in her mouth. Heat filled his cock, and all he wanted to do was push the others out of the room and take her.
Shoving the images aside, he took a step inside.
“Hey,” she said, wiping her lips, putting the banana skin down on the tray. Her breakfast was nowhere near finished.
“This is Tiny, Prue.” Zero made the introductions. She nodded at each of them. He hated the way her gaze lingered on Steven. The other man was not up for sex, at least not when it came to Prue. She was off the market. Zero wouldn’t allow Steven anywhere near her. The desire to find the other two men who’d touched her and f**k them up was strong. Gritting his teeth, he saw Steven linger as he shook her hand.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
She nodded, turning to Butch. “You caught me?”
“Yeah, I did. I wish we’d met under different circumstances.” Butch took her hand, kissing her knuckles.
“Eat,” Zero said, standing on the other side of her, giving her a stern look. She rolled her eyes but picked up her spoon to start eating the slop. He hoped it was porridge.
“Zero has told us what happened last night,” Tiny said, stepping at the foot of the bed.
Prue tensed and paused in eating. “Yes, Alan was here last night. He’s a dangerous man and intent on hurting Zero any way he can.” He watched her swallow the food, then wipe her mouth. “I’m done.” She pushed the tray of food away from her.
“You need to eat more,” he said.
“You try eating remembering how easily Alan got to me last night. From the way he spoke, he walked right past your man and no one even noticed him.” She stopped, tucking some hair behind her ear. “He’s dangerous, Zero. You should be taking care of your club as well. No one is safe.”
“This is one man we’re talking about,” Tiny said.
“So, he’s one man who has a serious f**king issue with Zero. This is a game to him. Alan is responsible for killing my brother, but he is the reason Alan is so angry.” Prue pointed at him. “Alan will hurt whoever Zero cares about. This is only the beginning. He’s got plans.”
“Honey, he’s not going to get to us,” Butch said.
He watched her shake her head. “You’ll be a fool to not take any warning. Alan will hurt anyone.”
“Why didn’t he kill you?” Steven asked, drawing the attention to him.
Prue paused, glancing at the younger man. “This is a game to him. It’s what Alan said. He decided I would be much more fun to use. I was a messenger to let Zero know the games had begun.”
Zero glanced at his brothers knowing they were thinking about what she said.
“There will be ‘round the clock protection for you, honey. My wife will be stopping by to get to know you as well. You’ll be getting a lot better than this shit grub,” he said.
“Thank you.” She smiled at Tiny, the sweet smile Zero always loved to see.
“Zero, follow us out. Steven, stay behind and keep her company.”
Wishing he could argue, Zero kissed her on the head then followed the rest of his brothers outside. His president pulled out a cigarette, lit it, and blew the smoke up in the air.
“She’s f**king terrified,” he said.
“Yes. I don’t blame her. Alan got past Blaine. The nurses didn’t even catch him. No one knew what the hell was going on until she started screaming.” Zero grabbed his own cigarette, needing the relaxing quality of the nicotine. The last twenty-four hours had him on f**king edge.
“She’s not leaving Fort Wills,” Tiny said.
“I wouldn’t leave her alone. I certainly don’t want that f**ker in there looking after her. I saw the way he was looking at her. Bastard needs to know to keep his eyes to his f**king self,” Zero said, cursing. No one was taking Prue away from him. Not Steven either. Fucker screwed everything that walked, and he wasn’t going to deal with that kind of shit.