Laughing, Prue glanced at all of them. “Are you sure you’re a biker club? You don’t look all that scary to me.” She smiled at each of them feeling part of their world. Since Trevor was taken from her, she’d been fighting every step of the way to make her life work. Teaching stopped her from being lonely, but when the nights came, she was always lonely. There was only so much lonely a woman could take.
“You’ve not been on our bad side,” Lash said, holding onto his woman. “Wait until you piss us off, and then we’ll terrify you.”
The banter went around the room, and she settled back, enjoying the show.
Another two people entered. This time the man was larger than Lash and the woman fuller than Angel. “This is Killer and Kelsey. They’re expecting their first child and have not long been married,” Eva said.
Nodding at them, Prue was embraced by Kelsey. “You’re part of the family now,” Kelsey said.
“I doubt Zero will want me interrupting your time.”
“You’re not going home,” Killer said. “You’ll be part of the club for a while, at least until this f**ker is caught.”
Once again she watched them all. Steven drew her into a conversation. She answered his questions. Prue didn’t know how much time had passed. Someone clearing his throat brought her attention toward the door. Zero and Tiny stood in the doorway. Smiling at them, she watched Tiny go to Eva and tug her close. The chemistry she saw between the couple made her heart pound. What would it be like to be part of such need? She’d f**ked, sure, but never had she experienced such heart-stopping passion.
Glancing at Zero, she saw he was staring at her.
“You look clean,” she said.
He chuckled, moving toward her side. She looked up as he landed a kiss to her cheek. “I had a shower.” The whole room was watching her.
She felt her cheeks heat at having an audience. “It’s about time.”
Zero stepped away, and the talking resumed. Steven stood, giving Zero his chair. She frowned as there seemed to be a silent message passed between the two people. The other man excused himself leaving the room. Frowning, she looked at Zero, who had a smirk on his face.
“What the f**k did you say to him?” she asked, glaring at Zero.
“Nothing.”
“Don’t give me that. I know you, Lucas Blakely. You and Trevor used to do the same kind of shit. What did you do?”
“Nothing.” He held his hands up in the air.
She knew they had all of the others’ attention on them. Prue didn’t care. She’d never been afraid of giving Zero a piece of her mind.
“Steven has been nice to me. Don’t think to throw your weight around or do some dominant man bullshit on him.” Prue pointed her finger at him. “I know your game, don’t.”
“I’m protecting you,” Zero said.
“You’re protecting me from a weirdo you created, not from Steven.” She folded her arms underneath her br**sts, glaring at the other man. “He’s been nice and doesn’t deserve you being a bastard to him.”
“Fine.” Zero glared back at her.
She heard the snickers around the room.
“I like her,” Tiny said. “It’s about time someone put him on his toes and bossed him around a little bit. It’ll save us a job.”
Zero raised an eyebrow at her, smiling. “She’s the only woman I’ll ever let talk to me like that.”
“You couldn’t stop me even if you tried. I’d kick your ass,” she said.
“Remember who taught you how to hit. I let you win.”
“In your dreams, ass**le.” Prue remembered Zero spending his afternoons teaching her how to defend herself. In school some of the guys had taken pleasure in bullying her over her weight and the fact she had large boobs. Prue hated it and refused to let her parents get involved. She could fight her own battles and often did. Zero wouldn’t let her out in the world. Between him and Trevor, she learned how to hit back. Once she started defending herself, the bullies backed away.
“We’ll see.” He leaned, over ruffling her hair, and she slapped his hand away.
“Stop it.”
She stared at him as the others started to talk. Zero was smiling at her, and when she felt heat pool between her thighs, she was so shocked that she turned her attention back to Eva. No, she wasn’t going to let her feelings go there. Zero was her friend. He would never be a man in her life.
Staring down at her lap, she felt his gaze on her, and her ni**les tingled in awareness. She would fight every response her body demanded.
****
“Please, let me go. I won’t say anything. Please.” The woman begged and pleaded for her life. Alan had her tied to a cross in the center of the forbidden warehouse. The economic downturn was good for something as it created available buildings for him to do whatever the f**k he liked to do. Staring around the room he listened to the woman snivel. He hated the sound of females moaning, begging. They were all whores, and he was tired of dealing with the low-lifes of this world.
Picking up the chef’s knife, he’d sharpened it with a knife-sharpener, making it a deadly weapon. It was amazing how many weapons people could buy in any ordinary shop.
“You f**ked Zero from The Skulls?” he asked, keeping his back to the woman.
She whimpered.
“I suggest you answer me or I’ll make it far harder than it needs to be.” He held the knife up to the light.
“Yes, I was with him.”
“You f**ked him?”
“Yes, I f**ked him.”
Alan smiled. He always loved the power he held getting what he wanted. Looking in the far corner of the warehouse he thought about the woman who’d pulled him out of the burning building ten years ago. He’d treated her like the treasure she was, taking care of her until she died a year ago. Clara hadn’t been a whore. She’d been a good girl, a good woman, unlike this piece of trash in front of him.
Through his recuperation, the surgeries, the physiotherapy, Clara had been the only one by his side.
When she died, he buried her and then set about taking back what was his. Clara didn’t care about his face or the damage done to him. It was a good thing Clara couldn’t see him now. She didn’t think getting his revenge was worth it.
Alan had nothing else to live for. The woman he loved was dead, and he had a select few men who stood by his side. By the time they were done, he was going to have everything back. Zero had taught him something ten years ago. He knew the other man had no intention of walking away and was prepared to die. There was nothing left for Alan. This game was going to be fun, and if he was lucky, by the end of their time, he was going to be dead along with Zero. Touching his face acted as a reminder to Alan. Zero was the first man to make him beg for mercy. The game was turned. Alan wasn’t going to make Zero beg. He was going to make the bastard suffer, picking off the others around him before finally taking out the man himself.