“Because I didn’t think it was a big deal.” Zephyr reached for my hand and but I stepped back.
“He is my father, Zephyr. I have a right to know where he is.”
Zephyr held up his hands. “Whoa, there, darlin’. I never said that you didn’t have a right to know. I just didn’t think it was something you needed to be notified about.”
I turned to Dad. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
Dad glanced at Zephyr and then back at me. “I got the same answer Zephyr had. I didn’t think it was something I need to tell you about.”
“And what would you have done if something happened to you? I wouldn’t have even known where to look for you.”
Dad tipped his head to the side. “I was safe, Lynn. Nothing happened to me.”
“But what if it did?” I yelled.
Zephyr took a step toward me. “Lynn, you need to calm down. I’m sorry we worried you, but nothing is wrong.”
“What is wrong is that you keep telling me to calm down and making decisions for me. I’m the one who has been taking care of my dad for the past twenty-one years, and you think you can just swoop in and save the day.” I squeezed my eyes shut and tried to gather my thoughts so they made sense.
“I’m not trying to save the day, Lynn. I was just trying to get your dad out of the house and keep him out of your hair,” Zephyr explained.
“I don’t need him out of my hair, Zephyr. I need him sitting in his apartment so I know where he is all of the time and I don’t have to worry about him.”
“Lynn, I don’t need you worrying about me all of the time,” Dad gruffed. “I’m not some child you have to watch.”
“Excuse me for not being able to shift gears from raising your child, then raising you, to now not even needing to worry about you, apparently.”
Zephyr grabbed my hand. “Darlin, we’re sorry. I was just trying to keep your dad busy while you were working.”
Ugh. What he was saying made sense, but I was still mad that I wasn’t informed of what they were doing. I had gone years making the decisions and knowing what everyone was up to, and now, I had no clue about what was going on anywhere.
Dad was running around with the Kings of Vengeance, and Steph was taking a break from college and getting high.
I had buried my head in the sand about Steph. I knew what I needed to do with her, but it was too hard to do. She wanted to be a grown-up, then she was going to have to figure things out on her own. I couldn’t handle a repeat of what I had done for Dad for twelve years. I couldn’t bail her out and take care of her like I had him.
Then why are you so mad that your dad is actually taking care of himself? I hated when my head was so reasonable, but my damn feelings couldn’t comprehend it.
“Why don’t we go inside and talk about this?” Dad suggested. “Marg was going to come over for dinner, but I can tell her to come another night.”
I shook my head and tugged at my hair. “No, you don’t need to cancel your plans.” I didn’t want to go in. I actually didn’t know what the hell I wanted, but I knew that wasn’t it.
“She’s not coming over until six, so we have time to talk.”
“No.” I didn’t want to talk. Or at least, I didn’t want to talk this over and over. I needed to just get out what I felt, and move on. “I’m mad because I’m always in the loop, and now, I’m not. Not that I need to know where you are every second, but...” Ugh, I didn’t know what the but was. Zephyr was doing me a favor by having dad help out at the club and just keeping him busy. “I guess I’m mad because I wasn’t part of,” I motioned between Zephyr and Dad, “this.”
Was I jealous of my dad? Uh, no, Lynn.
“I guess I’m just saying I want to be in the loop, okay?” I still wasn’t crystal clear about what I felt, but I honestly couldn’t get it out any better.
Zephyr nodded. “We can do that, darlin’.”
“I mean, yeah,” Dad agreed. “No reason why we can’t let you know when I’m helping out at the clubhouse.”
I couldn’t help but laugh. Who would have thought that I would hook up with a club member and Dad would wind up helping them build their strip club?
There was one other thing, though. Something that had been bugging me, but it had to do with Zephyr. I sighed and tipped my head back. “I think that’s all, Dad. I’m sorry I got mad.”
Dad shook his head and wrapped me up in a hug. “You don’t have to be sorry for caring about me, Lynn. I’m lucky to have you.” He stepped back and braced his hands on my arms. “My whole life, I’ve been lucky to have you. I think it’s time I start paying you back for sticking with me through the hell I put you through.”
He had said those same words to me before, but they felt different this time. Maybe I was different this time.
“I’m gonna hold you to that, Dad.”
A smile crossed his lips. “I hope so, Lynn-bug.”
My heart soared at the nickname he used to call me before Mom died. I hadn’t heard it for over twenty years. He hugged me again, nodded to Zephyr, and walked into the apartment building.
“Lynn,” Zephyr whispered.
And now I had to deal with Zephyr. “We should probably just talk right here.”
He looked around. “You sure? We can go in the van if you want.”
The van was a little more private than standing in the parking lot. “Fine.”
I followed Zephyr over to the van and hopped in the passenger seat.
“This is quite the change from your bike,” I mumbled.
Zephyr chuckled. “Yeah, it’s not my first choice, but I’m not gonna have your dad ride on the back of my bike.”
The visual of Dad riding on the back of Zephyr’s bike was hilarious. “Yeah, I’m pretty sure the guys would give you just as much shit about that as they would if they found out I drove you around the other night.”
Zephyr reached out and cradled my cheek in his hand. “Darlin’, what is bothering you?” he asked. “It’s something more than you being mad that your dad has been helping out at the strip club.”
I sat back and laid my head on the seat. “I don’t know, Zephyr,” I sighed. “I hear you when you tell me that you want to just help me, but then I don’t know what to give you. Kimber told me the only thing you want from me is my time, but that doesn’t seem like a fair trade at all. I get everything, and you get nothing.”
“Lynn.”
I shook my head. “I haven’t had that in my life before, Zephyr. No one has ever just wanted to be with me. It’s always been more of what they wanted from me. Hell, I gave up my childhood to raise Steph. I gave up so much that I don’t know how to do anything else, and then you come along and tell me you don’t want anything but me.” I turned my head, and my eyes connected with his. “Who does that?” I had gotten in the van ready to rip him a new asshole and demand to know who he thought he was. Where did he get the nerve to think he could treat me like that? “Where do you get off being so amazing?”
“God dammit, Lynn,” he whispered. His arm looped around my waist, and he pulled me onto his lap. My knees landed on each side of him, and I straddled his waist. He braced my face with his hands and rested his forehead against mine. “You carry around the weight of the world on your shoulders between your work and your family. I just want to be the person who can take that burden off you. I don’t want you to think that you have to do anything but just be you when you’re with me.”
A lone tear streaked down my cheek. “I’ve never felt I’ve had to, Zephyr. Never once did you make me feel like I needed to give you something.” I closed my eyes. “I don’t know what to do with that.”
His body shook under me.
I cracked open one eye. “Are you laughing right now?” I poured my soul out to him and he just laughs.
He pressed a kiss to my lips. “I sure the hell am. Only you would tell me you don’t know how to act when I’m nice to you.”
I closed my eye. “Well, when you say it like tha
t, I sound dumb.”
He wrapped his arms tightly around me and pulled me flush against his chest. “Far from dumb, darlin’. You’ve got a big heart, and you just want to help.”
I sighed and pressed my lips to his. “I was so mad at you, Zephyr, and now I’m sitting in your creeper van, straddling your lap, and wondering if anyone can see us.”
“See us?” he laughed.
I nodded. “We fought, and now, we need to make up.” I sat back and pulled my shirt over my head.
“Oh,” Zephyr groaned. “You’re a few steps ahead of me, darlin’.” His hands played on my bare waist and a smirk tilted his lips. “But I think we’re on the same page now.” He buried his face in my breasts, and I delved my fingers into his hair.
I sat back, and my ass hit the horn on the steering wheel.
“Holy fuck,” I gasped and jumped out of Zephyr’s lap, landing in a heap on the floor. A topless heap.
Zephyr busted out laughing and tried to pull me off the floor.
“No,” I wheezed. “Just leave me here.”
Zephyr gasped for air and finally got a handle. “You’re the second person today who has had the shit scared out of them right in front of me.”
I managed to get off the floor and pulled my shirt back over my head. “Yeah, well, I hope that was entertaining. I’m obviously not meant for being sexy.” Shoot me now.
“Maybe that was our sign we need to take this back to your place,” he suggested.
Yeah, he was probably right. “In that case, I’ll see you there.” I opened the door to get out, but Zephyr hauled me back in before my feet touched the ground.
“Zephyr,” I gasped. “I’m rather embarrassed right now, and I would just like to sulk back to my car.”
“In a second, darlin’.” His lips pressed against mine, and I melted into him. My embarrassment disappeared and once again, it was just me and Zephyr.
*
Chapter Eighteen
Cold pizza...
Zephyr
“Do you think I should reach out to Steph?”
I glanced at Lynn who was perched on the top of the kitchen counter.
We had just gone two rounds in the bedroom, and we were waiting for pizza to be delivered. I was in a pretty good fucking mood, and then she had to bring up Steph. The one thing I didn’t want to talk about because then I would either need to tell her about what the Kings were using her for, or lie straight to her face.
I leaned on the counter opposite Lynn and sighed.
“What’s with the long face?”
Yeah, I wasn’t about to lie to Lynn. Not after the shitstorm we had managed to wade through earlier. “You know how Quinn and Brick took your sister home a couple of weeks ago when she showed up to your dad’s?”
Lynn nodded. “Yeah. I heard she tried to hit on Quinn, which is just hilarious.”
If only that was all I had to say. “Well, the club is looking to get the meth out of town, and we realized Steph was our in that we needed.”
Lynn tipped her head to the side. “Um, in?”
Yeah, this is where things were about to go sideways. “We used Steph to get to her dealer with hopes that he would lead us to Menace.”
She blinked slowly. “Excuse me? What do you mean you used her?”
“Uh, well, the next time when she went to go score, Core went with her.”
She pointed her finger back and forth in the air. “So Core went with my sister when she went to buy drugs so Core could talk to her dealer.” She swallowed and I could tell she was trying not to get mad. “Did she end up buying drugs?”
“Uh, well, yeah.”
She closed her eyes. “Zephyr,” she whispered.
“But she didn’t keep them. Core took them and then dropped her back off at her place.”
She opened her eyes. “Seriously?”
I nodded. “Yeah. And, as of right now, she doesn’t have a dealer because the one she had has suddenly disappeared.”
She tipped her head to the side. “I’m seeing the tiny sliver of silver lining in this, Zephyr. She didn’t get to keep the drugs?” She was taking this much better than I had thought she would. Except there was one more piece of information.
“Yup.”
“Well, there’s more.”
She dropped her chin to her chest. “Is the more going to make me mad?”
I shrugged. “I really don’t know, darlin’. I mean, we’re taking care of it, but I don’t want to lie to you.”
“Hit me with it,” she drawled. She held up a finger. “First, pour me a drink. I think I’m going to need it.”
I grabbed the bottle of whiskey I had bought and poured her two fingers worth into a glass. She took the glass and held it with both of her hands.
“So, you remember Joseph? Deedra’s informant who ended up getting killed?”
Lynn nodded. “Yeah, of course. It was all over the news.”
“Well, we’re sure that the people who killed Joseph, are the same ones who made Steph’s dealer disappear because they found out he talked to Core.”
“So, he’s...dead?”
I sighed. “We don’t know that for sure, but it’ a good guess. Anyone who seems to know anything they shouldn’t about the Devil’s Rebels winds up dead.”
“Wait.”
Lynn was picking up what I was laying down.
“Are they going to think that Steph ratted on them because she brought Core with her to buy drugs?”
“We already have a guy on her, making sure she stays safe.”
Lynn closed her eyes. “Good Lord, Zephyr.”
“Now, we don’t even know for sure that they are going to try to go after Steph, Lynn. We’re being cautious and making sure that doesn’t happen.”
“You’ve taken the stress off me before I even know that there is stress,” she whispered.
I closed the distance between us and wrapped her in my arms. “I wanted to tell you, darlin’, but I knew you would have stressed out even if I told you not to.”
She sighed and buried her face in my neck. “Can you stop being right all of the time? It’s getting to be a little annoying.”
“You should probably just get used to it, darlin’. I don’t plan on going anywhere unless you’re with me.”
She tipped her head back and pressed a kiss to my lips. “So, you’re keeping Steph safe, and I don’t need to worry about her?”
I nodded. “Yeah. She doesn’t know Brick is trailing her, but he said she hasn’t made a move to find a new guy to get drugs from.”
“So, this is maybe a blessing in disguise?” she suggested.
“Definitely.” There was no way in hell Brick would stand by and watch Steph find another dealer.
“And this could also mean that maybe Steph wasn’t too far gone into the drugs since she isn’t trying to score from somewhere else.”
I nodded and trailed my fingers down her cheek. “You’re taking this much better than I thought you would.”
She pressed her forehead against mine. “I guess I’m leaning into the fact that you’ll never do anything to hurt me.”
“About fucking time,” I drawled. “You lived on the edge of your own sanity for so long, that it’s time you let someone step to the edge for you.”
“And that person is you, huh?” she laughed. “I never would have thought my knight in shining armor rode a Harley and wore leather.”
“And I never thought my girl would have purple hair and just as many tattoos as I do, but here I am in your kitchen waiting on a pizza.”
She looked down at her arms and laughed. “You have way more than I do. Or at least, they cover more expanse than mine do.” She put her hands on the waistband of my jeans. “This one is my favorite, though.”
“Yeah, I kind of picked up on that. Your hands always seem to linger over it.”
She licked her lips and tugged my waistband down. “Can you blame a girl?”
A knock sounded on the door. “Hold that th
ought, darlin’.” I pulled up my boxers and pressed a kiss to her lips. “Pizza is here, and I don’t feel like answering the door naked again.”
A giggle escaped her lips. “I’ll try to control myself.” She raised her hands in the air and wiggled her fingers. “Though I can’t promise how long that will last.”
I grabbed my wallet and pulled out a twenty. “You good with cold pizza?” I asked.
“Uh, well, I guess, but if the pizza is cold, I don’t think you should pay for it.”
I shook my head. “I’m sure it’ll be piping hot, darlin’, but you and I aren’t going to get to it for about an hour.”
Realization dawned on her face. “Oh,” she gasped.
I winked and nodded to the bedroom. “You got about a minute head start while I pay for the pizza.”
Lynn hopped off the counter and pulled her t-shirt over her head. “I won’t need the minute. I’ll be ready and waiting.” She took off up the stairs with her hips swinging and her bare ass showing.
God dammit, I loved that woman.
*
Chapter Nineteen
Starting over...
Lynn
“Hi.”
“Hi.”
I cleared my throat. I had been the one to call Steph, so now I had to talk. “How are you?”
I could hear Steph’s irritation. “I’m fine, Lynn. Why are you calling?”
Why was I calling? I want my sister back. “I was, uh, just calling to see how you are.” There, that wasn’t so hard.
“I’m fine.”
Okay, well, maybe it would be a little hard. “How’s work been?”
“Lynn, what do you want? I don’t have time for some small talk shit.”
I rolled my eyes. That was Steph. While I would bend over backward for just about anyone, she would do anything to be a selfish bitch.
“I want to talk, Steph. I want us to go back to how we use to be with each other.” I didn’t know why that was so hard to understand or why she didn’t want it too.
“Why?”
Sweet Jesus. “Because you’re my damn sister, and I don’t want to lose you over some stupid shit.” There. Maybe a little too harsh, but that was what she got when she kept asking me why.
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