Dammit. I don’t wanna talk about other fuckin people right now. “Rap’s got two broken legs, Smokey’s just banged up.”
She nods and seems happy knowing that.
“Back to our earlier conversation.”
She drops her food. “What do you want, ZZ?”
I hate when she says my road name like that. I like when she uses my real name when we’re alone, and the fact that she used my road name means I need to tread lightly and carefully.
“I want to try.”
How else do I say that or put that? Fuck, she looks beautiful even though her face is all cut and bruised up. Dammit, stay focused you idiot.
“What the fuck does that even mean?” she yells, causing the heart monitor to start beeping loudly, and that little fucker comes over the bed intercom.
“Don’t get her riled up again. Sexy biker or not, I’ll boot your ass outta here.”
And he’s gone just like that.
“What he said.” Storm points to the speaker as she unclips the heart monitor from her finger, causing me to smirk.
“I want to try as in… shit, an us. I want there to be an us.”
“Mason,” she sighs sadly. “Just because I got pregnant and lost our baby doesn’t mean you have to feel obligated to be with me. I’m okay, really. It’s life. It happens. It was early on. I’d barely gotten used to the idea.”
She’s killing me here. I had minutes of the idea of her being pregnant with my kid, and I’m fuckin ripped up about it.
“I don’t get it,” I say turning away.
“Don’t get what?”
I look back at her. “How you can be so okay with this shit. It’s fucked up, Apple. It’s seriously fucked up. Even I fuckin know that!”
“It could’ve been worse, Mason. I could’ve been farther along, could’ve already heard the heartbeat, could’ve already knew the sex of the baby, already seen an ultrasound. I was lucky. I’m a lucky woman to not know that heartbreak. That’s how!”
I gulp, realizing she’s right, but I still want her, and she’s not fuckin understanding me.
“I still want to try. All this fucked up shit aside. I do really wanna try Storm. Just let me try, please.”
“Do you even know what being in a relationship entails?”
A little bit…
“Yeah, I can’t fuck anyone else.” I try to smile and immediately stop.
“See!” She screeches.
“Look, I know what it means okay. Devotion, it takes a lot of devotion. I watched my ma and dad. Do you think Phil ever cheated on Berry? Hell no he didn’t. Why the fuck do you think this shit is scary to me? Living up to being the man he was towards my ma, that shit is scary as fuck! He made it work, I can make it work. He’d attend parties, rides, got fucked up, but he still always made it home to my ma. I can try to do that. I will try my fuckin hardest to do that.”
“Mason,” she whispers.
“Please,” I beg. Fuck, what is wrong with me?
“Okay.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah,” she smiles.
Chapter 19
Storm
Two Days Later…
I was released from the hospital this morning. I took one look in a mirror and cringed. I look absolutely dreadful. I look like a blue and black polka dotted clown. I can’t believe ZZ was all about trying to make things work, especially with me looking like this. But even after I thought about myself that way, he somehow made it better because we’re lying on my bed in the new club building talking.
“What was Tatiana like as a baby?”
ZZ stops rubbing over my bruised knuckles and leans up to look at me. “You really wanna talk about that right now?”
I understand his conflict about me asking because of losing the baby and everything. But I was a lucky woman, and I’m sticking with that.
“Yes, yes I do.”
He smiles at me so warmly, his brown eyes shining like a chocolate sea.
“Fuck, you shoulda seen my ass Storm. I hadn’t even turned fourteen when Mira and her mom came up with a baby in their hands. Mom said she immediately knew by just looking at Tatiana that she was mine. I’m standing there with a rag in my hands from helping dad wash his bike, thinking what the fuck did I do. I mean hell. The bitch didn’t even tell me she was pregnant. That’s what happens when you fuck someone older, and they go to a different school and shit. I thought for sure ma and dad were gonna kill my ass. But ma just took Tatiana out of Mira’s hands, and dad took the birth certificate and other paperwork outta Mira’s mom’s hands and told them to get fucking lost. It was clear as day they didn’t want nothin to do with Tatiana. Fuck, it pisses me off thinkin about it. The first night was the worst night. She wouldn’t stop cryin for nothing. Ma said it was normal and here I am thinkin holy shit, I created a fucking monster. Ma and dad didn’t make me do too much. Ma was worried about my childhood already being tainted by the club anyways, and she wanted me to have a life outside the club too. So she pretty much raised Tatiana, and I was more of a brother for the first few years. You wanna hear something funny?”
I laugh and nod my head.
“I wouldn’t even touch a female again until I was sixteen years old. I was scared to fuckin death that if I even kissed a girl I would knock her up!” He shakes his head smiling. “But when Tatiana started talking full sentences and calling me daddy… it was amazing. I was so young, Tatiana and I would both piss off ma and dad making messes and shit. The first time they left me alone to take care of her by myself, I didn’t know what the hell to do. She kept asking to bake cookies. Do I look like I can bake fucking cookies? No. I get the cookie dough out, and I’m trying to read the directions, which, by the way, was hard with her tugging on my leg screaming for cookies. I open the cookie dough, and I throw some at her. She looks up at me with her big shocked eyes, and then she smiles and starts reaching up for the cookie dough. I break off a chunk of it and hand it to her, and a cookie war fight breaks out. Jesus, you shoulda seen mom’s face when she came home. She was ready to blow up until Tatiana turned around and said, ‘he don’t know how to make cookies mamaw’. Ma immediately softened and ordered me to give her a bath while she cleaned up the kitchen. That was the moment I realized she was mine. She was my daughter. She wasn’t my little sister, and I needed to start acting that way. So every once in a while when Tatiana and I fight, we call a truce by bringing one another chocolate chip cookies.”
Tears slide down my face. I can’t help it. He just shared something so very personal with me. Right now, his head is turned, and he’s just staring off into space with a smile all over that gorgeous face of his. This is why I’ve been drawn to him. Something about his presence just reassures you that underneath all this badass biker is a really fucking hot, sexy, sensitive male waiting for the right woman to make an honest man outta him. My body is so sore from the accident and the D&C, but I don’t care in this moment. I reach up and turn his face back to mine, and his smile disappears when he sees the tears rolling down my cheeks. I give him a reassuring grin as I bring his lips to mine. It’s a soft kiss. His body is hesitant, and I wonder in the back of my mind if it’s because he thinks he’s going to hurt my wounds or my heart.
I pull away and look into his brown eyes. “Thank you for sharing that with me.”
“I…,” he says but is interrupted by his prepay.
“WHAT?” he snaps into his phone. “Are you fuckin shittin me? Oh man, Braxxon is gonna have a fuckin cow when he hears this. Have you fuckin told Winter? Oh fuck, she okay? Yeah man, be right there.”
I try to sit up, and he growls at me, and points his finger. “Don’t fuckin leave this bed. I’ll send one of the prospects up here to watch you.”
“What the hell ZZ?”
“Look, more fuckin Russians are in town. I don’t want you leavin the compound, all right? We have no idea if these Russians are a friend or enemy. We don’t know if they’re from Winter’s uncle or Winter’s mom side. Stay the fu
ck on the compound Storm. I mean it. Please don’t fuckin piss me off. I can’t worry about the three of you while I help figure shit out.”
By the three of us, I’m guessing he means Berry, Tatiana and Me.
“I get that, but why can’t I leave the bed? I’m not on bed rest. I’m just supposed to rest.”
“Fuck, seriously? You just got into a car accident darlin, and you just lost a baby. Your ass is getting catered to whether you like it or not. I understand this is new to the both of us. Let’s just compromise, all right? Let me be the man, and you be the sick woman right now. We’ll figure out how to deal with one another’s shit another time.”
“You mean we’ll figure out how to deal with the man always getting his way another time?”
He smirks. “Such a smart little pussy cat.”
“Awe… such a silly little fucker that seems to forget I have to heal before he can touch me again. I should tack on a few extra weeks, you know for more healing and stuff.”
His cocky ass smirk disappears. “Not fuckin funny darlin, I can withhold too. I have a lovely little gal I call Rosey. Grant you, I haven’t had to use Rosey since I was fifteen, but I’m sure she’ll come outta retirement.”
We can go at it like this for another hour so I decide to give up.
“How about this be one of the things we talk about another time?”
He looks down at his phone to check the time. “You gonna be good?”
“ZZ, go, I’ll be just fine.”
“Storm… don’t do that.” He sighs, looking sad.
“Do what?”
“When it’s just you and me babe, I’m Mason to you, no club, no fuckin hits, no fuckin idiot traffickers. It’s. Just. Us.”
Awe.
“But I don’t like my real name.” I pout.
He starts crawling towards me from where he moved to on the bed. It’s the hottest thing I’ve ever seen. He lays his palm gently on my chest.
“Who are you in here?”
That’s easy, and it takes me no time to answer him. “Storm.”
“Okay then… but when it’s just you and me darlin, I’m Mason, not ZZ. Can you do that for me?”
“I really, really L word you.” I can’t help it, I seriously do. Especially after him saying something like that.
His head tilts to the side and you can tell by the twitch of his lips he’s fighting a smile, and that does things to my insides. Sexy, sexy fucker.
“Give me some tongue baby, I’ve gotta go.”
I love his dirty mouth, so I give him some tongue.
***
Chapter 20
Storm
Winter and I snuck up to the rooftop to be nosey little shits. I shit you not; we even got us some binoculars. We can’t help it we’re bored shitless. Lockdown really does suck, and I can’t really do anything right now. My entire body feels like it’s been run over. There’s a hit on us, so we have to be careful. Winter brought up some pillows for us to kneel down on just so we could peek over the ledge. It’s kind of a rush knowing that if one of the guys sees us up here, we’re in trouble.
“So how did it go this morning? ZZ bringing ya home?”
I look over at Winter and smile. “Really good. He asked me to call him Mason when it’s just us. Like our moments.”
“The Zig Zag is a romantic. Braxxon told me that when ZZ falls, it’ll be hard. Because of how his dad was with his mom. I guess Phil and Berry were the couple around here back in the day.”
That’s good news for me if I can just get him to fall.
“Has he said anything about the other guys?” I ask peering over the ledge with the binoculars. It’s fun; it feels like I’m on a secret mission. It’s stress free stupid fun.
Winter Snorts. “A few of them he has. Braxx was ranting. He got all huffy and puffy and was stomping around one night saying just wait until them motherfuckers fall in love. Just fuckin wait. It was hilarious. He said ZZ will fall hard. Sniper is a romantic and ain’t afraid to show it, so he expects it soon with Sniper. He also said that when it happens to Pyro again… that’ll be intense.” Her voice goes quiet.
“Do you feel like he would be doing wrong by Lana?”
I watch as she bites her lip contemplating my question.
“I don’t feel like he would be doing her wrong. If Lana was here to see him acting the way he is right now? She’d kick his ass. I want him to find love again when he’s ready.”
I peer into the binoculars and spot James picking at his butt. “Look at James,” I squeal.
“Oh man, I hope Berry has him washing his hands before dinner.” Winter laughs.
“It’s fantastic! Thank you for getting me outta bed and bringing me up here.”
“Anytime.”
“Are you nervous about more Russians showing up? Shit, you’re a Russian, but you know what I mean right?”
“Storm, it’s cool. I know what ya meant. Yes, I’m nervous as shit. I don’t see why my uncle wants me dead. I don’t have any ties to the east anymore. I want nothing to do with that shit. But I’m more nervous about meeting my mom for the first time.” She says as starts chewing on her lip again.
“It’ll be fine. She had her reasons right?” I ask while turning to look out towards the other road, stopping and refocusing on one man. “Winter…,” I croak, reaching behind me trying to grab her arm. “Winter. That’s the guy.”
“What guy?”
“Oh my god. What’s he doing here?” I cry, my palms beginning to sweat, my hair on my arms sticking straight up.
“Storm, who are you talking about?”
I don’t look away from him. I can’t. Something tells me not too. He’s just standing next to a car, talking on a cell phone. Oblivious to the fact I’m up here. Which in this case is a good thing.
“He’s the guy that took me from my college campus. I’m sure of it.” I swing back around to Winter, and cringe because my movements were too fast. “He’s the fucker that took me. Why is he here?”
“Don’t fucking move. Keep an eye on him. I mean it Storm, don’t move.” She jumps up, taking off inside the building. I want to tell her I ain’t fuckin moving. That fucking bastard kidnapped me and sold me to a human trafficker. Why the fuck would I move?
I avert my eyes from the sick fuck when I hear shouting coming from the compound. I look down to see Pyro and Sniper following Winter outside of the gates. Oh shit!
My binoculars follow her movements, and I notice Sniper and Pyro trailing a little behind her. What the hell are they doing? The sicko doesn’t even see her coming. I watch her draw her gun as she walks up behind him. When he feels the gun on the back of his head, he drops his phone. She starts walking him back over to Sniper and Pyro, leading him into the compound.
No, no, no, no, no! Don’t bring him in here.
They lead him through the gates and into the old clubhouse, and seconds later my phone rings, and I jump. I drop the spyware and dig my phone outta my pocket.
“Hello.”
“Get down here Storm.” And she hangs up.
I gulp, stand, and make my way down to the clubhouse. The entire time my body is shaking. I know I’m moving slow because I was just in a car accident a few days ago, but I know I’m also moving extra slow because I don’t know what she wants me to do. Knowing Winter, she’s going to make me face my demons. I’m definitely not ready to face my damn demons right now. Why is this place always so damn busy with shit?
When I walk outta the new building, and start making my way across the parking lot, Sniper greets me at the old clubhouse door.
“This the fucker that kidnapped Piper too?” He growls, his knife spinning around in his hand.
“I dunno Sniper. I don’t know. We don’t talk about that shit.”
We don’t. We’ve moved on. What’s there to talk about?
“ZZ’s on his way back.”
“I thought you guys were dealing with the Russians.”
“We are. He’s on his way ba
ck.” He says, opening the door for me.
That was clipped. But my feet don’t wanna move. Hell no they don’t. I don’t wanna go in there. Why do I need to go in there? I’m mentally and physically exhausted. Now I just want my bed.
“Storm, you gotta move those feet darlin.” Pyro chuckles behind me. When I don’t move, he leans down and whispers into my ear, “Ain’t nothin gonna happen to you.” I still don’t move. Pyro’s arms come up around me, and he’s holding a gun. “You see this small lever here?” I nod yes. “Flick that if you want the gun to work. Easy enough?” What? And then I understand as his arms move and the gun is shoved into my back pocket.
I don’t know if it’s knowing the gun’s in my back pocket or if I trust him not to let anything happen to me, but I start moving. When I round the corner, I halt, memories swirling through my brain all at once.
“You’re too pretty to be sitting out here by yourself.” I look up from my laptop to find the geekiest, but sexiest man I’ve ever seen staring straight at me as he takes a seat on the quad bench next to me. I smile at him; I can’t help it. “You don’t need to be pretty and to be sittin with someone to work on your thesis outside,” I quip at the handsome stranger.
He chuckles. “I know this is straight forward, but would you like to go grab some coffee or one of those fancy lattes with me?”
I look around, hesitant to give him my reply.
“Look, we can go around the corner to the college café. Totally your territory.”
I laugh. He’s got a point. What’s the harm with walking around the corner to the café? Plenty of people around, the campus is a busy one.
“Sure, I’d like that.” I say, shutting down my laptop and shoving it into its case. I stand and introduce myself. “I’m Apple, by the way.”
“That’s a pretty name.”
I swoon because every single person I’ve ever met has always had a smart comment to go along with my name. “Thank you,” I reply as we walk.
“How old are you, Apple?”
My name sounds so sweet coming from this man. “I’m eighteen, you?”
“I’m twenty two. And you’re just a young little thing.”
Withstanding Me Page 11
