His words knock the breath out of me.
“It can be tricky,” he continues. “Everyone’s skin is different. Most of this is white and feathery. Here,” he traces his finger over a deeper scar, “Where it’s a little thicker, the ink might not hold as well or heal as perfectly. We won’t know until we try. What did you have in mind?”
“Flowers.”
“Good. Yeah, a mandala or something with straight lines would be more difficult if you want a true cover-up. Flowers, animals, something with color and curvy lines might work better. Any special flower in mind?”
Warmth chases away my embarrassment and uneasiness. “Roses. Red roses. Maybe a sunflower? I thought lilies might be too cliché, you know?”
He chuckles. “Maybe.”
“Bold, bright colors.”
“Definitely.”
I glance down at my arms. “Maybe flowers on one and a sea scene with a mermaid on the other?”
“She’s got the bug now, Z.” He grins at me. “Have a feeling you’ll be in my chair a lot.” A little more seriously, he adds, “I’d be honored if you trusted me with that much of your skin, Lilly.”
Now I’m excited about the possibilities.
“Stop by my shop any time if you want to look through some of my work. I have enough business that I haven’t bothered putting anything online, fucking Instagram, or any of that nonsense.” Bronze glances over his shoulder. “Even though Trinity’s been on me to set up an account and stuff.”
Z laughs. “Girl’s persistent. She’s talked Wrath into a bunch of new promotional stuff for Furious.”
“Thank you, Bronze,” I say.
“No problem. I’ll start working on a few drawings and send ‘em to Z for you to look at.”
“That sounds good.”
“Bronze!” Teller calls out as he strides into the house. He’s dragging a reluctant-looking Carter behind him. “This is my brother-in-law I’ve been wanting to introduce you to.”
Z sort of growls at Teller and I touch his arm. “I’m all set.” I reach out and shake Bronze’s hand. “Thank you so much. I feel really good about this.”
“If you’re not comfortable with me, I can always rec—”
“No, you’re who I want.” I pull my bracelets out of my pocket and slip them on as Teller introduces Carter to Bronze.
“Teller has it in his head that I’d be good at this,” Carter says with a hearty eye-roll. He seems like an awkward mixture of pleased and embarrassed by the attention.
“Hope told me how good your drawings are,” I add to be helpful.
Bronze glances between Teller and Carter. “I’ve been solo forever, but I’m thinking of putting down more permanent roots and might be interested in an apprentice.”
“Rock keeps me pretty busy with custom paint work,” Carter says. “But I’m curious.”
“You must be good if Rock trusts you near his custom work.” Bronze laughs. “You got a portfolio?”
“We’ll catch you later, brother. Thanks.” Z shakes Bronze’s hand and leads me back to the party.
“Poor Carter doesn’t seem too excited,” I whisper when we’re far enough away.
Z shrugs. “Teller loves ragging on the kid, but I think it’s his way of trying to build up his self-confidence, you know? Besides Charlotte, Carter’s family treated him pretty shitty. He’s mouthy, but a good kid.”
“Oh, he’s been wonderful with the little guys. I don’t know what we would’ve done over the last few months without him. I’m going to miss him when he moves back up here permanently.”
Z’s mouth twists. I’ve noticed how stressed he is whenever Murphy and Teller talk about returning upstate. “We’ll figure out something, Z. Hopefully things will settle down soon.”
Z
As much fun as it’s been at Teller’s, more brothers are arriving up at the clubhouse so we decide to move the party up there. The kids are staying here with Carter who promises to call us if he needs anything.
Every single brother from downstate made it to the party. I hadn’t made this event mandatory, but they treated it seriously. There’s no competitive bullshit or harassing the old ladies like when Sway used to visit. Just the guys fucking around and having fun.
As the sun goes down and the party continues, Jigsaw takes me aside.
“I didn’t want to talk about this in front of everyone, but I’m going to head home tonight.”
“Why?” I smirk at him. “Strike out with Mercy?”
He has the nerve to roll his eyes at me. “She’s not exactly my type, bro.”
“Oookay, sure.”
“I’m serious, Prez.” He slaps my chest. “Myra called me. She’s worried about meeting with the district attorney tomorrow.”
“Shit, that’s tomorrow?”
“Yup.”
“You want me to come with you?”
“No, bad idea. We don’t need anyone seeing you at her place.”
He’s right. I still don’t like it. “I don’t want you riding alone tonight.”
“I won’t. Rooster and Steer are riding back with me. Rooster will probably go to Myra’s with me.”
“All right.” Christ, I hope this doesn’t end up an epic clusterfuck.
It’s maybe another half hour of saying goodbye to everyone before he and Rooster take off. Rock calls me over with a head jerk.
Sparky follows me over and slings an arm around my shoulders. “I’m so glad you’re here, brother. The energy in the house has been totally off balance with your bright vitality missing.”
I snake my arm around his neck and give him a squeeze. “Miss you too, Sparky. No one else spouts off the crazy shit you do.”
“Thank you.” He lets go of me and bounces closer to Rock. “Boss, boss, I got that new crop I’m thinking of letting Z borrow.”
“Me?” My gaze zips between Rock and Sparky. “For what?”
“Downstate.” Rock shrugs. “Maybe sling some at Chaser’s crew.”
“You think so?”
Sparky throws his arms wide open. “We’ve been wanting to branch out.”
“If it’s Downstate’s action, not much Loco can complain about,” Rock explains.
“I like it.” I slap Sparky’s shoulder. “What’cha got cooking?”
Sparky raises his hands above his head like he’s spelling it out in neon lights. “Zebra. Sneakers.”
I tilt my head. “Do you come up with this stuff to make me feel like an asshole? How am I supposed to talk that up to Chaser?”
“Welcome to my world, brother,” Rock mutters.
Sparky beams at us. “They got the hook-up with the college campuses out that way. Those pretentious little hipsters will eat it up.”
“I’m sure they will.” Rock clasps Sparky’s shoulder. “What do you have for Loco?” He casts a this-should-be-good look my way.
“Zebra wings.”
Rock raises an eyebrow.
“They’re related strains,” Sparky explains. “One gets you higher faster.”
I cast a look at the sky before smiling at Sparky. “It’s good you got out today, brother.”
“I had the best time.” He gives both of us a sweaty, full-body hug before running off into the woods in the direction of the rowdier partygoers.
When Rock and I finish laughing, I slap his shoulder. “Gee, Prez, surprised you and Hope stayed for the whole party. Figured you’d be back in your house by now.”
He glances over at the girls, talking and laughing around a small fire pit Wrath set out for them earlier. “She’s having fun.”
“Been a rough couple of months?”
“No kidding.” His face morphs into something more serious. “Where’d Jigsaw and Rooster take off to?”
I give him a run-down of Jigsaw’s plan and he nods with approval. “Good. Let’s hope that’s the end of this bullshit.”
“You worried about me, Rock?”
“Don’t be an asshole,” he growls. “You know I hate this fo
r you.”
“Whoa, here I thought being a father would mellow you out some.”
He scratches his head and gives me a half-smile. “Have you always been this annoying?”
“It’s part of my charm.” I glance around and motion Rock closer to the clubhouse. “This was a good day and night.”
“Everyone seemed comfortable,” he agrees. “One big, happy family.”
“Twice now we’ve gotten everyone together without issue. So, it’s Sway and Shadow that must’ve been the problem,” I joke in a low voice not meant to carry on the wind.
Rock snorts and clomps up the front steps. “Must be. Bull too. Remember, he was always starting trouble when downstate visited.”
“None of that bullshit now.” I can’t help the note of pride that creeps into my voice. Sure, earlier, Murphy and Jigsaw had challenged each other to a fight and popped off a few shots, but it was all in good fun and everyone was laughing by the end. Nothing like the time Murphy knocked Bull unconscious and left him behind our dumpster.
We step into the clubhouse and into the office I normally share with Rock and Wrath. My desk’s neat and clean. Almost looks like no one’s ever used it.
“You’ve done a good job, Z. Putting Rooster as your VP was a smart move. Keeping Steer as SAA too. If he has a strong leader to,” he laughs, “steer him in the right direction, I think he’ll do good things.”
“I do too. He’s all about club first.”
“Good. We need that.”
“Think Sway will fuck it all up when he gets out?”
His mouth flattens into a grim line. “It’s possible. He’ll want to swing his dick around and prove he’s the better president. Even if he’s been spoutin’ off all this soul-searching bullshit. Once he’s back in that cut, he’ll miss being in charge.”
“Looking forward to handing his patch back to him, but I’m gonna be pissed if he undoes all the hard work I put in.”
Rock stares at me for a second, then puts his hand on my shoulder. Opens his mouth, then seems to think of something else. “Let’s get you clear of these charges, then we can worry about what we’re going to do with Sway when he’s better.”
My stomach clenches. It almost sounds like he doesn’t think I’ll ever be coming back.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Z
As she promised, Lala spread the word to club girls far and wide that downstate would be ready to party. I don’t want to be anywhere near the place tonight.
Steer’s my SAA and I want to give him the chance to investigate things. If I’m not satisfied, I can always show up tomorrow.
Honestly, I’m partied out. Especially since the charges are still hanging over my head. But it’s been a rough few months and the brothers seem to be enjoying themselves. I don’t want to put a damper on their fun. Not everything’s about me. The brotherhood comes first.
Doesn’t mean I need to stick around and watch bunnies deepthroat brothers like there’s a shortage of dicks on the horizon.
I’m out of here in the next few minutes. Lilly stayed home and I want to be with her way more than I want drunk chicks hanging all over me, begging to suck my cock.
I say good night to Rooster and head for the door.
One particularly slinky chick blocks my path. “Hey, Z,” she coos. “It’s amazing you’re out.”
The way she says it isn’t all that reassuring. Who the fuck is this bitch?
“So, I don’t know if anyone told you, but your woman was real cozy with the big, bearded Irish one,” the girl says. That description could apply to more than one brother in this club, but she helpfully points one of her long, pointy fake nails in Murphy’s direction to clarify.
Since the idea of Murphy cheating on Heidi, touching another brother’s old lady, or betraying me is absolutely absurd, I laugh in the girl’s face.
“Honey, I don’t know who the fuck you are, but you need to watch the shit that comes out of your mouth before you get hurt,” I warn.
“What do you mean, Z?” she whines. “We’ve hung out plenty of times. Before you were shackled down.”
I look her over from head to toe again. My past is plenty colorful and it’s not exactly a secret that I appreciate females in every form. But this one? There’s something not quite right about her and as much as I enjoyed whoring around before Lilly, I usually avoided the ones who gave me the coo-coo vibe. “Where would that be?”
“Down in Arizona. Florida. Couple different places.”
“Haven’t been down that way in a while.”
“Well, it was a few years back. The big Sunshine biker rally.” She pouts. “You really don’t remember me?”
What’d she say her name was? “Jessie—”
“Josey,” she corrects.
Fuck me. This is the one Lilly had a bad feeling about. “Right! Josey, now I remember you.” I flash a smile, hoping a little charm will coax some information out of her. “What have you been up to?”
My gaze scans the room, seeking Steer and not finding his big, shaved head anywhere in sight. Fuck.
“Nothing. I was worried about you. Heard you were in county. That’s no fun.”
It takes balls to walk up to a biker and start asking about any time he’s spent inside. Balls or stupidity. “Yeah, how’d you hear about that?”
She puts her hands up. “I dunno. People were talking about it. I wanted to come see you—”
“I’m glad you didn’t.”
She flinches at my bluntness, but too bad. That’s the last fucking thing I needed. Sure, some inmates are thrilled to have any random woman on the outside come pay a visit. I can’t think of anything more irritating in that situation.
“What’s your last name, Josey?”
She bites her lip and looks away.
Before I get an answer out of her, another girl loops her arms around one of mine. “Hi, Z!” she shouts in my ear, hanging onto me like dead weight. “Welcome home!”
I extract myself from her embrace and put a few inches between us.
“That’s my bestie, Sasha.” Josey leans in. “The three of us used to have a lot of fun together.”
Definitely possible. Still don’t recognize the one in front of me. I glance down at the other one. Maybe she looks a little familiar? Although, clingy has never been my preference either.
“Have fun tonight.” I point in the general direction of Stitch, poor prospect. “Go introduce yourself to Stitch.”
“He’s a prospect,” Sasha whines.
Josey wrinkles her nose. “We came to see you.”
“Well, that’s a shame. I’m not interested.”
“At least come dance with us?” Josey pleads, reaching for me again.
“No.” I shake both of them off.
The clingy one pouts at me. “You used to be a lot more fun.”
Josey glances around the crowded clubhouse. “I don’t see whats-her-face, so what’s the problem?”
It’s no secret club girls can be nasty to old ladies and vice versa. Some bikers enjoy provoking that animosity. Must make their dicks feel bigger or something.
My dick’s plenty big and I’m not letting anyone get away with disrespecting Lilly.
“You need to watch that attitude, Jessie—”
“Josey.”
“I don’t give a fuck.” I’m so done with this. I’ll send Steer over to interrogate them or throw them out. Don’t care which at this point. “You show the old ladies respect, or you can go party somewhere else. Are we clear?”
Someone’s hand lands on my back and I’m about to toss it off and snarl at whoever it is.
“Run along, girls.” Lilly’s sultry voice wraps around me. “My man’s made himself clear.” I reach back and pull her to my side.
Sasha’s already slinking away, but Josey glares in defiance too long for my taste.
“Do I need to have Steer show you the door?” I ask, loud enough that a few people stop and stare.
“Is there a pro
blem, Prez?” Steer rumbles.
Finally.
I give him a where-the-fuck-you-been glare and nod at Josey. “This is Josey. She’s looking to hang with a patched-member.”
He barely restrains himself from rolling his eyes. “That right?”
“No, I was here to see Z.”
“Well he’s busy, darlin’.” He curls one tree-trunk sized arm around her shoulder and yanks her away.
Christ, I’m happy to see Lilly. Although, when I turn and face her, she doesn’t seem to share my joy. “Really fucking happy to see you.”
Her murderous expression softens a bit. “I’d say I’m happy to see you, but I kind of want to throttle you at the moment.”
I blow out a breath. “I was only talking to her because—”
“I know why.” She leans in. “That’s why I didn’t chop off your dick yet.”
“Yet, huh?” I raise an eyebrow. There isn’t a woman in this room who would dare say something like that to me. Only Lilly.
“What did you find out?” She takes my hand and pulls me toward one of the corner bar stools. Unfortunately, tonight she’s wearing jeans that I can’t slide my hands under. Sexy, tight-as-fuck jeans with rips and bits of plaid patches on the legs. Tall, black combat boots that hug her calves that make her legs look even longer and one of my LOKI T-shirts, knotted at the waist.
“You look hot,” I whisper against her ear.
“Focus, Z.” She pushes me onto the stool and leans against me. “Did you learn anything useful other than her cup size?”
“Now you’re just being ridiculous.” I signal one of the girls to bring us two waters. “Where’s Chance?”
“Next door with Teller and Charlotte.” She glares across the room where Steer seems to be giving Josey a vigorous interrogation that she’s not thrilled about. “I wanted to surprise you.”
“You did. I was on my way out.”
“Looked like it.”
“Hey.” I capture her wrists and yank her closer, forcing her to meet my eyes. “Are you fucking around or being serious?”
“I don’t know.” She blows out a puff of minty breath. “She’s been a bitch to me since the first time I met her so I really, really can’t stand her even talking to you. And when I saw her touch you…” Her voice trails off and she shakes her head. “It actually scared me a little how much I wanted to murder her.”
Zero Apologies Page 15
