Zero Tolerance (Lost Kings MC 12)

I shouldn’t tolerate it either.

“Bring him Thursday night. We’ll have the whole family here to welcome your father home officially. Won’t that be nice?”

I almost ask, “Will his mistress be attending as well?” but that seems cruel when I know my mother has already suffered enough these last few weeks.

“We’ll see. He’s pretty busy.”

She waves that excuse off. “Too busy to meet his future in-laws?”

“Whoa. Slow down, Mother. I never said that.”

“Lilly,” she starts. Here comes the lecture.

Alex thankfully saves me by slinging his arm over her shoulders. “What’s for dinner?”

She beams up at him. Sure, as the only son, Alex is her favorite. That’s never been a secret. He’s older than me and hasn’t gotten married yet, but you never hear him getting lectured about his ticking clock.

“When are you going to find a good girl and give me some grandchildren?” she asks, patting his chest.

He gives me a pained look. “You have a grandson,” he reminds her.

“I know. I know,” she answers as if she just remembered that little fact.

It’s late when I finally arrive home. Z’s downstairs watching television with Chance curled up next to him on the couch. “He didn’t want to go to bed until you got here,” Z explains.

“Sorry I’m so late.” As irritating as my family is, I find it hard to skip out leaving my mother with a dirty kitchen when I know she has a million other demands of my father’s to meet.

“It’s cool. Everything all right?”

I shrug off my coat and set my purse on the kitchen counter before answering. “Same as usual.”

“Mommy?” Chance whispers.

“Hey, sweet boy. Did you have fun today?”

He nods and yawns.

“You’ll tell me all about it tomorrow, okay?”

“Uh-huh.”

My son’s a warm, sleepy bundle in my arms as I pick him up and carry him to bed.

Z’s waiting outside Chance’s room when I emerge. “You want to talk?”

“Not really.”

He takes my hand and leads me back to the living room. For an hour or so, we watch crappy television together in silence. It’s actually a nice way to unwind after a stressful night.

“Was he okay for you?”

“Yeah, he was great. We had fun.”

“Good.”

“How’d your dad do at home?”

I roll my eyes. “Fine. Demanding as ever.” I sneak a glance at him. “My mother’s having some sort of welcome home thing Thursday if you want to go with me?”

Z keeps insisting he wants to understand me better. Figure me out. Learn why I’m so damn skittish. Well, maybe it’s time for him to have a nice, front-row seat of the mayhem that is my family.

“To your parents’?”

“Yes.”

He heaves out a deep breath and I brace myself for the excuses and rejection.

“Okay,” he says, surprising me. “You’re sure you want me there?” He gestures to his arms, the full sleeves of ink that reach down to the tips of his fingers. I reach over and take his hand, squeezing it gently to assure him there’s nothing unappealing about his appearance. Not to me, anyway. To my parents, yes.

“I’d like you there. I have to warn you though, my parents are…old-world. Intense. Oh, hell, I’ll be honest, they’re rude as hell. And they don’t approve of my “life choices” all that much. Please don’t be insulted if they don’t swoon over you.”

He grins. “I’ll do my best to charm them.”

My eyes water. Everything about Z screams “fuck the world” and yet he’s promising to try and win over my impossible parents.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” He reaches out and rubs my cheek with his knuckles.

“Nothing, I’m tired.”

He holds out his arm. “Come here.”

This time, I don’t protest. I settle against his chest and, within minutes, fall asleep.

Z

I can’t believe Lilly actually wants me to come to her parents’ house with her. We still haven’t gone to the clubhouse yet. I haven’t made an issue out of it and I’m not planning to do some dickhead tit-for-tat move. I don’t want her up there until she’s ready.

“Were you supposed to go to the clubhouse tonight?” she asks on the way over.

“Not supposed to, but it’s family dinner night. Rock started doing it after Teller’s accident. A way to keep him from withdrawing from everyone when he was still having trouble walking, you know? It’s become a tradition now.”

“That’s sweet.” She hesitates and stares out the window. “I’ve always really liked Rock.”

My teeth grind. Is she about to tell me she has the hots for one of my best friends?

“The way he treats Hope, I mean. Her first husband was nothing like that.”

“That’s right. I forget you knew him too. So, it’s not the club that bothers you?” I ask without thinking.

“Bothers me? No, not really. I know it freaks my brother out, but he’s basing that off stereotypes.”

“I’m not that cuddly, Lilly.”

She reaches over and pokes me in the side. “Maybe not to everyone else. But with me and Chance you are.”

I grab her hand and kiss the back of it before letting her go. “Damn right.” I glance over and she’s back to staring out the window. “So, will Alex be here too?”

“He better be,” she mumbles.

I lied. I promised I’d be on my best behavior with Lilly’s uptight-as-fuck parents and keep my big, scary biker attitude in check.

Impossible.

Simply said, Lilly’s parents are assholes.

Before agreeing to this joke of a “family dinner” I probably should’ve warned Lilly that my biker brothers gifted me with the road name of Zero because I’ve always been known for having zero tolerance for bullshit, hypocrisy, and fake people. So far, the night’s been full of all three. My patience has been stretched to the limits.

Her aunts and uncles are as obnoxious as her parents which is really saying something. They spend most of the night speaking in another language, gossiping about me, if the evil looks they keep casting my way are any indication.

I really couldn’t give two fucks what they think about me, but the way they use Lilly as a damn servant while disrespecting her and ignoring Chance sets my blood boiling.

Lilly and I need to have a serious talk about this bullshit. But I won’t cause a scene and embarrass her.

I almost make it through the night. So close.

“You planning to take care of my daughter and my grandson?” her father asks me in a snide way, devoid of an ounce of fatherly concern.

“Yes sir. Although, Lilly can take care of herself perfectly fine.”

He points his knife in her direction, a gesture I don’t care for at all. “Has she mentioned to you that she used to dance naked for money?”

I almost choke. What kind of man takes pleasure in trying to humiliate his own daughter?

Does he think that’s gonna scare me away? I run a strip club, for fuck’s sake. Maybe Lilly didn’t share that information with him.

Her mother clucks her tongue but does nothing to shut her husband up or defend her daughter. No, she makes it worse. “To think of all the money we wasted on those dance lessons for you.”

“Thousands wasted,” her father continues. “For you to work in some filthy—”

Pointing out that the lessons most likely helped Lilly as a stripper probably won’t go over well. It’s damn tempting though.

“Knock it off, Dad,” Alex mutters. “It was years ago.”

Not exactly a strong defense of his sister.

“Yeah,” I answer slowly, picking up my own knife and twirling it between my fingers. “Put herself through school by dancing. It’s hard work. Not many can do it.” I thump the knife on the table, never breaking eye-contact with

her father. “You should be proud of her for being so determined.”

“Proud? For prostituting herself? For embarrassing her family?” he scoffs and bangs his hand on the table. “Where did it get her? Unmarried. No job now.”

“Dad,” Lilly pleads.

I’ve had enough.

No fucking way is anyone talking about my woman…to Lilly…the mother of my son that way. I slap my napkin on the table and stand. “Can I speak to you alone, sir?”

“Z, that’s really not—” Lilly starts.

“No, no. You have something to say, young man?” her father says.

He wants to do this in front of everyone. Fine by me. They’re all assholes anyway. I throw a glare Alex’s way. He’s no better as far as I’m concerned. Fucking coward.