Zero Hour (Lost Kings MC 11.5)

I lean into her. “We won’t be long. Will you still be here?”

She turns and presses a quick kiss to my lips. Her fingers trail over my cheek and she looks into my eyes. “I’ll stick around.”

5

Epilogue

A few weeks later…

Zero

“How do you feel about taking a vote on Axel today?” Rock asks Wrath and me.

We’re in the office getting ready to sit down for church with all the brothers in a few minutes.

“Seriously?” Wrath asks. “Why now?”

Rock tilts his head and stares at both of us. “Really? You need me to say it?”

Poor Murphy. The bastard’s so hung up on Heidi, there is no fuckin’ way he’s voting her boyfriend into the club. Best we quit wasting Axel’s time now. As nice as the kid can be, he’s always seemed off. The club’s something for him to do, not who he is or wants to be. I don‘t trust him one-hundred percent. Not that I haven’t felt that way about a brother once or twice in the past before they patched-in but this seems different.

“We all know how it’s gonna go down,” I say. “Rip it off now like a Band-Aid.”

“Speaking of pathetic bastards,” Wrath says, looking at me. “Where ya been lately?”

I don’t feel like admitting that I haven’t seen or heard from Lilly in weeks. Here I thought we’d finally worked things out and were in an actual relationship. Surprise! We’re not. Am I gonna discuss it with Wrath? Nope.

I run my hand over the back of my neck and look away. “Taking care of things.”

“What things?”

“Leave him alone.” Rock punches Wrath’s shoulder. Not that it will stop Wrath. He runs his shrewd gaze over me for a second before leaving the office. As I try to follow him, Rock stops me.

“Everything all right?”

“Yeah.”

“Your brother?”

I shrug. He’s asking about one of my dipwad bio-brothers. “Checked him into a new place. Doubt it’ll do much good.”

The look Rock gives me is sympathetic but not pitying. “If you need anything, let me know.”

“Thanks, brother.”

Church ends up being an epic fucking disaster. Teller almost kills Axel, then mouths off to Rock. By the end of the whole fiasco, I’m done.

Out.

And I know just where I’m going.

She can dodge my phone calls. Ignore my texts. But showing up on her damn doorstep has worked before and it’ll work again.

I’m not giving up this woman without a fight.

The ride up to Lake George clears my mind. It’s a crisp, cold fall afternoon. Perfect riding weather. The leaves have all changed to blazing shades of red and gold but haven’t dropped yet. My favorite part of living in upstate New York.

I’m contemplating whether to break into her house if she’s not home. Maybe surprise her by making dinner or something corny like that.

The unfamiliar sedan parked out front? I didn’t expect her to have someone over.

Some dude she’s seeing? Her family? Maybe she got a new car?

Only one way to find out.

I pull right up to the house so there’s no way whoever is inside can’t hear me coming. If Lilly’s as smart as I know she is, she’ll realize it’s me and come outside.

But it’s not Lilly who greets me when I get off my bike.

It’s a fucking shotgun.

“Whoa.” I hold up my hands and back up a few steps from the maniac on the porch. “Easy, man.”

“Who the fuck are you?” The old man shouts. “And what are you doing here?”

A woman comes out behind him, also carrying a shotgun. I glance around. Did I accidentally show up at the wrong fucking house?

Remembering Lilly’s story about the shotgun her brother insisted she keep in the house, I wonder if these are relatives of hers.

“I’m a friend of Lilly’s. Just stopped by to see her.”

The man lowers his shotgun. The woman doesn’t. Smart lady.

“There’s no Lilly here,” the woman says. “Just us.”

“That’s the woman who owns the home,” the guy says to his wife.

“Oh.” She sets her shotgun down. “Sorry. You’re the first person who’s shown up here unannounced.”

“Yeah, sorry about that. So, is Lilly here?”

“We’re renting the house from her.”

Wait, what? We talked about her renting out her house. So she could come live near me. But since she’s not living with me and I haven’t heard from her, I’m not sure what to do with this information.

“Since when?”

The couple stares at each other. “Since the first of the month? House wasn’t listed for rent long.”

“You talk to her?”

“No, we go through a rental company. Talked to her brother about some issues we had though.”

Fucking Alex. I’ll be dammed if I’m going to track that asshole down and beg him for information about his sister.

“We have a number for her,” the woman says.

“That’s all right.” I have her damn cell phone. She never answers it. “I have her cell.”

“No, it’s a work number I think. Hang on.” The woman steps inside and returns a few seconds later and hands me a piece of pink paper with a phone number scrawled across the top. 8-1-8 area code.

“Thanks.” I tuck the paper in my pocket. “Sorry to bother you.”

I wait until I get down the road before pulling into a gas station parking lot. I shut down my bike and take out my phone and the number.

Am I really going to just call her when she obviously skipped town?

What the fuck? We said we would try this relationship thing, and she disappeared on me instead. My pride doesn‘t feel like dialing her new number.

“Fuck it.” I Google the number first. It’s some generic-sounding health sciences company. In California.

California?

This has to be a joke.

A chipper receptionist answers on the first ring. Not Lilly. I clear my throat before asking to speak with her.

“Oh, she’s not in today. Can I take a message?”

“No, thanks.” Before hanging up, I confirm the address of the place and that Lilly works there.

Am I really considering taking a cross-country trip?

The more important question?

What the fuck’s she doing in California?

Zero Tolerance

Z’s first full-length novel.

Zero Tolerance is available February 22nd!

Pre-order it now, so you don’t miss it on release day!

As Vice President of the Lost Kings Motorcycle Club, I’ve spent a lot of years as a hit-it-and-quit-it player only seeking a good time. Willing women are never in short supply.

I never needed any of them for more than one night.

Until I met her.

My perfect woman. Like a damn mermaid, she was beautiful, smart, sexy, and slippery as fuck.

I thought I’d convinced her we’d be good together long-term, but then she disappeared without a word.

Two years.

That’s how long it’s been since I saw her.

Just as I finally moved on, my mythical woman resurfaces.

She forgot to mention one little thing before she vanished.

One small secret growing up into a big lie.

It’s a betrayal too deep to overcome.

I should hate her.

Even though she’s heartbreak wrapped in a seductive package.

I want her more than ever.