Zero Apologies (Lost Kings MC 14)

I roar with laughter and throw my arm around her shoulders, steering her to the door. “Fair enough.”

As we make our way downstairs, she tells me about her brother’s visit. I raise an eyebrow. “Sounds civil.”

“Yeah, I was shocked.”

Maybe it’s the outlaw in me, but I don’t trust that Alex is suddenly okay with my presence in Lilly’s life.

Chance is just waking up when we check on him. That makes it a lot harder for me to leave him and go to the clubhouse. I want nothing more than a quiet night at home with my family.

But it will have to wait. Somehow, this was easier when I was vice president. I didn’t have a choice when Rock called my ass to the table. I also didn’t have a family waiting at home for me.

Now, I find myself wanting to put off the meeting. Because I can. Because I’m the president and whatever I say goes. And that’s a slippery slope I shouldn’t touch my wheels to.

“Come on, buddy, let’s go find Uncle Rock.” I pick Chance up and he wraps his arms around my neck, “helping” me find the others.

Everyone’s at the dining room table talking. Hope and Trinity stand and make excuses to go help Lilly. Really, I think they know I need a minute.

Rock reaches up and pats Chance’s back. “How you doing, buddy?”

“Otay,” he mumbles against my shirt.

“Ready?” I lift my chin at Rock.

Rock glances at Chance again. “Whenever you are.”

Rooster claps me on the back. “Priest wants to chat with you.”

“I’m surprised he hasn’t shown up.”

Rock shakes his head. “He’ll want to stay far away from this.”

I pin Jigsaw and Rooster with a give-it-to-me-straight look. “What’s the mood in the clubhouse?”

Rooster seems to think on the question before answering. “From what I’ve observed, and everyone I’ve talked to, brothers are behind you one hundred percent.”

That’s a relief. I’m painfully aware I’m still new to their club. It would be a huge sign of disrespect, but not a surprise, if they tried to vote me out while I was inside.

“No votes were called?”

“Fuck no,” Jigsaw laughs. “Everyone wanted an update. Asked if they could pitch in.”

“Rock gave me daily updates,” Rooster says. “And I passed what information I could to the club.”

Chance squirms and wriggles so I set him down.

“I’ve got him, Z,” Lilly says softly, stepping into the room to grab Chance and then back out.

Jigsaw waits until she’s gone to speak. “Suds said a cop stopped into the laundry mat asking questions but you know him, he ain’t talking to anyone.”

“What kind of questions?”

“Same pesky shit cops are always asking. ‘How’s the club without its leader?’ ‘Gonna replace him?’ ‘Who’s taking care of his baby mama while he’s inside?’ Stupid shit like that.”

“Wait, they asked about Lilly?” I ask in a low voice not meant to leave this room.

“Not by name. They were just being stupid. Suds told ‘em to fuck off.”

I glance at Rock and he’s watching me intently. “What do you think?”

“Cops have gone after old ladies for information before. It’s not a surprise they might be trying to figure out if you have one,” he says weighing every word.

“All right.” I curl my hand around the back of one of the dining room chairs so hard it might snap. “Let’s consider this a code 1512. Old ladies are not to wear their patches unless they’re inside the clubhouse. Only use their road names in public. If anyone asks a brother about his old lady or shows unusual interest in our women, let me know right away.”

Rooster stares at me as if I’ve lost my fucking mind.

I glare right back. He should know better than anyone why I want to be careful about anyone asking questions about Lilly. “Something you want to say, VP?”

“Nope. Code 1512, I’ll pass it around. How long?”

“Until my case is dropped or they lock me in a cell.”

He shakes his head. “Shit.”

Rooster and Jigsaw go ahead to round up the brothers so everyone will be at the table when I get there. Rock, Wrath, Teller, and Murphy stay behind.

Wrath stands and slides the glass doors between the dining room and the rest of the house closed. “Haven’t called a code 1512 in years.”

I tip my head at Rock. “When he was inside, we took turns looking out for Hope, Trinity, and Heidi. Now…we’re spread out farther. I can’t keep asking you guys to come down here and look after—”

“You didn’t ask.” Rock sits up and taps the table in front of me. “You don’t have to ask.”

Wrath’s still standing in front of the door with his arms crossed over his chest. “Lilly’s not patched, though.”

Like I need the reminder. He’s not saying it to be harsh, at least I don’t think so. “I can’t have it be too obvious that she’s what I’m worried about.”

“Doesn’t matter,” Teller says. “Z’s made Lilly’s status clear at the clubhouse. More than once. Brothers shouldn’t be gossiping about our women with outsiders anyway.”

“True.”

“All right. Let’s go.” Wrath moves to open the door but I stop him with a hand on his arm.

“Thank you for being here. You’re already short at Furious since I’ve had Murphy and I know you’ve probably been covering for Rock too.”

“Don’t have to thank me, brother. We just need to get you out of this mess.”

Murphy and Teller follow him out. Rock stops in front of me. “You ready to talk to Priest?”

“Yeah, just gonna tell him what I know. About the charges,” I clarify and lower my voice. “He doesn’t need to know about the senator.”

“No, he doesn’t. Not his concern.”

“How’d it go dealing with Rooster, Jigsaw, and the rest of them?”

“Kept in contact with Rooster the most. Jigsaw stopped by a few times.” He cocks his head. “What’re you looking for?”

“After Shadow, I’m not sure I trust anyone.”

“That’s a bad road to start down. I think Rooster’s more than proved himself to you.”

“Yeah, I know. I can’t help feeling like I’m missing something.”

“Shadow rattled you. But don’t forget, your instincts about him were right from day one.” He glances toward the door. “None of us got a good vibe from him.”

“True.”

“Listen, now that you’re out, we have a reason to celebrate. Why don’t we invite all the downstate brothers up to our place for a party? Mingle the two charters some more. Give everyone a chance to interact when things aren’t so tense.”

“You sure you feel like hosting that?”

“I’m not hosting shit.” He laughs. “I’ll ask Dex to take care of it.”

“That poor bastard.”

“He needs something to keep his mind occupied.” He seems to think about it more. “Maybe we’ll do just a closer family thing down at Teller’s place in the early afternoon, then move it up to the clubhouse? Make downstate feel more at home with us?”

“You’ll need to clear that with Teller. I’m not asking to borrow his house

.”

“Don’t worry about it.” He goes back to the serious, presidential vibe. “You need to get a handle on the situation with local law enforcement down here. Rooster didn’t know. Says Sway handled it.”

“Shit, Rock. That’s the first thing I should’ve found out when I got down here.”

He slaps his hand on my shoulder and squeezes, forcing me to meet his eyes. “You’re probably right. But it’s usually the VP’s job.”

“I can’t blame everything on Shadow. You handle a lot of our LEO relationships at home.”

“Yeah, because I have connections to certain people I’ve known a long time. That go beyond bribes and before the club.” He pokes me in the chest. “You handle a lot of other bullshit that I don’t. Who the fuck knows what Sway’s arrangement was with Shadow? As far as I know, he was tight with the sheriff down here, but that was years ago.”

“Which is why, instead of fucking around with Stella’s production schedule, I should’ve figured out who’s friendly to us down here and paid a visit. Fuck, Rock. After Malone’s burned down and those cops showed up, it’s the first thing I should’ve done.”

“You had a brother get shot that night. You’ve been dealing with Sway in the hospital. All the bullshit with Shadow and the problems he caused.”

I growl out a noise that’s somewhere between pissed-off biker and whiny toddler.

“And,” he continues, ignoring me, “you had some personal matters that needed to be taken care of. You’ve been busy. After church and your call to Priest, you’ll go talk to Sway and see what’s up.”

“Yeah, all right.”

“You’re too old to pout, Z.”

I laugh, but it’s cut off when I remember all the shit Rock’s already done for me lately. “Thank you.” I tilt my head toward the living room. “For staying with them. I know how stretched thin you are upstate. This is a mess and I’m sorry it’s making things even harder on you.”

Rock’s never been good with accepting compliments or gratitude. He shakes off my thanks with a shrug. “Got to spend more time with Hope and Grace than I would at home, honestly. So, I’m not complaining.” He glances at the door. “Lilly did well. I was worried she’d fight me on not going to visit you, but she understood right away.”