Zach

by Lilly Atlas

  “And I’m staying until the morning.”

  “Okay.”

  “And you’re going to come a few more times before the night is over.”

  She smiled. “What about you?”

  “I’m hoping you’ll let me come too.”

  Toni laughed at that. It was rare to spend time with a man who both blew her mind and made her laugh. “I’ll think about it.”

  He stepped into his shorts. “Go get into bed, baby. Leave the door unlocked for me. I’ll be there in ten minutes. I just want to chat with the prospect outside your house and send him home for the night since I’ll be there.”

  It was even rarer to find a man who blew her mind, made her laugh, and cared about her safety. His concern made her a little warm and gooey inside.

  “I’ll be waiting.”

  He disconnected the call and Toni blew out a breath.

  Did that really just happen? Did she really just stand butt naked in her window and finger herself to completion?

  She shivered as a blast of air-conditioned air blew on her from the overhead vent. Yep, she had stood naked in the window. And she had climaxed. And she’d watched Zach do the same.

  A huge smile hit her face. It had been the most fun she’d had in a while.

  Her phone rang and butterflies flitted through her stomach. What other instructions did Zach have for her? “Yeeess?” she answered while still peeking through the window. “You better not be calling for a naked pic to get you through the next ten minutes.” Toni laughed as she tried to make him out in his now darkened room.

  She expected to see Zach, but he wasn’t anywhere in sight. With a shrug, she started down the hallway toward the master bedroom.

  “Zach?” she asked when silence greeted her.

  “That didn’t take long, did it?”

  Toni’s steps faltered and she bobbled the phone. “Chris? Why the hell are you calling me?”

  Where seconds ago, strolling through her home naked felt sexy and freeing, she now felt the fierce need to be covered. Toni darted into her room and stuffed her arms into her robe. “I asked you a question,” she said as she belted the robe.

  Chris’s huff of laughter infuriated her. “I was calling to see if you’d come to your senses and decided to return to me.”

  Seriously? Why couldn’t he take the hint and leave her alone? Actually, there wasn’t even a hint for him to grasp. She’d flat out told him to leave her alone the last time they spoke. When he issued that vague threat she’d all but forgotten about. Something with regards to doing things the easy or hard way.

  What a drama queen.

  “Chris, I’m going to say this one last time, then I’m hanging up, okay? We are over. And if there was any question about that, I think calling me a slut and telling me you only want me so you can advance your career sealed that coffin shut tight.”

  She was about to hit end when he spoke. “So you’re fucking him, then? The biker?” Disgust dripped from every word.

  “Don’t see how my personal life is any of your business anymore, Chris. Are we done here?”

  He snickered and she wanted to reach through the phone and strangle him. Normally, she wasn’t prone to violent fantasies, but his laughter grated across her nerves like coarse sandpaper. He thought he was so superior. What a self-important jerk. How had she not seen that while they were dating?

  “I wouldn’t be so quick to dismiss me, Toni. I plan to make partner in your uncle’s firm no matter what I have to do. I emailed you something I’d like you to take a look at. I’ll call you again in a few days and we can discuss when you’ll arrive back in Chicago.”

  “Of all the misguided, egotistical, arrogant shit I’ve ever heard—”

  Her phone beeped three times.

  “Chris?” She held it out and stared at the screen. He’d hung up. “Asshole,” she muttered.

  Her front door slammed.

  “I’m here, beautiful. You better be naked with those sexy legs spread by the time I get to your room or your punishment will be severe.”

  Zach’s voice made her smile. She placed the phone on her dresser. No way in hell would she let Chris ruin this night for her. Whatever garbage he’d sent her could wait. Forever, if she had her way.

  As fast as possible, she slipped out of her robe and dashed to the bed. Flopping back on a pile of pillows, she managed to draw up her knees and widen her legs seconds before Zach appeared in the door.

  Part of her had wanted to disobey his orders and find out exactly what he viewed as punishment. But that could wait for another time.

  Another time. Toni stared at him as he walked into her room. It was time to give into the fact that this would be occurring again. No matter that she knew it shouldn’t.

  “Fuck me,” he said, and her core clenched at the raw appreciation in his eyes. He stalked toward the bed like a predator ready to pounce. Tossing a strip of condoms on the foot of the bed he groaned. “You ready for this, baby?”

  Toni winked. “Bring it on.”

  Chapter Twenty

  Zach was in her shower.

  Because he’d slept in her bed.

  Because they’d finally stopped making love—having sex—somewhere around three in the morning. And what was the point of him going home at that hour? Right? He had to be at the clubhouse by nine, and she’d planned to swing by the diner at the same time. That left precious few hours of sleep and it would have been pointless to send him home for what amounted to a long nap.

  These were the excuses running through her mind as Toni watched the coffee drip into the pot. All very flimsy excuses when the reality of the situation was she hadn’t wanted him to leave. He felt so wonderful spooned all around her after they’d finally collapsed, sated and sleepy.

  She should be exhausted. The lack of sleep should have had her stumbling around like a zombie. Instead, her body hummed and zinged with anticipation of what was next. Must have had something to do with the number of times he’d made her come the previous night—and once when they first woke up.

  With a huff, Toni strummed her nails on the countertop. She needed something to occupy her until the coffee percolated and Zach finished up in the shower. It was either that or hop in there with him and start the process all over again. Fun, but not the wisest choice if she wanted any chance of keeping some distance between them.

  It was becoming harder, no pun intended, to be with him and remain detached. A sex-only thing wasn’t going to work for her. Not when he was sweet, and funny, and seemed to genuinely care for her. And that sex? Well, it was off the charts. So much so that she found herself replaying it over and over, then fantasizing about what was to come.

  And there in lie her biggest concern. She didn’t have the greatest track record making sound decisions when her body was in charge.

  The coffee maker beeped twice and Toni poured herself a steaming cup before settling at the kitchen table. Sometimes she doctored it up, but today was a black coffee kind of day. Nothing to dilute the caffeine. Maybe it would wake her mind up enough to clear it of its sexy cobwebs.

  While she waited for Zach, she powered up her laptop and skimmed through neglected emails. It’d been at least three days since she’d even checked them. A few messages awaited from the school district she worked for. The reminder of that part of her life gave her an uneasy feeling. With each passing day, she felt the desire to return to her life and job in Chicago fading away. The time in Tennessee had been wonderful. She’d found a passion for running the diner and seemed to be performing well, if the steadily crowded tables were any indication.

  Decisions had to be made, and soon, as the summer was moving full-steam ahead. But nothing had to be decided in that moment. She bypassed the work emails and then her eyes landed on a message from Chris.

  Shit.

  How could she have forgotten?

  Lots of orgasms, that’s how.

  “What do you think you have that will make me come running back to you, jerk?” sh
e asked aloud as she clicked open the email. It consisted of a short message and a video attachment. Unease slid through her. A video?

  Toni,

  The school district would love a copy of this. So would everyone in your shit town. You’ll be sorry if you mention this to Mark. Shit like this goes viral in a heartbeat. Come home and convince Mark to make me a junior partner.

  See you back in Chicago soon. You have three weeks to return home.

  -Chris

  Fear turned her blood to ice while she stared at the unopened attachment. Chris had something. Something big. Something that would bring her running back to Chicago. “Please don’t let Mark have done something stupid or illegal,” she whispered. She’d do damn near anything to protect her beloved uncle.

  Her finger hovered on the trackpad, but she couldn’t make it click the video.

  “Just open it,” she muttered then clicked. A video screen filled the monitor and Toni stared in horror at what played before her.

  “No.” She shook her head as her eyes flooded with tears. “No, no, no. This can’t be happening.” She tried to close it, but her hand was shaking so badly she couldn’t control the cursor.

  Unable to turn away from her nightmare, Toni’s hand flew to her mouth, knocking her coffee mug to the floor in the process. The clatter made her jump so violently, she fell off the chair and onto the floor.

  She kicked out at the chair and scrambled backward as though a million spiders were coming out of the laptop and gunning for her. When her back hit the cabinets below the sink, she burst into heaving sobs.

  “Toni?” Concern laced Zach’s voice as his footsteps moved down the hall. “I heard a loud bang. You okay?” He stopped dead in the entrance to the kitchen. “Fuck, baby what’s wrong?”

  Toni couldn’t speak around the hysteria coursing through her. As Zach started to kneel beside her, her stomach lurched and she shot to her feet, shoving him out of her way. Managing to position herself over the sink just in time, she lost whatever little coffee she’d drank that morning.

  Zach rubbed her back. “Shit, baby, what’s wrong? Are you sick? Did, fuck, did I hurt you?”

  Toni wiped her mouth and slid back down to the floor. She couldn’t speak, couldn’t process, couldn’t even think. Terrible memories that she’d worked so hard to move past descended on her like a category five hurricane. She’d have to return to Chicago.

  Chris would win. No one could be allowed see that video. She dropped her head to her knees and let the tears fall.

  “Toni?” Zach’s voice was starting to sound panicked. “What can I do for you, baby? Are you hurt? Do I need to call an ambulance? I think your phone is on the table.”

  He spun toward the table.

  Toni’s heart stopped. The video still played on the open laptop screen. He was going to see the very worst, most humiliating, and degrading moments of her life.

  “No!” she cried crawling toward the table, but it was too late.

  Zach’s arms dangled at his sides and his face was an ashen mask of confused fury. “What is this?” he whispered before screaming, “What the fuck is this? Is that fucking Shark?”

  Oh God. He knew Shark.

  Were they friends?

  No one knew. Her parents had been so mortified by her behavior they kicked her out and never spoke of it. Mark would never betray her trust by telling her secrets. The Gray Dragons gang operated in a different county. It had been rare for any of them to be seen in Townsend, so no one from her younger days even knew about her association with Shark.

  This was the first time she’d returned home since Mark rescued her from herself. No one was ever supposed to know about this. Did the MC know? Had things changed so much in the years she’d been gone that the MC and Shark’s gang were now connected?

  “Fuck,” he spat out, pacing away from the computer then returning and pointing at the screen. “This is the motherfucker who has Maverick. That piece of shit that has his hands all over you? He fucking kidnapped my brother.”

  Toni felt her world unraveling. The room started to spin out of control and bile climbed up her esophagus again. She sprang up, turned to the sink, and dry heaved since there was nothing left to lose.

  Only there was. There was so much to lose now.

  And one of those things was standing three feet away, witnessing her greatest sins.

  How would Zach ever be able to look at her with anything but revulsion?

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Anger was his first reaction. A deep, soul-staining anger. The kind of rage that made men do stupid things. Like commit murder. And if Shark was in the room, that’s exactly what would have happened.

  The image of Shark fucking Zach’s woman would be branded onto his brain forever. And he’d thought getting the Hell’s Handlers logo burned into his skin was painful. It was nothing compared to the agony of watching a woman he cared about being fucked by his enemy.

  He was so close to the edge, so close to losing it, he missed what was going on behind him. Then, the sound of Toni retching broke through the red haze, and Zach realized something was very wrong. For her sake, he used every bit of self-control he possessed and pushed the fury aside. He needed answers and losing his temper wouldn’t get them. At least, not without scaring the shit out of Toni.

  Once he quieted the beast inside him, a few things became clear. First, was that the Toni in the video was a very young Toni. This was filmed years ago. Second, was that she looked drugged out of her mind. Glassy, unfocused eyes stared at nothing and she barely reacted to what was happening to and around her. And third, his Toni had her slender arms wrapped around her drawn up knees and was rocking back and forth on the floor. She was so freaked out by the video that there was no way that what had happened on it was something she’d been okay with.

  He looked back over his shoulder. The video must have been on some kind of loop because it launched again. On the screen, Toni was naked and lying on a bed surrounded by three men. Shark was the only one Zach recognized, and he seemed to be running the show, but all three had the Dragons’ signature tattoo on their left hands. And all three had their fucking hands on Toni.

  They groped, pinched, fondled, and made lewd laughing comments throughout. Toni’s eyes remained open, but she wasn’t an active participant. And for Christ’s sake, she couldn’t have been older than seventeen.

  Fuck.

  For some sick reason Zach couldn’t tear his gaze from the screen. Not even to go to Toni. She needed comforting and he needed answers, but it was as though he was trapped, weighed down by lead boots that wouldn’t let him escape the horror show playing out before him.

  When it became obvious Shark climaxed, Zach’s fists curled and his nostrils flared. He was going to personally tear the man’s dick off. And he’d revel in every second of Shark’s suffering.

  When Shark stepped away from Toni and some other fucker positioned himself between her legs, Zach hit his limit. With a roar, he slammed the laptop lid closed hard enough to crack the screen. Then he spun and froze at the sight of Toni.

  His heart clenched as though a man’s fist was squeezing the life out of it. His woman sat in a devastated ball on the floor, eyes closed, with silent tears streaming down her face.

  And she was his woman. She may not be ready to hear that now, but she’d get there. He’d make sure of it.

  “Baby,” he said in a soft voice so as not to cause her any more upset. “Come on.” Bending down, he scooped her up. She jumped, but settled quickly, tucking her head under his chin. This was where she belonged. Right there in his arms where he could stand between her and the world.

  That she didn’t fight him carrying her through the house and outside to the front porch was telling. Toni wasn’t a weak woman. She’d handled her parents’ unexpected death without blinking an eye. She took over the diner and house, settled well into a new area, and managed a bunch of bikers without a second thought. To see her so broken fucked with his head and sealed Shark�
�s fate. His raping buddies’ as well.

  When he sank down to a rocking chair with her on his lap, she tried to pull away, but he held her close and rubbed a hand up and down her back. “Shh, just relax, baby.” All she wore was his T-shirt from the night before and he had nothing on but his jeans. The moment was quiet, intimate, peaceful, and after a few minutes she relaxed into him. It would have been a perfect way to spend the morning if they didn’t have a tough conversation looming over them like a dark storm cloud.

  They sat in silence for a while, Zach holding her and gliding the chair back and forth with his foot.

  “Can you tell me?” he asked after a while. The need to know more clawed at him, overshadowing the brief peace they’d found.

  Toni nodded against his chest. “You know who my parents were. Very conservative, closed-minded, prejudiced against everyone who wasn’t exactly like them. Did you know they were terrified of your father?”

  Zach huffed out a laugh. “I knew. They called the cops on him at least three or four times a year for stupid shit.”

  Toni traced her finger over the Handlers’ emblem, scarred onto his forearm. “Yeah, they were convinced he was going to break in and rob us blind one night.” She scoffed. “They were paranoid like that about the entire MC or anyone who looked like what my mom called a hoodlum. Anyway, their views led them to keeping me on a very tight leash. Once I hit middle school, I wasn’t allowed to go to birthday parties, to the mall with friends, no after-school activities, definitely no dating. Basically, I wasn’t allowed any normal teenage activities. Friends weren’t even permitted at the house, and I could never go to their houses, either.”

  “Must have been tough.” As she spoke, Zach snaked his hand under her T-shirt and stroked her soft hip. It seemed to have the desired effect as she stayed pliant and relaxed against him.

  “Did this hurt?” She drew a circle around his scar with her index finger.

  “Like a sonofabitch, babe,” he said, giving her hip a gentle squeeze.

  That got a small chuckle out of her. “Once I hit high school, I rebelled. Hard core. Sneaking out, smoking, drinking, having sex. I refused to have anything to do with the diner and I specifically chose a rough crowd that my parents despised. Looking back on it now, I see how stupid and disrespectful I was, but I was so angry at them all the time. And I was young and unequipped to make wise decisions.”