Zain

by Monroe, Evie

  Once inside, we crouched down in a stairwell that led both up and down, listening for sounds. We heard someone moving around and strains of music coming from upstairs. Viktor motioned up that way with his chin, and I nodded and slid up the stairs.

  I poked my head out the door on the second floor and noticed a light coming from under one of the doors. An old manufacturing building, the second floor was strewn with garbage and looked like the old offices for management. The three of us crept down the hallway, toward the light. I pressed up against the wall outside the door and listened.

  “Scar says they ain’t gonna try nothing tonight,” a guy said. “They ain’t stupid. We got the numbers on them.”

  The other guy said something back that I couldn’t make out.

  Then the man started to walk out, and I realized he was just a kid. Maybe sixteen—eighteen? He got part of the way down the hallway when Viktor grabbed him from behind and held a gun up to his head.

  I grinned at him. “Guess we are stupid, motherfucker,” I mumbled, making sure the other guy hadn’t come out, too. “Take us to the girl.”

  “What girl?” he said, his voice strangled by Viktor’s big arm braced around his neck.

  I made the motion like I was going to knee him in the balls. “Don’t give me that shit unless you want a broken neck.”

  He swallowed. “Okay. Okay. I’ll take you there.”

  He led the way down the dark hallway to a room in the back of the warehouse, stumbling every so often. Every time he did, Viktor kicked him. When the door was in view, the first thing we saw were two men standing outside. They leveled their guns at us.

  Before I could react, Viktor fired off two rounds, hitting each one squarely in the chest.

  He was a damn good shot.

  Then, as if in slow motion, all hell broke loose.

  People yelled and came running. The kid who’d led us to the room took one look at his dead friends and wheeled on us, trying to fight, so I put a bullet in his head. Some guys appeared in the hallway, but Hart started shooting, motioning at me to go forward. “I got this. Go get the girl.”

  Viktor and I lunged forward toward the room the men had been guarding.

  Before we got there, I heard her. A little girl’s hysterical sobs.

  I tried the door. Locked. I shot at the doorknob, splintering the wood and pushed the door open.

  Alena was sitting there, on an old mattress, in her nightgown. Her cheeks were red and wet with tears. I bridged the distance in a single step and scooped her up. “You okay Alena? They hurt you?”

  She shook her head and looked behind me. “Daddy?” she asked, hardly able to believe the two of us showed up together. “Daddy!”

  She reached out her arms to him, and he snapped her up. She wrapped her arms and legs tightly around the big man. The look he gave me surprised the hell out of me. I think it was gratitude.

  “Go!” I said to him. “I’ll cover you.”

  We headed out to the front, down the stairs, and out the door we’d come in. As we got to the courtyard, more gunshots rang out. I felt them close, whizzing by my ears, the bullets burying themselves in the brick façade of the old building behind us.

  “Keep running!” I shouted at Viktor, who never stopped. I got behind the wall and started to shoot, blindly, not sure who the hell I was up against.

  I got off a few more shots, stopped to reload, and when I looked again, Alena and Viktor were gone. They’d escaped from the courtyard.

  Good.

  But the shooting just kept going on, into the night. And I was more than ready to give every one of these Fury motherfuckers their due. Once and for all.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Sasha

  I’d had some pretty terrible nights before. Nights when Viktor was gone, and I was alone with Alena. I had no escape and wondered if I’d ever have a life that Viktor didn’t control for me.

  But I never thought there’d ever be a night as long as this one.

  I sat on the sofa at the clubhouse with some inane reality show on television. I couldn’t focus on it, instead, I twisted the locket around my neck that Alena had given me as a Mother’s Day present last year. It was the one that had a tiny baby picture of her inside, taken in the hospital when she was small and wrinkled. I could still remember peering into the bassinette at the hospital and thinking that my life was changed forever, and in a good way.

  Tonight, I had that same feeling. But I couldn’t tell which way things would go—good or bad. I trusted Zain and knew Viktor would do everything possible to save Alena, but some things were out of even their control. I think that was what scared me the most.

  All I kept thinking was that it didn’t matter whose fault it was. I was her mom, and it was my duty to look after her. If anything happened to Alena, I’d never forgive myself.

  And of course, I worried about them. Not just Zain, but Viktor, too. Finally, I understood why he’d kept his business from me. Kept me so sheltered. Not just because he wanted me safe; he wanted to spare me the stress of it all.

  So was it silly for me to fall into more of that danger with Zain? Maybe involving myself with a motorcycle club and being Zain’s girlfriend? Would I always be worrying about him, as long as we were together? Would I learn to depend on him and fall for him only to have him taken from me?

  Oh, well, Sasha. Too late. You know you’ve already fallen for him, a little voice in my head said.

  That was true. I was in love with Zain. And that scared me.

  As I waited at the club, the door opened and a young woman with strawberry blonde hair appeared, holding a sleeping child in her arms. “Hi!” she greeted me. “Are you Sasha?”

  I nodded, confused as she came up close to me and laid the sleeping kid down on the sofa beside me. I stood up to give her more room as she said, “I’m Grace. Cullen’s girlfriend.” she said with a smile. “You know, he’s the president here.”

  “Oh,” I said, too shocked to say more. So he had a girlfriend.

  “Yeah, Cullen called me and told me what happened. I’m so sorry. I thought if it was Ella here, I’d be freaking out,” she said, motioning to her daughter and covering her with a blanket.

  I switched off the television set, and we moved to the other side of the clubhouse to let the girl sleep.

  “So I decided to keep you company. You don’t mind?”

  I smiled. She was so sweet. It was hard to believe that big, tough ball of testosterone and tattoos had such a nice and pretty other half. “That’s so nice. And yes, I’m going crazy with worry.”

  She nodded, her face so full of sympathy, one would think her own child had been kidnapped. Then she wrapped her arms around me in a big, comforting hug. I slumped against her, wanting to cry. It was exactly what I needed at that moment.

  “Hell’s Fury are awful,” she said when she let go. “They’ll get their due. The men will make sure of it. I have no doubt. And they’ll get your daughter back. I’m sure of it.”

  The confidence in her voice made me feel a lot better.

  We sat down at the table at the front of the clubhouse. “Good. Anyway, the other girls’ll be here soon.”

  “Other girls?”

  What happened next surprised me. Over the next half-hour, a number of women arrived at the clubhouse, turning the place into a party. There was a willowy blonde named Liv, whose pregnant belly was so big, I thought she might give birth at any moment. She introduced herself as Nix’s girlfriend. Then there was a pretty redhead named Cait, Drake’s girlfriend, and Roxanne, her mom. Next, a girl with dark brown hair and eyes named Charlotte, who was Hart’s girlfriend. And last, a woman with a dark ponytail, named Nora, who was Jet’s girlfriend.

  There were so many of them!

  Each time one of them arrived, Grace would give her a big smile and say, “Oh look! Hi, so-and-so!” and then she would whisper a little bit about whoever it was, before giving each of them a warm hug. When Nora arrived, she whispered, “She’s the
most brilliant surgeon. If any of our people are hurt, she’ll take care of them.”

  “Oh,” I whispered, impressed, feeling better yet.

  They all seemed to know each other and gave each other hugs. After Grace introduced each woman to me, it was the same. They would all express their sympathy and give me a hug, too, like I’d already been inducted into their group. The family.

  Before long, it was a regular party. Some of them had brought things to eat, and one of the women had brought a few bottles of wine. I wasn’t hungry, but I did have a glass of wine to calm my nerves. As they all chatted, it was clear to me they’d been through things like this before, and they often got together when their men were out fighting.

  Maybe it was that I hadn’t seen my family in so long—or because they’d been rather distant? But instantly, I felt like I was home. It made my heart hurt, how much I wanted to be a part of what these women had.

  They all must’ve seen how nervous I was, because they kept saying reassuring things to me. Nora put a hand over mine. “Don’t worry. They look out for one another. They’ve been through some pretty rough times.”

  Grace drained her glass of wine and nodded. “And Cullen says it ends tonight. I trust him when he says that. He’s a man of his word.”

  “I can’t stop thinking of Alena. She must be so afraid,” I said, my heart clenching at the thought. “Alena is my life. And I feel like I am the one who put her in danger.”

  Across the way, Liv, with both hands on her pregnant belly, shook her head. “Oh, no, it’s not your fault!”

  Cait leaned over and hugged me from behind. “Don’t beat yourself up, Sasha. Really. It isn’t. And you’ll see. Our men will get her home safe. We’ll all get through this. Together.”

  The stabbing pain in my chest slowly subsided, and I smiled and took another drink from my glass. The girls started talking about other things, inconsequential things like the weather and new television shows they’d been bingeing on, and I tried to keep up with the conversation, but every few seconds, my mind would drift back to Alena.

  A moment later, I heard a car pull up outside the warehouse. I jumped up just as the door flung open, and Viktor stormed in, carrying Alena in his arms.

  I gasped, as did all of my new friends.

  As he stalked across the room to me, I inspected her. She looked alert, swinging her head back and forth in effort to catch a glimpse of me. When she saw me, she shouted in glee, “Mommy!”

  “Alena!” I cried as Viktor deposited her in my arms. I was still doing the visual inspection. Two arms, two legs, no visible bruises or cuts anywhere. The worst thing was her crazy bedhead. “Are you okay?”

  “Yes, I am, Mommy,” she said, resting her head on my shoulder. “Some mean men took me out of bed while I was sleeping. They were stinky.”

  I looked over at Viktor, who was standing there. Before I could say anything, Grace asked, “What’s happening over there?”

  He spoke, low and grave. “I don’t know. I needed to get Alena out of there as soon as possible. Lots of gunshots as I was leaving.”

  “Are you all right?” I asked.

  “Yes. Fine.”

  I swallowed. “Zain?”

  His mouth puckered into a snarl. “I left him there.”

  I didn’t ask more. It was clear he didn’t want to talk about him. Maybe he didn’t know. Maybe I didn’t want to know.

  I hugged Alena to my chest, imagining the worst.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Zain

  So it turned out, even though I’d been the one to start everything with the Fury, I was the one to end it, too. And that felt good.

  I fired my gun, and the last guy fell. To my delight, it was Scar, their new President.

  I paused to reload again and looked up. Blood surging through my veins, I looked around for my next victim.

  But everything was silent. Cobras stood all around me, surveying the damage.

  The Fury clubhouse looked a lot like a morgue by the time we got done with them. Hart and I were the last to leave. We combed the place, looking for the others, and found that the place was empty. Stepping over bodies, I shook my head, then listened, but heard nothing. “We got them all?”

  Hart nodded. “The ones we didn’t get must have ran away. Fucking pussies.”

  “Holy shit.” I couldn’t believe that the six of us, plus Viktor and two of his guys wreaked this much havoc on the Fury. I knew we were out for blood, but I never imagined it like this.

  I thought I’d feel a lot worse about killing people, but I felt no guilt. Just damn good. Glad that those assholes had finally gotten what was coming to them. They’d had chance after chance to turn it around and leave us alone, and they’d pushed us too far. They’d deserved no mercy.

  Especially after what they’d done to that poor kid, Joel.

  But Viktor had been right. He’d known exactly when and where to come after them, and now, we were done with the Fury. We could live in peace.

  Hart and I hopped on his bike and took it back to our rendezvous point. There, we saw Drake tending to Jet for a gunshot wound to the shoulder. Cullen and Nix were there, too, giving each other fist-bumps. Other than a few close calls and some bruises, we were okay.

  “Why didn’t we do that sooner?” Jet said with a grin when we arrived. “They’re done. Jesus, I feel good.”

  Adrenaline pumping in our veins, the rest of us joined in when he let out a loud whoop, until the owner of the gas station came out and glared at us. Cullen waved at him and told us all to meet up at the clubhouse. “I just texted Grace to let her know we’re on our way.”

  Drake punched Jet, who’d bled through his white t-shirt. “Yeah, I’m sure you’d rather have your girl sew you up this time,” he said.

  He laughed. “She sure as fuck has better bedside manner than you do.”

  We all hopped back on our bikes and went back to the clubhouse, to continue the party. When we got there, the girls were all there, already celebrating the news.

  When I went inside, Sasha rushed up to me and wrapped her arms around me, hugging me tight. “I really thought I might never see you again,” she breathed out.

  “Shh,” I said, smoothing her hair. “I told you everything would be okay.”

  “When Viktor came back with Alena, I was worried something had happened to you.”

  “No. Just cleaning up and finishing the job. We decimated the Fury.”

  She inhaled sharply against me but didn’t say anything.

  “I wanted Alena to come home to you first because I knew you would be worried about her.”

  “I was worried about both of you,” she pointed out.

  “Aw, baby, you don’t have to,” I said, kissing the top of her head. “But I’m glad you do. I love you, too. How’s Alena?”

  She pulled back, a shocked look on her face. “You . . . do?”

  I laughed. “I told you I did, didn’t I?”

  She shook her head.

  “Oh, Right. I told you that you meant more to me than the club. And you should know by now how much I love my club.”

  She gave me a sheepish expression. “I see why you love the club. I shouldn’t have made you have to decide between the two of us.”

  I stroked her cheek. “All right. Club rules are the club always comes first. But for me,” I leaned down and whispered in her ear, “you always come first. If you ever want me to—”

  “No. I won’t.”

  I squeezed her hand. She seemed so resolute. I had to wonder just what the girls had said to her, to make her so sure. Maybe it was just knowing that she wasn’t the only girl of an MC guy. Maybe it was that the Fury were now gone. Maybe it was that she realized, just like I had, that she and I belonged together. “How’s Alena?” I repeated.

  She smiled. “Fine. She’s sleeping on the sofa, next to Ella. She was so tired, obviously. But thanks to you, she seems fine. Like her old self.”

  I shrugged. “It wasn’t just me. It was
all of us. Even—” I looked around and saw the devil I was about to speak about, stalking up to us. He looked pissed, like now that he’d gotten Alena back, he was ready to exact his revenge on me for putting his daughter in that danger. If he had the same adrenaline buzzing through his veins that I did, he’d probably want to settle this with his fists.

  He stopped in front of both of us, the snarl on his face slowly unflinching.

  Then suddenly, he unfurled an empty hand, holding it out to me. It looked like he wanted to shake my hand.

  I stared at it in shock for a moment. Then I reached out and shook it.

  “Thank you for saving Alena. For putting her life above your own,” he said stiffly.

  “Viktor, I owe you thanks, too, for helping us with our situation. And I owe you an apology for giving you a hard time.”

  He shrugged, and his eyes went to Sasha. “I don’t like you being with someone else, Sasha,” he said, his eyes softening. “You will always be my beautiful solnyshka.”

  She let out a slow breath, gazing at him uneasily as he touched her cheek.

  “But, if you are going to be happy with someone else, I am glad it is a man who I trust. Who I know will protect you and Alena. That is good,” he said.

  I saw the relief in Sasha’s eyes. Her face brightened and she smiled, even as tears appeared in her eyes. “He will. I know he will,” she whispered.

  “Yeah, I will,” I agreed, gazing at Sasha and stroking her hand in mine. “Always.”

  “Good,” he said, turning to leave. Before he took a step, he added, “Otherwise, I’ll kill you.”

  As he walked outside, Sasha looked up at me and shrugged. “I don’t think he was kidding,” she said. “He’s never joked once in his life.”

  I pulled her to me. “I don’t think he was, either. But it doesn’t matter. If anything happens to either of you on my watch, I’ll kill myself.”

  Epilogue

  Sasha