Down & Dirty_Zak

by Jeanne St. James

  Axel’s laughter was sharp. “I went to the dark side? No, I escaped the dark side. I’m the light.”

  At his own reminder of his life’s choice, Axel stepped back. Sophie breathed a sigh of relief.

  “Sophie doesn’t need the hassle of the club.”

  “You don’t know what she needs,” Zak growled.

  “So you think,” Axel pushed.

  Zak’s jaw tightened again, but he finally uncurled his fists. He took a long breath and stepped back, too, giving the two of them some distance. At least, from what Sophie could tell, out of sucker punch range.

  As the bells jingled again over the door, Sophie thought, not a good time for a customer to show up.

  But it wasn’t a customer, it was Bella, who appeared frozen in place barely inside the door, her eyes glued to Axel, her face pale.

  Axel tensed once again when their eyes met. “Izzy,” he said softly.

  What was up with that? His demeanor totally changed and his calling her that got her moving.

  “No, Ax, you know I’m not using that name anymore.”

  “That’s who you are to me.”

  Her mouth got tight as she pushed past the three testosterone-filled, chest-pounding men to come behind the counter. “I’m not her anymore,” she said, her eyes now on Sophie, but unreadable. “Why are you here?”

  “He eats Sophie’s cupcakes,” Zak grumbled.

  Bella gaped at Zak. “What?”

  Sophie closed her eyes for a second, took a breath, then said, “He likes my cupcakes. Holy hell. Okay, Bella and I have work to do. Everybody out. There will be no cupcakes if we don’t get started.”

  “Babe.” Zak.

  “But—” Axel.

  “I’m not done.” Diesel.

  All at the same time.

  “Out!” Sophie yelled. “All of you.”

  Zak smiled. Diesel grinned. Axel frowned.

  “Babe, D ain’t done.”

  “Don’t care. He can finish up another time. Get out. All of you.” She stepped from behind the counter and waved her hands at them as if she was shooing them away. “Out. Go. Can’t take any more of this macho crap today.”

  Diesel looked to Zak, who gave him a slight nod. The larger man gathered his tools and left, the door slamming behind him.

  Sophie pinned her eyes on Zak. “You, too.”

  “Not leavin’ ‘til he does.” He tilted his head toward Axel, whose attention was still centered on Bella.

  Hmm.

  Interesting.

  Just then, the portable radio on Axel’s hip squawked, which jerked him out of his trance. He moved toward the door. Saved by the squawk.

  “I’ll stop back later for my cupcake. Extra icing, please.”

  Sophie sighed. He just had to say that in front of his brother.

  With a last glance at Bella, he opened the door. Then he said, “Keep your ass clean, Z. I don’t think Mom can take you doing another ten-year stretch.”

  “And what about Dad?” Zak shouted as Axel closed the door.

  Zak received bells jingling as his answer.

  Sophie’s heart squeezed for him. “Zak...”

  Zak shook his head, came over and wrapped an arm around her hip, pulling her against him. He pressed a thumb under her chin and tilted her head up. “Thanks for helpin’ Bella,” he whispered before pressing his lips to hers.

  His kiss was light, but it still sent a thrill through her. “Be back later for my cupcake, too.”

  Great.

  She hated the fact that though his bossiness annoyed her, the thought of him coming to her later, or tonight, gave her butterflies.

  Actual butterflies.

  She needed a strait jacket and a reservation for a padded room.

  “Your concern about my safety is really cute. But I’m a Philly girl. And compared to that, this is small town America. If I can survive the big city, I can certainly handle Shadow Valley. I’ll be fine.”

  “Don’t underestimate Shadow Valley, babe. There are more layers to this town than you might realize. Better to be safe than sorry.”

  Right.

  He released her and swaggered out of the bakery.

  And Sophie watched his hips the whole way.

  She was doomed.

  Chapter Eleven

  Zak accepted the draft beer from Bella as she worked her way down the bar. He took a sip before placing it in front of him.

  The Iron Horse was quiet tonight. A few regulars. But for the most part, nobody was being rowdy and the music from the jukebox was louder than the patrons. Sometimes it could be the opposite.

  The crack of the pool balls from the tables, along with the murmurs of the customers who were eating unhealthy bar food and drinking drafts or downing shots, were much more pleasant sounds than the shouts of inmates, buzzers, and the clang of a closing cell door.

  After handing off beers to a couple guys down at the end of the bar, she stopped back in front of Zak and leaned a hip against the bar.

  He loved this woman like a sister and was disappointed to see that her carefree attitude, and fun-loving, wild personality had been permanently changed.

  “How’d it go today?” he asked.

  She gave him a small smile. “Good.” She studied him for a second then said, “She’s awesome, Z.”

  Nothing he didn’t already know. “Yeah,” he agreed, trying not to smile like a fool into his beer.

  “She knows her stuff, too. It was fun. I ended up covered in flour and powdered sugar but it’s a small price to pay to learn what she does.”

  He was pleased they got along so well. “Lemme guess. You made red velvet cupcakes.”

  Bella—he was having difficulty thinking of her as anything but Izzy—let her gaze drift away. “Yeah. They’re good.”

  “I’m sure they are. But I’m also sure that’s not the only reason my asshole cop brother stops in there.”

  Bella still wouldn’t meet his eyes.

  He traced a finger down his sweating pint glass. “Somethin’ going on, Izz?”

  “Bella, Z. You know that.”

  “Bella, then.”

  “With what?”

  He lifted his beer but hesitated with it held only an inch from his lips. “That whole shit with Axel.”

  Because if something was going on between Axel and Sophie, he needed to know. If anyone would tell him, Bella would.

  “Nope.”

  Zak took a sip, then frowned and shrugged. “Okay.”

  She lifted a brow, a clear sign she couldn’t believe he’d let it drop.

  “You goin’ back tomorrow morning?”

  Her eyes lit up at his question. It was nice to see her excited about something. In the few days he’d been home, he hadn’t seen enough of that from her. It pained him.

  “Plan on it.”

  “You wanna give up bar tending?”

  She sighed. “Not sure. Tips are half decent, but the clientele can be a challenge, as we all know.”

  “No shit. No need for Diesel’s bouncers tonight, though.”

  “There’s one here.”

  Zak twisted his neck to look toward the front door. “Who?

  “Lincoln.”

  That’s when he noticed the prospect nicknamed “Abe” standing by the front door, arms casually crossed over his chest. The one Jayde couldn’t keep her eyes off of. As long as they kept their hands off each other, Abe would last another week as a prospect.

  Just then, two other prospects rushed through the front door and Abe went into full defense mode. Squirrel and Weasel shot the other recruit a quick glance but didn’t stop to talk to him. They jogged up to Zak instead.

  “Z!”

  They were both out of breath, which made him frown. Something was up. The hair on the back of his neck stood at attention. “What?”

  “Shit went down at the bakery. Pierce told us to get you right away,” Squirrel said.

  Zak pushed off the stool to his feet. “What shit?”

&
nbsp; Weasel joined in. “Not sure. We just got a call from Pierce to let you know. Said he was tryin’ to get a hold of you. Some kinda shit with the Warriors.”

  What felt like a bucket of ice water rushed down Zak’s spine. Fucking Shadow Warriors, still pulling their shit. “Sophie okay?”

  “Dunno.”

  “What the fuck you mean you don’t know? What’d Pierce say?”

  “He said get you. Tell you to get over there. You didn’t answer your phone.”

  Zak pulled his phone out of his back pocket and saw he had a half dozen missed calls and texts from the club’s president.

  Fuck.

  He must have accidentally put his phone on silent. He skimmed through the texts but they didn’t have any good information.

  He glanced at Bella. “I’m out. Anyone comes lookin’ for me that’s where I’ll be. Call Diesel. Let him know if he don’t already.” He turned back to the prospects. “You two stay here with Abe. Watch the bar and Bella. Got me?”

  He got two “yeahs” as answers. He gave them a sharp nod, a pointed look, and pushed through the swinging double doors to the kitchen. Once he came out of the kitchen into the clubhouse side, he started hauling ass toward the door to the back parking lot where he’d left the piece of shit car parked. It had better start.

  Luckily, it did. He pealed out of the lot, kicking up stones as he floored the accelerator.

  When he arrived at the bakery, no spots remained out front. He pulled around back and parked next to Sophie’s car. After jimmying the locked back door to the bakery, he rushed through the empty kitchen area into the shop, then stopped dead.

  Mitch Jamison, in full uniform, had his arm around Sophie, and it looked as though he was consoling her.

  That was his job. Not his father’s.

  Fuck.

  Mitch’s eyes rose to meet his, and he frowned. Not a welcoming “Hey, son, glad you’re out of the slammer” smile. Nope. More like a “what fucking mess have you gotten into now” frown.

  “She yours?” Mitch asked, surprised, and Axel looked up from whatever he was writing in a spiral notebook.

  “Yeah,” Zak answered but didn’t move closer. From where he stood, he let his gaze wander over Sophie to make sure she appeared whole. No blood, but definitely tears. Her face was streaked with them.

  Shit.

  Mitch shook his head. “Not smart. The Warriors aren’t done with you.”

  “They’re not done with the club in general,” Ace said coming through the wide open front door of the bakery. “Zak isn’t the only one they’ve targeted.”

  “Who else?”

  “Club business,” Zak cut in as if that said it all.

  And apparently it did.

  “Fucking club business,” Axel muttered, turning his attention back to his report. He scribbled something and then slapped the notebook shut, tucked it in his back pocket, slid the pen into the front pocket of his uniform shirt then spread his feet wide, looking at Zak directly. “This is the shit that I was talking about earlier, Z. This right here. You claim this bakery... Hell, you claim Sophie as DAMC, and this is the type of shit that happens.”

  Zak kept his mouth shut. He wanted to push his father out of the way and take over comforting Sophie, but he also needed to know what happened. Instead of asking Mitch or Axel, he looked directly at her. “Tell me.”

  She swiped at her eyes. “I heard a crash downstairs, and I thought it might be you breaking in again, so I came down. Lucky I did, someone threw a... a...” She looked toward Axel.

  “Molotov cocktail through her front picture window,” he finished for her. “And she is lucky. But only because it didn’t explode. Especially with her being so close.”

  Zak’s gaze bounced from the broken window to the broken bottle on the floor with a greasy rag laying nearby. His heart stopped.

  “Is this the same old beef, Ace? Or is there a new one?” Mitch asked the older man.

  Ace pursed his lips and ran a hand down his long salt and pepper beard. “No beef.”

  Mitch sighed and shook his head in disbelief. “Right.”

  Sharp laughter came from Axel as he shook his head, too. “Really? No beef? We all know that’s bullshit. There’s been conflict forever. All the way back to when Bear got killed.”

  “How you know this is Warriors?” Zak asked Axel.

  “Who else would it be?”

  Zak shrugged, attempting to be a picture of innocence. “Dunno. Thugs from the Burgh?”

  Axel’s eyes cut to Sophie. “You have any known enemies, Sophie? Anyone have a vendetta against you? You step on any other baker’s toes? Crush any cake dreams?”

  Zak’s hackles rose as the cop questioned his woman. He held out his hand to her. “Babe, c’mere.”

  Mitch’s arm tightened around her shoulders. “You don’t have to listen to him.”

  Jesus Christ, his family kept proving that they just weren’t that. “Babe,” he repeated slowly. “C’mere.”

  He was relieved when Sophie pulled away from his father and moved closer. But, unfortunately, not close enough.

  “I thought you said that being with you would keep me safe. Now it looks like being with you is just the opposite.”

  Axel laughed. “He told you that being with him would keep you safe? Right. Is that a pickup line that works? ‘Cause I’ll have to try that one. Though, if I tell a woman that, it will be true. I wear a badge, not a cut with a target on it.”

  “Goddamn it,” boomed from the doorway. And everyone’s heads swung that direction. Diesel and Hawk both shouldered their way into the bakery, doing a cursory inspection of the damaged window and toeing the broken bottle. “This is war.”

  “I did not just hear that, Diesel. Right?” Mitch said, hands on his hips above his duty belt.

  “Knew I should’ve stayed and finished the job,” Diesel grumbled.

  Mitch’s eyes narrowed. “What job?”

  “Diesel is installing a security system in the bakery,” Axel explained. “They have it all under control,” he finished, the sarcasm thick in his voice. “You know, since this is DAMC territory.”

  “Right,” Mitch responded, eyes flicking to Zak, who ignored him and once again held a hand out to Sophie.

  “Babe.”

  Sophie shook her head, her eyes still shiny with tears. “No, Zak. No. I want no part of this... beef or whatever. I don’t want anything to do with your club.”

  “Or you,” Axel finished for her.

  “She didn’t say that,” Zak said, shooting daggers at his brother.

  “Or you,” Sophie repeated softly.

  Fuck.

  Not good. One little Molotov cocktail and she was ready to toss him to the curb.

  “This is my business. My life. This isn’t a game for me.”

  “Babe, c’mere,” he pleaded. He could step forward and grab her, taking her into his arms, but he preferred she'd make the choice to come to him. Plus, it would show the two cops standing in the middle of the bakery that she chose to be with him.

  But apparently, he was wrong. She moved away, giving him her back instead.

  Fuck.

  Fuck.

  Fuck.

  He wasn’t going to beg in front of his brothers, or Mitch and Axel. He would deal with this after they all cleared out.

  Right now, he needed to get her front window boarded up and clean up the spilled gasoline and the broken glass.

  “You step up security everywhere?” he asked Diesel, feeling as if he was stepping back into the president’s boots. Even though he wasn’t. But security needed to be tightened right now at every DAMC business. At least until they knew whether this was a hit-and-run by the Warriors or they were in town to play hard.

  “Already done,” Diesel answered. “Gotta get the prospects out here with some plywood.”

  “I’ll call ‘em and get ‘em in motion,” Ace said, stepping through the broken glass and heading out the front door.

  “This shit’s
gotta stop,” Hawk grumbled. “You guys done here yet?” he shot at Mitch and Axel.

  Axel’s lips thinned, and he turned toward Mitch. “We have enough?”

  Mitch gave a sharp nod. “We know who did it. There’s nothing concrete, but, again, they don’t want us serving justice anyhow, so we’ll get no cooperation on either end.”

  “Nope. We’ll take care of it,” Diesel barked.

  “Right,” Mitch answered. “We’ll up patrol in the area.”

  “Not necessary,” Zak said.

  “Not your choice,” Mitch answered. “You going to be okay, honey?” he called out to Sophie, who was now behind the counter, hugging herself and staring blankly at the broken window. “They’re going to board up your window. Right, Hawk?”

  “Right.”

  Sophie didn’t look at any of them, just nodded as if in a daze.

  “We’ll get you a report for your insurance,” Mitch added. “Axel will stop by tomorrow to check in on you.” He paused. “And get his cupcake.”

  Zak’s eyes narrowed as he looked at his father. “Think you’re done here.”

  “Right,” Mitch answered, looking his oldest son over. “I’m sure you do.” He glanced at Sophie, “You need anything, you have our cards. Give us a call, Sophie.”

  “Okay,” she said softly, still not looking at them.

  Zak watched his blood walk out the front door and only then did he feel his muscles loosen a bit.

  Hawk’s eyes flicked from him to Sophie and back. “We got shit handled here if you wanna go get your shit handled.”

  Zak wrapped his fingers around the back of his neck and sighed. “Yeah.”

  “We can see ourselves out after. We’ll get the fuel cleaned up, too.”

  “Thanks, brother.” They clasped arms and bumped shoulders. “First thing tomorrow, yeah?” he said to Diesel, wanting to make sure the security system was finished as soon as possible.

  “Yeah, sure thing, brother.”

  Zak nodded, then went behind the display counter to wrap an arm around Sophie’s waist and guide her back through the kitchen. She felt wooden to his touch, but then, he couldn’t blame her. Someone was out to not only destroy her business but maybe hurt her, too.

  A muscle ticked in his jaw and his fingers tightened on her hip. “Let’s go upstairs, babe.”