Zorro (Reapers MC Book 16)

by Elizabeth Knox

  I’m being pulled back and my body is so fired up I’m ready to take a swing at the fucker who dared to even touch me, but the second I see his face, I calm the hell down.

  “Everything alright with Syd’?” Zane asks curiously, looking from blondie bitch back to me.

  I nod once. “Yeah, she’s fine. A little shaken up, but she’s . . . she’s doin’ that shit she does with her attitude when she wants everyone to think she’s perfectly fine.”

  “The sass treatment, got it.” Zane looks back over to the blonde woman. “You’re Ruby’s friend, Portia, from Stonewall, right?”

  Portia nods. “Yes, that’s me.”

  Zane fakes a smile, and I know he’s seeing how pissed I am. “Well, welcome . . . Zorro, I expect you’ll let me know what the fuck happened in that house soon, yeah?”

  “Yeah, Prez. You got it.”

  “Hey, Grim, do me a favor and trade spots with Zorro. I need you downstairs in the bunker, and while you’re at it you can show Portia the way.”

  Grim comes right on over and motions with his hand for Portia to follow him, and thank goodness he does, ‘cause I know I was three seconds from losing my head.

  Chapter Nine

  You are exactly, precisely, and perfectly what I waited for

  ~ Unknown

  Ruby

  Mid-January . . .

  “Why are we going down to the bunker?” I question Zorro while Portia zooms past me with my brother. Zorro places a hand on my shoulder and looks at me with a bit of worry. Shiloh had started to take Sydney and I down, but I stayed up by the stairwell that leads down into it.

  “‘Cause . . . we need to handle some club business and it’s the safest spot for everyone.”

  So, he plans on locking me up in some basement like a damsel in distress?

  “I don’t want to go to the bunker.” I’m not lying to him. Hearing gunshots ring out when Portia and I were by Zane’s house scared me to death. Don’t even get me started on what happened with the guy in his house . . . the last thing I want to be right now is alone. I know I wouldn’t physically be alone, but what I mean is I don’t want to be without him. Zorro has this habit of making me feel incredibly safe and given today’s events, I only want to stick right by his side.

  “Ruby, please, just go downstairs. I need to keep my head in the game. I can’t be worryin’ about you while I need to be doin’ club shit.”

  “Get me vodka, please.” Cheyenne’s voice echoes through the club and I find myself looking over in her direction. She’s kneeling on the ground and Bull’s body is on the floor. Siren is running over to the bar and the reality of what’s happened today begins to fully sink in.

  The club was attacked, by people who walked in like they were friends of ours. Hell, I swear one of them smiled at me on his way in. How do things like this happen?

  Suddenly it’s becoming a bit harder to breathe as a crashing weight pushes down on my chest, but there’s nothing there. The muscles in my neck tighten as I attempt to breathe in and out slowly, but it only gets worse.

  I inhale slowly through my nose and exhale through my mouth aimlessly trying to get a grip on my fear. It’s swarming around me and while it swarms it’s taking every bit of oxygen with it, making me feel like I can’t breathe. I know I can, but my anxiety doesn’t recognize there isn’t anything actually wrong. Instead it traps me inside a box and forces me to believe what it wants.

  “Please don’t leave me. I j-just don’t want us to b-be separated.” My teeth chatter while my fear continues to take hold over me. I don’t know if I’ve ever been this afraid before, but to say I’m terrified is an understatement.

  Zorro furrows his brows and steps closer into my space, pulls me into his arms and rubs my back in a slow, soothing manner. “Breathe, sweet girl. It’s all you have to do. Breathe.”

  If it’s all I have to do right now, then why is it so damn hard? Why does it feel so impossible?

  “You’re okay. You didn’t get hurt, you got to a safe place, and you got out. You are safe.” With every word Zorro speaks in a soothing manner, I know he’s trying to make me believe it.

  I know I’m safe.

  I know I’m perfectly safe.

  But why do I feel like this if this is the case?

  My shoulders shake and before I know it tears are sliding in an effortless flow over my cheeks. They come and they come until Zorro is singing something in Spanish to me. His tone is so low I can’t make out the words, but I can recognize it isn’t English. He sounds so beautiful, so at peace.

  I don’t know how much time goes by before I calm down but he must’ve released me the moment I stopped shaking. “Sweet girl, I know you don’t want to be alone, but I need to check in with Zane. We don’t know if anyone is still here on the property and I need to go help the guys clear the land. I’ll be back within a couple hours. You can go sit with your brother, Hammer, the rest of the ladies and kids, and I’ll be back with you before you know it.” He offers me a soft smile, trying to ease me into accepting what needs to happen.

  I have no doubt about it, there isn’t another choice.

  “Okay, I’ll go downstairs,” I murmur out my defeated response and Zorro keeps his hand on my back, leading me down the stairwell to the rest of those who’ve already gotten down here.

  The moment he removes his hand from my back I turn to look at him and I know I can’t keep a straight face. Even if I wanted to hide my feelings right now, I wouldn’t be able to. “Be careful.”

  Zorro grabs me by the back of the neck out of nowhere and pulls me to him. His lips collide down onto mine and he devours me with every breath, taking me like one of those women on the cover of an erotic history novel. You know the type, where the man’s holding onto his woman aimlessly and you can almost feel how the sexual tension is between them. That’s how it is right now.

  I snake my arm around his neck and hold onto him for dear life, almost pleading with him to not go. I know he’s going to, but it’s not like I’m going to not try and convince him otherwise.

  “I will be back with you before you know it, all you have to do is wait for me,” he whispers against my lips as he pulls away. I stand at the bottom of the stairs and watch as he disappears from my view, but even now the worry continues to swarm through me. I know he’s said all I have to do is wait, but until I see him again it’s going to feel like days have passed.

  Chapter Ten

  And if love be madness, may I never find sanity again

  ~ John Mark Green

  Zorro

  Present Day . . .

  The last twenty-four hours have been exhausting, but I’m sure I can credit that to staying up the entire night to watch over this measly fuck. I haven’t even seen Ruby yet and I’m sure she’s driving herself fucking insane. Grim at least had the courtesy to let me know he took her up to my room, even if he could barely look me in the eye when he said it. At least she’s safe, and it’s all that matters.

  We’re out back in the barn on the other side of the property. I can still see the clubhouse from here off in the distance, but, no one would be able to hear a damn thing out here. We’re at least a few acres down the lane.

  Gears is still strapped to a chair like he was last night, but now he’s sitting under a spotlight in the barn while eight stalls surround him. At one point I’m sure the Monroe family used this barn for animals, but they haven’t in quite some time. It doesn’t mean they haven’t kept up with maintenance on the structure, though. Before Fist passed away, he put a brand new, metal roof on the damn thing.

  Blood from his shoulder wound is now dried in flakes on his arm and on the floor below. He winces in pain in front of me but I don’t react. Why would I? Not when his club came in here and declared war on us. Then again, I’m the most unempathetic of all the Reapers. I can attribute that to the way I was raised.

  My mother fled Mexico when I was a small boy, only taking a backpack full of necessary items. Her sister had been kidnapp
ed and the human trafficking picked up in the area where we were living. They finally decided enough was enough and fled. Long story short is we were accepted as Canadian citizens, but it wasn’t an easy road. For many nights we had no dinner, and we were even homeless on the street for a time. It’s crazy she went from a refugee to a very successful woman. Canada treated her so well, but, it wasn’t a great fit for me which is why I’m now living in the United States. I just wish she hadn’t gone back to Mexico. Then she would’ve never been held at gunpoint by Narcos at my grandfather’s store. Luckily, Montana is close enough to them but far enough away.

  “Are you going to fuckin’ treat me, or let it get infected?” Gears snarls out in a pathetic cry.

  I blink at him once and shake my head. “You really shouldn’t be askin’ me that shit.” Kicking myself off the wall, I walk right up to him and dig my thumb into his shoulder, squeezing as hard as I can while he screams out in pain.

  “Motherfucker! Argh!” Gears can probably be heard for miles away. What a pussy.

  “Zorro,” Dracus calls out my name from behind me and I pull my thumb out of Gears’ shoulder.

  “What’s up, brother? I’m in the middle of something.”

  “I can see that, but Zane wants you to take a break. Says you need to sleep and shit.” As much as I want to go back to the club and crawl into bed with her, I can’t bear the thought of leaving this motherfucker alone. I just want to torture him a bit longer until he screams for mercy like the pig he is.

  After I wash my hands thoroughly in the sink, I make my way over to the clubhouse and as soon as I make it through the doors, I find a wall to lean up against. I’m someone who constantly prefers to stick to the outer side of the club, I’d rather watch and assess than be in the midst of things.

  “Prospect, get the fuck over here,” I snarl, making sure she can hear me from the other end of the club. Frost immediately looks over in my direction and I watch as she quickly gets Zane’s permission before she comes walking over.

  “Everything okay?” I question. Most people don’t know this, but she and I have a pretty solid friendship. Most of the fuckers around here aren’t early birds, but I am and Frost is. There’s been quite a few times where we end up sharing coffee in the kitchen together, and those times have led us to know one another pretty well.

  She shrugs, but it doesn’t convince me she’s okay. “Yeah.”

  “Well that’s bullshit. The fuck is going on with you?”

  “You’ll find out soon enough and I’m sure everyone else will too, but Cheyenne is pregnant.”

  I stare at her blankly for a moment while I process what she’s said. “Whoa, that’s some heavy shit. Who’s the daddy?”

  “Chaz.”

  “Oh fuck. You okay?”

  She nods once. “Yeah, it was before we were together, but shit it complicates things and we’re getting to know one another. I mean, I won’t fuck this shit up. This is what people who settle down do, right? Have babies with their girlfriends? So, who says I can’t be an extra mom to this kid if things go well?”

  “I like the way you think, always looking for the positivity in everything.” It’s true. Never have I seen her make a negative comment toward something. This is the kind of shit I wish I could do, but I’ve been roughed up by the world too much to give anyone the benefit of the doubt.

  “In this situation I need to have some positivity, but, I’d be lying if I said I’m not anxious. What if she decides she’s in love with him or something? You know?”

  I don’t try to hide my eye roll from her. “Stop being insane. Those two would never work. They’re like mixing oil and water. Chaz is controlling as fuck and Cheyenne is independent. Do I need to say more?”

  She immediately shakes her head. “Thanks for always being on my side.”

  “No problem, now I’m gonna need you to be on mine. I’m making a trip to Stonewall in a few weeks.”

  Frost’s eyes widen as she realizes where it is, I intend to go. “I thought Dex was handling that,” she tries to gently remind me.

  “He is, but I’ll be clearing out some people in his way.”

  Frost scoffs lightly, “You’re just an impatient fucker who wants to get shit done and not wait around.” I don’t mistake how chastising her tone really is.

  “Yeah, so? I was thinkin’ about talkin’ Zane into lettin’ you come with me too, but you had to go and get so pissy.”

  “You’ll take me regardless. Too many others aren’t big fans of yours right now, like Axel and Grim.” She’s trying to poke fun at me. It’s almost adorable.

  “Yeah, I know. Maybe one day they’ll be cool with me and their sister. I mean fuck . . . I . . . I was trying so hard to push her away, but . . . I can’t. I want her. Fuck, my cock is getting hard thinking about her right now. And she just dyed her hair again. Fuck, lookin’ like a damn Playboy Bunny.”

  “I’m going to pretend I never heard that.” She fake gags, causing me to smile.

  “You know I’m here if you need to talk about your own shit, right?” I say, hoping she realizes this isn’t a one-way street.

  She nods once. “Yeah, and I hope you count on being my therapist for a while. I’ll need it.”

  “You can pay me in beer and wings.”

  “You got it,” she laughs lightly. I don’t have any siblings, but if I did, I hope Frost would’ve been the type of woman I had as a sister. Without a doubt I know she’ll come with me to Stonewall and aid me in whatever way I need. Since she worked with the FBI, I’m counting on some of her field work to aid in my mission.

  Chapter Eleven

  The person you are meant to be with will be fascinated by you . . . completely and breathtakingly fascinated by you.

  ~ Butterflies Rising

  Ruby

  A light peering into the bedroom causes me to sit up to see what the disturbance is. Zorro’s frame fills the doorway and he shuts the door behind him, closing the light with his movement. I turn on my side and flick on the lamp at our bedside to see him more clearly.

  “I didn’t realize you were awake,” he says with a low tone, making sure I know he feels bad. At least fifteen hours must’ve come and gone. He told me to wait, said he’d be back before I knew it. What fucking bullshit.

  “Sleeping isn’t coming easy,” my words come out harsher than I intend, but I could care less. I’m allowed to be frustrated with him right now.

  “Yeah, well, Zane had me watching the guy who got left behind by the Corrupt Kings MC,” he says, running a hand over the back of his head.

  Sitting up a little straighter, I really look at him. I’m focusing so hard on his features that I see the lines under his eyes and the exhaustion radiating off him. He’s had a long night and that’s for sure. “What happened yesterday?” I heard whispers while I was down in the bunker but I’m not someone who likes to listen to gossip. I’d rather have the facts, to know the cold, hard truth.

  Zorro comes over to the edge of the bed and sits down, lets his back hit the mattress and looks up at the ceiling. “Long story short, Boomer didn’t know Cheyenne was working with the club. Guess he took it as a betrayal to him. Dude got fucking manic angry and shot Bull. He’s gonna be alright, but he’s on bedrest for a while.”

  “Jesus . . . why does he have such a problem with her and the club?” I know I’m new to this, but I’d never be pissed at either one of my brothers if they decided to up and leave the club, join a new one, or whatever. Hell, I don’t even know if it works that way but it might.

  Zorro shrugs his shoulders. “Honestly, I have no clue. I can tell you she wasn’t a fan of helping Alexa out when we rescued her. Not that she didn’t want to help Alexa, but she didn’t want to associate with an MC at all. I think there’s some shit Cheyenne hasn’t told us, and I have a gut feelin’ like everything is gonna be coming out of the woodwork.”

  I narrow my eyes in on Zorro. “What does that even mean, she didn’t tell you stuff?”

  Zo
rro sucks in a sharp breath. “Sweet girl, in this life people are always hiding shit. Her brother is the Prez of the Corrupt Kings MC. Their name alone hints they’re into some heavier shit, but, I dunno. The dude has always rubbed me the wrong way. Now we’ve just seen what type of wildcard he is and we’re gonna have to deal with his ass sooner rather than later.”

  I pull the comforter up closer but it doesn’t budge since Zorro’s body weight is holding it down. “This sounds dangerous.”