Zero

by Crescent, Sam

  A woman cleared her throat. Prue glanced toward the door to see a blonde eating Zero up. Looking at Zero she knew instantly that he’d fucked her. The interest in the nurse’s eyes wasn’t hard to see.

  A sharp pang cut through her chest. Zero would fuck everything that walked. She had learned from a young age never to expect anything from him, which was why she’d never waited for him.

  “It’s time to move you,” the nurse said.

  Getting up from the bed, Zero moved to the far wall not looking at her. Another nurse entered, and then she was being wheeled out of the unit. She was used to being around women who fucked Zero. None of them ever stayed around, and she’d never known for him to settle down with a woman and rarely saw him with the same one twice. Zero walked behind her. The woman who entered first was still eating him up. Her whole body showed how much she wanted him whereas Zero wasn’t giving her the time of day. In fact, it looked like he didn’t remember her.

  Locking her fingers together, Prue stared up at the ceiling that passed. The only time she’d ever really been close to Zero was when her parents died. She’d been suffering from the worst nightmares of her life. They terrified her, giving her night terrors, leaving her afraid to sleep. Zero would hold her tight, sleep beside her, and the night terrors soon disappeared.

  She hated being an inconvenience. The moment she stopped needing him, he walked away. He never stayed at the house after that apart from when he was too intoxicated to leave.

  He stood beside the wall as they entered the private room.

  “I can’t afford the private room. I thought I was going to a ward.” Her insurance only handled so much of her care while she paid for the rest.

  “The Skulls is paying for this care,” he said.

  The nurses got her settled and left. The blonde lingered a little too long for Prue’s taste.

  “Leave,” Zero said.

  Prue watched her walk out shooting a glare toward her. She stared at the woman, wondering what she expected. Bedding a biker doesn’t guarantee you’ll be in his life forever. Nothing guaranteed staying in Zero’s life.

  “You fucked her.” She turned back to look at him.

  He nodded. His cheeks were red tinted.

  “Are you embarrassed?” she asked, smiling. She needed to smile rather than cry. None of her emotions made any sense. Zero was a friend, nothing more.

  Do you want him to be something extra?

  “No, I’m not. I fuck who I want.”

  Nodding, she sat up on the bed. Her stomach growled, and it was her turn to feel her cheeks heating.

  “Breakfast will be along shortly.”

  “Thank you,” she said, glancing at him.

  “For what?”

  “For being here for me. You’re the only person I know I can trust.”

  He looked at the floor. “Prue, you can always come to me. I don’t care when, where, or how, I will always be here for you.”

  His cell phone went off, interrupting their conversation. “I’ll be back soon.”

  She watched him leave, missing him the moment he left the room.

  Chapter Three

  Zero found Tiny, Butch, Steven, and a couple of the others waiting outside in the waiting room. He shook Tiny’s hand and led him back toward Prue’s room. He was so nervous about Alan and told him everything that happened last night. They entered the room, and Prue had a plate in front of her. He stopped as she took a bite of banana. Her lips molded around the tip, and he was struck by the sudden image of his cock in her mouth. Heat filled his cock, and all he wanted to do was push the others out of the room and take her.

  Shoving the images aside, he took a step inside.

  “Hey,” she said, wiping her lips, putting the banana skin down on the tray. Her breakfast was nowhere near finished.

  “This is Tiny, Prue.” Zero made the introductions. She nodded at each of them. He hated the way her gaze lingered on Steven. The other man was not up for sex, at least not when it came to Prue. She was off the market. Zero wouldn’t allow Steven anywhere near her. The desire to find the other two men who’d touched her and fuck them up was strong. Gritting his teeth, he saw Steven linger as he shook her hand.

  “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

  She nodded, turning to Butch. “You caught me?”

  “Yeah, I did. I wish we’d met under different circumstances.” Butch took her hand, kissing her knuckles.

  “Eat,” Zero said, standing on the other side of her, giving her a stern look. She rolled her eyes but picked up her spoon to start eating the slop. He hoped it was porridge.

  “Zero has told us what happened last night,” Tiny said, stepping at the foot of the bed.

  Prue tensed and paused in eating. “Yes, Alan was here last night. He’s a dangerous man and intent on hurting Zero any way he can.” He watched her swallow the food, then wipe her mouth. “I’m done.” She pushed the tray of food away from her.

  “You need to eat more,” he said.

  “You try eating remembering how easily Alan got to me last night. From the way he spoke, he walked right past your man and no one even noticed him.” She stopped, tucking some hair behind her ear. “He’s dangerous, Zero. You should be taking care of your club as well. No one is safe.”

  “This is one man we’re talking about,” Tiny said.

  “So, he’s one man who has a serious fucking issue with Zero. This is a game to him. Alan is responsible for killing my brother, but he is the reason Alan is so angry.” Prue pointed at him. “Alan will hurt whoever Zero cares about. This is only the beginning. He’s got plans.”

  “Honey, he’s not going to get to us,” Butch said.

  He watched her shake her head. “You’ll be a fool to not take any warning. Alan will hurt anyone.”

  “Why didn’t he kill you?” Steven asked, drawing the attention to him.

  Prue paused, glancing at the younger man. “This is a game to him. It’s what Alan said. He decided I would be much more fun to use. I was a messenger to let Zero know the games had begun.”

  Zero glanced at his brothers knowing they were thinking about what she said.

  “There will be ‘round the clock protection for you, honey. My wife will be stopping by to get to know you as well. You’ll be getting a lot better than this shit grub,” he said.

  “Thank you.” She smiled at Tiny, the sweet smile Zero always loved to see.

  “Zero, follow us out. Steven, stay behind and keep her company.”

  Wishing he could argue, Zero kissed her on the head then followed the rest of his brothers outside. His president pulled out a cigarette, lit it, and blew the smoke up in the air.

  “She’s fucking terrified,” he said.

  “Yes. I don’t blame her. Alan got past Blaine. The nurses didn’t even catch him. No one knew what the hell was going on until she started screaming.” Zero grabbed his own cigarette, needing the relaxing quality of the nicotine. The last twenty-four hours had him on fucking edge.

  “She’s not leaving Fort Wills,” Tiny said.

  “I wouldn’t leave her alone. I certainly don’t want that fucker in there looking after her. I saw the way he was looking at her. Bastard needs to know to keep his eyes to his fucking self,” Zero said, cursing. No one was taking Prue away from him. Not Steven either. Fucker screwed everything that walked, and he wasn’t going to deal with that kind of shit.

  What about Sophia?

  Gritting his teeth, he saw the others were staring at him as if he’d gone mad. Maybe he had gone mad. Jealousy clawed at him, making his cigarette taste bitter.

  “I’m sure Nash will appreciate the break of having to keep his woman,” Butch said, smirking.

  He hadn’t seen Sophia since he’d tried to kiss her the night before. An apology was in order. One he wasn’t looking forward to making, especially when he wasn’t sorry at all. Only when he thought about Prue did he feel sorry for his attempts to kiss Sophia.

  “You’re coming home. W
e’re leaving Steven to take care of Prue while you do. We need to get the others up to date. Whizz can do his thing on the computer. I’m not letting anyone get killed this time,” Tiny said. “Too much fucking death going around. I fucking hate it.”

  Zero moved back to the hospital.

  “Where the fuck are you going?” Tiny asked.

  “To say goodbye to her.”

  Tiny shook his head. “Nice fucking try. I’m leaving Steven in charge. Butch just texted him to give him an update. Get on your bike, and get back to the clubhouse.”

  Wanting to argue, Zero fisted his hands and made his way back to his bike. His body ached from the beating he had taken and given out the other night. Killer hit the hardest while Nash stayed away from him. He imagined if Nash knew what he’d tried to do the other man would fuck him over.

  Riding back to the clubhouse was uneventful. There were cars in the lot and several of the club hanging around their bikes, talking. He spotted the sweet-butts trying to get some action. Eva was at the side of the clubhouse where they’d installed a small park for the kids to play on.

  Entering the clubhouse he walked up to his room and came up short as Sophia was sitting beside his door. Her knees were drawn up against her chest as she rocked to whatever beat she was listening to. Stepping beside her, he waited for her to get up.

  She tugged the ear buds out, getting to her feet.

  “What are you doing here?” he asked. She was a beautiful woman.

  She’s not yours.

  For some reason the words didn’t affect him. Staring into her eyes, he knew she wasn’t ever going to be his, and for once he accepted it.

  “Nash told me you were on your way back.” She looked down at her feet.

  Reaching out, he tilted her head back, looking into her eyes. Sophia went tense but didn’t pull away. “Why are you here?”

  “You tried to kiss me last night,” she said, biting her lip.

  “If it wasn’t for the gunshots I would have.” He ran his thumb along her bottom lip.

  Sophia drew away from him. “I love Nash. I will always love Nash.”

  “I know that.”

  She finally looked up at him. “He told me you’ve got a thing. Nash told me to be careful around you. I stay away, but you’re always there. I’m not trying to hurt you. You’re a nice man, Zero, but you’re not the man I want. I care about you like a friend. Your touch, however, does nothing for me.” She pressed a hand to her heart. “I can never be in love with you. Nash owns my heart.”

  Each word she spoke hurt, but it didn’t feel like the end of the world. Prue’s face entered his mind, calming him.

  “You don’t need to say anything more,” he said.

  “No, I need to. This is never going to happen. I love Nash. I’m the mother of his daughter.” She pressed a hand to her stomach. “I’m going to be giving him another child very soon.” He watched her swallow, tears in her eyes. “Find the woman meant for you. Don’t wait for me. Stop wanting me. I’m never going to be yours to have.”

  She took another step back.

  “I will,” he said.

  “Good.” She took several steps away, turned around and left him alone.

  Entering his room he saw Nash was sitting on his bed. “What the fuck do you want?” Zero asked. “Your woman has just told me how it’s going to be.”

  “Are you going to listen this time?” Nash asked. He looked hurt, depressed even.

  “Yeah, I’ll listen. Sophia is in love with you, and I shouldn’t have tried to think of having anything more. I’m sorry.” He tugged his jacket off throwing it on the nearest chair.

  “I’ve watched you for a long time. I know you want her, and denying yourself must be fucking hard. I know I wanted her for a long time before I took her,” Nash said.

  “Look, you don’t need to do—”

  Nash wouldn’t let him finish.

  “Sophia is mine. You tried to kiss her last night, and I heard what you said. You would have succeeded in kissing her.” Nash stood. “I’ve fucked up in the past, but that gives you no right to try and steal my woman. While we were in Piston County Sophia and I talked about you. She promised she wasn’t trying to lure you in or give you the wrong impression.” Nash stopped, laughing. “She really thought you were friends. She didn’t see your desire or what you wanted to do to her.” Zero was slammed against the wall with Nash’s arm over his windpipe. “I will not lose her to you. Get over your fucking crush, and get over her. She’s not leaving me, and I won’t let her leave.”

  He didn’t fight Nash’s hold. Zero knew he crossed the line, and if anyone tried to do this with his woman, he’d have flipped long ago. Nash had shown a great deal of patience and restraint.

  “Next time I won’t hold myself away from the fight,” Nash said, referring to the night before when Zero needed to rid himself of the anger. “It will be you and me.”

  “I get it. Do you want to cut my junk off as well?” Zero asked. “I’ve got shit to do, and this is boring me.”

  Nash jerked back then slammed his fist into Zero’s jaw. Collapsing on the ground he heard the other man leave his bedroom.

  Without saying a word, Zero stayed on the floor until he could focus on something. When he could, he got to his feet and walked into the bathroom. He was going to have a nice bruise on his face in the next few hours.

  ****

  Steven was sweet. He didn’t know what to say, and the conversation tended to be about nothing at all. They talked about everything and nothing.

  “Have you never talked to a woman before?” she asked, smiling. Prue was charmed by his attempt to keep her company. Within a few minutes of being alone with him, she’d relaxed. He didn’t scare her, which made a change from how she’d been feeling recently.

  “Erm, talking is never really been necessary. I mean, I’ve talked to Angel and Tate, but they’re, erm, they’re taken. Other women, they’re not hard, and conversation is the last thing on our minds.”

  Giggling, Prue grabbed her water and sucked on the straw. The blonde nurse hadn’t made an appearance into the room yet, surprising Prue. She’d expected the other woman to be all over The Skulls, even Steven.

  “They’re women you’ve got no chance of fucking?” she asked.

  “For a woman your language isn’t all that great.” He sat on the chair beside her bed.

  “I grew up with my brother and Zero. He’s not changed since joining The Skulls. Zero has always had vulgar language, and I picked it up from him.” She sipped more water, smiling at the other man.

  “He’s never spoken of you.”

  “I don’t expect him to. We’re friends, but we don’t have an impact on our lives. He came to me when he needs help or if it’s a certain time.” Zero hadn’t visited her the last time she’d taken the time to remember Trevor. For the first couple of years after Trevor’s death, Zero was always there. All of a sudden he stopped turning up, making excuses. Putting her glass down, she stared at him. “What about you? Any woman on the horizon?”

  “No, no woman. I like to take what I like. There’s something about variety I love.”

  He was blushing, and Prue couldn’t help but laugh.

  “It’s charming seeing a man who blushes easily. How did you survive being a prospect?” Prue asked. “I’m sure they gave you more than your fair share of embarrassing jobs.”

  “I did just fine.”

  “I’m sure you did.” She smoothed out the blanket covering her legs.

  “You’re not freaking out,” he said.

  “About what?” She tucked some hair behind her ear, looking at him. Steven was a handsome man. He was younger than Zero, possibly younger than she was. She was twenty-nine years old and been through her fair share of pain.

  “Getting shot. I imagined you’d be freaking out.”

  She touched the cover that hid her scar. There were stitches binding her skin together. “I grew up with a brother who was always hurting himself. He
actually shot himself in the leg.” She chuckled, remembering the anger their parents had at Trevor hurting himself. Hanging out with two boys intent on adventure, Prue had ended up in all kinds of scrapes and accidents because of the boys’ dares. “I don’t know. I’m happy to be alive, and I’ve got company. It’s nice not to worry. I’d be freaking out if I was alone. I’m pretending to be a big girl.” Prue rarely lost control. Looking after young children who fell down and scraped their knees had trained her not to freak out at the littlest thing.

  “You’ve been shot.”

  “It’s not the first time I’ve seen someone shot. I was there when Trevor got shot. He didn’t aim properly and was pissing about with a gun thinking he was some hotshot. Zero had to carry him all the way home, and I applied pressure to his leg. My brother squealed like a girl as if he was dying or something. We were all friends growing up. Trevor, Zero, and me. They didn’t mind me hanging out with them, strange I know.” She’d been a tomboy, rarely wearing dresses and preferring jeans to skirts.

  “Your parents are dead?”

  “Yeah, I’m the only one left of my family.” She smiled even though she didn’t feel like smiling. “Zero was part of our family, but he’s not a blood relative. We’re just friends.” Prue was pleased. Her thoughts had nothing to do with brotherly love when it came to him.

  “I’m sorry. I’m usually better at conversation.”

  “Yes, he really is,” a woman said, entering the room. Glancing up, Prue saw a beautiful woman carrying a basket with a child on her hip. “Hey, honey, I’m Eva, Tiny’s wife. I’ve come to say hi and to give you something a lot nicer than the hospital crap they serve up. I should know, there have been too many visits to this place. We should demand a refurbishment if we end up here again. I for one am getting tired of the stained walls. This is my daughter. Her twin brother is with his father.” The basket was placed on the floor as Eva embraced her.

  “It’s lovely to meet you,” Prue said.

  “She won’t let you starve,” Steven said. “She’s an amazing cook. All of us at the club are grateful for her skills. She left us once for a few weeks, and I had the shits for ages.”