Zorro (Reapers MC Book 16) Read online

  “I . . . I need to get some air,” Ruby whispers while emotion floods her voice. She begins to push at my leg, signaling for me to move out of the booth so she can exit, so I do. I get out of the booth and let her walk past me, figuring I’ll give her a minute to catch her breath and process what she’s said, I follow her.

  Even though I’m following closely behind her, I’m not swarming her with my presence. I watch from inside the bakery as she stands on the street trying to catch her breath. She runs her hand through her hair and paces back and forth. Still, I stand inside the bakery and watch.

  “Is everything alright?” Shiloh questions from behind me.

  I turn to face her and Shiloh’s mouth forms into a small ‘o’. Before I can even respond she’s speaking again, “Ruby just ran off down the street. I don’t know what’s going on but—”

  I don’t stick around and listen to anything else she’s saying. My first instinct is to run through the doors and chase after her, so I do. Reaching the street, I see she’s about halfway to the end of the block so I rush after her. Once I’m right up to her I grab onto her arm so she can’t try to move anymore. “Ruby, what the hell are you doing?!”

  She yanks her hand from mine and throws hers up in the air. “Are you freaking kidding me right now? Do you have any idea how I feel right now? Do you even give a damn? God! Why wouldn’t you tell me something like that? I’ve tried to be friends with her. We joked about shit and never once did I know . . .”

  “It doesn’t matter, Ruby! It happened years ago. That shit has been done and over with for years.”

  “I confided in her about my feelings for you, Santiago! It feels like I was violated. I’m not standing here asking for you to give me a list of everyone you ever fucked, but, god . . .”

  Women will never cease to amaze me. I’m standin’ here tellin’ Ruby that this happened years ago and she’s telling me it makes her feel violated? I don’t get it. Seriously, I don’t fucking get it.

  “Ruby, I don’t know what you want me to say,” I comment, and honestly, I have no fucking clue what I’m about to say to her. Whatever I say, it won’t be right, or what she wants to hear.

  Tears stream over her cheeks and she wipes them away with the back of her hands. Her mascara’s smeared under her eyes and I’ve never seen her more upset. “I haven’t had many relationships, Santiago, but the ones I have had haven’t been great. My first real boyfriend, Devin, he said he’d wait until I was ready to have sex. We were in freaking high school. He said he was going to give me all the time in the world. Long story short, he was sleeping with my biology partner behind my back. So, this . . . this feels so much like that.”

  “This is nothing like that.”

  “They had dated before too, and so have you and Shiloh! This feels an awful lot like what I’ve gone through already.” Ruby shakes her head as emotions ripple through her. “I don’t know why’d you keep something like this from me! If I was really important to you . . . you would’ve told me about this.” Ruby darts off down the street and before I know it, she’s turned the corner and I’m left standing here, not sure what the fuck just happened.

  One thing I do recognize is the fact she feels some sort of old feelings coming back up from her own experiences, and as much as I might’ve thought this had something to do with me, it really doesn’t. It has to do with some asshole abusing her heart in the past. Regardless, I’m going to make this right between us.

  “Where’d Ruby go?” Shiloh’s voice comes from behind me so I turn back to her.

  “She just went around the corner. Hammer told her that you—”

  She raises her hand up in a dismissive manner. “I know. I’ll handle it. You just get back to the club and stay away from Hammer for the time being. I made him pay for lunch, all things considered. I’ll calm her down, so don’t worry.” Shiloh jogs down the sidewalk and heads in the same direction Ruby just darted off in.

  Well, I hope she helps and doesn’t make this mess even bigger.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Sweet girl, it wasn’t that you weren’t enough. It’s your energy . . . it asks others to rise up, and not everyone is willing, to go where they would grow.

  ~ Butterflies Rising

  Ruby

  I could be going crazy, like honestly, I might be . . . but I’m trying to calm myself down. I turned the corner and didn’t even think about where I was going. I was a woman on a mission and somehow ended up at the little bench across the street and sat down. Now I sit here catching my breath, trying to process this.

  He had a relationship with her in the past, one he didn’t tell me about, and . . . and I saw her grab his shoulder and talk to him from inside the window of the bakery. He probably doesn’t even realize I saw it, but she fucking touched him and then every fear came rushing back. Every memory of my relationship with Devin came to the forefront of my mind. How helplessly in love with him I was, how I thought I might even marry him, and then the scenes of my seventeen-year-old heart came back. My weird short pixie cut I had at the time with a Charger’s jacket to support my school football team. I was in the damn cafeteria when Lyndsey came up to me and publicly outed how she’d been sleeping with him, in front of the entire school. It was not only mortifying, but gut-wrenching.

  “Ruby, are you okay?” Shiloh’s voice rings out from around me and I glance up to see her maybe ten feet away. You’ve got to be kidding me.

  She waltzes right up and plops down on the bench beside me. “Okay, I know you’re not. God that was a dumb question. Sorry.”

  I breathe in and out slowly, trying to come up with something to say to her. Instead I feel awkward as hell. Why did she even come after me? Did Zorro ask her to?

  “I don’t understand why you’re even here,” my words come out much harsher than I intended, but when I say I need air, it means I need fucking air, not for people to come following me down the street.

  “You have a right to be upset considering Hammer was an ass, but you don’t have a right to treat me like shit. So, I’d suggest you calm your ass down.” Shiloh gets a bit firm with me, but I have nothing to say. It’s not like I want her here in the first place. I just want to be alone.

  At first, I figure it’ll be best for me to just sit here in silence and breathe, but her words really aggravate me. Who is she to say I’m the one who needs to calm down? Turning to her, I crane my neck and suck in a deep breath, releasing it with my words. “I didn’t ask you to be here. As a matter-of-fact I didn’t ask for anyone to be here. I walked off because I needed some air.”

  “And an attitude adjustment from the looks of it. Damn. Hammer was trying to stir the pot because he doesn’t like the way Zorro treated me back in the day, but it’s none of his damn business. Just like it wasn’t his business to say anything about what he did. It’s in the past, and it doesn’t matter now. I’m not with him, Ruby. You are.”

  “There isn’t anything going on between the two of you?” I question her, needing some sort of confirmation. Hell, but even if she says no, am I going to believe her?

  She gives me a knowing look. “No, there isn’t. There hasn’t been for a long time, especially when he told me I wasn’t ol’ lady material. That happened years ago, so you have nothing to worry about.”

  She wasn’t ol’ lady material. What does that even mean? “What’s an ol’ lady?”

  Shiloh blinks at me a couple times, almost like I’m a dummy. “It’s what Ashley is, and Octavia. Even Natalie, Alexa, and the other guys’ girlfriends. It’s the name the club calls them, and the men call their women ol’ ladies. The same way the women call their men their ol’ man. It’s kind of like a title in this lifestyle.”

  Now I’m confused. I’m not team Shiloh or anything, but why would Zorro say she wasn’t . . . this isn’t making sense to me. “I was a clubwhore a few years ago. I’m sure you don’t know what it means, so allow me to explain. The club offered me a place to stay, food, security, everything I needed for one th
ing—my vajayjay.”

  Being completely caught off guard, I bust into laughter and Shiloh smiles at me. Her words somehow lightened the mood and honestly, I’m all for it. Shiloh clears her throat and looks into my eyes as she speaks, “I know you were caught off guard by what you learned a little bit ago, but you don’t need to be. Everyone has a history, Ruby, and trust me when I say I mean this in the most-nicest way ever but I don’t want your man. I have my eye on the asshole shit stirrer back in the bakery, and even now I’m debating on whether I’m gonna let him shoot his shot one day.”

  Instant relief floods through me as I hear she has some sort of interest in Hammer. “Hammer, huh?”

  She nods once with a slight smile. “Yeah, he . . . he was the first one who ever gave me the respect I always wanted. Even though at the time he could’ve just taken me to his room and fucked me, he didn’t. Hell, he still hasn’t. I mean I’m not a clubwhore anymore but . . . I thought at some point he’d make a few harsh moves and get all alpha on me. Instead it’s been a bit different, like we’re slowly building this solid friendship and . . . Fuck, it sounds like one of those Nicholas Sparks books.”

  “A little bit,” I joke and clear my throat. “I’m sorry I was a cunt to you. Long story short I was betrayed by an ex-boyfriend. Everything came rushing back when Hammer said what he did. My lab partner had slept with my boyfriend and was doing it behind my back . . . and since you and I have been pretty friendly it just . . .”

  “It rubbed you the wrong way. Let me just add in that girl was obviously the biggest bitch.” Shiloh isn’t holding anything against me right now and thank god for that.

  “Yeah, well she ended up getting herpes senior year so joke’s on her.”

  Shiloh busts out into laughter at what I said. “Now that’s karma.”

  I mumble in agreement with her and she grabs onto my shoulder, giving me a good squeeze. “Seriously, don’t worry about me and him. We barely talk to each other ‘cause there’s just so much negative history. Zorro wasn’t . . . he wasn’t the type of man I needed, and I see he’s an entirely different man with you, he’s a better man, so I hope he comes to his senses too and locks you down for good, ‘cause you’re a sweet girl, Ruby. I really mean that.”

  Now I feel so stupid for being so worried, but I’m glad Shiloh chased after me. It shows she cared enough to help me calm down and clear the air about her past with Zorro, and on top of that I do think I have a friend here, even if she is my boyfriend’s ex-girlfriend . . . or ex-clubwhore . . . or whatever it is I should be calling her.

  Chapter Sixteen

  And then I met you, and slowly, but all at once my whole world began to change

  ~ R.M. Broderick

  Zorro

  Shiloh ended up coming back in with Ruby about an hour ago, but Shiloh told me to give her some time to breathe. She filled me in and said Ruby realized she was overreacting a little bit, but explained Ruby had some past shit that came up which is why she reacted the way she did. While it’s a breath of fresh air, it also makes me wonder what the fuck else she’s been through.

  Zane texted all the full patches and told us we were having an impromptu session of church, so my ass is sitting in my chair in the room where we hold church. We’re waiting for Dracus to roll his ass in. It figures he’d be showing up late here, but until he’s here Zane won’t start. Honestly, Zane cuts him a lot of slack since he’s one of his uncles. He, Tex, and Bolt are with his aunt Roxy, who’s Fist’s sister. They’re getting up there in age and I’m wondering when they’re going to bow out of the club life, or if they’re going to. They might not ever do it when I think about it. The club is deeply dug into their veins. Hell, Kat, their daughter is the first lady at the Vegas charter. She’s married to Damon, who’s the Prez there. Then they have Jordyn and Nova who’re teenagers at this point.

  Dracus walks in the room and shuts the door behind him, standing against the door like last time. Zane doesn’t comment about it again considering he knows what he’s doing.

  Zane slams the gavel down on the table and dives straight into business. “I got a call from Falcon about twenty minutes ago.”

  “Falcon?” Bull narrows his eyes in on him. He’s not physically here, but he’s video chatting with us from his bed. Cheyenne’s been adamant on the fact he needs to be on some serious bedrest until he’s healed up.

  “Yeah, the Prez for the Deathstalkers MC out in Portland. He saw some of the Corrupt Kings MC boys riding through. Of course, he doesn’t like seeing new blood come into his territory. Especially when he’s having some issues with the Toxic Warriors MC right now,” Zane fills us all in. I don’t pay too much attention to other clubs’ politics, but what I do know is that the Deathstalkers have some sort of treaty with the Toxic Warriors.

  “What kind of issues?” Tex questions, leaning back in his chair with his eyes glued on his nephew.

  Zane cranes his neck to the side. “Let’s just say they’ve been a pain in the ass for Falcon and his boys for a while, but now things are getting a bit worse with them. On top of it, Falcon’s enforcer, Kinetic, decided to follow the Corrupt Kings in a grocery getter and see if he could figure out what they were up to. What he found was that the Toxic Warriors were meeting with the Corrupt Kings. We don’t know why they were meeting, but we do know it doesn’t mean anything good.”

  “You can say that again, I smell a shitstorm brewing,” Bolt groans from his chair.

  Grim clears his throat and speaks up, “I mean, isn’t this a positive that they aren’t around us right now? It’ll give us time to come up with a more solid plan.”

  There’s no way I can hold back my thoughts right now. “Fuck that. They came into our club and started a war. Now, I can’t speak for every brother here but I don’t want time to pass for us to be prepared. I only want them to be in the fuckin’ ground. We’ve had enough history with our people dying. Fist, Saffron, Tank, hell, I could keep going on and on, but the point is we’ve lost enough people. We don’t need to be losing more.”

  “I don’t disagree with you, Zorro, but most of us have women and kids who depend on us. We can’t make brash decisions. Not now. Not when so much is at stake. We need to thoroughly think this through. I already asked Falcon and his boys to keep tabs on the Corrupt Kings. They agreed and they’ll let us know if there’s any sort of movement for them coming back out this way. Now, I heard you were leaving town in a few weeks to go take care of something at Stonewall. Is that right?” Zane’s eyes immediately dart over to me.

  I nod. “Yeah, not going for a while though.”

  “You are now. I want you back here before shit hits the fan. We’re going to need you, Zorro. You’re one of the best shots we have.” Zane’s never complimented me, but fuck if I’m not gonna take a compliment from him.

  “Alright. I’ll head out today. Now, you cool if I take one of the prospects? It’ll be a good opportunity for them to learn about how to work one-on-one.” I already planned to bring Frost with me, but he never knew that.

  “Yeah, take Frost. What is it you’re doing out there again? I swore we had Dex handlin’ shit.” Zane reminds me and the group. Blackjack crosses his arms and looks over to me, his own curiosity is piqued.

  “All due respect, but Ruby isn’t Dex’s woman. She is mine, and there’s no fuckin’ way I’m gonna wait until August for Dex to get there. I know you’re not a fan of what I’m doin’, Zane, but . . . if this were Octavia you would’ve already been there.” From the corner of my eye I spot Grim and Axel clenching their jaws. There will never be a day where they see me as the one fit to be with their sister, and I’ve come to accept that. They don’t have to like it but they do have to respect it.

  Zane nods in understanding. “You’re right. Go do what you need to do and then get the fuck back here. We all know the Corrupt Kings will be back soon, and when they come back I want to make sure we throw quite the welcoming party,” Zane snickers at the end, proving to everyone he’s prepared to bring
mischief their way.

  “Are you claimin’ her?” Axel questions, looking right into my eyes.

  Grim sits beside him, starin’ at me the same way his brother is, but they aren’t the only ones. Every person in this room is lookin’ at me, waitin’ for some sort of response.

  I nod. “Yeah, I am. I know you two aren’t fans of it, but I’m not gonna treat her like shit. She’s makin’ me become a better man, the type of man I wanna be for her, and because of that I can’t sit by and let those fuckers get away with what they did. You might not believe it, but I’m gonna cherish your sister, and I’m gonna have heads on a platter for her so she knows how much I fuckin’ care about her.”

  The entire room remains quiet, but both Grim and Axel stand, offer me their hands and I shake with them both. This must mean we’re on good terms now, or at least I hope it does. With Axel you never really know. He’s the club’s hothead, but maybe Grim has finally seen I’m not the enemy. How can I be when I’m on Ruby’s side?

  Chapter Seventeen

  Two souls didn’t find each other by simple accident

  ~ Unknown

  Ruby

  I’m on the second level porch leaning on the railing with a cup of hot chocolate in my hands. Steam floats into the air from the heat of the cocoa and I stare out at the skyline. The property goes on and on here for hundreds of acres. Ashley mentioned to me that this was her great-great-great grandfather’s ranch back in his time, that they bred cattle for market. They must’ve sold the cattle off at some point because I’ve never seen any farm animals here, but there is a massive barn a ways off. I can see it from here and I know some of the guys have been going out there. It’s probably where they’re keeping the prisoner. Gosh, that feels so weird to think about.