Page 62 of Zen's Crash

The old ladies and Rage walk out with the doctor in tow. Everyone is all smiles, and the conversation is rolling right along.

The moment the door shuts behind them, Siege comments, “Out of everything that went down today, I was not expecting Cleo to walk in with some fancy ass doctor to add to our club.”

Rider snorts a laugh. “That’s not what she said. He’s just some random colleague of Fran’s. Just because he likes to ridemotorcycles doesn’t mean he’d be interested in joining our club.”

Siege’s voice turns irritated in an instant. “I know my wife. Trust me, she wouldn’t have brought him here if she didn’t think he was a good fit for our club.”

Rigs chimes in, “This thing with Zen is a perfect example of why we need a good doctor around this place. Especially since Doc retired. Rage is damn good, but there’s only so much he can do.”

Dutch nods. “I agree. No harm can come from asking if he wants to join our club.”

Rider insists, “He’s still gotta prospect just like everybody else. Just because he’s a doctor doesn’t mean he can just walk up in here and get patched in.”

Siege gives him a dirty look. “You really have some deep-seated dislike for those VA doctors, don’t you?”

“That’s crazy talk,” Rider responds. “I’m just saying he needs to prospect if he wants to join.” We all know Rider is lying through his pearly whites. Those VA surgeons had to operate on him at least a dozen times, and he hated it every single time. He didn’t really have a choice if he wanted to keep riding his motorcycle, though. He can’t do that with a bad hand.

Tank agrees with Rider, maybe just to smooth the situation over. “Of course he’s gotta earn his patch. There’s no doubt about that.”

Seeing the inner workings of their club is much less impressive than I thought it would be. Tedious, is the word that comes to mind. I move over to sit beside Zen.

His hands come out to hold mine. “How are you holding up, Lexi?”

“Terrible,” I reply. “You can’t leave me alone for a minute or I almost get abducted by a serial killer. I’m nothing but trouble for you.”

He perks up at my gentle teasing and reaches up to tuck a lock of my long, dark hair behind my ear. “You’re right about being trouble, but you’re the best kind of trouble.”

I lean over and place a gentle kiss on his bandage. “I’m truly sorry you got hurt trying to protect me from what turned out to be my own family.”

He grins. “It does sound a bit wacky when you put it like that, but you can’t ever forget these two clowns are extremely dangerous.”

His words hit me wrong, and I tear up. “How could I ever forget that after Terrance killed my dad and his father killed all those innocent women?”

Zen’s good arm comes out and wraps around me, tugging me closer. “I’m sorry if that sounded patronizing. You’ve been through a lot.”

“Maybe I’m being overly sensitive,” I tell him. Before he can deny it, I ask, “Are we going to talk to Terrance’s father this evening? I have a bunch of questions for him.”

Siege’s voice cuts through the din of voices. “Yes. We’re doing that as soon as Zen gets a moment to catch his breath.”

Zen gets to his feet with his good arm still around me. “I’m as ready as I’ll ever be.”

“Let’s get it done,” Siege responds.

We follow the club officers down to the locked cell in the basement.

Chapter 25

Zen

The minute we open the door to the cell and Harris catches a glimpse of Lexi, he practically flies at her. Before anyone can even react, I nudge Lexi aside and punch him in the throat. He crumples to the floor, coughing and gasping.

I stoop down and tell him in no uncertain terms, “You’re no longer dealing with the scared, helpless women you like to prey on. Right now, you’re answering to the Savage Legion MC. And I need you to know I’m all out of fucks to give about you and your situation.”

“You have no idea who you’re dealing with.”

I slap him hard across the face, not once but twice. “You’re not listening, and that pisses me off. It literally doesn’t matter who you think you are. I don’t give a shit about how many women you’ve killed, or how powerful that made you feel. In my world, you’re worth less than the shit I scrape off the bottom of my shoe. You’re gonna sit up, pay attention, and answer my damn questions, because when you stop talking is the exact moment you lose your usefulness to me and my club brothers.”

Rider and Siege pick him up and sit him in a chair. Standing around in a circle is a very effective intimidation technique. I see that now.

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