Page 20 of Zeke

“So I’m gonna need you and Eli to bury whatever hatchet you’re throwing back and forth at each other so we can try to figure out who could be following me in broad daylight.”

All the enemies we know of who had faces and names are dead. They were either blown up by Torque when he torched Marty’s clubhouse, or they were killed along with their leader. Other clubs might be gunning for me simply because I’m a woman running a club, but I don’t know if this is someone who hates that or if there’s something deeper.

I pull out my phone again and stare at the picture of the truck. Why is it so familiar? I wrack my brain but keep coming up blank.

“I trust you to keep an eye out without letting whoever it is know that we’re onto them, right?”

He nods at me, and I return the gesture. I wave my hand for a minute to dismiss him, then stay in the room by myself for a few minutes.

I can’t explain it, but I have a gut feeling something is coming. Something more. As bad as things were with Torque and Marty, and as much as things are tense here with Julia keeping everyone else on edge we need to be ready if there’s another threat from outside.

I leave Church by myself, and I’ve barely made it back into the living room when I decide exactly who I need to help me work this out. Neither of my brothers will like that I am going to choose someone’s counsel over theirs, but they can fuck themselves. This is what I need to do to make sure the club is safe.

I give Tardy one last look, then head upstairs to see if Savage is in our room. When I don’t find him there, I check outside. Luckily, he’s there on the front porch talking to Pony.

Pony is possibly our youngest member, but only Eli knows for sure because he vouched for him when we could have killed him for working with Torque. Since then, Savage has taken Pony under his wing, like a momma bird preparing her chicks to fly for the first time. They’ve been doing jobs together, and Pony seems to be getting the hang of things.

I walk over to them, and Savage looks up at me with a smile.

“Hey, Sweet Girl,” he says, calling me the sweeter of most names the others have given me over time, and none so much as my brothers. He must notice the look on my face because he immediately amends himself by saying, “Sorry. Big Red.”

I walk over and put a hand on his arm, but then drop it. This isn’t the time for touchy-feely. This is all business.

“I need you to do something for me,” I say to Savage. “I need to know if there’s been any word about someone new gunning for us. I don’t know who it could be, but there was someone following us in a black truck earlier today.”

“There waswhat?” Savage says, demanding an answer I don’t have.

“Yeah,” I say simply. “Can you keep an ear to the ground and let me know if you have any clues who it might be?”

“I can ask around,” Pony says, speaking up.

“You sure, kid?” I ask, and his face grows dark as I call himkid, but he doesn’t budge.

“Yeah,” he replies. “I got good at doing recon work and being subtle when I was working for Torque. I’d really like to be able to help out.”

I look to Savage for confirmation that Pony is ready for this, but he doesn’t seem to be nervous or eager in a way that might make me think he was being overly zealous.

“Okay,” I say, not waiting for Savage to give me an answer but needing something to be done as soon as possible. “Just be careful. We don’t know who might be out there looking for us and we don’t want them to know we’re onto them—that we know they might be watching.”

Pony nods in understanding, but then Savage reacts by putting a hand on Pony’s shoulder. “You sure you’re ready for this? You don’t have to if you need more time to get over what all happened.”

Pony’s face falls, likely devastated Savage doesn’t believe in him. I can’t really blame him. There was a time when very few people thought I was prepared for the responsibilities I’d undertaken. Now I’m so powerful and respected that other MCs and their leaders fear and hate me for existing.

“I’m ready,” he says, sounding confident and sure despite the sour look on his face. “I’m new and I have a lot to learn, but I worked for Torque long enough to pick up a few tricks. I can do some recon without drawing attention. Plus, I’m new to you guys and I was never one of Torque’s big names, so not a lot of people know to associate me with him in any way. I’m perfect for this because my connection to you is quiet as far as anyone outside of the Ruthless Kings is concerned.”

He has a good point, I think as I look to Savage to see if he agrees with me. Most of my guys were established as working with me or my club, so them doing recon would be obvious. It might make us more of a target if people thought we were scared of someone simply following us around. If Pony is any good, he can make this happen without drawing too much attention to us or the situation.

“Better get to it, then,” Savage says, nodding at Pony. “You let me or Big Red know what you find before you talk to anyone else. Understand? You’re going to be riding alone, which is dangerous right now.”

Pony nods but looks ecstatic at the opportunity. I can’t tell if the enthusiasm means I did something right or something very wrong, but only time will tell.

I hope it won’t be a huge mistake.

Pony walks away to get ready, and I turn to Savage, who is on me in less than a second. His big, strong hands wrap around my waist, pulling me against him as his lips find mine. His tongue immediately parts them to demand access, which I readily give.

“Fuck,” I moan as his lips find my throat. It feels so fucking good to have him touching me, like all the stress I’m under can melt away and leave me with only him to worry about, only him to focus on.

I kiss him back, swirling my tongue around his before jumping into his arms and wrapping my legs around his waist. Part of me wants him to take me right here on the porch, regardless of who might walk by.

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