Page 34 of Zeke

“Zeke,” he says, taking a deep breath. “It’s no secret I don’t want you around my daughter.”

“No, sir,” I say, opting for the respectful approach, hoping it will endear him to me a little. Hey, if it gets me one-up on Eli…

“Well, I take it back.”

What the fuck?

Did I hear him right? Did he say that he takes back not wanting me around Kira? Is this just to me, or does it extend to all the Kings? Does it extend to Eli, or is this me getting his blessing?

“I’m sorry, sir, but what do you mean?”

“I mean,” he says through gritted teeth, “that as long as this town is going to be under attack from whatever enemies you guys have, I expect you to take care of Kira. I want you protecting her at all times, round the clock, always. You hear?”

“Uh, yes, sir.”

“Good,” he replies, and I see the sheen of sweat on his brow. He’s really freaked out by whatever happened, and the more he talks, the more I’m going down that same road. “Because I’m not going to lose my daughter. Understand?”

“Yeah,” I say with conviction. There’s almost nothing in the world that could make me leave Kira to fend for herself. She rapidly approaches the importance of those other things in my life. “I won’t let anything happen to her.”

“You promise me, boy,” he says. “You promise me that my girl won’t get hurt. I know you boys tend to get yourself into trouble, but Kira isnotgoing to be a casualty in whatever is going on. You promise me, Ezekiel.”

Ezekiel. If I didn’t know he was deadly serious, the use of my full given name would have tipped me off. No one ever calls me that. Well, no one except Eden, and only when she’s pissed enough to yell at me but not so pissed she won’t talk to me at all.

“I promise, sir,” I say, putting a hand to my heart. “I won’t let anything happen to Kira. I care very much about your daughter and would never want anything to ever hurt her.”

“That better include you and your brother,” he says. “I know she’s taken a shine to you, and her heart isn’t ready for heartbreak. If you can’t promise to not hurt her, I need you to leave her be. Keep her safe, but keep your distance.”

“I’d never hurt her,” I swear. “Promise.”

“All right, son.” He opens the door from the kitchen and motions for me to go out first. “Go do your business.” He lets the door close between us, and I hear a familiar banging noise that means he punched the wall. The bruises are still fading from my knuckles, and that had been about Kira as much as his punch had. I know where he’s coming from and why he is upset enough to damage himself.

I emerge from the kitchen and I see Kira look up at me, really noticing me for the first time. It had been chaos when I walked in before, but now she can really see me and she seems… relieved. Happy.

I glare at Eli, who looks ruffled as she turns her attention away from him to me. I hold up a finger to her to let her know I’ll be right there to hear what happened from her side. First, I go to Eden and Savage.

“What happened?” I ask, interrupting a heated back-and-forth with Savage and Julia.

“Someone came looking for Savage,” Eden says to me while Savage and Julia resume hissing at each other. They’re quiet, but the gist is that he wants her to quit working at the bakery while “Wizard” lurks around. Predictably, Julia tells him to fuck off.

“Who?” I ask.

“Someone from an old club he used to run with in Miami,” she tells me. “Rivals of the Kings. Must have heard Savage and Julia joined up and has some kind of point to make.”

“Fucking great,” I say, running a hand through my hair and looking back at Kira. “What happened when he got here?”

“Nothing much,” Julia says, shutting down whatever Savage is saying. “He’s a real bastard with a chip on his shoulder the size of Everest, but he was alone. He found Kira outside and walked with her inside, where he creeped the fuck out of me. Of course, that’s his specialty. He’s a creepy fuck. He wanted me to pass along that he was looking for Savage. Not sure why he’s not looking for me, too, but that’s what it is.”

“What did Kira have to do with it?” I ask.

“Nothing as far as we can tell,” Eden says. “She just happens to work where Julia works, and he used that to get in and make them feel threatened.”

“He couldn’t threaten—”

“He abso-fucking-lutely can threaten you,” Savage says.

“He was alone,” she argues. “What’s he gonna do?”

“Shoot Kira while she’s unarmed and use the moment of surprise to take you out,” he counters. “That’s exactly how he’d do it, and you know it.”

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