Page 38 of Zeke

Shit.

He continues to shoot me menacing looks which make me cower more than I’d like to admit as he opens the door to the bakery and disappears into the back. Of course, he’d see me falling asleep on duty the day after I promised him I would keep her safe.

I look up at Kira’s place and don’t notice anything amiss. God, what if something happened to her while I was asleep? Five minutes later, she comes down the stairs, beautiful as ever in the dawn light. She turns, looking around. She seems to be trying to see something she doesn’t know the location of as she turns her body to see more area. I’m unsure what she’s looking for until her eyes settle on me, and her face breaks into a smile.

The most beautiful smile I’ve ever seen.

My heart beats so fast and hard, I’m worried it might actually leave my chest. She smiled at me. She’s not angry about the kiss. In fact, she seems happy. Of course, she seems happy. People smile when they’re happy.

My brain is short-circuited as I watch her walk into the bakery and join her dad in the back. My little nap refreshed me enough that I know I’m good to get home at the very least.

I can hardly believe what I’d just seen. Kira is definitely pleased with how the night ended between us, even if the reason we were there at all was a bad one. She didn’t hold the kiss against me as a bad idea—at least, I think she didn’t. I get a sinking feeling in my gut as I wonder if maybe she wants to pretend it never happened and go back to the way things were before. I don’t think I could do that now. Now that I’ve kissed her, my desire for her can’t be ignored.

As I pull out of the lot, Country and Julia drive up in his truck, and he sets up shop for his guard duty while she goes into the bakery. They sit in the car for a few minutes, talking. Then I see some kind of hug or something happen between them, and it makes me smile. It might not have had that effect on me if I hadn’t had that well-received kiss with Kira, but today, I’m happy for anyone who’s happy with someone else.

Except for Eli, who I’m happyisn’twith someone else.

A part of me feels bad. Heismy brother, after all, and a part of me wants to see a win for him, especially after what he went through with Torque. None of it makes a dent when I compare it to the feeling of knowing Kira smiled at me after I kissed her.

God damn. I can’t wait until the next time I had a chance to go into the bakery. Maybe I’ll get the chance to kiss her again. I could ask her to spend her break with me and have an even better kiss than before. I might do it in front of Julia to get a rise out of her. Well, not only for that reason, as fun as that would be. I want Kira so badly I can taste it. Literally—I remember exactly how she tasted when our lips met.

When I get home and pull into the drive, I see Pony and Bastard playing together in the side yard. The damn dog still has a cast on, but he runs like he doesn’t, especially when there’s a tennis ball for him to chase and return. The difference between the mangy creature Eden brought home and this happy, lively dog is like night and day.

“Go get it,” Pony grunts as he throws the ball again, and I watch Bastard (I refuse to call him Tardy, no matter what Eden says) run after it again and again, enjoying the show for a few minutes before heading inside to get a shower.

On my way to the bathroom, I pass Eli, who sips a coffee. He’d gone home and gotten a good night’s sleep while I was on guard duty. Normally, I’d let him be, but I’m feeling particularly cocky about myself and more than a little salty about him today, so I snatch the cup out of his hand before he can stop me.

“Wha… Hey!” he protests, but I’ve already downed the whole thing before stuffing the cup back into his hands.

“Thanks,” I say with a wink. He looks like he’s debating smashing me over the head with the mug. Instead, he stands there looking furious.

“Jackass,” he says as I turn my back and continue on my way.

I undress in my room, tossing my gun in its holster on top of the bed, while I put my clothes, which reek of having stayed in the truck all night, into the laundry basket in the corner.

My room has a direct door into a shared bathroom with Eli. I’m honestly half-surprised he hasn’t locked me out on my side as a form of petty revenge, but then, he’s a lot more level-headed than me. I’m the one who goes in guns blazing, not him.

After I get out of the shower, I debate going to bed, but I’ve got a bit of a second wind and I start thinking that breakfast sounds like a good idea. I head into the kitchen, and I see Pony standing there, staring at me.

I can’t figure out what the problem is at first, but then I see the way he’s holding his hands. They’re out to the side and open, like he’s showing that they’re empty, and that’s what tips me off.

I take a step forward, reaching in my side holster for my gun and feeling the wind leave my lungs.

I left it on my bed.

The click of a pistol being cocked is followed closely by the feeling of a gun being pressed into the back of my head.

Fuck. How did I miss this?

“Don’t move a damn muscle,” a slimy-sounding voice says from behind me. “Or I’ll shoot. Now… where the hell is Savage?”

CHAPTERNINETEEN

Eden

I’m just finishing getting dressed after a long, late night with Savage, and only about half of it was fun. He’d given me the rundown on this guy Wizard, who was a loose cannon type in an old club of his. From what Savage says, Wizard was one of the “old rules” types who didn’t think women had a place in an MC, let alone in a leadership role. Apparently, he’d been a total asshole to Julia and the other few women who participated in club stuff who weren’t hitched to a member or a cut slut.

I barely get my gun holstered to my hip and pick up my phone to put it in my pocket when the damn thing vibrates.

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