Page 53 of Zeke

Maybe two.

CHAPTERTWENTY-SIX

Eden

Ihang up the phone after I talk to Eli about everything going on back home and growl into the empty motel room.

Savage is with his old club, working with the guys there. Wizard’s brother seems to give a fuck about the club and not his own interests. He and Savage were apparently pretty good friends while he was here. He says he wouldn’t normally give his attention to this kind of thing, but since it fell on our doorstep, he feels responsible, and I agree. He was the VP and left with a tyrant in charge and no one with a good head on their shoulders to step into his place, which brought someone into our town, into our home, who was willing to kill whoever he needed to in order to get what he wanted.

Who didn’t shut up about how unfair it was the entire ride here.

I met a few of the people from the club when I first got here, and they seem like decent guys who deserve a good prez and VP to run their club better. Once they realized who I was, the reception got a little icy, so now I can’t even go help because motorcycle clubs don’t think women should be in charge. This one at least lets women in, but they don’t have any more from what I understand. As far as I know, their female members are now with my club. But Savage thinks it would be a bad idea for me to go in and throw my weight around since I’m not only president of another club, but I’m also a woman, and it would undermine everything we’re trying to do here.

Worse, I can’t help at home, where apparently some psycho is threatening someone close to my club, who my brothers have decided needs to be protected and have put the full force of the Ruthless Kings behind it.

I’m so crippled here, stuck in a motel room, unable to lift a finger to do anything for anyone I care about. Just waiting for news and results I have no control over.

I hate not being in control.

Eventually, I can’t take it anymore. I grab a beer from the fridge and drink it down in the space of about thirty seconds, then throw the bottle at the wall with a cry of frustration.

Glass rains down onto the floor. I throw myself onto the bed, tears stinging my eyes, but I refuse to let them fall, even sitting here alone, with no one to see. My dad didn’t leave me in charge because I was a crybaby or a weakling. He left me in charge because I fit the nameRuthlessand would do whatever it takes to keep my club and my people safe and taken care of.

But I can’t fucking do that from this fucking cheap-ass motel room.

I put my hands in my hair, trying not to pull any of it out in my frustration but coming very close. I’m not used to feeling so helpless and out of control. The only time I like it is when Savage is tearing my clothes off and fucking me into a mindless stupor. Outside of that, I’m used to being in charge, but here I am, stuck over a thousand miles from home, in a motel room, waiting for Savage or Eli or Zeke or anybody to come back or to call me with an update on the things going wrong.

I pull out my phone, desperate for an update. Eli doesn’t want to talk, and I have no intention of making him. Based on what he told me, I’m sure Zeke is occupied and won’t be able to or, more likely, won’t want to talk since he’s finally with the girl he’s been trying to get with for months now. Savage is too busy dealing with what we came here to do to worry about me feeling left out and anxious.

That doesn’t mean there’s no one I can talk to. I start by texting Rebel, since he usually has a pretty good gauge of how things are going:

Hey. I heard some shit went down. Want to fill me in?

I wait a few minutes, chewing my lip, but when his reply comes, I am disappointed.

Not sure. I was home and heard people come in. Zeke had a girl with some bags with him, so I guess she’s staying?

I sigh, frustrated I don’t have a better response, or more information to help me feel at ease about what’s going on.

Any idea who might know more?

A few minutes go by and he replies again.

Just talked to Justice. He was there.

I don’t hesitate before I open up my thread with him and type out:Wanna give me the lowdown on what happened tonight? Eli said something about Kira being threatened, but that was it.

I see three little dots appear, letting me know that he’s typing to me. It goes on for a while, and I’m glad to see that, when he sends it, there are lots of details.

I always knew he was one of my favorites.

Eli did the check-in at the bakery today, and everything seemed okay, but when Kira got home, someone had left a box of roses on her steps with a note that said DO NOT IGNORE ME. She called Zeke, and he and I went over to check on her. Everything seemed okay other than the creepy-ass gift, but Zeke wasn’t having it. He told her to pack up, and he took her home once Eli and Brawler showed up to take over checking on her place. We didn’t find anything out of the ordinary, and she’s safe at the farmhouse now.

I could kiss him if I wasn’t a married lady—and if I hadn’t already gone down that road with Justice only to find out it was a dead end. I reply:Thanks, Justice. Get some rest. I’ll be heading home in the next couple days.

He sends back a thumbs-up emoji, and I close my phone, feeling marginally better. At least I got to talk to someone about what was going on. The information is the same stuff Eli told me, but it makes me feel like I have some measure of control to be kept in the loop.

Now that I have an answer, I am left alone with my thoughts and nothing to distract me.

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