Page 8 of Shadow

Fuck.

Did he know I was the one that killed their former club brother, Jinx? If so, what the fuck was his play? If he thought to use my little sister against me, the fucker was about to meet Jesus himself.

No one fucked with my sisters.

Narrowing my eyes, I looked at my little sister. “Really?”

Charity gulped.

“Zeke,” Faith hissed. “Let it go.”

“Not a chance, babe,” I replied, leaning my elbows on the table. There was no fucking way. My sisters were the best of the best. Two of my sisters survived hell and lived to tell the tale. There was no fucking way I was letting this go. Over my dead body. “Tell me, Charity, since when do you attend club functions? More specifically, how do you know the Diamondback M.C.?”

Hope, the peacemaker of the bunch, jumped in for the rescue. “Oh, we met the wife of one of the brothers, Kali, last week at the farmer’s market in Lawton. She came by our booth and fell in love with a lot of the stuff we make. We started talking and the next thing we knew, she invited us to a barbeque at her place. It was awesome, Zeke. She had this cleansing ceremony to rid her home of some bad juju in the past. We didn’t know she was married to the president of the club. But all the brothers were really nice to us.”

“I’m sure they were,” I growled mainly to myself, as I looked at Faith, who sat frozen in place. I hated this for her. As the oldest, Faith received the brunt of Malachi’s maliciousness. “And what about you? Did you go to the club on family day?”

Faith glared at me and sneered, “You know I didn’t.”

“I don’t see the problem here, Zeke,” Charity said snippily.

Fuck, I forgot how young she truly was.

Showing her age, Charity never saw what was truly before her. She lived in her own bubble, free of the nightmare of our brother. Though I agreed with everyone that Charity and Joy would never know the truth, the fact was it happened and Charity’s callousness was beginning to grate my nerves. “Hope and I had a wonderful time, and I met Nevil there. What’s the problem?”

Hope looked at Faith, who quietly got up from the table, saying nothing before she walked out the back door, slamming the screen door shut behind her.

“Shit,” Hope muttered, following.

Turning to Charity and the oblivious Nevil, I sternly stated, “The problem is you were at a club function. The problem is you are dating a man who has ties to a biker club. The problem is you have been told your whole life to stay the fuck away from bikers!”

“So not fair, Zeke!” Charity shouted. “Dad was a biker. You are a damn biker. The same as Balthazar and Malachi!”

Nevil flinched, sitting up straighter in his chair.

Growling, I sneered, “Don’t you ever mention that motherfucker’s name in my presence again. You know the rules. And just for the record, Charity, I left the club. And before you ask, I’m not going to tell you why. As for our dad, yeah, he was a club brother, and he died a club brother. Dad didn’t want his girls around the club, and neither does your mother.”

“Well, I’m a grown ass adult. I can make my own decisions.”

“You are barely twenty and don’t know what you are talking about.”

Charity slammed her hands down on the table and stood. “And whose fault is that? Huh? Nobody tells me anything!”

I watched as she ran from the room.

Glaring at Nevil, I firmly stated, “You need to stay away from my sister.”

“Can’t do that. I intend to marry her one day.”

Shaking my head, I took a deep, calming breath before replying. This motherfucker didn’t know anything. Not his fault, but the fact was, he was ignorant of the truth because if he fucking knew, he would walk the fuck out of this house and never speak to my sister again. “You barely know her. Charity is young and beautiful. She has her whole life ahead of her. I don’t want her around the club life. Ever.”

“I’m not part of the club. My brother is. Not me.”

“You’re still family. Anything happens to you and that club will ride. You are a danger to her, not to mention what it’s doing to my other sisters. Does Shirley know about you?”

Nevil shook his head. “Not yet. Charity and I’ve only been dating for a few weeks now.”

“End it, now before I do,” I stated, getting to my feet.

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