Page 29 of A New Era

“You’re right. Zach essentially said the same thing.”

“There you go, you have no reason not to believe us.”

“Zach said Leo wants him back before your wedding so I won’t miss your big day.”

Cheap perfume fills the air and I look up to see Zara walking toward us. It’s not like her to come around this side of the club. Unless a brother now lives in one of the new houses, no one ventures this far from the bar or the garages.

“Can we talk?”

There’s an entire list of things I’d rather do than talk to her, but I nod and turn to Nina. Throwing my arms around her, I squeeze her tight and say, “Have the best time and be safe.” Pulling away from her, I see the excitement shining in her eyes as bright as the sun on a clear day. A little part of me is jealous that she and Zach are about to spend a week alone together in a beautiful place. I’d love for me and Leo to get away somewhere just the two of us.

“And don’t worry about Sebby, you and Zach enjoy yourselves.”

Pulling myself up to my feet, I nod toward my house and Zara follows. I stop by the porch and cross my arms over my chest, readying myself for whatever this conversation is going to entail.

“I knew something was going on between you and Leo,” she starts, and I tense.

I should’ve known this would be about Leo. There isn’t anything else we’d have to talk about.

“I’m not interested in arguing with you.”

“Nor am I. I want to clear the air. You’re getting married and it seems me and Darryl are getting serious.”

Confused, I ask, “Who’s Darryl?”

“Grim.”

Oh. I’m so used to knowing brothers by their road names, I don’t think about it anymore.

“I got lost for a while, caught up in a fantasy about Leo but Darryl’s unlike anyone I’ve ever met. He’s real and I don’t want to mess it up.”

I don’t know what she wants me to say, but I tell her, “It sounds like we’re both where we’re meant to be.”

She smiles but as she crosses her arms over her chest, it slips. My gut is telling me this isn’t genuine.

“I don’t want the past always creeping up behind us. I’m going to be around, and I would hate for there to be tension between us.” Again, I don’t quite believe her, but I keep my forced smile in place.

“Thank you and I mean no offence when I say this, but I don’t think about you enough, or at all, to hold any tension. I hope it works out between you and Grim and you’re happy, but we won’t ever be friends like we once were. You showed some ugly traits over a guy and quite frankly, I don’t trust you.”

Zara sneers and her true colours bubble to the surface. “Darryl said I had to clear the air because you’re his president’s old lady, but I never wanted to. Do you think because he’s putting a ring on your finger, it’ll last? You can’t even wear his engagement ring without your gloves on.”

My first reaction is to hide my hands behind my back, but I think twice. I may despise them. They may make me feel sick to my stomach at the sight of them but in front of this bitch I used to call a friend, I won’t hide them, only how I feel about them.

“It’s time you walk away,” I hear Nina sternly say before she joins me at my side.

Letting Zara’s comment drag me down for only a second, I lift my chin and step into her space.

“You’ve shown me there’s still always something uglier than scars. You. You’re far uglier on the inside and if you ever come near me or my family again, I’ll make you wish you never set foot around here. And if it isn’t clear enough for you, you’re not invited to the wedding as Grim’s plus one anymore.”

She huffs. “Like I even want to go to your pathetic wedding. Like I said, it won’t last and the day you realise it, I hope it cuts you in half and I hope I’m around to see it.” She then laughs. “Face it, you’re his second choice and only ever will be a stepmother to his brat…”

My hand flies through the air before I know what I’m doing, and I hope the sting across my palm, even through my glove, is nowhere near how her cheek feels.

Anger like I’ve never felt before, not even toward the man who mutilated my hands, courses through me and I spit out, “Don’t you ever speak of me or my family like that again!”

“What the fuck’s going on here?”

I jump at Leo’s arrival and swallow heavily. “Zara was just telling us how she’s not going to be coming around here anymore,” Nina tells him as he walks toward us and slings his arm around my shoulders.

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