Chapter 13
Lexi
W e head to Zen’s place with me riding on the back of his bike. I haven’t forgotten how he accused me of stealing. He was rude, demeaning, and he wouldn’t listen to reason. But his behavior has moved him from the ‘arrogant prick’ category squarely into the ‘slowly redeeming himself’ category.
He hasn’t apologized for what he said, and that bothers me more than a little. However, he’s gone all-out helping me stay alive now that we’ve discovered the truth behind my dad’s paranoia. If I’m being honest, I’ll admit that discovering the truth has really freaked me out. The icing on the cake is finding out the little voices I’ve been hearing every so often were not a figment of my imagination. If Zen hadn’t insisted on coming to my place to search for clues, I might still be in the dark about that.
I have a lot to be thankful for with this man, so I’ve decided to give him some grace. That thing that happened back in my room was a one-off situation that I don’t plan to repeat. Sure, he’s incredibly attractive, and I love the way he touches me. I even appreciate that he didn’t end up waving his ginormous cock in my face after giving me a head-spinning orgasm. He was cool, laid-back, and tried to get me to see a trauma counselor. Zen is either the most amazing man on the planet, or I’m a terrible judge of character.
When we pull into his shop, I actually recognize it. I shopped for a hard-to-find part or two here before. Though I’m pretty sure I’d remember if Zen had been in there.
Zen helps me off the back of his bike, and we go inside. “I’m gonna give you the grand tour, and by the time I’m done my club brothers should be here with your computer.”
“I hope they’re careful with it,” I tell him, ever worried that something might happen to my baby. I understand that strapping it to his bike would be ridiculously risky, and driving separately is a no-go because we agreed to stay together, so having the men tasked with protecting me and my house bringing it is the next best thing.
Zen distracts me by pulling me deeper into his shop. I take a look around and exclaim, “Wow, this place has changed a lot since I was here last.”
Zen grins. “Yeah, we’ve been working hard to make this place a success.”
We walk up to the counter, and both the guys are staring at me like I’m the hottest girl they’ve ever seen. Or maybe it’s because I’m wearing a nerdy t-shirt—I can never tell.
Zen speaks up. “Walter and Rob, I’d like you to meet Lexi. She’s mine, so don’t even think about hitting on her.”
I lean over the counter slightly, only realizing afterward that my cleavage was on display. Annoyed that Zen is lying to his employees, I shake my head and say, “That’s not true. I don’t belong to anyone but myself.” My voice is light and playful, so the guys are rightfully confused about whom to listen to—me or Zen.
Zen grabs me by the hand and pulls me towards the back of the building. We go through some doors and pass through a break room. “This is where we make pizza and stuff.” We keep walking, and then he opens the door to a supply room, and I’m in heaven.
I walk in and do a full circle, taking in shelf after shelf of computer parts. They’ve got old hard drives, graphics cards, cooling fans, and every other part a woman like me could ever wish for. Pure happiness blooms in my chest at the thought of all the computers I could build with this stuff.
Practically vibrating with excitement, I tell him, “Remember that scene in Beauty and the Beast where the Beast shows her the library, and it makes her the happiest girl in the world? This is the Lexi equivalent of that moment.”
Zen just looks around proudly at his virtual horde of computer components. “You are the first woman in my life who’s recognized the value of all these parts.”
“I’ve got a great idea,” I tease him. “How about I live off my inheritance, and you let me come here and build computers all day for you to sell in your store?”
He walks over and wraps me up in a hug. “Do not tempt me. If you give me half a chance, I’ll join you in building the biggest, best custom-built computers every day, all day long.”
I pat his chest and respond with a laugh. “That would be my idea of heaven.”
He twirls me out of his arms and puts me at his side. “Come. I’ll show you my apartment.”
“Let me guess—you live over your shop, right?”
He nods. “I sure do. Walter and Rob live in an apartment in the basement. Although we’re not related, we’re like one big happy family around these parts.”
“I’ll just bet you are,” I tell him. “This has got to be the best job in the whole world.”
Yeah, we’re nerding out together. I realize that a moment too late, but what the hell—his shop is seriously nice. Honestly, I could live here and be a happy woman. If I thought the downstairs was nice, his apartment upstairs is like something from a sci-fi novel. He has motion-activated neon strip lighting around the top and bottom of the rooms. Everything is black and gray. The walls are smooth, and all the fixtures are antique bronze.
And his computer setup is like nothing I’ve ever seen. His gaming chair is a zero-gravity cockpit chair. He has a bank of monitors that covers the better part of an entire wall in his living room. I realize at this point that he is all he says he is, and I feel so bad that I thought he was lying to get into my pants.
“I know I’m probably fangirling all over you, but your computer setup is amazing.”
“I hope I don’t seem arrogant by agreeing with you. This setup is where most of the money for the apartment upgrade went. I balanced it out by keeping everything else in basic colors to streamline the whole look.”
“Well, you did a fabulous job.”
“Can I offer you something to drink? Coffee, tea, or soda?”
“I wouldn’t mind a bottle of water, if you have some.”
“Of course. Give me a second.”
We walk to his kitchen, and he gets me a cold bottle of water from his fridge and takes one for himself. Before we can strike up another conversation, his phone jingles. When he reads the message, he murmurs, “One of my club brothers just came with your computer. Let’s head down before Tank gets too comfortable tormenting my employees.”
I can’t tell whether or not Zen is joking about that. By the time we make it down to his shop, there’s a middle-aged man in a Savage Legion cut leaning on the counter beside my desktop, talking to Walter and Rob. He waves one hand around and asks, “So you two really know how all this shit works?”
The one named Walter responds, “Yeah, mostly. What we don’t know, we can research and find out.”
“That’s damn impressive. Have you ever thought about carrying other electronic supplies like biometric safes and door locks?” Looking from Walter to Rob and back again, he adds, “You see, I own a bunch of rental properties, and it seems like keeping those locks operational is a fucking full-time job. If you sold shit like that, I could buy it, install it, and my residents could come to you when it needs repairing. That would save a big headache for a guy like me.”
Walter scratches the back of his neck, looking like he doesn’t quite know what to make of Zen’s club brother. So Zen steps in to speak with his club brother—who also happens to be a club officer, if the patch on his leather vest is any indication. “We could definitely do something like that. Do you want me to shoot you wholesale links or just use my own judgment?”
“Using your own judgment sure sounds good to me,” he responds in a relieved tone. Slapping the top of my computer, he grins. “I got her here in one piece. She fell off my bike twice and has a few scratches, but I know Walter here can resuscitate her if necessary.”
My panic flares to life in an instant. “You dropped my desktop?” I rush forward to have a look at it. As I’m giving it a once-over, Zen tells his club brother sharply, “Don’t even joke about shit like that, Tank. Lexi has been through enough. She doesn’t need the extra trauma of thinking you destroyed her only computer.”
When I glance over my shoulder, I see his friend has the decency to look ashamed of himself. “Yeah, I guess I deserved that. I’m sorry about that, darlin’. I didn’t really drop your computer. I strapped it into the passenger side of a truck and was real careful with it, just like Zen asked.”
Turning to him, my anxiety falls away. “I get it—you like to tease people. Is that it?”
He shrugs his big shoulders. “Yeah, a guy like me has to get his jollies where he can, ya know?”
“I get it,” I tell him. “And I won’t be so gullible next time we meet.”
“You’re quick, smart, and don’t hold a grudge. Just the perfect old lady for our Zen. It’s been forever since he found a woman to his liking.”
My eyebrows shoot up and I joke, “Is that so? I never would have guessed that. He struck me as a smooth-talking ladies’ man.”
The older man snorts a laugh. “Zen, a ladies’ man? That don’t sound right to me.”
Zen moves forward and starts walking his friend to the door. “Well, thanks, Tank, for dropping off the computer. I hate that you have to leave, but I know you have properties to attend to.”
“Now, hold up, Zen. You know I’m your security for the day. I ain’t leaving you and your new lady friend uncovered, not with a killer on the loose.”
Walter and Rob immediately start whispering. To be honest, they seem like they’re panicking a bit. Meanwhile, Tank pats the side of his cut. “I even brought my Glock in case that asshole shows up again. You and me, we ain’t gonna let him do to your lady friend what he did to her old man. I’m gonna drop that fucker if he gets within a hundred yards of her.”
“I do appreciate that, Tank.” Zen’s tone of voice seems forced. “Why don’t you set up a perimeter and let us know if anything looks amiss out there? Me, Walter, and Rob have the inside covered.”
Tank gives Walter and Rob the stink eye. “Do those two computer geniuses know how to shoot a gun? They’re gonna be about as helpful as a fart in a wind tunnel if they ain’t got weapons or they can’t aim worth shit.”
“Those two have been working really hard at target practice, so let’s leave them to it, okay?”
“Sure, I’ll be outside. Call me if you need me.”
When Tank walks outside, Zen turns around. The look on his face is priceless—almost as comical as the look on Walter and Rob’s faces.
Walter stammers, “We’ve got a killer on the loose?”
Rob asks seriously, “What DEFCON level are we at?”
Zen frowns at them. “Lexi’s father was killed ten months ago, and the killer was never apprehended. We think he may try to acquire her.” Rubbing his chin thoughtfully, he adds, “I’d say that puts us at DEFCON 3, which is a heightened state of readiness. I mean you stay together, keep the doors locked when the shop is closed, and don’t take chances with your personal safety. Got it?”
“Sure thing, Zen. You can count on us to run a tight ship.” Rob must be former military or something. He has a short haircut, asked about DEFCON levels, and there was almost a salute at the end.
Zen tells them, “Thanks guys. I knew we could count on you. We think the killer might have compromised her computer, so we’re gonna be in the storage room breaking her desktop down to see what’s going on with the hardware and software. Lexi’s a builder, so she’s gonna throw together a computer to use while we’re figuring out what’s up with hers.”
Walter asks, “What do you mean by compromised?”
Zen responds calmly, “It’s not gonna explode or anything. We think he might have installed two-way surveillance program of some sort because we could hear him speaking.”
Rob gestures to my desktop. “You need to run a full malware spread on that thing.”
“We did that already,” I tell them. “We didn’t find anything, so Zen is going to do a deep dive.”
“Alright,” Rob states. “If you need us to make a food run or anything, just let us know.”
Zen says sternly, “No more food runs for right now. Food runs are not DEFCON 3. Get deliveries only. Use cash out of the till and leave the receipts. Food’s on me until we figure this out.”
Rob responds, “You got it. We’ll be really careful.”
Zen gives him a chin-jerk acknowledgment as he walks over and picks up my computer. “See that you do. I don’t think the killer will show up here, but if he does, I don’t want anything bad to happen to my employees.”
I follow Zen back to my favorite room in the building, excited about the prospect of building my own temporary replacement computer. Once the door is closed behind us, I comment, “That was all kinds of awkward.”
“Yeah,” Zen says as he puts my computer on a long table running down the middle of the room. “Walter and Rob don’t do too well with situations involving danger. They’re good guys, don’t get me wrong but I tend to keep quiet about club business around them. As far as your father’s killer goes, my club has been in dangerous situations before. A few years ago we had a run-in with a criminal syndicate and an outlaw club who was selling drugs and trafficking in the area. We managed to run them off, but not without some back and forth.”
I begin pulling together pieces for my new build as we talk. “That sounds more than just dangerous. It sounds downright deadly.”
“Our club is good at dealing with dangerous situations. My employees, not so much.”
“I hate that I’m the one putting them in danger,” I tell him hesitantly as I pick up a screwdriver.
He glances up from opening my computer to say, “You’re not putting anyone in danger. It’s the fucking asshole who killed your father who’s putting us in danger. Don’t ever think the things he does are on you.”
“I know you’re right. But the guilt is still there.”
He gives me a slight smile. “Maybe we can get rid of the guilt the same way we did with the stress.”
My face goes hot at the mere mention of him with his hand between my legs, of him licking his fingers clean of my pussy juice. “I probably wouldn’t say no to more face-to-face time with you.” There’s no sense lying to the man or playing hard to get. Right now, I’m all alone in the world with a killer on my tail. It’s not like Cindy and Kayla can help protect me. I both need Zen and want him. There’s no doubt about that.
His unsure expression brightens. “I would love it if you would spend the night with me. Just one night, and we’ll go to your place tomorrow.”
“I guess that depends on whether or not you can figure out what’s going on with my computer. You need to be here to work on it because all your tools are here. Finding out who’s been cyberstalking me is the first real break we’ve had in this case, so this is a priority over me sitting at home being bait.”
“You’re much more than bait. You know that, right, Lexi?”
I shrug. “Yeah, I guess. I don’t have many people who would miss me if the killer ended up getting to me—a handful of friends that aren’t in much condition to stop him.”
“That’s where me and my club come in. We’ll not only stop him, we’ll make sure he doesn’t get the chance to harm anyone else.”
“When I think of the women he killed, it makes me furious. Those women had family and friends who missed them. It’s heart-wrenching that one person can negatively impact so many lives.”
“I feel the same way, especially about a few people running roughshod over so many. That pissed me off with the criminals trying to run our town.”
I relax into the day at Zen’s shop. We have a late lunch and keep working into the night, long after the shop closes. Zen’s good company, and his approach to figuring out what is wrong with my computer is very methodical. By the time we head upstairs, it’s late evening, and we’re both feeling the strain of being on our feet all day, bent over our respective computers.