Chapter 15 Makenna #2
Riot shrugs. “Same reason you are. Nic’s tryin’ to build unity, even if no one knows what side he’s on either.”
Zane growls. “Open your eyes and you’ll see what side I’m on.”
The air grows so heavy it presses down on my shoulders. I glance around, realising how outnumbered we are. My pulse skyrockets, especially when I notice how still the girls have gone. Maylie covers her baby’s head with her hand, trying to sit up a little more.
The laugh that comes out of Riot is barbed.
“The funny thing is Blade’s lookin’ more trustworthy than you right now.
He bled for the club. You… you fuckin’ disappeared and came back with this whole fuckin’ life no one knew about.
But hey, you two can get cosy while you’re here, maybe bond over who’s the better traitor. ”
That word lands like a bomb. There’s a beat of silence, then it feels like the room exhales.
Oh, shit.
Zane steps forward, pulling me with him. I dig my nails into his hand, warning him to take a fucking breath.
He doesn’t. “Fuck you.”
Riot grins, leaning back in his chair like nothing can touch him.
Prick.
Ivy mutters a “Nate” under her breath, and I swear I hear someone else drop a “Shit” but Riot doesn’t take his eyes off my husband. I don’t like the way he’s looking at Zane, like he’s a piece of crap that he needs to scrape off his boot.
“Fuck yourself, Diesel,” Riot says. “I ain’t the one keepin’ secrets.”
“Enough,” a voice says from behind us. It’s cold and filled with enough authority that everyone stops. I cut a look over my shoulder to see another tank-shaped man. Zane pulls me into his side, like he can save me from the testosterone fuelled showdown going on. “Diesel’s one of us,” he says.
Riot scoffs. “You want me to put my trust in a brother who lied to us for years? I’m sorry, Nic, but I can’t.”
It seems like Nic becomes taller somehow, like his presence pushes against the tension in the room. “You can and you will.”
“Why? Because you say so?”
“Yes,” he says, his voice flat.
“Nate,” Mace says his name softly and Riot’s gaze slides to him. A thousand unspoken words are said in the look that passes between them. “Let it go.”
Riot doesn’t move for a beat, then sinks back into the chair. Dayna whistles low.
“I need a drink.”
“You’re pregnant,” Ivy reminds her.
“I said I need one, not that I’m going to start downing vodka.” Dayna lets out a breath, her eyes flaring in that way that says, “what the hell was that?” before she smiles at me. “Welcome to the… madness, I guess. We can’t keep calling you Zane’s wife, so…” She waves a hand.
“I’m Makenna.” I snap my gaze to Riot. “And just so you know, I bite.”
Dayna snorts. “I can already tell were going to like you.”
The tension in my chest loosens just a fraction.
“I’m calling church. Five minutes. We’ll use the other room,” Nic says before walking out.
I frown. Calling what? Church?
Zane drops his lips into my hair. “It’s a meeting,” he clarifies.
“Right. Why’s it called church?”
“Just is.” He turns, standing in front of me like a wall in leather and denim and addresses the entire room. “I’m only going to say this once. If anything happens to her while I’m here, there won’t be a corner of this earth for you to hide in. Nothing touches her. Understand?”
I sidle closer, not sure what is about to happen after he drops that very real, very clear threat. Maylie shifts the baby on her chest and Ivy glances at the guys.
Dayna doesn’t blink. Then smirks. “Okay, that was fucking hot. Like melt-your-knickers-off hot.”
“Right?” Maylie adds, stroking up and down her baby’s back. “I may have just given birth, but I think my uterus is contracting again for a different reason.”
Mace shoots her a look that could level cities. “You’re literally lying there with my kid attached to you,” he mutters.
“You’re still the hottest guy in the room,” she says, kissing the baby’s head. “But I can still appreciate the romance.”
“You girls have a funny idea about what constitutes romantic,” Riot grumbles, still side eyeing Zane like he thinks he might lunge at him.
“Can we focus?” Nic cuts through the shit. “Church. Now.”
Zane let’s go of my hand, but I feel the reluctance.
“I’ll be okay,” I assure him. He doesn’t look convinced, and I can see how he’s torn between me and the club. “I promise.”
He presses a kiss to my forehead, his lips lingering just a little too long. “Stay with the girls.”
I nod and he gives me a final glance, as if he’s not sure he’ll see me again, before he follows the men out of the room. Riot drops a kiss on Seren’s head and then Ivy’s before he also leaves.
The door shutting behind them feels like a blow, but I’m alone now with the girls, the babies, and Toby, who looks like he’s not sure if he wants to grin or throw up.
“Well, that was unnecessarily tense,” Maylie mutters. “I can’t handle the drama. My nerves are shot to pieces. But no, everyone wants to be all ‘he’s a traitor’,” she drops her voice to mimic Riot, which makes my lips twitch.
“He’s stressed,” Ivy defends. “This isn’t exactly a great situation. Everyone’s on edge.”
“Zane’s loyal,” I defend immediately.
“Oh, I wasn’t suggesting he’s not,” Ivy says, shifting Seren to the other knee. “Nate’s just… cautious. They all are. There’s a lot at stake.”
“Of course they are,” Dayna says. “Their VP tried to shank Dash and murder two other club members. Trust is a little low in supply right now.” She exhales.
“Come, sit down before you fall down.” Dayna links her arm through mine as if we’ve been best friends for years.
“I have about ten minutes before I need to go and check on Rhys, you know in case he needs his brow mopping or he’s bleeding out.
” I can’t tell if she’s joking. She snorts and adds, “His medication is due and he gets grumpy when he starts feeling pain.”
“He was stabbed by this… VP guy?” I let her guide me over to the other couch and as I sit, I peer at the baby, so small, so new. He seems too little to be out of the hospital and staying in a place like this.
Dayna’s smile is thin. “Yep. Technically Dash should still be in hospital, but the guys wanted him somewhere safe. They gave them long enough to get through the surgery and then brought him here.”
“They brought all of us here,” Ivy says.
“I’m not complaining,” Toby reaches for a bowl on the table I didn’t notice. It’s filled with crisps. “I get out of school.”
Dayna nods solemnly. “Dodging death is definitely preferable to algebra, right, kid?”
He rolls his eyes. “You’re all so dramatic.”
Except they’re not. This is life or death and I’m not sure why everyone is being so flippant about it.
I balance on the edge of the couch, like it’s lined with spikes. I’m not relaxed enough to sit back, not yet. I can’t hear shouting or blood being spilt from the direction Zane went in, but I’m not sure that means anything.
“He’ll be okay,” Ivy says, as if she’s reading my thoughts. “The guys aren’t going to hurt him.”
“Riot pointed a gun at him and threatened to use it.”
Ivy opens her mouth, then shuts it again. “Oh.”
Maylie murmurs. “Shit.”
“Yeah,” I agree, fisting my fingers around the edge of the couch. “You’ll have to forgive me if I’m little slow to trust after that.”
Dayna waves this off. “Riot’s a teddy bear.
I mean… not a cuddly one, but he’s not going to murder anyone.
The man eats cereal out of the box and leaves dirty socks everywhere.
Besides, I’ll kill him if he does. Diesel’s my…
He’s my friend.” The way she says it cracks something open in me.
“Though friends tell their friends about their partners.”
“He was scared to. Thought I could be used against him.”
“Makes sense,” Ivy says. “Things are… awful right now. I feel like we’re living in some kind of dystopian nightmare.”
“Did you know about the club?” Maylie asks.
“I mean… I knew he was a member, obviously.” I stop talking.
I don’t know if I can trust anyone in this room yet, and I don’t know if my words could be used against us—against Zane.
“I hate this,” Maylie complains, letting her head drop against the pillows. “I wasn’t expecting to spend the first few days with my new baby in someone else’s house, bleeding and leaking in a war zone.”
Ivy squeezes her ankle through the blanket. “I know, but it’s safer here, at least until the guys sort out this mess.”
“If they can,” Dayna remarks. “Have you ever seen them try to organise anything? It’s carnage.”
“Don’t say that.”
“I don’t want to be the voice of doom and gloom, but how many MC civil wars have you witnessed, Ivy? None of us know how this is going to play out.”
Maylie sits a little straighter, wincing. The baby fusses against her before he settles again. “They have support. It’s not just the five of them.”
My ears prick up at that. Who else is involved?
“I kind of came into this party late,” I say, careful with my words. “I had no idea things were so volatile, but I’m terrified that I’m going to lose him without understanding what is going on.”
“Babe, none of us really understand it.” Dayna flops down into the armchair with a dramatic huff. “It’s politics and bullshit, but it’s nice to have another old lady.”
“I’m not that old,” I say, offended.
Ivy snorts and Seren grabs her face with tiny hands. “No one thinks you’re old,” she says, peeling Seren off her. “It’s what they call wives and girlfriends in the club.”
I frown. “Why?”
The girls exchange glances. “You know what? I have no idea.” Maylie laughs as she says it. “I don’t think it’s meant to be offensive, but now I feel like I should be offended.”
“You should be,” Dayna comments, her hand resting on her belly. “You’re the oldest person in the room. Except maybe our new friend.”
I don’t tell them how old I am. Not because it makes a difference, but because I don’t know if I’m supposed to.