Chapter 6
Chapter Six
Zeke dropped himself sideways into a chair parked in front of Vi’s desk at the In the Shadows Security warehouse and hooked a knee over the arm. “Is he mine?”
Vi’s brow furrowed. “Is who yours?”
“Ledger.”
“Did you wreck your sled and get brain damage or something? I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about.”
“Kyra’s son.”
Vi blinked at him and her mouth slowly dropped open. “She has a son?”
Now he was getting annoyed. “Are you fuckin’ with me? She was your closest friend. Did you know? Did you fuckin’ hide him from me?”
Her head snapped back. “No.”
“You better not be fuckin’ lyin’ to me, Vi.”
“Fuck you, Zeke. You know I’d never lie to you. When she disappeared, she ghosted me, too.”
He pulled a breath in through his nostrils in preparation of eating some shit. Of course, his cousin would get off on feeding it to him. She always did. But fuck it. Blood was blood and he needed to find out if this Ledger was his son. “Need your help.”
Vi sighed. “It’ll cost you.”
He jabbed a finger toward the floor. “This is a club-owned business. Shouldn’t cost me a fuckin’ thing, woman.”
“The club gets its cut. A cut that’s too much, if you ask me.”
“Nobody’s askin’ you. Your pop handed you a golden fuckin’ egg.”
“Still takes a shitload of work.”
He wasn’t there to argue with her. “What I need won’t take much time.”
“Should I guess?”
“You know what I want.”
“You sure this is smart?”
“He might be my blood.”
“If he is, he’s mine, too, Zeke.” Her dark head tipped to the side. “How do you know she has a son?”
“Ran into her at the fundraiser Saturday.”
Her brown eyes went wide. “She was at the fairgrounds?”
“Yeah. Figured you mighta run into her, too.”
“Well, I didn’t because…I don’t know…maybe I was fucking busy helping out? Unlike you. Plus, there were thousands of people there.”
“Nobody asked me to help out.”
Vi rolled her eyes. “They shouldn’t have to ask. It’s called volunteering.”
“What-fuckin’-ever, Vi. Just askin’ for a small favor. Don’t gotta be a bitch ‘bout it.”
“How old is he?”
“No fuckin’ clue.”
With her hands planted flat on the desk, she pressed herself back in her chair. “Well, it’s been about four years since she caught you with your jeans down around your ass and your dick in Bunny’s mouth and she wasn’t pregnant then. So my guess is he’s under four.”
“No fuckin’ clue.”
“Was he a teenager?”
What? “No.”
“A baby?”
“Fuck no. If he was a fuckin’ teen or a baby, I’d know he wasn’t mine.”
“I don’t know. Sometimes you’re pretty fucking clueless. Like letting Bunny suck your dick while Kyra—your girlfriend—was at the same. Damn. Party.”
Jesus Christ. She was beating that particular fuck-up to death. “Was fuckin’ drunk.”
Vi barked out a sharp laugh. “And stoned. And stupid.”
He couldn’t deny any of that. “She didn’t even give me a second fuckin’ chance.”
Vi leaned forward. “If I caught my man getting his cock sucked by a club girl, I wouldn’t either. Hell, it wouldn’t even have to be a club girl. Could be any woman. In fact, he’d be lucky I didn’t cut his dick the fuck off.” She sliced her hand through the air in a cutting motion.
Zeke winced. “Goddamn, woman. Gonna help me or not?”
Vi sighed and sat back again, crossing her arms over her chest and taking him in. “I don’t know, Zeke. Did you ask her yourself?”
“Yeah. She wouldn’t answer.”
“My team can handle a lot of shit, but not paternity tests.”
“Just need an address. Phone number. Tried the one I got but she musta changed it.”
“Do you blame her? She was upset and probably felt foolish since you were standing in the middle of the courtyard when she caught you and Bunny.”
Or it could’ve been the fact that he contacted her a few times after she left. More than a few. Once she blocked his number, he simply left voicemails. But all he wanted to do was explain how getting head from sweet butts didn’t mean shit.
She lifted a finger. “If I do this, I don’t want you harassing her.”
“Just wanna have a face-to-face with her without some other dick bein’ there.”
Vi’s eyebrows pinned together. “What other dick?”
Zeke scraped his fingers through his hair. “Some fuckin’ asshole puttin’ his hands all over her.”
“You mean she had a boyfriend or husband with her? Possibly the father of her son?”
Husband? “Asked him if the kid was his, he said no, that he was some loser’s.”
“Well, there you go, cuz. That’s proof the kid has to be yours, then,” she said on a laugh.
She sobered quickly. “You could always get Lily to file in the courts. But Zeke…if, for some reason, this kid’s yours, you know what that means, right?
Child support and actual responsibility.
If he’s yours, you can’t just pop in and out of the kid’s life. You’d need to be—”
“Steady.” Did that word scare him? Fuck yeah, it did. But if he had a son, he’d be willing to give it a shot. And if he succeeded, maybe he’d stop disappointing everyone. Including himself.
“I’m not sure you’re capable of that.”
“Got a whole fuckin’ family behind me, Vi. Includin’ you.”
“You’re not asking for much.”
“Knew you’d agree.” One side of his mouth hiked up when she released another loud sigh.
“You’re such an asshole.”
“Should be used to assholes since your pop’s the king of ‘em.”
“Stop trying to steal his crown, Zeke. Especially if this boy turns out to be yours. If you keep acting stupid, Kyra’s going to fight you tooth and nail to keep you away from him, and with your record, the court might agree with her.”
She wasn’t wrong, but fuck if he was telling her that. She’d never let him live it down.
A deep voice came from the hallway. “You good, boss?”
Zeke glanced over his shoulder to see a buff, tattooed dude hovering in the hallway. He hooked a thumb in the newcomer’s direction. “Who the fuck’s this guy?”
Whoever it was must have thought Zeke’s question was an invitation to join them. When he stepped into Vi’s office he almost sucked all the oxygen from the room with his presence.
“This your ex-con boyfriend?”
Zeke’s head snapped back toward Vi. “You got a fuckin’ ex-con boyfriend?”
“No!” She grimaced and her eyes rose to the man standing behind Zeke. “No! Eww. This ex-con’s my cousin.”
The guy was showing off his ink and honed muscles by only wearing a tank top.
“Zeke, this is my new team member, Reaper. Reaper, this is Zeke. Or, as we like to call him, Trouble.”
Reaper’s hand shot out. “Clay Wyatt.”
Zeke clasped it and gave it a firm shake. “The sniper.”
Reaper didn’t confirm or deny that but he did eyeball Zeke’s cut. “Heard a lot about you, Trouble.”
“I’m sure.”
“Nothing good,” Reaper finished.
“No surprise.”
Reaper turned to face Vi. “So, you’re good then?”
Was this guy for real?
“Yes, he’s harmless. Thanks for being vigilant.”
With a nod, Reaper strode out of the office.
“Why’s he so damn concerned about you? You’re in your goddamn office with your cousin.”
“It’s part of who he is, I guess. By the way, Reaper’s got a sled.”
“So?” What did that have to do with his own issue?
“He might be interested in becoming an Angel.”
“Is his sled pink?”
“Wh—”
“Figured you meant he wanted to be one of your Furry Angels.”
“It’s Angels of Fury, you dick.”
“Same shit.”
“And, no, he can’t join our club. We don’t allow men.”
“Huh. Sounds like you discriminate.” He shot her a toothy smile.
What was good for the goose…
“Has to do with tradition. Wouldn’t want to break that,” she reminded him of his own words.
“Good that you get it. Who’s gonna sponsor him? Grim, Ghost, or T-Bone?” Leo, Chance and Ty were current Shadows, taking after their fathers, but unlike their fathers, they also rode with the DAMC.
“Nobody.”
“Don’t got a member named Nobody.”
“Zeke.”
“Vi. That dude wants to be a prospect?”
“No.”
Zeke shook his head. “Women. So damn confusin’.”
“He was a freaking sniper in the Marines, Zeke.”
“So?”
“If you have his back, he’ll have all of yours. Get it now?”
“No, since the Shadows always had the club’s back.”
“Right, when the owner was a part of the DAMC. I wasn’t good enough to be a member and was told to fuck off, remember?”
“You ain’t the owner, Vi. The club is. You just manage the fuckin’ place.”
She threw her head back and laughed. Actually threw her fucking head back.
She pointed to her lap. “You want to sit in this seat and manage this crew? You can hardly manage sitting at the head of the table. Most of the time that seat’s empty. This business doesn’t run itself.”
“What’s his body count?”
“I’m sure the number is higher than you have fingers. And toes.”
“Have one of the guys bring it to the table. All of us had to prospect, includin’ them, so don’t expect him to not have to go through the same shit.”
“You guys can make an exception in this case.”
“We can fuckin’ vote on it, but don’t expect it to go in his favor. He don’t wanna prospect then—”
His thought was interrupted when Violet’s younger sister, Indigo, walked into the office looking like G.I. Jane. She wore camo cargo pants, a tight black tank top that showed off her sculpted arms, combat boots, and had a gun holstered on her hip.
Some men might be into that badass chick shit, but Zeke preferred a woman who wouldn’t shoot his ass when he pissed her off, which was guaranteed to happen.
The whole reason he sat in Vi’s office.
“Reaper just told me my favorite cousin’s here!” Diesel’s middle daughter exclaimed.
“You don’t need to lie to him,” Vi told her.
“Glad you’re here, cuz. Can you do me a favor?” Zeke asked Indie.
She propped her ass against the desk, facing him. “Of course you came here wanting something. Why would you ever just come to visit the cousins you love and adore?” She made kissy faces and noises at him.
“See you all the fuckin’ time.”
“Usually there’s a thick piece of bulletproof plexiglass between us.” Indie grinned. “What kind of favor? Are you in trouble? Again?”
“Need some info, and since you’re some sorta intelligent person, thinkin’ this favor will be a piece of fuckin’ cake for you.”
“Former operations intelligence specialist,” she corrected him. “A title I actually earned. Unlike the sitting president of the DAMC. What kind of favor?”
He ignored the dig. One thing their family were experts at was breaking balls.
“Kyra’s back and he wants to stalk her,” Vi answered for him.
“Saw her with a young boy and some really handsome guy at the jubilee on Saturday,” Indie announced. “Was too busy to talk to her since, you know, some of us were swamped helping raise money for the Walker Foundation.” She cocked an eyebrow.
“Last I checked, my club supplied a lotta free labor.”
Vi snorted. “Your club.”
Zeke ignored that, too. “Need to know her details.”
“Google is free, Zeke,” Indie announced.
“Now why the fuck didn’t I think of that?” He shook his head. “Just need her address and phone number. Maybe even where she works. It ain’t online.”
Indie asked, “Why do you need it? She left you for a good reason.”
He didn’t appreciate all these unnecessary reminders. He was there when it happened. “Thinkin’ she left ‘cause she was knocked up.”
“You mean the same way you were trying to get Bunny’s tonsils pregnant?”
Zeke shot to his feet. “Jesus fuck! Just askin’ for some help. You don’t wanna help, gonna head over to the retirement village and get one of the real Shadows to do it.”
Vi’s eyebrows shot up. “You really want them to know you might have a kid? That news will move like lightning through the compound. Then you might get your parents riding your ass over it.”
Fuck.
Indie shook her head. “What kid?”
“The boy you saw with Kyra,” Vi explained to her sister.
“Oh wow. They’ll probably be excited to find out they’re grandparents.”
Jesus Christ. Coming to the warehouse was a mistake. He should’ve hired someone he didn’t know. Only, that would cost scratch, and in that moment, he didn’t have much.
“Think about how their hearts will be ripped out if it turns out that when Kyra left she came to her senses and found someone much better to get her pregnant.”
Vi agreed with her younger sister. “Probably wasn’t much of a stretch to find someone better.”
He interrupted their bullshit. “Pretty sure the old crew knows how to keep their traps shut.”
“About real missions. Not this petty shit.”
“If this Ledger is my son, this shit ain’t fuckin’ petty.”
“Ledger? That’s a cool name,” Indie said. “But what if you find out he is? You can’t even be responsible for yourself.”
“That’s what I said, sis.”
“You two are annoyin’ as fuck.”
“Guess you don’t need my help then.” Indie shrugged and pushed off the desk to standing. “Ask one of the guys. Maybe they’ll give a shit.” With that, she walked out.
Fuck.
He swung his gaze back to the woman behind the desk, who asked, “Ever hear the saying that it’s easier to catch flies with honey rather than vinegar?”
“You’re so damn smart, you know that, Vi? Can’t understand why you don’t get any fuckin’ dick.”
“Only you could make honey spoil. And believe it or not, I do get plenty of dick. I just don’t swallow it in the DAMC courtyard in the middle of a pig roast.”
“Maybe ‘cause Diesel would break that dick off and shove it up the guy’s ass. Any-fuckin’-way, just need an address, phone number and place of employment.” He unfolded himself from the chair. “Thanks, cuz, you’re the best.”
Vi swatted a hand in his direction. “I’ll see what I can do.”
Zeke shot her a big smile and as he headed out the door, he heard, “But no promises!”