CHAPTER TEN
– ZORA –
When I look into his eyes all I see is the solid familiarity of comfort which I once considered my whole world. There’s a reason I held onto one precious memory of us to build a mental wall during Ramiro’s assault.
Eight days I was held against my will. When I almost gave up on my life the asshole brought me to a diner as a freaking reward for finally being compliant. A single moment in time where lives cross, and it saved my life. Grayer saved my life.
Once Grayer pulled me from Ramiro, I was still ready to give up. My mind tormented by the horrors, and especially the gaping holes in my memory of the past few days. Until Lynn stepped into my room and started talking.
She rambled nonstop basically about the destruction of life, of harsh experiences from women I’ve never met, the many options, the chances, and more importantly, the future she was sure I had.
None of those things I wanted to hear and yet the woman simply kept rattling her mouth. Eventually hooking me in when she brought up Ramiro and how Grayer would be able to get even or allow me to get revenge as well. Lynn definitely had my full attention after that.
Though, I hardly think I have it in me to torture someone.
I’m a healer, not someone who inflicts pain and injuries, let alone kills someone.
Then again, this man ruined my life. He took something that wasn’t his to take, and now I feel as if my personality has shattered and I can’t find the pieces through the cracks to try and glue myself back together.
Lynn mentioned Grayer. How he was the one asking her to come here for me.
The explanation she gave about her background, the motorcycle club, the completely different side of Grayer she knew in the years since he left our hometown.
All of it made me decide to accept the one change which would give me a new chance.
At a point in life when there is no reason, no hope, no future, or sense to anything anymore...
I’m going to try and cling to a point of familiarity, of comfort, and trust. Grayer Xane Balls.
A man who clearly has the balls to step up, even if I’m the only one he allows to tease without precautions that he doesn’t have the balls.
The sliver of hope I didn’t dare to rely on is exactly what he gave me, and I grasped the offer with both hands. Friends. It’s as if he heard my thoughts, truly sees me, and knows exactly what I need. He didn’t even care who was in the room with us and simply spoke as if it was just the two of us.
Which is why I felt at ease enough to tease him and felt a sliver of myself resurface long enough to catch a breath of fresh air.
My fingertips still linger against the scruff of his jaw when he leans into my touch. He gently takes my hand to brush his lips against my knuckles.
His voice is tender when he says, “Are you okay to stay in my chair and listen in on the details?”
What I really want to do is run back to his room, shut and lock the door, and crawl back into the bed that smells like him and ignore the rest of the world. I can’t hide forever. So, instead I give him a tight nod.
He doesn’t waste time and turns to face the others. “All of you sitting at this table know what my father stood for, the very reason I came back to take his place...and investigate his death. Not just as a peacekeeper, but undercover as law enforcement.”
A shockwave of sharp intakes of breaths is followed by muttered “what the fuck,” a load of different curses, and shocked expressions.
Grayer glances around the room and continues, “What we stumbled onto yesterday changes shit. Which means Spence here, the president of the Broken Deeds MC New Jersey chapter, and my president before I went undercover, has some crucial information. He also brought a contract from the government along with an offer for a patch over. If we have a unanimous vote, we will take on law enforcement cases concerning this town, and any other stuff the government, or Broken Deeds chapters need help with. First, we will finish the one Roux, Fawkes, and I have been working on. Before Spence will share the classified information, I will need to have your votes. I should warn you, though. My mind is set. I want the patch over. To transform the legacy of my family, and continue under a new Broken Deeds MC NJ chapter, to legally become the peacekeepers of this town. We will be able to gain justice by using any means necessary.”
The members glance at each other until one of them states, “Fuck, Prez. I don’t need a damn vote ’cause gaining justice by using any means necessary? I’m all in.”
“Malic.” Grayer nods. “Appreciate it. And the rest of you?”
I jump in my chair when they all start to slam their hand flat on the table. Balling my fists, I close my eyes and swallow hard. Someone knocks wood against wood by the sound of it and the noise stops.
“Then it’s settled,” Grayer rumbles. “Someone hand me a pen and I’ll sign the contract.”
One of the men hands him a pen and Grayer briefly scans the document in front of him before signing.
He hands the contract to Spence. “Done. We’ll save the patch over party for when we finish this damn case.
We don’t need the distraction or to draw attention to ourselves at this moment.
Now, the paperwork tied to my case is mine to deal with.
Mind sharing the information that’s kept me from ending the fucker who hurt my old lady? ”
Spence nods to another man who starts to pass out papers to everyone in the room. He hands me one too and I swallow hard when I recognize Helmer Neron. Except, there’s a string of other names under his photograph.
“Helmer Neron is an alias. We only recently found out who he really was due to an enhanced facial recognition program. The government has a string of names, but we’re keeping the one he’s using now as a reference because he’s recently had some plastic surgery.”
“Like a whole new face or something?” Malic questions.
“Yes, like a whole new face,” Spence affirms, and turns to face me.
“The man who took you has a rap sheet a mile long. Which shows a fragment of what he’s capable of since they’ve only used this last name for the past few months.
Two towns to be exact.” He glances at the rest of the men.
“This one and the one they lived in before they sucked it dry. It’s what they do.
These fuckers come into a town, stir up a wave of crimes to put fear into property owners.
They then scam the shit out of everyone who they offer a deal to buy their property and leave before everyone realizes they took all the money.
The information you guys gathered? The property they’ve bought?
The first few sales are legit, money in the bank.
It’s how they earn trust. Buy cheap property, make a quick exchange, and then pull a long run by transferring ownership without making the cash exchange.
They leave without a trace but not before they sold the property for a high amount to an outsider.
Two victims for each property; the owner and new owner...
so they have millions in cash that’s gone up in smoke for others.
The government wants Neron alive. Which is why we need to keep his son alive since it’s our bargaining chip. ”
“We’re not going to trade him for Neron,” Grayer grits.
Spence glares at Grayer. “All I’m saying is keep the fucker alive for now. Keep torturing him for all I care; just make sure he keeps breathing.”
“Fine. Any other orders concerning Neron? Besides the order to keep the fucker breathing, preferably in a jail cell. Though, I assume it’s after we’ve gathered the hard evidence because he would be rotting behind bars already if they had proof,” Grayer says with a load of anger in his voice.
The guy next to Spence nods. “They want you to gather as much evidence as you can. Preferably about all the people he works with. It’s not just Neron.
He must have a few people who work for him, who handle the money, documents, contacts.
When you have dismantled his organization, you can bring the fucker in. ”
Neo, who is sitting next to Malic, speaks up. “At least we now know who and what we’re dealing with. Even if we knew the fucker was buying up property.”
“Which have all been legit, so the fucker will start to suck the town dry very soon,” Grayer muses.
“First thing we need to do is get a list of all the properties he might be interested in. They might not be all for sale because he’s hired two fucks to start shit at a bar and tried to shove the blame on Caleb Keenan.
This fucker clearly has his own agenda and doesn’t gain property by going through real estate ads.
He throws everyone off with the crime spree first, because we were fucking focusing on that at first too. ”
My mind boggles with the overload of information. I glance around the table to take in all the bikers of Grayer’s MC. Some I recognize as patients. It’s a small town, and even if I’ve talked to some of them professionally, I don’t actually know them personally.
I glance around the room once more and know this space looks practically the same as it did over a decade ago. We didn’t come to the clubhouse too much, only to drop Grayer off or pick him up.
What Grayer mentioned, the talk he had with my father and his...
our future when we were both still so young.
The rough club life was something Grayer wanted.
He was just as driven as I was about my dream to become a doctor.
Until one moment, one thought, one fragment of hope that showed me a future as a family. A dream that wasn’t meant to be.
Grayer walked away from us because he thought he was doing the right thing. To give my dream priority over us. What if he didn’t let our parents influence his choice? Did he really listen to their advice, or did he hide behind it and make up his own mind?
In the end? None of those questions matter.
A decade later we’re here together again.
Back to being just friends before feelings complicated our lives.
Friends who just agreed to a long-term relationship.
No chance to get pregnant when I can’t even think about sharing a bed or letting a man touch me with sexual intentions at this point.
I swallow hard at the emotions clogging my throat.
We’re really a screwed-up couple of bound friends.
It seems with the stuff they just shared it’s only going to get worse before things will get better.
There’s no way I’m going to step foot outside this clubhouse until both Neron, and his fucked-up son, are either behind bars or dead.