CHAPTER THIRTEEN
– XANE –
The car speeds off and I instantly shrug out of my leather cut, kicking the tire wrapped around Balta’s upper body so I can get him to fuckin’ roll.
I slap at the fire with my cut until someone throws a bucket of water, quickly followed by another.
Zora is suddenly kneeling beside him and thank fuck the fire is out.
“Ambulance is on its way,” Fawkes states and shakes his head at the scene in front of him. “Motherfucker, I can’t believe the bitch set him on fire.”
“Well, she did, and we need to get the tire off,” Zora snaps while she checks Balta’s vitals.
I’m standing there staring at her because I have no clue how to help. All while she’s completely switched to work mode and is trying to help a man who was just set on fire.
“Prez, a little help,” Malic rumbles, a pruning shear in hand.
Balta is being awfully quiet while we cut away the tire.
His skin is black and pink, curled right off him on some spots and it looks painful as hell.
An ambulance appears a few minutes later and Zora rattles off details while they load him onto the stretcher.
We all stare at the ambulance as it drives off.
“Neo,” I bellow and point at the ambulance. “Follow them and give me an update as soon as you have one.”
Neo nods and jogs in the direction of his bike.
Zora reaches for my hand to link my fingers with hers before she whispers, “I don’t think he’s going to make it. The skin is the largest organ and he had burns on eighty percent of his body. Not to mention factors such as shock and sepsis.”
“Fuck,” I grumble and lean in to place a kiss on the top of her head.
She doesn’t shy away from my closeness but instead leans against me. We both need support within this moment. I guide her in the direction of the clubhouse and once inside it’s Roux who waves me over.
He’s holding up a photograph and states, “Luisa fucking Mendoza, Prez. How the hell did we miss this shit?”
I rub a hand over my tired eyes. “Because she hasn’t shown her face so no one made the link. Now we damn well know why they hop from town to town and why they need the money.”
“All because of this woman?” Zora asks.
Though, I’m proud to have her jumping in with her skills as a doctor, and not shying away, but this kind of information isn’t meant for her ears. I don’t mean to be disrespectful, it’s more in the lines of the fear it will invoke and how it could cause a huge setback.
“More like her brother, he’s...”
I snap my fingers to cut Roux off. “Get all the brothers in here, right now, dammit.”
Turning to Zora, I soften my voice and tell her, “I have to make a quick call to Spence and talk things through with my club brothers.”
She frowns and turns those blue-green eyes on me. “Why don’t you want me to know these details?”
The dullness over the past few days is replaced by a defiant spark, until it slowly fades when she says, “Never mind. I’ll be in your room.”
“Wait.” I reach for her and this time she does rip her hand away.
Not shying away from my touch or from fear, no...she’s pissed. I shouldn’t like it, but I’d rather have her pissed than back in her shell.
“Fine. I’m trying to protect you, okay?” I sigh.
She narrows her eyes. “Protect me from what? Hearing details about the woman who just torched a man? About those she’s connected with including the one you have tied up in the basement who put me through my own personal hell for days on end before you stepped in and ended it?
I can handle more than you think, Grayer.
Even if all of you consider me broken and incapable of handling stuff. ”
That fucker thought he could have shattered her beyond repair, and maybe he would have eventually succeeded...but it doesn’t mean she’s fucking broken. Yet, it pains me to hear she thinks that’s the way we see her.
Now I’m the one narrowing my eyes. “I don’t consider you broken.”
She crosses her arms in front of her chest. “Then you won’t mind if I stay.”
Dammit.
Roux snickers. “The woman has a point. It’s better to know about the monsters before you’re surrounded by darkness.”
“She was already locked in darkness and experienced the fucking monster we have locked in the basement,” I snarl. “I don’t want her to worry about a damn cartel we need to take out. Which can backfire if we don’t handle our shit correctly.”
“Which is why you should put a microchip in her, and the rest of the guys, like we have. We could have known exactly where Balta was before this shit happened,” Fawkes says as he takes a seat at the table. “Might also need to teach her how to shoot a gun so she can wear one.”
Z frowns. “You have a microchip inside you?”
“All Broken Deeds MC members have one. Once the patch over is done they will have one as well. The old ladies get them too, and since you’re the only one...
yeah, you’ll get one too. It shows our vitals and works as a GPS tracker.
Working crime cases for the government involves getting kidnapped or lost sometimes. ”
“Easier to track down,” she mumbles, more to herself than to me, and bobs her head. “I want one. If they take me again, you’d be able to track me down.”
Red hot fury fills my veins at the mere thought of someone harming a single hair on her head.
“No one is going to fucking take you again,” I snarl.
She wrings her hands. “You don’t know what the future entails. No one does. I’m pretty sure being burned to a crisp wasn’t on Balta’s bingo card either, but you know...shit fucking happens.”
Her voice was a mere whisper when she started, but the “shit fucking happens” is bouncing off the walls.
I raise one of my eyebrows in reply to her outburst, silently asking if she’s done and wait for her to react.
The old Z would shove my chest, get in my face, and throw some more attitude around.
With what recently happened to her, I have no clue how she’ll react.
In fact, she doesn’t react at all but holds my stare instead.
I give her a slight nod. “Fine. Stay. Once we’re done here, I will place the order for the microchips.”
The corner of my mouth twitches when she stalks to my chair, pulls it away from the table, and plants her ass in it. The smile quickly disappears when I reach for my phone, knowing the incoming call will be about Balta when Neo’s name appears.
“Yeah?” I rumble and listen to the update. I swallow hard. “Thanks, brother. Come back as soon as you can.”
Ending the call, I glance around the table at the rest of the brothers. Roux, Fawkes, Stellan, Fenrin, Jaw, Malic, and Lass. All of them are looking at me and I can tell they already know what I’m about to say.
“He didn’t make it, did he?” Zora sadly asks.
I give a tiny shake with my head to confirm her statement. A flow of curses fills the room followed by silence.
Zora’s voice is filled with emotion when she asks, “Did he have any family? Relatives?”
I answer her question with another shake of my head. “He lost his brother last year and didn’t have anyone else. It’s why he started prospecting a few weeks before my father’s death.”
Zora gets to her feet and shoves my chair closer to the table. “I’m going to make a few calls and start the funeral arrangements.”
Every pair of eyes is locked on my old lady, and I can see the respect they have for her.
Leaning in, I brush a kiss on her cheek. “Thanks, darlin’.”
She gives me a sad smile when I pull back, and she pats my chest. “I do expect you to give me an update about the woman and the rest of the stuff you guys discuss.”
“You have my word,” I vow.
I watch her leave church and know I’ll tell her everything. Clearly, after everything she’s endured, she’s moving forward. Where I want nothing more than to protect her and keep her safe...not telling her everything might be a mistake.
If she knows what kind of people we’re dealing with, sees the faces, what they’re capable of, and linked to? I won’t let her be caught off guard. Knowledge is fucking power. Spence tells his old lady everything.
His mother grew up in the MC life, a different club than her old man.
She was a biker princess, tough as nails.
Each woman is different and every member makes a choice if their woman will be on a need-to-know basis or all in.
Clearly, my woman wants to be all in. A choice I’m going to damn well respect.