Zero (6 page)

She was touched by his caring. The nurse bustled into the room, glanced at Zero and clucked her tongue. “You don’t use that here.”

Zero glared.

“Go make your call.” Prue was petrified at being alone. Alan had been in her life twenty-four hours, and she was already scared to be alone. How pitiful was that?

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah, I need to learn to be alone again.”

He moved to her bedside, leaning down to kiss her temple. “I’ll be back before you know it.”

She watched him leave the room as the nurse started working around her, reading her charts and taking her blood pressure. Prue stayed silent, closing her eyes as the fright began to grip her.

He’s not here. He’s not coming for me.

Prue knew it would only be a matter of time before he came for her. Whatever Alan was planning it wasn’t going to be nice.

“You’ll be moving to a ward later today,” the nurse said.

“Okay.”

“Your man, he shouldn’t be here. We’ve got visiting hours for a reason.”

The woman walked away, leaving the clipboard on the end of her bed.

Didn’t stop a maniac from coming to my room, fucking bitch.

This was the first time she’d been in the hospital for any length of time.

“Tiny and the boys will be here soon. You’re moving to a ward?”

“Yeah, the nurse was a bit of a bitch.”

“Don’t trust the nurses.” He took a seat on her bed, smiling down at her.

“I bet you’ve fucked all the nurses here.”

“Not all of them.” He frowned. “Is there a man at your place I need to get in touch with? I’d hate for someone to be worried.”

“No, there’s no man.” She had been with two men in her whole life. The first guy hadn’t lasted a week after taking her virginity before Trevor got a hold of him. After him, there was a guy who worked at a bar, but apart from the lust there was nothing else between them. She loved sex, yet she wanted something more, something deeper. Sex as an act could be quite boring without the passion. Maybe she was fucked in the head. A lot of people could fuck without needing something more.

“I’m surprised. I thought there’d be loads of men knocking at your door.”

“I’ve not been in a relationship in a long time. Trevor saw to that when we were younger. Any guy knocking on the door and he sent them away. Getting older, I’ve not had the time or desire to be with anyone.” She stopped, biting her lip. Thinking about Trevor always left her filled with pain. Never a moment went by when she didn’t think about him. Being around Zero reminded her of what she’d lost. The only other guy she’d been with since Trevor’s death was the guy at the bar, and she’d only gone to him to scratch an itch.

“I miss him, too,” he said. “I tried to get him to join The Skulls with me. He said he had other plans.”

“We both know what other plans he had.” She gasped at the pain his absence brought. “I can’t talk about him. It hurts too much.”

Zero took her hand, brushing some hair off her face. “We’ll get through this. He would kill me for what I let happen to you.”

“What did happen to me?” she asked, staring down her body then at the machines.

“Someone drove by and shot you. No one else was killed or hurt.” Zero hung his head. “I was so fucking stupid. I shouldn’t have come to you when I did.”

She knew he was referring to the time he had to hide out from another MC group, The Darkness, she recalled. His visit had been the highlight of her year even though he’d spent most of the time worried about his club.

“No, you don’t get to blame yourself for what happened. You needed me, and we both promised each other to be there for each other.”

“I could have gone anywhere else.”

“Stop,” she said. “Stop making this all about you. You didn’t get shot, and you were not the one lying here waiting for him to finish whatever he wanted to do.” She looked away unable to meet the pity in his gaze.

“You won’t be alone again.”

A woman cleared her throat. Prue glanced toward the door to see a blonde eating Zero up. Looking at Zero she knew instantly that he’d fucked her. The interest in the nurse’s eyes wasn’t hard to see.

A sharp pang cut through her chest. Zero would fuck everything that walked. She had learned from a young age never to expect anything from him, which was why she’d never waited for him.

“It’s time to move you,” the nurse said.

Getting up from the bed, Zero moved to the far wall not looking at her. Another nurse entered, and then she was being wheeled out of the unit. She was used to being around women who fucked Zero. None of them ever stayed around, and she’d never known for him to settle down with a woman and rarely saw him with the same one twice. Zero walked behind her. The woman who entered first was still eating him up. Her whole body showed how much she wanted him whereas Zero wasn’t giving her the time of day. In fact, it looked like he didn’t remember her.

Locking her fingers together, Prue stared up at the ceiling that passed. The only time she’d ever really been close to Zero was when her parents died. She’d been suffering from the worst nightmares of her life. They terrified her, giving her night terrors, leaving her afraid to sleep. Zero would hold her tight, sleep beside her, and the night terrors soon disappeared.

She hated being an inconvenience. The moment she stopped needing him, he walked away. He never stayed at the house after that apart from when he was too intoxicated to leave.

He stood beside the wall as they entered the private room.

“I can’t afford the private room. I thought I was going to a ward.” Her insurance only handled so much of her care while she paid for the rest.

“The Skulls is paying for this care,” he said.

The nurses got her settled and left. The blonde lingered a little too long for Prue’s taste.

“Leave,” Zero said.

Prue watched her walk out shooting a glare toward her. She stared at the woman, wondering what she expected. Bedding a biker doesn’t guarantee you’ll be in his life forever. Nothing guaranteed staying in Zero’s life.  

“You fucked her.” She turned back to look at him.

He nodded. His cheeks were red tinted.

“Are you embarrassed?” she asked, smiling. She needed to smile rather than cry. None of her emotions made any sense. Zero was a friend, nothing more.

Do you want him to be something extra?

“No, I’m not. I fuck who I want.”

Nodding, she sat up on the bed. Her stomach growled, and it was her turn to feel her cheeks heating.

“Breakfast will be along shortly.”

“Thank you,” she said, glancing at him.

“For what?”

“For being here for me. You’re the only person I know I can trust.”

He looked at the floor. “Prue, you can always come to me. I don’t care when, where, or how, I will always be here for you.”

His cell phone went off, interrupting their conversation. “I’ll be back soon.”

She watched him leave, missing him the moment he left the room.

Chapter Three

Zero found Tiny, Butch, Steven, and a couple of the others waiting outside in the waiting room. He shook Tiny’s hand and led him back toward Prue’s room. He was so nervous about Alan and told him everything that happened last night. They entered the room, and Prue had a plate in front of her. He stopped as she took a bite of banana. Her lips molded around the tip, and he was struck by the sudden image of his cock in her mouth. Heat filled his cock, and all he wanted to do was push the others out of the room and take her.

Shoving the images aside, he took a step inside.

“Hey,” she said, wiping her lips, putting the banana skin down on the tray. Her breakfast was nowhere near finished.

“This is Tiny, Prue.” Zero made the introductions. She nodded at each of them. He hated the way her gaze lingered on Steven. The other man was not up for sex, at least not when it came to Prue. She was off the market. Zero wouldn’t allow Steven anywhere near her. The desire to find the other two men who’d touched her and fuck them up was strong. Gritting his teeth, he saw Steven linger as he shook her hand.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

She nodded, turning to Butch. “You caught me?”

“Yeah, I did. I wish we’d met under different circumstances.” Butch took her hand, kissing her knuckles.

“Eat,” Zero said, standing on the other side of her, giving her a stern look. She rolled her eyes but picked up her spoon to start eating the slop. He hoped it was porridge.

“Zero has told us what happened last night,” Tiny said, stepping at the foot of the bed.

Prue tensed and paused in eating. “Yes, Alan was here last night. He’s a dangerous man and intent on hurting Zero any way he can.” He watched her swallow the food, then wipe her mouth. “I’m done.” She pushed the tray of food away from her.

“You need to eat more,” he said.

“You try eating remembering how easily Alan got to me last night. From the way he spoke, he walked right past your man and no one even noticed him.” She stopped, tucking some hair behind her ear. “He’s dangerous, Zero. You should be taking care of your club as well. No one is safe.”

“This is one man we’re talking about,” Tiny said.

“So, he’s one man who has a serious fucking issue with Zero. This is a game to him. Alan is responsible for killing my brother, but he is the reason Alan is so angry.” Prue pointed at him. “Alan will hurt whoever Zero cares about. This is only the beginning. He’s got plans.”

“Honey, he’s not going to get to us,” Butch said.

He watched her shake her head. “You’ll be a fool to not take any warning. Alan will hurt anyone.”

“Why didn’t he kill you?” Steven asked, drawing the attention to him.

Prue paused, glancing at the younger man. “This is a game to him. It’s what Alan said. He decided I would be much more fun to use. I was a messenger to let Zero know the games had begun.”

Zero glanced at his brothers knowing they were thinking about what she said.

“There will be ‘round the clock protection for you, honey. My wife will be stopping by to get to know you as well. You’ll be getting a lot better than this shit grub,” he said.

“Thank you.” She smiled at Tiny, the sweet smile Zero always loved to see.

“Zero, follow us out. Steven, stay behind and keep her company.”

Wishing he could argue, Zero kissed her on the head then followed the rest of his brothers outside. His president pulled out a cigarette, lit it, and blew the smoke up in the air.

“She’s fucking terrified,” he said.

“Yes. I don’t blame her. Alan got past Blaine. The nurses didn’t even catch him. No one knew what the hell was going on until she started screaming.” Zero grabbed his own cigarette, needing the relaxing quality of the nicotine. The last twenty-four hours had him on fucking edge.

“She’s not leaving Fort Wills,” Tiny said.

“I wouldn’t leave her alone. I certainly don’t want that fucker in there looking after her. I saw the way he was looking at her. Bastard needs to know to keep his eyes to his fucking self,” Zero said, cursing. No one was taking Prue away from him. Not Steven either. Fucker screwed everything that walked, and he wasn’t going to deal with that kind of shit.

What about Sophia?

Gritting his teeth, he saw the others were staring at him as if he’d gone mad. Maybe he had gone mad. Jealousy clawed at him, making his cigarette taste bitter.

“I’m sure Nash will appreciate the break of having to keep his woman,” Butch said, smirking.

He hadn’t seen Sophia since he’d tried to kiss her the night before. An apology was in order. One he wasn’t looking forward to making, especially when he wasn’t sorry at all. Only when he thought about Prue did he feel sorry for his attempts to kiss Sophia.

“You’re coming home. We’re leaving Steven to take care of Prue while you do. We need to get the others up to date. Whizz can do his thing on the computer. I’m not letting anyone get killed this time,” Tiny said. “Too much fucking death going around. I fucking hate it.”

Zero moved back to the hospital.

“Where the fuck are you going?” Tiny asked.

“To say goodbye to her.”

Tiny shook his head. “Nice fucking try. I’m leaving Steven in charge. Butch just texted him to give him an update. Get on your bike, and get back to the clubhouse.”

Wanting to argue, Zero fisted his hands and made his way back to his bike. His body ached from the beating he had taken and given out the other night. Killer hit the hardest while Nash stayed away from him. He imagined if Nash knew what he’d tried to do the other man would fuck him over.

Riding back to the clubhouse was uneventful. There were cars in the lot and several of the club hanging around their bikes, talking. He spotted the sweet-butts trying to get some action. Eva was at the side of the clubhouse where they’d installed a small park for the kids to play on.

Entering the clubhouse he walked up to his room and came up short as Sophia was sitting beside his door. Her knees were drawn up against her chest as she rocked to whatever beat she was listening to. Stepping beside her, he waited for her to get up.

She tugged the ear buds out, getting to her feet.

“What are you doing here?” he asked. She was a beautiful woman.

She’s not yours.

For some reason the words didn’t affect him. Staring into her eyes, he knew she wasn’t ever going to be his, and for once he accepted it.

“Nash told me you were on your way back.” She looked down at her feet.

Reaching out, he tilted her head back, looking into her eyes. Sophia went tense but didn’t pull away. “Why are you here?”  

“You tried to kiss me last night,” she said, biting her lip.

“If it wasn’t for the gunshots I would have.” He ran his thumb along her bottom lip.

Sophia drew away from him. “I love Nash. I will always love Nash.”

“I know that.”

She finally looked up at him. “He told me you’ve got a thing. Nash told me to be careful around you. I stay away, but you’re always there. I’m not trying to hurt you. You’re a nice man, Zero, but you’re not the man I want. I care about you like a friend. Your touch, however, does nothing for me.” She pressed a hand to her heart. “I can never be
in love
with you. Nash owns my heart.”