Zero (3 page)

Fuck, he’d almost kissed Sophia and gone over that line. Resting his head back against the truck, he kept hold of Prue’s hand. The sudden commotion at the clubhouse had taken him away from Sophia. Part of him was pleased at the interruption. He didn’t want to fuck up his place in the club.

They arrived at the hospital in ten minutes, breaking every speed limit. He followed them inside. A nurse pressed a hand to his chest, holding him back.

“Sir, you cannot go into the operating theater. You’ve got to stay in the waiting room.”

“She needs me.”

“You’re not a doctor or a surgeon. You will kill her if you don’t do as I ask.”

Nodding, he watched the blonde disappear through the clear doors, keeping him away. Heading back to the main reception, he signed in getting the necessary paperwork for Prue. He knew all of her details off by heart, both as Prue and as Lilly.

Staring down at his hands he saw they were covered in blood, Prue’s blood. Memories of Trevor lying in his arms and his cutting off Trevor’s air filled his mind. Shit, he was going to be sick.

Running to the bathroom, he spilled all the contents out of his stomach into the bottom of the toilet. Once he was done, he went to the sink, washing the blood, scrubbing his hands.

Butch walked in seconds later. Glancing at the door, Zero saw his friend was angry. His arms were folded over his chest. “You’ve got a lot of fucking explaining to do. I’m so fucking pissed right now.”

“None of the club was killed. We’re good.” Zero scrubbed his hands, eyes going blurry at whose blood he was washing off. Torturing Alan, he’d gotten a lot of blood on his hands and hadn’t cared.

Prue was not a criminal who deserved to die. She was a woman, a precious woman who should be left alone. He shouldn’t be removing her blood from his hands. It was too much for him to take in.

“The boys are all outside. Tiny is outside waiting for an explanation. You’re not going to get out of it, Zero. This shit is not how this works,” Butch said. “The girl means something to you, doesn’t she?”

“Yes, she does.”

“Who is she? What is she to you, and why do I recognize her?”

Scrubbing his hands clean, he stared at Butch, wiping his hands dry on towel. “She’s my best friend’s sister. I’m the one who is supposed to be taking care of her.”

“None of this is making sense. You’ve never mentioned shit about her.” Butch was not buying anything.

“I fucked up big.”

“Why? How?” Butch asked.

“He’ll not be telling you on your own,” Tiny said, entering the bathroom. The other man was large, dominating, and brimming with rage. “We find out she is safe, and then we’re having a meeting, and you’re telling us everything.”

“I can’t leave her alone. She’s in danger.”

“Far as the person is concerned, she’s dead,” Tiny said.

“I can’t risk it. I promised I’d keep her safe, and I’ve already fucked up.”

“Then Blaine can stay behind. He’s working on his shit with Emily and Darcy. It’s time for him to do something for the club. Don’t fucking question me again.” Tiny left the bathroom, giving him no choice but to follow instruction.

Following behind the two men, Zero watched Tiny talk to Blaine, who nodded. His brothers were there, looking out for him. Running fingers through his hair he felt guilt swamp him as he looked at Nash.
Fuck.
He’d been about to kiss his wife.

Shit, fuck, shit.
Killer was there as well. They were going to wait for the doctor to let them know how she was doing before leaving. He took a seat, staring at the clear doors, begging for the doctor to enter and give him some good news and to put him out of his misery. He couldn’t accept bad news right now.

Two down, one to go.

What the fuck was Alan even doing alive? Zero had left him for dead.

You didn’t wait to see if he was dead.

Fuck.

Once he climbed on his bike, he hadn’t waited to see if Alan died or not. He didn’t care if he died himself or not, so long as Alan was no more. Once he’d set the match down, his thoughts had been directed toward Prue. For years afterward he kept returning to the city to see who was taking over from Alan. It was a surprise to see how many men came out of the woodwork to take over his place. None of the men were working for Alan or trying to take look for the man who got rid of Alan. Zero had fucked up, seeing as Alan was in fact alive.

Running a hand down his face, he looked toward the door. No one was coming, and he heard the chaos coming over the line as the hospital was taking in more emergency cases.

None of the brothers talked to him. Butch stayed sat beside him playing some game on his cell phone.

“I’m sorry,” Zero said.

“I don’t care. We’ll handle whatever you’ve got to throw at us.”

Closing his eyes, he rubbed at his temple, needing to know Prue was okay. This was going to take time. She needed to make a full recovery, as otherwise he failed Trevor.

Four hours later, the doctor appeared to give him the news.

“She’s a lucky woman. The bullet didn’t penetrate her heart or sever any major arteries. I extracted the bullet with ease. We’ll keep an eye on her for the next couple of days in case of infection.” The doctor nodded at all of them before leaving. Zero had already filled all the paperwork for her. Relief swamped him at the news. He wasn’t going to lose her like he’d lost Trevor.

“Do you want to see her?” the nurse asked.

He nodded, following her down to the ICU. “Why is she here?”

“To keep her under observation. We’ll keep an eye on her all through the night and move her to a ward tomorrow morning.”

Zero moved to her bedside. There was a tube inside her mouth, and she was hooked up to other tubes and drips. He didn’t know what all the machines did, but they must be helping her in some way. She was breathing on her own, which he was thankful for.

The nurse left him alone as he stared down into Prue’s pale face. Reaching out he stroked her red hair away from her face. She was such a beautiful woman. He’d always found her striking, and he struggled to look away from her whenever he was in her company. Why was he suddenly thinking about her beauty? It was wrong with her lying in a hospital bed. “Hey, honey. You’ve got to fight this and live. Live for me. I promise, I will not fail you again. You’re not going anywhere. I’ll take care of you and love you.”

He leaned down, kissing her temple.

She didn’t respond. Her face pale making her red hair stand out even more, Prue was a beautiful woman, and he was surprised she wasn’t taken. Any man with any sense would snatch her right up.
He
would, given half a chance.

“I’m sorry,” he said, brushing his lips against her temple once again.

Prue stayed silent, sleeping.

She’s only sleeping.

He needed to remember she was only sleeping and there was nothing else wrong with her.

Staring around the hospital room, Zero didn’t know what he was going to do. After a few minutes he left her side going back toward the main reception of the hospital. He was tired of being near the hospital. In the last few years he felt he’d lived more at the hospital than the clubhouse. The Skulls had dealt with their fair share of enemies, each one hurting a member at one point. They had even lost some of their own men because of those enemies. What was Alan going to do to him or The Skulls? Cutting the thoughts off, he made his way out of the hospital. He hadn’t brought his bike and ended up climbing on the back of Butch’s bike. Blaine was staying at the hospital to take care of Prue while Zero was due back at the clubhouse for the meeting. Butch waited outside, standing beside his bike. Nash and a few others had stayed behind.

“Don’t get any fucking ideas. My ass is my own,” Butch said, pointing at his bike.

Rolling his eyes, Zero held onto his friend while his thoughts were with Prue. She was a teacher and took care of young children, first grade he believed. Shit, what the fuck was he going to do? Prue shouldn’t be dead or even fighting for her life.

They arrived at the clubhouse. On the way inside he saw Sophia waiting up with her daughter. Her gaze landed on him then turned to Nash. He saw her cheeks were heated, but her smile held all the warmth for her husband, not for him. Once Nash was inside, Sophia didn’t look back toward him. She didn’t give him any clue as to what she thought.

She’s not looking at you because she doesn’t want you. This is her answer.

Hating the kick to the gut he experienced he entered Tiny’s office, sitting at the table in the middle of the room. The other members made their way into the room.

His thoughts returned to Trevor’s death ten years ago. No matter how hard he tried, Zero never got away from the memories. They haunted him wherever he went. No man should have to take his friend’s life. If Alan lived, why did he wait ten years to take him out?

Two down, one to go.

Zero wasn’t afraid of death and hadn’t been for a long time. Providing he took Alan out with him, Zero would welcome death with open fucking arms.

The door slammed closed. He didn’t respond staring at the center of the table.

“Start fucking talking,” Tiny said.

Zero blinked as his thoughts collided into one. “Ten years ago I got a call from my best friend. He wasn’t part of The Skulls, but he was my family. He’d been working for a man known as Alan Lynch.” Zero stopped as the pain returned once again. Trevor should have lived. Burying his best friend should never have happened, and neither should have holding him in those last moments with no way to help him.

For the next thirty minutes he told all of The Skulls what he had done. He didn’t leave a single detail out from the torture and finally walking away after setting Alan on fire.

“He was supposed to be dead,” Zero said.

“Then what makes you think he’s alive?”

Pulling out the card Prue gave to him, he placed it in the center of the table. He listened as they all read it. “Trevor told me it was his signal. Alan goes after all the family. Prue and myself are all that remains for Trevor. He was young and didn’t have the time to create a family. It has been ten years, but Alan’s picking up where he left off, and he won’t stop until Prue and I stop breathing.”

Gritting his teeth, Zero forced the tears back. He wouldn’t cry in front of his brothers. They needed him to be strong. The tears were not for fear of his death; they were for what he’d lost and the woman lying in the hospital.

“Why wait ten years?” Steven asked, hands folded over his chest.

“That’s what I want to know,” Tiny said.

“I fucked him up big. He wouldn’t have gotten out of there easily. There has to have been something I overlooked.”

“Someone looking like a monster will be noticed, Zero,” Tiny said.

“Not necessarily,” Whizz said. “It’s easy in this day and age to get lost. Look what happened with Snitch, and that fucker wasn’t even trying. Alan had the money to change his face and start over. No one is looking for Alan Lynch as he’s presumed dead. Why go looking for a dead man?”

“Fuck.” Tiny cursed, stepping away to look outside the window. “We don’t have a clue why this fucker waited so long. Why didn’t you come to us?” he asked, turning back to glare at him. “You were a prospect and could have come to us at any time. Why didn’t you?”

“I was new, and I didn’t want to get you involved in my shit. I had no intention of coming back,” Zero said.

“What?” Butch asked.

“I didn’t know if I was going to survive, and to be honest, I didn’t care.”

The others around him cursed.

“I was a prospect. I wasn’t going to bring you in on my mess. My best friend had died in my arms. The only thing I wanted to do was take out the fucker who did it and threatened Prue. I did what I set out to do. I protected her, or at least I thought I protected her, but I didn’t because he’s back.”

“You were twenty-three years old,” Tiny said. “A fucking baby.”

“I’ve been firing a gun since I was ten and fighting at fifteen. I took him out, and I didn’t care if I lived or died. He killed my best friend. Trevor died in my arms, and he asked one thing from me, to keep his sister safe, and I failed.” Zero repeated himself so the club would understand that he did what he’d had to do. If he could go back he wouldn’t change a fucking thing, apart from watching the building burn to the ground.

He stood up, fisting his hands begging for something to hurt. As he paced the room, the anger was filling him. Whenever this happened he went out on his bike.

“I need to get out of here.”

“You’re not going anywhere,” Tiny said.

Zero felt the crew’s eyes on him. Slamming his fist against the wall, he lashed out needing to feel the bite of pain from the hit.

“Take him down to the gym,” Tiny said. “You want to fight then the brothers will fight you back.”

****

Prue hurt all over. It hurt to move, and she was so scared as she opened her eyes. She thought about her brother and then frowned. Trevor was dead. He wasn’t going to be coming to help her. What the hell had happened? Opening her eyes, she looked around the dark hospital room, scared, terrified, and shocked.

Where was she? Her memories were all fuzzy.

“Hello, Prue.” The voice that spoke was dark, filled with danger. She didn’t recognize the voice, but she heard the threat inside it. No one besides Zero knew her real name. Waking up, she started to become aware of herself, the blankness disappearing as all of her memories returned in full force. Zero was the main focus of her thoughts. Prue remembered she’d been on the way to see him. She knew he only went by Zero now, not Lucas. The night her brother died, so had Lucas. “You must mean so much to Zero. He posted a guard inside the hospital, but it’s so easy getting around when you wear the right uniform. This hospital sure needs a lot of money and resources. The place is understaffed on every front.”

She looked around the darkened room trying to find the owner of the voice. “Who are you? What do you want?” she asked. The machine monitoring her heart showed her fear. Her heart was racing. The pain increased, and she saw a clip had been placed on the morphine that was supposed to be going into her body to ease the pain.