Chapter 22: Zara
It had been a week since Demon and I had gotten engaged. I still couldn’t believe he’d asked me. The thought of having a man like him in love with me was kind of amazing. He could have any woman he wanted, and he wanted me.
Since I still couldn’t go back to work, I spent as much time as I could working on the wedding. Jocelyn, Devyn, Madisen, and Jessica helped me as much as they could between their work and the babies. I tried not to take too much of their time.
I was sitting in the common room while Demon was at the bar checking in on things there. Jake, one of the prospects, came through the door. He walked right over to me.
“Hey, Doc. There’s some guy at the gate asking for you. I left Tate to keep an eye on him. I know Demon is in town and you’re on lockdown. Do you know a guy named Nathan Addison?”
I gasped. What in the hell was my ex-fiancé doing here? How did he even know where to find me? “Yeah, I know him. Did he say what he wanted?”
“Just that he wanted to see you. Let me find Bull or one of the other guys. Just wanted to see if you knew him. Stay here.” He took off without waiting to see what I would say. Yep, he was an alpha like the rest. He’d fit right in. I stood up and paced around the common room. I couldn’t get the questions running through my head to stop. I hadn’t seen Nathan in just over four years. Why in the world would he want to see me?
The door swung open again and in came Bull and Tank with Jake. Bull motioned me over to them. “Listen, sweetheart, Jake told us about the ex being at the gate. I called Demon and he’s on his way. We don’t want you to talk to him until Demon gets here. I want you to go to Demon’s room and wait for him to come get you.”
“Don’t you think I should speak to him first, Bull? After all, he’s here to see me. I don’t need you to run interference for me. He’s not the guy we’re worried about. Besides, I don’t need Demon to take care of my business,” I snipped.
He laughed. “Darlin’, when you became Demon’s old lady, everything about you became his business. No way I’m going to let you speak to this guy without your man here. I wouldn’t like it if it was Jocelyn either. I promise as soon as he gets here, I’ll send him to you.” I knew he wouldn’t back down, so I gave an exaggerated sigh and went to our room.
I paced for what felt like forever, but in reality, it was probably fifteen minutes. The bedroom door swung open and in walked Demon. I ran over to him. He gave me a kiss. “Where is he?”
“Bull has him in his office. I wanted to check on you first, then I’m going to go see what he wants.”
“Don’t you mean we’re going to go see what he wants.” He frowned and shook his head. “Don’t shake your head, Luca. There’s no reason I can’t be in there with you guys. He’s not going to hurt me. Besides, I want to be there. He’s my ex.”
“I know he is. And I’m your man. He has no reason to be coming around here. I’ll find out what he wants,” he argued.
“I’m the only one who might be able to tell you if what he says is the truth or not. Nathan was an expert liar. I didn’t know it until it was too late. But then I started to recall things he did that I should have caught on to. If he’s here, it’s not for anything good. I have no idea how he even knew where to find me.”
“And that worries me, baby. How did he find you? Okay, here’s how we’ll play it. You can go in, but I want you to let me and Bull take the lead. You watch him for any of these tells you mentioned. I don’t want you to engage with him. I want him to be clear that you have a man now, who won’t let anyone fuck with you. Agreed?”
“Fine, I can do that. Let’s get this over with. I don’t like him being in the same town as me.” He hugged me close as we went to Bull’s office here in the clubhouse. He knocked once then opened the door.
Inside, I saw Bull, Tank, Payne, and Nathan. I was secretly happy to see Nathan looking very ill at ease. His eyes darted around the room, looking at the guys. When he saw me enter with Demon, he stood up and came toward me with a relieved look on his face. He didn’t make it to me. Demon stepped between us and crossed his arms. I fought not to laugh.
“Zara, I’m glad you’re here. Tell these men they have no right to hold me here. I want to talk to you, alone. I have no idea what you’re doing associating with people like this.”
“You’re not talking to Zara alone. Ever. Whatever you have to say to her, you can say to me. Have a seat.”
Nathan tried to look down his nose at Demon, which was hard to do when Demon was taller than him. I saw the amused expressions on the other guys’ faces behind Nathan’s back.
“W-who are you to tell me what I can or can’t do?” Nathan sputtered.
“I’m Zara’s fiancé, Demon. And you’re on our personal property. I say that gives me the right to tell you anything I damn well feel like. What do you want with Zara?”
Nathan’s eyes grew big, and he looked from Demon to me in astonishment. “Is he serious? You’re actually engaged to this man? Have you lost your mind? They’re motorcycle outlaws, Zara. They steal, deal drugs, and probably kill people.”
“We don’t steal or run drugs,” Payne deadpanned. The fact he didn’t deny killing people had Nathan blanching and me fighting harder not to laugh. I knew they killed people, but only those that deserved it. Hell, what would Nathan think if I told him I’d killed someone? I almost wanted to find out.
“I’m not going to ask again. What do you want to see Zara about? You can either tell us or get the hell out.”
“I-I want to talk to her about Ted. I’ve been out of touch and just found out about his death. I wanted to tell her how sorry I was. I know they were really close.”
“Bullshit. You gave up any right to speak to her over four years ago when you cheated on her. What kind of dumbass gives up a woman like her? Though, thank God you did. That left her for me to claim, and claim her I have. Every single delicious inch of her.”
I slipped my hand in Demon’s and smiled up at him. He gave me a kiss. Nathan watched us with a look of anger on his face. What did he have to be angry about?
“Ted was a mentor of mine too. I thought we could talk about him. His death is a shock to everyone who knew him. How in the hell did you get out of Mexico, Zara? No one said who rescued you.”