Reign (Sin City Outlaws #1)(59)

“You’re a feisty little spring chicken, aren’t ya?” A man with a long braid and yellow teeth smiles at me, blocking my way. He’s got a big gut on him, his vest outlined in rattlesnake skin.

“Move,” I order. It hits me then—I didn’t even remember to grab my gun. Zeek distracts me from my own common sense.

“Or what? You’ll punch me in my mouth?” His hand whips up, gripping my neck; fear for my life is struck into me.

“You smell…” He inhales a large breath, his nose against my neck. “Fresh.”

Closing my eyes, I will myself not to cry. “I think I might want to take you back home and play with you. And when I’m done, I’ll let the flies have at ya.”

I claw at his hand, tears escaping from my eyes of their own accord. Why did I come here? What the hell was I thinking?

I’m scared, and the urge to cry for Zeek is so overwhelming I open my mouth to act on it. The beefy man’s hands are suddenly ripped from my throat, and I’m flung backwards.

My hoodie tears at the elbows as I scrape along the concrete like a paper plate in the wind. It hurts so damn bad, my injuries from the wreck striking the breath from me.

Looking up to figure out what happened, I can’t see anything. The circle has moved around him and someone else.

Taking the opportunity, I scurry to my feet and run to my Jeep as fast as I can. A distraught sob spills from my mouth as I climb in. Starting the Jeep, I can see over the crowd. Zeek has a gun pointed at the man, and is looking right at me. Those eyes are lifeless, cold, and conveying everything he can’t say.

He’s doing this for me.

He’s protecting me.

Nobody touches me.

Closing my eyes, I start the engine.

Risking a glance at him before leaving, his eyes anchor into my soul and a gunshot rings out.

The man’s skull explodes into a million little pieces of bone, brain, and blood.





ZEEK


Here I was scared that if I told Jillian anything about the man I really am, she’d turn away from me.

I was scared of stepping over the line and telling her anything, in fact.

There’s no escaping that now; she just had a front-row seat to see the wolf I am.

I park in my usual spot and jog around the corner to Jillian’s house. I don’t even knock, just open the door with haste. She’s pacing in the living room, that same cute hoodie on. Her tear-filled eyes find mine, and her bottom lip trembles.

“Why did you kill that guy?”

My chest constricts, and realization hits me like a punch to the face that I want Jillian McAdams to be mine. I want to claim her and protect her without a doubt. When that hang-around put his hands on her, it all came to light real f*cking quick. All I saw was red. All I wanted was to end his life, and I did.

If she’s mine, she’s safe. Because I will kill anyone who lays a finger on her. Regardless if they know she’s mine or not… I know.

One of the rules of the club is you don’t mess with another man’s property. I admit, I was worried if she saw me for who I really am, she’d flee in terror. But the skeletons in my closet won’t be a problem because I will own her. Once she’s mine, she can’t escape me.

Slamming the door behind me, I can’t get to her fast enough. Grabbing the sides of her cheeks, I kiss her hard, my lips soaking up her tears. The hurt radiating off her body bores into mine like a drug.

“Why did you kill him?” she cries, those tears making me want to taste them again.

“Because he touched you. I’ll plow a field of dead men before I let any motherf*cker in this world lay a finger on you. I did it for you.” I tuck an errant hair behind her ear.

She pushes against my chest, trying to back away from me. Grabbing onto her wrists I stop her.

“It’s not right, Zeek. You can’t just go around killing people because you can’t control them, because they make you angry.” Her face bunches in a fit of anger as she looks up at me. It’s cute as f*ck.

“That’s where you’re wrong.” I look back up at her. “If those people are in my club, then they’re at my mercy.”

She closes her eyes, like she can’t bear to hear anymore. Her body trembling.

“I won’t let anyone put their hands on you. You don’t have to agree with it, but it is what it is. I did what I did to prove to you that I’m serious about us, that nobody will stand in my way from having you and protecting you."

Her body relaxes with that, but not by much.

“I can’t believe you killed him.” She whispers, still in shock. It’s not so surprising. In my world, killing another man that put his hands on his lady is a way of telling his woman he loves her.

I just told Jillian I loved her, even if she didn’t realize it.

That thought makes my mouth go dry. The word love… I know I feel it for her, but when you say it out loud it changes shit. “Why did you go there, baby?” I ask, my thumb circling her cheek. When she was at that party a while back, she was out of place; I had my eye on her the whole time. I never would have expected her to show up willingly to my club.

She tries to look away but I tighten my grip on her, not letting her escape.

“I need to know why you would do something so stupid.”