Zero

Didn’t he have a clue what his touch was doing to her? It was hard to concentrate when his touch took away the ability to think.

“All of us in one place, is that a good idea?”

“He can’t pick us off one by one. All of us together are safer than alone. Alex, one of the guys, is flying to Vegas to talk to Eva’s father. We band together like brothers, taking care of everyone and each other. You’ll be safe there, and so will I.” Zero gazed over her shoulder. “I put everyone in danger.”

Prue didn’t dispute him.

“I should have killed him back then.”

“Instead you tortured the man, and now he’s back intent on hurting everything you hold dear,” she said. “Sorry, maybe you should have just killed him, not maimed him.”

“I intended to kill him. I wanted to hurt him. I held Trevor as he died, and I wanted the bastard who killed him to know what true pain really felt like.” Zero glared at his hands where they held her legs. “I made every second hurt. He screamed and even begged me to stop, but I didn’t. I couldn’t bring myself to show that kind of mercy.”

Swallowing past the lump in her throat, Prue looked around the hospital grounds seeing the people coming and going. Their lives hadn’t changed. They were all carrying on with the mundane tasks life throws at them. None of them knew what it meant to truly suffer or to beg. Alan was out there, watching, waiting. No one was going to rush him into anything. He would take his time until he was ready.

“He’s waited ten years for this moment,” she said, holding onto Zero’s hands.

“I know.”

“Ten years of waiting. Ten years of letting his hatred fester. Whatever he’s going to do, it’s not going to be pretty, Zero. He’s going to make life hard and painful.” Tears filled her eyes thinking about the blonde he’d killed. Yes, the blonde had f**ked Zero, but no one deserved to die.

“I know.” He gripped her hands, looking into her eyes. “I can’t let anything happen to you, Prue. You mean the world to me.”

She smiled. “I’m a lot stronger than I look.”

“Not many women would be so calm after being shot at.”

Prue shrugged. “What can I say? I’m perfect.”

He chuckled. The sound was hollow, and the smile didn’t reach his eyes. Leaning forward, she cupped his cheek.

“Hey, you made a mistake. It’s in the past. It’s all in the past, and there’s nothing we can do about it.” She dropped her gaze to his lips. Big mistake. She didn’t want to be thinking about his lips or wondering what they would feel like on her body. “You cannot change what happened. Neither of us can. Trevor is gone, and he wouldn’t blame you. He’d be pissed, but he wouldn’t let you hurt yourself for what happened.” Prue closed the distance, pressing her lips to his. The kiss was friendly, and she withdrew within seconds of their lips touching, trying to avoid the temptation to deepen the kiss. “I’m not going anywhere. We’re in this together like we’ve always been.”

She watched him rub the tears from his eyes. “Now I feel like a f**king pu**y.”

Prue chuckled. “You’re not a pu**y. You’re not even close. We’ll do this together. You’ve got the club, and you’ve got me.” She tightened her hand around him.

If she was given the chance, she’d never let go.

****

“So, let’s see,” Alan said, spreading out the pictures on the floor. Zero was back in the game, thank f**k. Hurting him was going to be f**king hard in prison. He couldn’t believe the bastard attacked a police officer and risked ruining his game. Alan would have no choice but to hurt the officer then for spoiling his fun. The Skulls had a lot more friends than they deserved.

Clicking his tongue he looked over the pictures as the three men who still served him played cards. He paid them plenty of money to remain loyal along with a couple of security guards in the hospital. It was amazing seeing what desperate men did when someone paid the right amount of money. “Angel, blonde haired bitch belongs to Lash.” Alan matched the two pictures together. The couple looked happy. “It’s a shame Lash has anything to do with Zero. It’s going to be fun watching them die.”

Next he aligned Eva with Tiny. They were going to be the hardest to kill. He didn’t want that bastard Ned Walker trying to hurt him before he was done. If he survived killing Zero, he’d finish them off for fun, maybe take out Ned while he was at it. This was fun, such a fun, delightful game to play.

He picked up Sophia’s picture. She was holding her daughter and standing next to Nash. “It’s a shame Zero felt himself in love with you, honey. Poor you. I wonder how your slut of a daughter is going to feel without a mom.”

One after the other he aligned up the picture of The Skulls with their women or left them bare. They all meant something to Zero, and that meant they all had to go.

Lockdown was going to happen. He had his sources, and it was fun being able to be overlooked. No one ever seemed to remember seeing a man with a hood sticking to the shadows. Alan couldn’t believe how easy and how much fun it was getting around Fort Wills. Then he had people who gossiped. All he needed to do was listen and he found everything he needed without any problems.

Without anyone looking for him, the town was his oyster. His obsession was Zero, that one man. The one man who nearly killed him ten years ago. The very same man who scarred up his face making him look like a f**king monster. The one man who Alan was going to hurt and then kill, slowly, making every bone shatter.

Zero was going to know what true suffering really felt like before he died.

Chapter Six

A couple days later

Zero climbed out of the car leaving Steven behind the wheel as he made his way into the hospital. In the last couple of days there hadn’t been a single sighting from Alan, and no one had turned up dead. Whizz was still checking shit out, and it was going to take some time. Locating a dead man was a lot harder than they realized. To the world, Alan was dead. No one knew where he had gone from that burning building ten years ago or where he was now. He didn’t even have a picture of the bastard to help Whizz in his search.

The club was on lockdown, the women and children forced to live within the compounds grounds. It was a tight fit, but with everyone chipping in, life was actually quite fun. Zero enjoyed waking up to the sound of all the family around him, screaming kids and all. He wouldn’t admit it to anyone, of course. That was his little secret to take with him to his grave.