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Those beautiful blue eyes of his smile.
His features relax.
“Good,” he says, and the way he says it tells me my heart is about to win this war we’ve been battling. There’s no way he won’t boss me into whatever he wants. Not when he speaks the language of my heart.
33
Zara
* * *
I survey the clubhouse bar. It’s Friday night and filled to the brim with men and women who are here to celebrate the coming birth of Texas’s baby. His old lady, Mindy, is sitting on his lap while he tells the story of how he finally managed to get her pregnant after two years of trying. She catches my eye and waves. We’ve always gotten on well and I’m so happy they’re getting the family they always wanted.
“Zara!” Mum comes towards me, eyeing the cakes I’m juggling. “You have cakes!”
“I told you I’d make them.”
“I know, but I wasn’t sure if you’d be able to. You know, with just having moved in and all.”
This week has been a blur of moving in, getting my stuff from storage, unpacking, trying to get my head around my new workplace, and making cakes for my mother. She called and begged me on Wednesday to do it, and I couldn’t say no. Not when she seemed so intent on holding this club get-together. She might have called it a baby shower, but I’m pretty sure it’s her contribution to keeping morale up.
She ushers me towards the kitchen. “Holly’s on her way with more food, and Monroe and Tatum are finishing up the decorations out the back.”
“Decorations?”
We reach the kitchen and I deposit the cakes onto one of the counters.
“Yes,” she says. “You can’t have a baby shower without decorations.”
“And King’s down with this?” I can’t even begin to imagine him allowing her to decorate his clubhouse. She’s never done it before.
She gives me a look. “Let’s just say we had a discussion and he realised what was good for him.”
As she pulls packets of plastic plates from the cupboard, I reach for her arm and stop her. “Are you guys okay? I’ve been worried about you.” Being busy all week, I’ve had no opportunity to dig deep with her on this.
She sighs. “We will be.”
“What does that actually mean, though? Are you working through this?”
After Travis was born four years ago, Mum had her fibroids removed so they could have the last child King pushed for. They started trying to fall pregnant two years after Travis was born, and it took a little while for her to conceive. Unfortunately, more fibroids developed and she miscarried. The doctor then recommended a hysterectomy, which she had nine months ago. Before the doctor’s recommendation came, though, King had already decided he didn’t want her to try again. Not after he’d watched her endure so much with the fibroids already. Mum was devastated, however. After fighting him on another child, it turned out she was the one grieving the end of her childbearing days. Between the stress of all this and the stress of club stuff, their relationship has been under pressure in a way it never has.
“King isn’t in a place right now to get into this with me,” she says. “The last thing he needs while he’s dealing with club stuff is for me to say ‘hey, let’s sort our shit.’ We will, though.”
“King’s always dealing with club stuff. It never ends.”
“I know, baby, but this is the worst I’ve ever seen it. Trust me, he needs me by his side without question right now. He knows we have work to do, and he’s let me know in his own way that he’ll deal with it when he can.”
“Okay.” I ease off her; it sounds like they’ve got things under control for now. Then, glancing around, I say, “Tell me what to do.”
She shoves plastic plates and cutlery at me. “Can you please take these outside to Monroe?”
As I’m exiti
ng the kitchen, she calls out, “Oh, and Zara, can you go spend some time with everyone? We need some of your positivity out there.”
I smile at her. I love how she looks after King. She might drive him crazy with her crazy, but she has his best interests at heart. And because his club is everything to him, she works hard behind the scenes to help keep the club united and the members happy. God knows, if that shit was left up to him, his club wouldn’t be half as strong as it is these days. They’ve faced a lot of attacks over the past eight years and Mum has been right behind him, a strong queen who always has her man’s back.
Stepping into the hallway, I make my way outside where I find Monroe rattling off a list of jobs to Hailee and Evie that she needs them to do. “Zara!” She stops with the list for a second as she takes the plates from me, and then goes straight back to it. When she’s finished, she says to me, “You are looking good, girlfriend. Did you get your hair done since I saw you last week?”
