Page 29 of Xane

His mother grew up in the MC life, a different club than her old man.She was a biker princess, tough as nails.Each woman is different and every member makes a choice if their woman will be on a need-to-know basis or all in.Clearly, my woman wants to be all in.A choice I’m going to damn well respect.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

–ZORA –

“Something smells fuckin’ delicious,” Grayer rumbles as he steps into the kitchen.

They’ve been in church for hours.I’ve kept myself busy by making calls to make the arrangements for Balta’s funeral.Seeing with my own eyes what happened to him, being the first one there to help him?It’s confronting reality.My line of work gets lots of horrifying, sad, and gruesome moments.

Hell, four people died right in front of my eyes during my first day of residency at the ER.Every day can be a bad one for anyone, and I’ve experienced a few horrible ones myself recently, but today?Today was hard.

I’ve not known Balta for long, but enough to know he was a great guy.I’m sure the other members of the club will have a hard time coping with his loss.They also need to deal with all the other stuff going on, and it’s why I ended up in the kitchen.

Balta picked up every single thing on the grocery list I made yesterday morning.I wanted to make G’s favorite, chili with jalapeño cornbread muffins.Balta made it possible, but sadly he isn’t here anymore.I’ve made enough for everyone and it’s kept my hands and mind busy.

“Chili?Please tell me you’ve made...”

I cut him off by glancing around him at Fawkes and ask, “Can you please take the jalapeño cornbread muffins out of the oven?”

“Sure thing, Z,” Fawkes rumbles.

Did he just call me Z?I can feel my eyes widen and glance at Grayer.

He gives me a smile and says, “It was either Z or sawbones, and I like to be the only one to use the nickname.”

Lynn told me about the nicknames some bikers pick for their old lady.They could easily use my name, but this feels more personal.Like I’ve been fully accepted in their brotherhood.

I steel my nerves and push myself on my tiptoes to brush a kiss against his mouth.

“Thank you,” I murmur.

The light touch of his hand on my hip doesn’t make me react in a panic.The difference between Grayer’s touch and Ramiro is a sharp contrast.Where one inflicted pain and terror, the other is a warm comfort.Grayer grounds me and reminds me of everything that was once good in my life.

When he and his club brothers stepped into that diner and freed me from Ramiro, he made me wish for the balance we once had; the good outranking the bad.It’s not so much as cashing in a debt or making up for lost time.After what happened outside with Balta I want to give back.The club has enough shit to deal with on top of what I was pulled into.It’s as simple as that.

“I should be the one thanking you,” he murmurs.“Making my favorite dinner for me and my brothers.Damn.Do you know how many times I’ve thought about your chili?Nothing tastes as good as yours.”