The MC President's Forsaken Wife (Zara and Knox) novel Chapter 225

Chapter 115-3

Cran

We walk out into the cool subterranean air, our footsteps echoing against the damp concrete.

Mayhem walks up to Jade first. He stops a foot away from her, looking down at her face with a strange, pained tightness around his eyes. He reaches-out, grabbing her upper arm gently, pulling her in just enough to press a firm, lingering kiss against her cheek.

“Be careful at the club today,” Mayhem says softly, his voice dropping into a low murmur meant only for her. “Don’t go into the back rooms.”

Jade doesn’t lean into him. She stays rigid, accepting the stiff kiss on her cheek without moving, her hands buried deep in her jacket pockets.

“I won’t leave my box,” she says quietly, her voice devoid of emotion. “No problem there.”

Mayhem lets his hand linger on her arm for a moment longer, looking like he wants to say something else – wants to explain, wants to smooth it over – but the iron weight of the club pulls him back. He turns around, grabs his helmet off his handlebars, and swings a leg over his bike.

Locke turns to me.

He steps into my space, his heavy frame blocking out the overhead light. He looks down at me, his face carved out of hard shadows, his jaw tight. He reaches out, his gloved fingers touching the side of my neck, his thumb resting lightly against my jawbone.

He leans down and presses his lips to my cheek. The kiss is firm, warm, and utterly stiff. It carries none of the heat, none of the fierce, desperate possession that usually marks his touch. It’s a formality, a check of the box before going off to war.

“I’ll be back late tonight,” Locke says, his voice a low, gravelly rumble against my ear. “We’ve got business at the warehouse.”

I step back, letting his hand fall away from my face. I look him dead in the eye, keeping my facial expression completely blank, letting the cold, hard distance I’ve built up all morning show straight through.

“You don’t need to tell me, Locke,” I say, my voice steady, sharp as glass. “I don’t need to do anything except shut up and know my goddamn place. Right?”

Locke freezes.

The words hit him like a physical blow. I see his eyes widen slightly, a sharp, sudden crack appearing in his hardened composure as the full weight of his own words from last night are thrown right back into his face. He stands there, his hand hovering in mid-air, staring at me as if he’s seeing a complete stranger

He opens his mouth to say something, but I don’t give him the chance.

I turn my back on him, walking straight around to the driver’s side of my SUV. I pop the electronic locks, open the door, and slide into the leather driver’s seat before he can recover.

Jade gets into the passenger side right behind me, slamming her door shut with a heavy, solid thud. She doesn’t look back at Mayhem. She pulls her seatbelt across her chest, clicks it into place, and stares straight out the windshield.

12

Chapter 1153

turn the key in the ignition. The heavy V6 engine roars to life, its rumble echoing off the walls of the barking garage.

Clam

In my side mirror, I see Locke still standing beside his bike, watching my SUV with a dark, troubled

ntensity, his helmet hanging from his hand, his mouth set in a tight, unbending line. Beside him, Mayhem <icks his starter, his engine turning over with a deafening, thunderous roar that fills the underground

space.

don’t wait for them to mount up.

drop the SUV into reverse, pull out of the parking space, and shift into drive, stepping on the gas. The tires chirp softly against the slick concrete floor as we head toward the exit ramp, leaving the men behind us as we emerge into the pale, snowy morning.

And I think:

Funny how the freezing outside air is still warmer than the elevator ride down with those assholes.

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