The MC President's Forsaken Wife (Zara and Knox) novel Chapter 313

Chapter 153-2

“It’s quiet,” I say, pouring the rich, dark espresso into a heavy stoneware mug and topping it off with hot water. “A little too quiet lately, but… I like it.”.

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I walk into the living room, handing him the mug. He takes it, his thick, tattooed fingers wrapping around the ceramic, and gives me a brief nod of thanks.

We sit down together on the deep leather sofa facing the glass, Mayhem sprawling out with his long legs kicked out, taking up half the furniture, while I curl my legs up under my sweater next to him.

He takes a long, slow gulp of the scalding black coffee, letting out a satisfied grunt as the heat hits him.

“So,” he says, turning his head slightly to look at me out of the corner of his eye, a faint, teasing smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth. “Word on the street is we’ve got a full-time family therapist living up in the clouds.”

I lift my mug, taking a sip to hide my smile. “Oh yeah? Who told you that?”

“Jade, for starters,” he says, leaning his head back against the leather cushion. “She came home the other day completely chilled out. Said she spent two hours up here complaining about me, drinking coffee and eating pancakes, and that you talked her down off the ledge.”

He pauses, his smirk widening into a white flash of teeth.

“Then Dad comes into the clubhouse yesterday morning, acting all quiet and soft-spoken. Turns out you had him over for pot roast, talked about our blowout over Knox’s chemical truck, and got him talking about. Willow again.”

“Someone has to keep the men in this family from tearing each other’s throats out,” I say lightly. “You and Dad were acting like two territorial bears locked in a phone booth. Jade was worried sick.”

“Dad’s stubborn,” my brother grunts, though there’s no heat in his words. “He was right about the truck, though. I was letting my anger push me into a bad move. But we squared it away. Dad and I are good now.” He looks at me, his eyes softening. “Thanks to you.”

“You two just needed to talk without shouting,” I say. “And Willow… she’s not a threat, Mayhem. She’s just lost. Dad needed to hear that.”

He takes another sip of his coffee. The light teasing tone drains out of his posture, replaced by a sudden, heavy silence.

The hard, violent VP of the club fades away, leaving just my brother – the boy who used to pull me up into the branches of the old oak tree in our backyard when I was five years old, the boy who fought half the kids in school if they looked at me wrong.

He sets his mug down on the low marble coffee table in front of us with a soft clink.

“Zara,” he says quietly. His voice drops into a low, gravelly register that makes my chest tighten in worry.

“Yeah?”

He turns his head, looking straight at me. The shadows under his eyes are dark, etched deep into his skin

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from years of fighting, stress, and sleepless nights. But right now, his dark eyes are wide, raw, and completely unguarded.

“I’m sorry,” he says softly

I blink. “Sorry for what?”

“For not being here,” he says, his jaw working as he struggles to find the words. “For all of it. When you were sick, when you were going through those hellish chemo`rounds… I was so wrapped up in club business, that I wasn’t sitting in those damn hospital rooms with you as much as I should’ve been.”

“Hey, it’s -”

Cla

“Dad was there. Jade was there. Locke was there. And I was out on the road, acting like a violent bastard.”

“Mayhem, you don’t have to -”

“Let me finish,” he interrupts, his voice thick with a sudden, fierce emotion that makes my breath catch.

“Locke’s been gone for two weeks now. Two whole weeks of total radio silence, and you’re up here all by yourself in this big-ass apartment, holding everyone else’s problems together. You’re fixing my relationship with Jade, you’re fixing Dad’s guilt, you’re taking care of Willow’s mess… and nobody’s taking care of you.”

He reaches out, grabbing my wrist gently, his big thumb brushing over the pulse point on my skin.

“You’re my kid sister, Zarabug,” he says. “It’s my job to protect you, to make sure you’re okay. And I feel like I’ve been failing at it.”

My heart swells until it aches, a thick wave of affection crashing over me. I set my coffee mug down on the table next to his and lean over, pressing my forehead against his broad, leather-clad shoulder.

“You haven’t failed me, Mayhem,” I say softly, my voice muffled against his vest. “Not for a single second. You keep this entire family safe, you keep the club standing. I know how much you carry on your shoulders. You don’t ever have to apologize to me for fighting for us.”

“Just tell me if you need me, Zara. Anything. I don’t care what’s going on at the clubhouse, I don’t care if Knox is burning the city down. If you call me, I’m here.”

“I know you are. I always know.”

We sit like that for a long, quiet minute, listening to the rain start to patter softly against the windows. The warmth of the coffee, the heavy, safe presence of my brother, and the soft rustle of the wind outside make the living room feel completely isolated from the brutal world below.

Finally, I pull back, giving him a small, reassuring smile. “Now, drink your coffee before it gets cold. I’ll grab you a refill.”

“I can get it.”

“Sit down,” I say. “You’re a guest. Let me.”

I slide my legs off the sofa and stand up on the hardwood floor.

The moment my feet plant against the wood, the entire world instantly tilts sideways.

23

Chapter 153

It doesn’t happen gradually. There’s no warning, no faint flutter of lightheadedness.

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A sudden, violent rush of pressure slams into the back of my skull, blinding and absolute. The gray light from the window explodes into a bright, white static, and the sound of the humming refrigerator vanishes, replaced by a deafening, high-pitched ringing that fills my ears.

My knees completely give out underneath me, turning into jelly.

“Zara?”

My brother’s voice sounds miles away, distorted and muffled as if he’s speaking underwater, or from the bottom of a well.

The hardwood floor rushes up to meet my face. I reach out blindly, my hands catching empty air, my vision going completely black as gravity tears the room right out from under my feet.

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