The MC President's Forsaken Wife (Zara and Knox) novel Chapter 90

< Chapter 58-2

Chapter 58-2

Claim

The fury in Dad is unlike Locke’s and unlike Mayhem’s. Locke’s anger is cold and concentrated, Mayhem’s is wild, looking for somewhere to land. Dad’s is older than both, disciplined by years of leadership, shaped into something precise enough to become action.

He walks toward me slowly. His gaze drops to my arm, the mark, the proof. Then rises to my face.

“What exactly happened, sweetheart?”

So I tell them, I tell them all of it:

The garage. Knox stepping out between the cars. The way he looked at the shopping bags. The questions about Locke. The accusation’in his voice when he realized I was happy. The grip on my arm. The things he said about control.

Locke keeps one hand at the small of my back while I speak, warm and steady, but the rest of him grows colder with every sentence. Jade’s face turns white, then red. Mayhem stops pacing completely. Dad doesn’t change at all, which is how I know he’s the angriest person there.

When I finish, silence swallows the lot.

Then Dad asks, “He knew where you were?”

“Yes.”

“He knew you were alone?”

“I think so.”

“About you working at the garage? About you living with Locke?”

I hesitate. “He said he’s been watching me.”

That does it. Mayhem turns away and drives his fist into the side of the clubhouse hard enough to rattle the metal siding. Jade flinches, but I don’t. I understand the impulse.

Locke’s hand tightens at my back, not enough to hurt, only enough to remind himself that I’m here.

Dad looks at Mayhem calmly. “That helping?”

“No.”

“Then fucking stop it.”

Mayhem breathes hard through his nose, but he nods.

Dad looks at Locke. “How long do you figure he’s been watching my daughter?”

“Could be weeks.”

My stomach drops.

Locke’s voice is professional now, his mind already moving through angles and timelines even while his

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<Chapter 58-

body stays protectively close to mine

Chap

“He knew she wasn’t staying at her apartment,” Locke says. “Knew where she worked. Knew when she’d be alone today. That’s not coincidence.”

“So he’s definitely following her,” Jade whispers.

“No,” Dad says, his voice terrifyingly cato. “He’s hunting her.”

The words fall like stones, and for the first time since leaving the parking garage, the full shape of what happened reaches me.

This wasn’t an argument, and it wasn’t an angry ex who happened to run into me.

This was a trap. Knox laid low and waited because he knew I’d come.

I sway slightly, and Locke notices before anyone else. His arm comes around me fully, pulling me against his side. “Inside.”

“I’m fine.”

“You’re not. Inside.”

He leads me toward the clubhouse with my family closing around us, Jade gathering the shopping bags from my car, Mayhem taking my keys, Dad already on his phone issuing orders in a voice so quiet that men will move faster because of it.

Locke settles me into a chair near Dad’s office, crouches in front of me, and looks directly into my eyes.” You’re staying with me.”

“I already am, Locke.” I sigh. “I’m living in your penthouse, remember?”

“What I mean is, you go nowhere without someone. You’re never alone in the garage. I don’t leave you alone at home.”

“No way. That seems excessive,” I protest. “I don’t need full-time babysitters when I’m at your place.”

“Zara…”

“No, Locke,” I say again. “I’m not living like a goddamn prisoner or hostage.”

Before he can reply, Dad comes into his office. “My contact in mall security is pulling the video from the parking garage. Parking records too. Brick and Hawk are heading there now.”

“Okay,” I say tiredly, because at least this is something useful.

Dad looks at all of us, then his black eyes stay on me. “He wanted you afraid. Are you?”

I think about the parking garage. The shadows, Knox’s hand on my arm, the terrible calm in his voice.

“Yes,” I say honestly. “I am.”

Dad nods once. “Good.”

I blink, surprised that that’s his answer. “Good?”

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Chapter 582-..

Clam

“Fear keeps you alive.” Dad’s expression hardens, every inch of the President replacing the father. “But it doesn’t yet to make your decisions.” His gaze sweeps around the room before settling on me again. “From now on, we do that.”

The words hang in the silence. Nobody argues. Not Jade, not Mayhem, not even Locke. Instead, everyone nods, because to them, it’s obvious. Sensible. Loving. They’re trying to build a wall around me before Knox can reach me again.

I know all of that, of course… but as I listen to them all talk, something inside of me begins to twist.

Nobody has asked me what I want. Nobody has asked me what I’m willing to risk. Nobody has asked me what kind of life I’m actually trying to protect. They’re making plans, and changing my future, and deciding where I can go, who I can see, how I’ll live.

I sit very still, and for the first time since walking back into the clubhouse, I stop listening to what they’re saying, because one thought keeps repeating itself, louder and louder, until it’s drowning out every voice in

the room:

Nobody gets to make my choices anymore.

Not Knox.

Not my father.

Not my brother.

Not even Locke.

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