Page 41 of Bitten By Zombie

CHAPTERTWELVE

HEIDI

The second the words fell from her tongue, she wanted to take them back. But it was the pain of his rejection and secrets that controlled her mouth.

The apology was right there when he shouted at her.

That was the moment she knew where his line was. She knew it had to exist somewhere, even though she didn’t know where it was, and she’d looked for it.

Apparently, Sherry was the only one to find it. The men in his club all swore it didn’t exist with friends and family, only enemies. So, she guessed she must be an enemy now. Deserved as it was, it still fucking stung.

But her tears were for her and her alone. That was a promise she made herself while waiting for the drugs that Stan shoved down her throat to kick in. No one else deserved them.

With a deep centering breath, she turned to face Zombie. She was powerless to stop the sharp intake of breath she sucked in at the sight before her.

It was not the happy-go-lucky, sunshiney hunk of a man who faced her now. No. This was one hundred percent MC president. The kind from movies and in the warnings from mothers to their daughters. She was looking into brown eyes that held pain and regret and vengeance and God knows what else.

It was not the time to question him about why he needed another woman when she was there and willing to try to be all he needed. Nor was it the time to whine about why she wasn’t in the loop. And above all else, not the time to drop the L bomb for the first time.

“Sorry. What do you need?” The flash in his eyes told her that compliance wasn’t the answer.

“Fuck,” he cursed and scrubbed his hand down his face.

“Look, Zombie. I get it, okay? All of it. I know that bikers have their woman that they sleep with, and it means nothing beyond sex and their girlfriends are okay with it, but—”

“And how do you know that, Rabbit?” He took a step closer.

“I read,” she snapped.

Heidi crossed her arms, doubting if the books she’d read were accurate judging by his expression. The pain radiating from her chest was damn near crippling.

“Agree to disagree. When this is all over and Stan is dealt with, we’ll have a heart-to-heart and discuss your reading habits.”

She turned back and shouldered the duffel, shoving past him. “My habits are not your concern, Wayne. As soon as this is done, we’ll both go back to our lives and we’ll be happier for it.”

Zombie caught her bicep with a gentle touch before she made it out of the door.

“That’s where you’re wrong, Rabbit.”

Looking into his face was just too much for her raw emotions, so she pulled free, and he let her go. Once she arrived at Sherry’s room, she took a breath and opened the door, knowing Sherry wasn’t there. That caused another stab of guilt. If she hadn’t been there, sleeping with Zombie, Sherry wouldn’t be at the ER.

She’d have probably been sleeping with Zombie, and Heidi couldn’t stomach that thought either.

His voice chased her down the hall. “Don’t you want to know the plan for tonight?”

Her cowardice was overwhelming her common sense. They should work it out right now, or at least put all the cards on the table with a promise to talk later. That was the adult thing to do, the rational thing. But her brain wasn’t being rational or adult.

The tone in his question was almost vulnerable, but that didn’t seem right to her. She feared if she looked and didn’t see the matching emotion on his face, it would be too much. She also feared not looking would haunt her. Either way, she was fucked, but she craved just one more glimpse of him before he left. Because once he left, the end would begin.

“Despite everything and you not telling me that it was happening tonight, I trust…y’all.” She almost said you, but with the questions swirling in her head regarding Sherry and his evasiveness, she couldn’t trust him with her heart, not now. She could qualify it like that aloud without getting into territory that wouldn’t be solved tonight, so she hedged her bets. “I mean, y’all do this professionally, right? So, you guys do your thing.”

Zombie looked resigned, tired, but he nodded and turned. Once he was no longer looking at her, she could breathe. He stopped at the door, bracing both hands on the frame by his head, but didn’t turn. She stared at the set of his shoulders.

“I don’t want you to be blindsided. That’s the last thing I want, Heidi. That’s not true, the last thing I want is to hurt you, but you do understand that by doingour thing, Stan will no longer be a threat…to anyone.”

The gasp was ripped from her lungs at his words. Yes, she kind of knew what that meant. Pretty much had since waking up drugged and disoriented and learning that Stan had meant to end her life that day. But hearing it stated was more than she could handle. And tears came.

More than once, she wanted to ask if there was another way, could he be dealt with in another way, but she knew the answer was no. Especially when Hook had told her everything that Lily revealed. Stan had all but admitted it to her that night too. So it wasn’t just for her sake, but for the sake of all the girls like Lily who Stan had and would continue to exploit.

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