Page 25 of Full Throttled

“Zayde!” I growl out. I glance at Zoey and see her tawny brown eyes wide with shock, moisture pooling along the bottom as she watches her brother say the things her father used to spit out at her.

Zayde smirks and rolls his eyes before pushing away from the door. “Oh it’s good to see where your loyalty lies. What, did she finally give it up to you, too?”

I step forward. “I’m not going to call you down again.”

Zayde steps toe to toe with me. His eyes glare into mine. “Then what are you going to do? Hit me? It’s not the Drake James style though.”

My hands ball into fists. “I’ll beat the sense right back into you. That’s my style.” I raise my eyebrows in challenge.

I watch Zayde’s jaw tick before he smirks. I want to knock that cocky look right off his face. He’s better than this. He’s worked too hard to be better than this. “Look, Zo, he defends your honor and you haven’t even said a word. Does that tongue of yours not work anymore or did you wear it out giving out too many free—“

I ball his shirt in my hands and yank him towards me. “You need to chill. Take it down a notch and shut the hell up. That’s your damn sister.”

“I don’t have a sister,” he seethes at me, before pushing me back away from him.

“Okay! That’s enough!” Barker steps between us, but I ignore his warning.

“You’re acting like your damn father. Grow the hell up and realize you don’t want to be like that sorry excuse for a man.”

Zayde’s eyes light with a fire I haven’t seen in a while. “Well, I’m so sorry that not all of us have the perfect damn dad like you!”

“I said that’s enough. Both of you shut the hell up.” Barker is fuming and I don’t want to see him get mad, but my blood is boiling right now. Barker turns to face Zayde. “You need to either calm yourself or go outside and hit some bags.” Zayde starts to speak, but Barker holds up his hand to silence him. “I wasn’t finished. Once you’ve gotten your head on straight you will come in here and apologize to your sister.”

“Are you kidding me?”

Barker calmly shakes his head. “No, I’m not, Zayde. We agreed when we took over this club and cleaned out the garbage that we would make it better and we have but how you are speaking to her right now is not acceptable. I don’t care who you are or what role you have in this club. I will not tolerate you degrading anyone. Besides, you told me yourself that you didn’t want to be your father. That you hated him for driving Zoey away, well Drake is right. You’re acting just like him and treating her the same way he did. So, I’m going to tell you one more time before I take you outside my damn self and teach you a lesson. Go outside and hit the bags,” Barker tells him.

If smoke could come from Zayde’s ears it would, but he takes Barker’s warning and stomps past us. The moment the back-door slams Zoey takes off down the hallway as fast as she can. My heart breaks for her. I can’t even imagine how she must feel right now to hear those awful things again after all this time and from the one person she trusted most. Barker looks at me and I shake my head before I roll my neck and rub my hands down my face. “I thought he was doing okay.”

Barker shakes his head. “He was trying to keep it together, but the ride in honor of his father must have stirred up some emotions. I mean, he was honoring a man who treated his only daughter so horribly. He knows that Allen was the reason Zoey left and even though I’m sure he blames him, Allen isn’t here so Zoey gets the anger. After finding out Zoey was back, he really got off track. He caused a fight in one of the bars we stopped at. Ransom had to carry him out. I was hoping seeing her would help him, but I guess I was wrong.”

“He’ll get over it,” I reassure Barker, because at the end of the day I know Zayde will. He’s angry right now, but he’ll be happy to see her once he realizes she’s staying.

“I hope so. How is she? She looked really upset when she hightailed it out of here.”

I nod and look back towards the door that leads to the hallway. “She’s tough. She’ll be okay, but I’m sure that wasn’t easy for her. I’m going to go check on her.”

“Where are your damn crutches, Drake?” Barker asks.

I laugh. “I don’t need them.”

“The way you’re walking says otherwise.”

Shaking my head I call out, “Don’t worry about me just get Zayde to calm his ass down.”

“Already on it,” I hear him say, before I hear the back door open. Well, the reunion between Zayde and Zoey didn’t go as planned, not even close.

Nineteen

Zoey

It’s odd to feel so nervous at just the thought of seeing my brother. For most of my life, Zayde had been my anchor. He had always been the one I could count on. He was hot headed, but he was always there for me. Now, I didn’t know what to expect. I had shattered our bond and it broke my heart. It would forever be my biggest regret but all I could hope for now was a chance to fix the mess I had left behind. I knew it would take time, but I was hoping he would be willing to give me that. Having Drake beside me did calm some of my raging nerves. I was thankful for him in this moment-- even if he didn’t exactly trust me either.

As we stepped into the bar and gaming area of the clubhouse, I sucked in a large breath. I felt like I had been dropped into a pool of hot testosterone. I mean, seriously every guy in the room was far too good looking. I was used to my father’s greasy, creepy old men bikers. There was nothing similar to them and the band of brothers standing before me. No, these guys all looked as if they could be male models if they wanted to. Even with all these good looks in front of me I found my eyes still wandering to Drake.

The moment I heard that sarcastic laugh ring out throughout the room, I knew that I was in for it. Zayde was clearly not in a forgiving mood. If that laugh was any indication, he was barely keeping himself in check. Probably because his entire club was in the room. Also, the glare on Drake’s face might be enough to have him tread lightly for now. Zayde was so different from the boy I remember. The tall and lanky kid was gone. Now, there was a tall and muscular boy with arms that had tattoos, one was actually a sleeve, and gaged ears looking back at me. He was dressed in all black and his bright smile seemed to be perfectly fixed into a cocky smirk. His dark brown hair was just long enough to pull up towards the sky with sides being cut short to his head.

Barker, the president of Sons of Sin, stepped forward and spoke first. He was handsome. His hair was buzzed to his head with a neatly trimmed beard. His hair was brown with a little bit of red running through it and I saw a couple of tattoos peeking out from his white t-shirt. Barker’s eyes were a piercing blue that were hard to look away from and when he smiled his teeth were perfectly white and straight. He had a relaxed vibe about him that I liked and was grateful for with the tension building between Zayde and I. When he spoke, he had an accent, but I couldn’t pinpoint where from.

---