Forever Zara: (novella 9.5) by V. Theia (ebook reader txt) 📕

It was something he should have done years ago, not hung on like a desperate prick.

Sweet girls didn’t need men like him. Ones with zero morals and the brass balls to do what he’d done.

He’d taken from his brother on the worst day possible.

But it had started long before that.

The first time he’d laid eyes on a younger Lucia while he’d been driving with Santiago. He’d spotted her through the car window and felt something crack inside his chest. Felt it burn and spread through his skin.

Lust.

It only got worse from there.

“Why are you calling on an unknown number? A new phone?” Was what he chose to ask her, not any of the other thousand more important questions.

“It’s a long story,” she said, sounding neutral. “I guess I’ll start at the beginning if you have time to talk?”

“Sí,” he croaked after a few seconds.

“And when I’ve finished telling you, I’m going to ask you for some help, Giancarlo.”

He didn’t know how long later it was, while he stood out in the cold, listening to Lucia’s melodic voice, that he hung up the phone, made his way inside to talk to Rider and Zara. Letting them know he was sorry, but he had to duck out.

They asked why, and Capone told them a girl he knew needed his help.

His sister-in-law.

They understood because to the prez and his queen, family was everything.

He didn’t tell them this was the woman he’d given his heart to, because that was a bag of worms he couldn’t delve into.

Not when he had a plane ticket to buy.

Capone strode out of the hotel; he didn’t even stop to tell his buddies where he was going.

He remembered standing up as best man for his younger brother on a day much like this and watching Lucia say vows to Santiago.

He remembered the feeling of his chest filling with heaviness.

He’d had questions.

Plenty of time for answers, he thought.

After all this time, she’d finally fled from her father.

Capone might feel a flicker of joy for her, knowing she needed out of her father’s strict ruling.

But he also knew this was only the start of the shitstorm.

The unhappy tension stung his skin.

There was no recollection of Capone booking a plane ticket to Louisiana or packing a bag, or catching a cab to the airport because his mind was reeling.

He was going to lay eyes on the woman who’d tormented him for years.

The woman he’d fucked on the day they’d put his whole family in the ground. The day she’d laid rest to her husband.

“Give me strength, Holy Mother Magdalene,” he muttered to himself.

Tense like a caged lion.

He was going to need it.

Like a kicked dog who was still loyal to its master, he took many fortifying breaths that day and headed toward the danger.

Shit was never gonna be the same after this.

EIGHTEEN

“The contrasting levels to a Prez.” - Rider

He’d watched the girl walking toward him grow from a sad little teen into a bright young woman who he considered family. Rider didn’t know when he’d become a pseudo-father figure to Angela, probably around the same time Zara claimed the girl into their lives.

But that’s what he was, and he took the hug she offered when she got close.

“Hey, kiddo. Having fun?”

“I’ve eaten so much Greek food. I might burst open at the seams.”

That was Zara’s doing. She’d chosen a blend of Texas steak and ribs and Greek dishes.

When she pulled back, Angela was still smiling, a little shyer as she looked up at him. “I’m so happy for you and Zara. You’ve both been amazing with me, taking me into your family. I’m glad you’ve found each other. She’s the best, Rider.”

“That she is,” he agreed, watching as his first son headed toward them at full speed in his little shirt and pants. His boys were dressed identically to Rider. Instead of going to his old man, he lifted his arms to Angela. “Up, Anga.” He demanded with a toothy smile. The girl laughed and picked him up, and he immediately grabbed onto the silver cat charm necklace she’d worn for years. “Don’t you look so handsome, Knox? Shall we get you some food, huh?”

“Yeahhhhhh. I want soda.” His son declared.

Noting where Angela was glancing, Rider cut his gaze to the group of his boys and their old ladies around a table. Snake was holding up his phone. Lawless might not have been able to join them today in person, but he got on a video feed for most of the ceremony.

“Why don’t you go say hello,” Rider suggested. She immediately snapped her gaze back, blushing before her eyes flattened. “Nah, it’s okay.”

“Angie, don’t be stubborn.”

“It’s not stubbornness. Lawless doesn’t want to see me, Rider. That was more than clear with his letter. He was my best friend and didn’t tell me what happened. You all go to visit him, but I’m not allowed to. I get it. It is what it is. He took pity on a stupid kid. I’m not going to whine about him shaking me loose.”

Behind the brick wall of self-preservation she’d had in place since day one, he saw slithers of hurt behind it. Of the entire club, she’d been closest to Lawless. She’d relied on him like a junkie would a dealer. Since he got locked away, Rider had seen her struggling with his absence yet pretending she was fine.

There was a lot of shit Angela didn’t know of why Lawless did the stuff he did.

He reached out and cupped the back of her head, he bent in toward her ear. “One day, you’ll know it all, Angie. And you’ll see it’s not as bad as you’re imagining.”

She didn’t