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Chapter One
Zero
HE PUT on his cut, a smile finding his lips as he ran his hands down the front of the leather vest. The Kings had saved his life. Had given his life meaning again after all those years behind bars.
If it wasn’t for Walker and Jet, he didn’t know if he’d even be alive right now.
Watching the two of them build a life together, loving each other, it made him long for more. He wasn’t stupid enough to think he’d ever find something like what they had. It was hard enough to find someone who’d stay more than one night.
‘I’m a convicted murderer’ wasn’t exactly a good conversation starter, but he wasn’t going to lie about it. He’d done what he had to in order to protect his foster sister, but he’d also gone a bit overboard. He’d taken a life and he knew it’d been wrong. Knew he deserved to do the time he had even if his sister disagreed. Walker had always thought the sentence unfair, too, but he hadn’t expected Walker’s boyfriend to become the head of the Zero-didn’t-deserve-that-prison-time club.
Jet hadn’t exactly been happy to meet him. In fact, he hadn’t been sure Jet would let him in the house from how he’d glared daggers at him at first, but then he’d discovered just how big of a heart Jet actually had. Shouldn’t have surprised him, really. Walker had been in love with the guy for years so of course he was amazing. Walker deserved nothing less.
He walked out the door and headed down the hall to the stairs. When he stepped out of the building and onto the parking lot, his gaze landed on his bike, and a wide smile spread on his lips.
He’d found her broken and missing several pieces. Walker and Jet had taught him how to put her back together and in doing so, he’d realized he was good at it. She’d been a labor of love and patching her up had helped patch a few of his own wounds.
When Len, the head mechanic and owner of the auto shop, had seen the finished result, she’d looked at him with narrowed eyes and he’d thought she was about to tell him about all the mistakes he’d made. Instead, she’d hired him.
He worked part-time at the shop and part-time with Skinner, the liaison to their support club the King’s Disciples. Skinner ran an outreach program for troubled kids. Zero was the living cautionary tale of what would happen if they fucked up. It seemed to work wonders on the kids but he also liked working with them. They reminded him of how he was as a troubled teen and he loved being able to give them the support and help he’d so desperately needed himself back then.
He mounted his bike, and a breath of relief escaped him. He still woke up most mornings thinking that it had all been a dream but swinging his leg over his bike and landing his ass on that seat made it all feel real.
Hearing her purr as he turned the key always made him grin to himself. It was hard to believe that this was his life now, but it was, and he would forever be grateful to Jet and the Kings for it.
He pulled on his helmet and lowered the visor, then took off out of the parking lot.
As he drove down the road, the wind blowing against him, he knew that he’d gotten way more than he deserved.
Jack
He stared out through the bars of his cell. Fifteen months he’d spent with that view. He couldn’t wait to walk out of there and never look back. The day had come when he finally got to do exactly that. When he’d been told, he hadn’t known what to do with himself. Three months before time. Good behavior. If only they knew.
He turned his head, looking at the pictures on the wall above his shitty bed. There was a picture from some magazine of a half-naked woman because the last thing he’d wanted was for anyone in here to know which way he actually swung. On the outside, most people didn’t care or would just say a few nasty words and scurry away when they realized who he was. But not here. In prison, it was a whole other thing.
Next to the woman, there was a picture of his twin brother and himself, arms around each other’s shoulders and sappy smiles on their faces. They were both wearing their cuts. He was pretty sure the picture had been taken at the auto shop they worked at. Well, had worked at. He wasn’t sure where he stood on that front. He hadn’t talked to anyone for months. He hadn’t wanted anyone near him. He’d refused to take any letters that had arrived for him. He’d told them to send them back. He had his reasons, but he didn’t know if that would be enough explanation for his family. Especially his brother.
They’d been joined at the hip their whole lives. They’d never done anything significant without the other. That had been the worst part for him; being torn away from Sully. Learning to live as one instead of two. He’d hated every second of it.
Metal hitting metal had him jerking his gaze up to see Ricky at his door, tapping the ring on his finger against the bars.
“Today’s the day, huh?”
Jack felt a smile pull at his lips. “It is.”
Ricky crossed his arms over his wide chest and narrowed his eyes at Jack. He glared for a moment before a wide smile spread on his face.
“You go enjoy it for the rest of us, huh?”
“Oh, I will,” Jack said.
He was going to take back his life, no matter what it took.
“I’ll never forget you, though,” he said with a wink.
Ricky snorted out a low laugh, then shook his head.
“Same, Jacko, same.”
