Page 81 of Zeke
“Zeke?” I hear from my doorway after a few minutes. I turn and see Eli standing there with Kira’s dad. I stand up from my spot on the bed and step to the side to allow the two of them to reunite.
“Kira!” he shouts as he throws his arms around her. He’s crying as he hugs her, and she is, too. I look up at Eli, who nods his head toward the door. I understand exactly what he’s trying to say.Let’s give them a little privacy,since she and I will have plenty of time.
We head downstairs and find most of the club hanging out in the kitchen, with one member getting most of the attention. Tardy is running laps around the room, barking and rubbing his face against people to get them to pet him. Eden laughs as Eli rushes into the room and wrestles with the dog in the middle of the floor, but it doesn’t last long before she puts on a serious face.
“All right, everyone,” she says loudly. Everyone shuts up to listen to the Prez. “I was going to call everyone to Church, but I think we can just have our meeting here.”
Everybody nods silently in agreement, waiting for Eden to speak.
“The last few weeks have been rough,” she says. “Really rough. On some of us more than others.” She looks at me, Eli, and Julia. “And before that, we had one of the scariest things I’ve ever been involved in happen to our club.” Everyone turns their attention to Eli and Julia, and even Savage gets a few glances. “It’s been hell for months now without a break, and I want to declare that’s enough.”
I look at her, unsure of what she means, but she is ready to elaborate.
“I’m tired of looking over our shoulders, of constantly being at war with unknown enemies, of not knowing who we can trust. Right now, the club is doing pretty well financially, so I’m officially declaring a break for everyone. That means no runs, no jobs. Just enjoying each other and our lives as a family. Everyone gets to… breathe. Rest. Live your damn lives.”
A small cheer goes up around the circle, and I smile at my sister. She looks pleased, both with herself and with all of us, and the feeling is mutual. No other prez would run their club like she does, and it’s why she’s so easy to follow.
“But there is one other order of business to attend to,” she says, cutting off the chatter that starts around the room. She looks at me and Eli with a pained expression on her face. “I’ve been operating since the beginning of this new era of the Ruthless Kings with two VPs because I haven’t been able to choose between the two of you, and I need to decide. My immediate inclination is to keep it as the two of you, since you balance each other out, and, in turn, you balance me out.”
“No,” Eli says, and everyone turns to look at him. His face is completely blank except for the level of exhaustion on it. I’m amazed he’s still standing. He turns to me and shrugs. “You take it.”
“What?” Eden and I ask at the same time.
“You take it,” he repeats as if what he’s saying is completely expected and unsurprising. “I don’t want it. No offense, Big Red,” he says, looking at Eden. “But I don’t. I think you do want it, Zeke, and I’m officially stepping down and aside because you want it so much more than I do. You deserve it.”
I’m floored. He lost the fight over Kira, and now he’s just giving me VP? I’m worried because it’s so uncharacteristic of him to not care about stuff like that, but I can’t get a vibe from him that would indicate he’s angry, sad, or put out. He is… neutral about it.
“Are you sure?” I ask, but it’s a stupid question. Eli never says anything about big stuff without having thought it through and coming to a sound, reasonable decision.
Eli snorts a small laugh through his nose, then steps toward me and pulls me against him in an embrace, which I return wholeheartedly. We’ve been so at odds for so long that this feels right. Like we are finally back to where we belong.
Eli eventually pulls away and looks at Eden, who’s eying him up.
“Are you sure?” she asks, repeating my question. To be fair, he didn’t actually answer me.
He does reply to her, though.
“I’m so fucking sure,” he says. “I have a whole long list of reasons, but they don’t really matter. I’m good with it. Zeke deserves it, and he’ll be great at it.”
Eden looks at me for confirmation, and I shrug with a smile, casually accepting my new appointment.
“It’s settled then,” Eden says to the group. “Zeke is your new VP. My right-hand man. Which means an order from him is an order from me. But for right now, I’m going to give you an order, VP.”
I look at her, confused about what she’ll say and worried she’ll send me away when Kira is upstairs waiting for me.
“Your order is to go be with your girl.” Eden smiles at me. “You two have been apart enough. Go take care of her.”
“That, I can do.” I turn and shake Eli’s hand, receive a congratulatory pat on the shoulder from everyone who can reach me, and then rush from the kitchen, taking the steps two at a time to get back to the girl so I can tell I love her.
CHAPTERFORTY-ONE
Eli
It stings at first, just thinking about it. Even before saying it. It is something I’ve worked for. Something I’ve bled and nearly died for. Something I should be disappointed about giving up.
But I’m not.
When I hand over the position of VP to my brother, it feels like a weight is lifted off me, one I’d put there myself and had forgotten was there until it was gone.