Walking into the kitchen it seemed everyone was awake ad raring to go. Normally I would grab my cup of coffee and find a corner to hide in but starting today that was going to change. These people were my family, with their help I was going to take ahold of my life and live it to the fullest. With my coffee in hand I walked over to the table, where Avery and Carrin had already taken residence on their men’s lap looking to do the same with Tank. Without even stopping his conversation with Zeus, Tank slid the chair back enough for me to curl up in his lap and join in the chaos around the table.
“Hey girl, I just told Tank I was going to head upstairs and drag your ass down here if you weren’t here in the next five minutes,” Avery said smiling over her coffee mug. The girl had the look of a cat that ate the canary this morning. Maybe it wouldn’t be the older women of the club pressing for details first like I first thought.
“Chill out, woman. I told you she would be down before nine. You know my girl needs her coffee to function like the rest of you bitches,” Tank threw in coming to my defense before turning to kiss the top of my head. He gave me his signature wink before turning back to Zeus to talk about whatever light bars he wanted for his new truck when it came in.
“Yeah, you know I wouldn’t last long without my favorite form of caffeine. I thought the prospects were supposed to be on breakfast duty this morning,” I asked wondering were breakfast was. Not that I expected them to wait on me. I was contemplating getting up and starting it myself like normal.
“Girl, they’re trying not to kill us. Those boys are good boys, but they can’t cook for shit. I gave them the keys to my truck and sent them into the diner to pick up breakfast sandwiches. Elaine assured me she’d take care of us this morning. They should be back anytime and then we can get the morning meeting going. Although we might have to send Hyde downstairs in order to get Tony to focus,” Carrin said jokingly. Everyone at the table laughed at her comment. Well, everyone but Blaze that is. I was beginning to think the hot ginger of the group was carrying a flame for the blonde bombshell. I’d be sure to ask Queenie when I got her alone to fill me in. Lord knows Queenie knows everything about everyone even if she doesn’t speak up about it.
Ten minutes later the prospects where back handing out the blizzfully goodness Elaine had prepared for us. Before anyone good dive in Tony stood and addressed us all. “Okay ladies and gents, while you all were off snoozing last night I stayed up looking over everything Happy was able to pull together. Wall gave me the low down when he showed up at the office yesterday, but I needed to fill a lot of the gaps before this morning. Happy, I must say if you ever need a job you’d make a kick ass private investigator,” Tony said with a slight laugh before focusing his attention to me. “Bree, your brother was on edge trying to figure out how to deal with this shit-storm so he insisted that I email the lawyer handling your grandmother’s will before we left to head back yesterday. I’m still waiting to hear back from his office, although I’m sure I will be able to persuade him to do this on our terms. I have an idea on how to get this taken care of, but I need you on board, Bree.”
Not wanting to let my confidence falter I took a moment for asking the question that was burning in my mind. “A plan for what exactly?”
“Well a plan to get you the most money possible and making sure that neither of them will be able to touch it. I also think I might have a legal way of putting your parents in their place. A place where they won’t be able to touch you or your inheritance. What I’m about to say will probably piss a few of the men off in this room but once they think it through I’m sure they’ll be agreeing with me,” Tony said right before my brother roared from his spot at the kitchen island.
“If you’re thinking we aren’t going to like it then chances are we’re not. So why the fuck would you even bring it up in front of all these hardheaded fucking females before discussing it with the club first. I thought you heard me yesterday when I told you I wanted my sister as far away from this bullshit as possible. Now, the first thing out of your god damn mouth is to pull her in the middle of this horse shit!” Wall’s tone with his words would normally have caused me to flinch. Today tough, they just pissed me off. How dare he act like this was his situation to control. Even being mad as hell I still planned to keep myself in check and try to make him see reason. I didn’t need to be poking the bear per say. “Wall, why don’t you take it down a notch and listen to what the man has to say. I promised not to run, and I’ll even promise not to put myself deliberately in harms way, but I will have a say in how this is handled. You, along with every other man in this kitchen, promised that I would be kept in the loop. You making decisions about what to tell me or include me in is breaking that promise.”
“Bree’s right, brother. Let’s hear what Tony’s got to say before you go off the fucking deep end. You know damn good and well everyone in this room will do everything in their power to keep this shit away from her. We all just want this bullshit to be done,” Axle added waiting for Wall to acknowledge what he said before asking Tony to continue. “I’d talk fast Anthony, and make it count. I’m not trying to have that crazy fucker loose his cool and tear this damn kitchen apart.”
“Fair enough. Ok so let me lay everything out before you all try to rip my damn head off.” Tony proceeds to explain how he wants to stage everything to go down. First, he explained that I need to go to the bank of my choice as soon as possible to have a new account set up. The original account my grandmother chose for my trust to be released to on my birthday still had my parent’s names linked to it as I was still under age when the account was set up. Of course, Wall and Tank tried to balk the idea of me leaving the house long enough to go to the bank personally. They thought that I would be able to set it up online or just use the account I had been using since arriving here. Tony shot their ideas right out the window. One no legitimate bank would let me establish an account online and he felt that if Happy was able to tap into my account then he had no doubt they would be able to do the same. He hoped that they wouldn’t be looking for any new accounts and even if they did he had a plan to stop them again. Tony suggested setting the account up that it would require two signatures in order access the account. Which means I would have to choose someone who I trusted to be on the account with me.
Next, he went on to explain what he felt would be the correct choice in the matter of the company. Tony was animate that I should just sell my shares of the company off to the man that I thought was my father up until recently. If the rest of his plan worked the way he hoped I would not only end up with a sizable amount of money for my inherited shares from my grandmother but unless something changed I was the sole beneficiary to my father’s estate and would ultimately get them back plus my father’s came when he passed on.
Tony wanted to reach out to the Loftland’s with an offer to buy. Should they accept he would then set up the sale the same day I would meet with the lawyer to sign the paperwork for my inheritance. The men of my family were griping about me being exposed having to face them, but Tony argued that it would take care of everything in one sitting. Plus, it would draw them out causing them to show some of what they were hiding up their sleeve. Happy would continue to monitor the coming and goings of those who we knew where involved. The more information we had the better he said. He wanted to make sure we had enough in our arsenal to get them out of my lives forever. Tony was convinced that Charlie was definitely in bed with Carlos but he wasn’t sold that Derek was too.
The final part of his plan was to release Yasmin if she would flip on Carmen. Tony thought that if we sweetened the deal with a little money to disappear after the club got their hands on Carmen she would jump on it. He suggested offering her a hundred thousand if she provided enough information to carry out justice. Then if things went our way Carmen we would easily be able take whoever his accomplices were down.
Even though I knew it would piss Tank and my brother off, I offered part of my inheritance money if that’s what it to
ok for the club to finally get to Carmen. He’s vendetta against the club has been wreaking havoc around the club for far too long. Being that I was a big part of the reason it was brought to our doorstep I should be part of the remedy to get this mess over with.
I listened to everything Tony had to say and some of what Tank and my brother decided to throw in before I started asking questions. “So, let’s just say that everything works out the way you think it will, what are you going to do with Carmen, Jewels and my parents. I have a few thoughts as to what would happen if you hadn’t stressed going about this the legal way. I might not be a lawyer, but I do know we don’t have any proof that would hold up in court. The word of an ex-biker whore that was paid off isn’t going to be enough to put them away.”
“I still have a couple friends on the force here that will be willing to help. They might care too much for the club, but they do share a common goal with them. They want to keep the town in one piece. If we can find a way of linking the fire at the shop to him they’ll make sure Carmen rots away in a prison cell. It might even win some brownie points for the club as well,” Tony answered me like we were having an everyday conversation. “Right now, I just need you to get a new account set up at bank and leave the rest to me. I won’t steer you wrong and I’ll make sure you’re kept in the loop every step of the way.”
“Ok, so will you be tagging along with me to the bank? You know, to make sure I have everything in place and be as protecting as much as possible? That and I want to spread out into at least three accounts for the plans I have in place for the future of that money,” I questioned him.
“Babe, I’m sure Tony will be more than happy to steer ya in the right direction. Is this about what we talked about yesterday or do you have something else going one I don’t know about,” Tank asked jokingly. You could tell he was trying to hard to make light of me having to leave the house. My brother has been sitting quiet for the last few minutes with a sour look on his face. No doubt in my mind he had plenty he wanted to say but was keeping it to his self for the time being.
“Bree, I’m here to help you as well as the club any way I can. What kind of plans is your man talking about? Why don’t you let me in on what your thinking and I’ll figure out what would be the best course of action to get it done. The sooner the better though. I’d like to have an idea of what we’re getting into by the time I hear back from your grandmother’s lawyer. Do you want to talk in private once we’re done here?” The way he spoke it was like he wasn’t sure where my loyalties would fall. Not sure if it was just the lawyer in him or if he was trying to be condescending. Either way I wasn’t going to have this conversation behind closed doors.
“I have nothing to hide if that’s what your thinking, Anthony. I could care less about the money. I have no problem working my way through life. I cut all ties with Charlotte and Derek almost five years ago, leaving them and their money in my rearview mirror. If I didn’t want to be able to contribute to this family like they have done for me over the last few years or make a few of my dreams come true I wouldn’t even consider taking money. This money wasn’t theirs, it was from the one person who truly loved me unconditionally when I was growing up. She might not have been blood, but she was still my grandmother!”
“Bree, I wasn’t insinuating anything. I apologize if that’s the way it came across. I was just trying to give you the option of choosing for yourself without your man or your burly ass brother putting their two cents in. Trust me, I might be on the club’s payroll, but they’re still family to me. If I thought for one minute you were being sneaky or holding something back I wouldn’t be inclined to help you. Now how about we talk about what you have in mind before your brother comes over here to beat my ass. The looks he’s giving me right now have me thinking that it wouldn’t take much for him to jump to it.”
Reluctantly I stood from Tank’s lap and moved to the center of the room. I wanted everyone in the room to know exactly what I had planned for my inheritance. “I’m sorry for assuming the worst of you, Tony. I understand where your coming from and I appreciate you trying to save me from Wall and Tank, but they need to hear this. I’m tired of being the shy loner I’ve always been. I’m still trying to figure out this confidence thing, so you’ll have to bare with me,” I said pausing to change directions in order to look out at my family scattered across the room. “As some of you know I’m somewhat of an author. The other night Tank surprised me with a nice little set up and I don’t want to let that go to waste. My plans are to get some of my books published. I’ll have the money to pay some one to edit my books professionally along with having the covers for both the ebook format and paperback done as well. Eventually, my goal is to have my own indie publishing house that would offer services to help other writers get started.”
I looked to Tank to see he was smiling from ear to ear while the other guys in the room sported looks of shock. The women of the group however, were all smiling and clapping. You would think I just won the noble prize or something. Feeling myself smiling went on with the rest of my plan. “I was hoping that some of you ladies might want to be involved. It would be our business to grow plus I was hoping that we would even be able to add a recording studio. Not only would Avery benefit tremendously from it, but it would also give me a chance to talk Olivia into visiting a bit more. Hell, if we do this right she might even relocate here. Which leads me to my next order of business. I want to find some land close by to build a decent set of offices for us. Maybe even a business park of some sort. We can even set up Romy’s tattoo shop and the Izzy’s bike shop right along with the publishing house and recording studio. I want to dedicate the money I make off of selling my shares solely to getting this done. As far as the money my grandmother left me I want to split it up two ways. Half of the money is to be invested properly while the other half will be used to buy some land and build my dream home. If possible, I want land the butts up to this house or the club.”
Everyone was quiet. Maybe I had spoke out of turn or expected too much. I was beginning to get worried when Madison moved towards me pulling me in for a hug. The hug between us turned into a full group hug with all the women while the men hung back nodding their heads in agreement. Madison was the first to speak, “Bree, I’m so happy for you babe. I promise you when I get finished with my degree next year I’ll be back to help you run this shit. This is fucking awesome woman. It’s like the girls will have their own identity with the club. I can’t wait to get this shit off the ground.”
“What she said! I don’t want you putting yourself out on our parts, girl. I’d love to have my own studio to work on tracks, but I will not have you fronting the entire build. I’ve got some money built up of my own and if we do this you will let me help with this. This is perfect. It’s a way we can all chase the dreams while keeping our small-town lifestyle and family ties. You wait until Layla hears about this. You’ll have her ass wanting to pack up and leave California,” Avery says excitedly.
The rest of the women seemed to be just as excited as Avery. Hyde was working on a marketing strategy saying we need a theme to pull all the separate businesses together. Queenie and Vivie had ideas of how to set up the book keeping while Tabby was trying to figure out if there was land close to the strip club she still had her sights on opening. Momma Bear offered to help as much as possible but unless we wanted the trucking company ran from the same building she would be limited as to what she would be able to do. While conversations were in full swing about how to pull everything together Tony interrupted us bringing everyone back to the reason we were all gathered in the kitchen this morning.
“Looks like you’ve got some lady balls my girl. There’s no doubt in my mind that you, along with the rest of the ladies, will get your little venture going. I’ll take care of the accounts that will be needed. I’ll reach out to my financial advisor and see what we can do about the money you want invested. When we head into town to the bank we can slip over to the recorder of deeds to se
e who owns any of the surrounding properties for both your new businesses as well as that dream home you want to build. I’m going to head to the den to check my emails while you girls wrap this up. How about we meet back here around one to head into town?”
“Sounds perfect,” I say before pulling him in for a hug while I thanked him profusely. From the growl that left Tank it was time to let him go. I guess my man wasn’t keen on me holding onto anyone that wasn’t him for longer than a second.
“Tony, get your hands off my woman before I drag your ass outside. Go do what you gotta do so we can leave in a few hours. I’m not liking this shit no more than the rest of the fellas, but the shits got to be done. Sooner we get this mess over with the better.”
Tony laughed at Tank’s outburst but pulled away none the less. “I’ll see you in a bit, Bree. If you have any more questions for me I’ll be in the den.”
When I felt Tank’s strong arms wrap around me from behind I couldn’t produce words to acknowledge Tony. Instead I settled for a quick nod and a smile before he, along with Wall and Axle, retreated from the kitchen. As soon as Tony was gone Tank spun me to face him. “I’m going to talk to Happy and see what else we need to do to keep an eye on the Loftland’s. Don’t sit down here planning with the rest of these crazy ass women for too long. I want to roll no later than one. We’ve gotta hit the bank and the county building leaving us enough time to get your sweet ass back in the house well before dark.” Tank gave me a quick kiss to the forehead before tilting his head to Happy to let him know to follow him.
I’m not stupid. I know damn well the guys would be having their own meeting in the den away from the female ears of the club. I wasn’t worried enough to even voice my thoughts out loud. If they wanted to hash shit out, then so be it. As long as I was made privy to what they were scheming I didn’t care. Right now, I was too happy to be building a plan to bring my families dreams to reality.
Finding Me: Dominant Devils Book Three Page 32