“He's a daredevil and I have to earn my wins, so when I do win, it fucking gives me a high that lasts for hours. Just like the high he's giving Jennie right now. I think that's a part of any good relationship, doing things together that each of you enjoy.”
“But don't you ever feel like he's giving more of himself to one of you over the other?” Doc continued to question Mia. It was damn interesting hearing this shit.
“Yes and no. Yes, he sometimes gives more of himself to one of us more than the other and no it doesn't bother me. Because in any relationship it's never fifty-fifty, sometimes it's seventy-thirty and other times it's one hundred-zero. It works the same way with us. Sometimes I need him more than Jennie does, and he will devote a little more time to me, other times Jennie needs the extra attention. It helps that Jennie and I are best friends and love each other as well. No ménage relationship would work if the pair of the same sex couldn't get along with each other.”
“So, you don't get jealous of Jennie at all?” Doc Jones asked.
“Not at all.”
“What about other women? Doesn't knowing he's probably slept with some of those women out there on the floor bother you?” Doc Jones queried Mia.
I saw Ava unconsciously lean a little closer to the women, I also saw Ranger was listening just as closely as all the women were. I was curious as fuck about the answer to this question myself.
“Well, for one thing, I know he hasn't been with any of those women so that helps. He's never cheated on Jennie or me, but if we were around other women he'd been with before us, we wouldn't really have any excuse for being jealous over something that happened before our time. However, that being said, women are fucking jealous creatures and it would be hard to take knowing he was around someone he had fucked before.
“But if he told us to trust that he wouldn't ever be with that person again and we didn't take him at his word, well, then the relationship wouldn't ever work. You have to trust your partner. I mean what would be the point in being in a relationship if we were gonna let something like that constantly prey on our minds, it would destroy any semblance of trust between us and stop us from ever enjoying true intimacy.
“And let me say this, if you can't get past the others your partner has been with before you, then you will never be in a healthy relationship, because we all have a past and being jealous of the past is simply destroying your present and future.”
Mother. Fuck. In clearer words, she just said what I have been saying to Ava in my attempts to get her to understand me. I watched as Ava's eyes widened as she was hit with the realization of what she had been doing. I couldn't blame her though, because when she asked me how I would feel if the situation were reversed, I know I would have been fucking jealous as hell.
But Mia was right, if we couldn't leave the past in the past then we would never have a future, and I fucking wanted a future with this woman. Hopefully hearing another woman giving these words of advice would help her reconcile her feelings of jealousy toward me. I know the words would stay with me, because, damned, if Mia hadn't just schooled us all on how a loving relationship should be like.
About an hour or so later, I leaned over to Viper and said, “Brother, we'll need to leave in about thirty minutes or so. Letting you know so you can see your Old Ladies home.”
He inclined his head at me then leaned over and murmured to Jennie and Mia. As they all stood up, Mia smiled at Ava and the docs and stated, “I enjoyed our chat and visiting with you all. We'll definitely have to do this more often.”
“So did we,” returned Doc Jones.
“Yeah, we'd definitely love to visit with y'all again,” Doc spoke up.
“I for sure want to see Jennie and Viper dance again,” Ava commented with a slight blush on her face.
Laughter and murmurs of 'yes' floated through the women in agreement with Ava's remark.
“Be back in a few, Prez,” Viper told me, and I nodded at him in return.
As they walked away, I leaned toward Ava and murmured, “Babe, Church will be in about forty minutes or so. It's up to you whether you want to stay down here and visit or go on to bed. Not sure how long it's gonna last, could be awhile. But as soon as it's done, I'll be up.”
She leaned over to me and feathered a kiss across my lips and replied just as quietly, “Think I will just go on up to bed. I could use a shower after that dance workout. If I'm asleep, wake me up.”
I smiled at her as she got up and said her goodbyes to the docs. I wanted to fucking kiss her long and hard but knew better. My balls and dick had been tortured enough for one day.
“Well, Honey. That sounds like our cue to leave. It's been fun. Thanks for letting us hang out. The last time I checked, Zoey was still out. That's normal, she's gone through a traumatic experience and sleep is the body's natural way of healing. If for any reason you need me, I'm just a phone call away, Dog.”
“Appreciate it, Doc. If we don't see you before Friday, y'all have a good week,” I told them.
“I'll walk you ladies out,” Ranger commented as he stood up.
I watched as they made their way toward the door. Other than the docs, the only ones leaving the room with a club girl were the Prospects that weren't on duty. The rest of the girls knew we had Church soon and started heading toward their rooms.
I knew our MC was different than most concerning the prospects use of the club girls. A lot of the men who joined weren't teeny boppers who could be made to use their hands to get themselves off. They were men who had already experienced life and some of them were men who had served our country.
Sarge had always felt that he would rather know what his prospects were up to in that department instead of them going out, getting drunk and ending up with some random girl who might try to use their drunkenness to find out info on the club.
That had always made sense to me as well. Because if a man was happy with the woman/women in his home environment, he'd be less likely to go out and hunt for an outside source of entertainment. That said, the men didn't have to use the club girls if they preferred going elsewhere for their pleasure.
As I saw Viper walk back into the room, I got up and spoke up loudly, “Listen up fuckers, as soon as Vip and I get back with KJ, we'll start Church.”
~***~
Chapter 16
A man does what he must - in spite of personal consequences, in spite of obstacles and dangers and pressures - and that is the basis of all human morality.
~John F. Kennedy~
Mad Dog
May 31st, 1998
“Vip, wanted to show you how we get KJ in and out of the compound. We may be carrying it to extremes, but it was decided long ago to do it this way, to protect KJ and the club.”
I saw Viper nod his head as he took in his surroundings. For someone not trained in advanced military tactics, he was probably the most observant man I've ever seen. I tried to catch as much as possible, but I believed there are some men who are naturally born to be warriors. Viper is one of them. I was glad to have him at my back.
People would probably call me crazy for showing a man who I had known less than a year some of the club's top secrets. But I felt totally comfortable sharing with Viper. A gut feeling told me that I could trust him beyond a shadow of a doubt.
As we pulled up to the middle tower that was on the west side of the property, I could see Viper studying everything. I was curious if he would figure it out. The tower stood about ten feet back from the fence line but gave us a bird's eye view up and down the fence row. We kept a twenty-foot clearance on the compound’s side of the fence, and there was about a forty-foot clearance on the other side of the fence line.
“Got it figured out?” I asked Viper curiously.
“Maybe.”
“Let's hear what you think?”
He paused and looked around the area once again, then said quietly, “If it was me, I'd have a tunnel running underground from this side of the land to the other side. I'd probably take it
out past the tree line on the side that abuts the compound’s land. If that is the case, then the opening to go down would be inside the tower.”
I blinked. Seriously, I didn't think the fucker would be able to get it. Those few that have been shown always studied the fence trying to figure out where we had an opening for KJ to come through. I knew for a fact that he hadn't been told about the tunnels by anyone. There were only a handful of men who even knew they existed.
We had tower openings like this on both sides and the back of the compound, thus giving us more than one way of leaving the property. All the Founders except Seer and Tater had bought hundred acre plots. Seer and Tater’s plots were each one hundred twenty acres.
The compound was built on Sarge's land. Possum’s plot was directly behind Sarge’s land. Gunny’s hundred acres was to the west of Sarge and Possum’s land. Hogan’s land was to the west of Gunny’s.
Cueball’s plot was to the east of Sarge and Possum’s land, with Undertaker’s hundred acres to the east of Cueball’s land. Seer’s acreage was to the north and paralleled Hogan’s, Gunny’s, Sarge’s, Undertaker’s and Cueball’s land.
Tater’s one hundred and twenty acre plot was across the road and to the south of the compound.
“The military lost a good strategist when you didn't join,” I muttered.
He shrugged his shoulders.
“You swear you haven't been trained in strategy?”
“Nah, Dog. It just comes natural to me. I've always had to study my surroundings to keep my family and me safe. I didn’t want to depend on anyone else for that, my family is my responsibility, one I don’t take lightly. I always try to be aware of where everything and everyone is. As you know, I'm not perfect at it. But life made me take it a step further than most men would have.”
“You've trained Reb and Pred in this too haven't you.”
“I've tried. I did this with all my sons, but with the shit that went down with Reb and Pred, it’s sunk in a little more with them than with the other boys.”
I shook my head. The man was seriously something else. “Well okay, Einstein, show me where the door is.”
I watched as he went to the ladder on the side wall that faced the woods of the compound and started climbing. Really? The fucker didn't even walk around the tower to look for a door.
“Why didn't you walk around the tower to look for a door?” I asked him completely in disbelief that he had even gotten this part right.
He paused in his climb and looked down at me, “It would be stupid to put a door in the side of the tower, because that would be a dead giveaway that something was inside. And I'm pretty sure the men who thought all this up weren't stupid.”
He got that right. Sarge and Gunny had always made a brilliant team. I shook my head and started climbing the ladder after him. When I got to the top, he was nowhere in sight. The trapdoor was open, and he was already on the ground inside the tower waiting on me.
“Would have done something a little different if it was me,” he said when I stepped down onto the ground.
“What?” I asked, trying to figure out what he would have done differently, but nothing popped to me.
“The trapdoor.”
I looked up and studied it. I wasn't seeing what he saw, and it was pissing me the fuck off.
“Okay, I give. I don't see what you see,” I growled. Fuck, I sounded like a petulant child.
“The trapdoor should have swung down instead of pulling it up.”
After studying it, I still couldn't see what the difference it would have made.
“Why?” I ask quizzically.
“Because if someone is in the tower, they could easily keep people from below climbing out onto the floor of the tower.”
“But that's a good thing isn't it?” I asked thoroughly perplexed, not understanding why this was a bad thing.
“Okay, say you had people coming across that actually needed to get up into the tower, but the tower was locked from the top side. That would leave those people inside the tower stranded. But if it opened down, then people would no longer be stranded.”
Well fuck, I'd never thought of that.
“I see what you're saying and you’re right on that part. But what if you wanted to keep out others from below getting to the floor of the tower.”
“Then you simply put in a hidden locking system that would lock the trapdoor shut, then only the men who know the actual details about the towers would know where the locks were. This way you are protected both ways, one from being locked out of your own compound if anyone ever did make it in, and two, locking others out so they couldn't get into the compound if they found the tunnels. This is all built out of steel and metal, so burning the tower down to get into the compound wouldn't be an option. The design is fairly flawless.”
“Huh.” Damn if he didn't have a point. “C'mon and I'll walk you through the tunnel and show you how KJ gets in and out.”
I was showing Viper where the hidden key to the trapdoor on Gunny's side was located when KJ showed up. We secured the tunnel, loaded up on the Mule and made our way back to the Clubhouse. When we walked into the Great Room, all the men were waiting on us. I noticed Reb and Pred were back in the Great Room drinking a beer, so I made my way over to them.
“Want you both to wait here in case I need you to come to Church for any reason,” I said as I grabbed a beer, then thought about it and grabbed two more. I didn't see Viper get one and I know KJ could use one, so this time it was gonna be me supplying the drinks.
“Will do, Prez,” I heard from both at the same time. Damn that shit was seriously freaky sometimes.
I walked into Church and since I was the last one in, I closed the door behind me. I glanced at Viper and for once I was right, he hadn't grabbed a beer. I smirked at him as I slid it across the table to him. He caught it and lifted his chin, a small smile playing around his mouth, almost like he knew I would be bringing him a beer. Fucker. I set KJ’s down in front of him. With a smile of appreciation to me, he twisted the cap off and took a long drink.
“Obviously, this isn't a normal Church, but all these fuckers wanted to be here to hear your thoughts on something KJ. But since we're all here, gotta couple other things I want to bring up too. Before we get started on the main reason for calling this meeting, I wanted to bring something else up that can be handled quickly.
“I saw a lot of questioning looks at dinner tonight when Casper and Ghost appeared with prospect cuts on. You know I don't have to explain anything to you fuckers, you understand that, right? There are times when I will have to make a call that I can't always wait around for your inputs or to vote on shit.
“You all know what kind of authority the President of this MC has. Total control until the Prez is either voted out or dead. I'm...” a knock sounded at the door about the same time it swung open; in stepped Sarge and Gunny.
“Hey fuckers,” Sarge said as he made his way toward me. “Couldn't let y'all have all the fun.”
I stood up and gave my old man a bear hug, then as he made his way over to Hoss, Gunny spoke up.
“Lucy,” Gunny sang out. “I'm home.”
“Well fuck, Ricky. It's damn good to see you,” I said as Gunny stepped up to pull me into a bear hug like I had just done with my old man.
I waited to continue until everyone had gotten their hellos in, then I introduced all the new men to Sarge and Gunny. Once everyone was in a seat and settled back down, I asked, “Where the fuck was I before these two miscreants interrupted us?”
Among the light laughter at my comment, Hoss spoke up, “Think you were about to ream out a few asses, Prez.”
I nodded at him, “Right. As I was saying, I'm not dead and as you haven't voted me out, then I guess I'm still the Prez. For the most part, I will bring things up to all of you in Church. But this wasn't one of those times. I received a personal call from Shadow asking for a favor.
“For those of you who don't know who Shadow is, he's my and Hoss's
younger brother. He's in the military in an elite group and I can't tell you more than that because truthfully, I don't know more.
“When Shadow, who is a patched Brother in this MC, calls me from God knows where asking for me to let these men prospect, then I'm fucking letting these men prospect. Everyone got me?” All heads nodded. “I don't want to see any of you fuckers give them shit over it either, not that I think you would, but I'm putting it out there to cover all bases. If I hear of anyone doing that, you will answer to me. Got me?”
All heads nodded at me again. “Good. Now, on to why we are here. Need to tell you what has happened the last couple days, KJ.”
“Before you start with that, I want to bring something up,” He interrupted me before I could start with the info we had obtained.
I looked at him curiously because I didn't have a fucking clue what he wanted to say, “All right. Let's hear it.”
“Think you need to go ahead and vote Reb and Pred in as Brothers. It should be done before we even talk about this, because those two young men have good heads on their shoulders and will be nothing but an asset to the MC.”
“I agree with KJ,” Karma spoke up. “If Reb hadn't trusted his gut feeling from the get-go that something was off then there wouldn't have been anyone watching Jade’s house and if Pred hadn't hung to that van like white on rice, we may have lost Zoey for good. Granted it ended up where Reb was at, but it could have easily gone somewhere else.”
I saw Viper's expression of pride at their statements and before I could even say anything KJ spoke up, “I make a motion that Reb and Pred be patched in right now.”
“I second it,” Karma uttered.
Only one thing I could do, “All those in favor raise your hands.”
Every hand raised, even Sarge and Gunny who hadn't even met the boys yet, but I knew they were going off what KJ and Karma said because they trusted the judgment of those two men.
“Looks like we need to bring them in, because we've got two new Brothers to welcome.”
Mad Dog (Angel’s Rebellion MC: #2) (Angel's Rebellion MC) Page 24