“Is that so?” he said and Martin nodded. “The two of you have cooked up a little coup, have you?”
I could practically see the sharpened teeth of the predators around the table. We were sheep walking into a den of wolves and we’d just shown off our juiciest bits. We’d announced just how alone we were and there was nothing standing between us and whatever fate Joseph wanted to inflict upon us.
“Well,” he said, “I have to ask. You’re a lovely couple, without a doubt, but what’s in it for us? If I understand you correctly, you’re about to solve my problem with the Dead Men for me. If you throw your little club into chaos, then either you’ll win out and I won’t have to put up with Jarhead’s idiotic attacks anymore, or you’ll both end up dead in a gutter somewhere and the Dead Men will be so torn up that I won’t have to worry about them.”
Martin and I drew in breath steadily, trying to not betray our worry. Joseph had a point, and it wasn’t a friendly one. We had little power to bargain in this situation. I knew we had no choice but to play our last card and hope for the best.
“Tribute,” I said simply. The word hung in the air heavy with meaning.
Martin picked up the offer I had left on the table, ensuring that Joseph would be certain it came from both of us. “If you allow this transfer of power to happen peacefully – and assist where necessary – I’ll give you ten percent of our profits when I’m leading the Dead Men.”
Joseph couldn’t contain his grin. This was what he was after, all along. He was a businessman, not a fanatic. That difference in philosophy was the easiest explanation for why Mako had flourished while Jarhead had led the Dead Men to near ruin. “Twenty percent, off the top,” he said. The offer was insulting, but predictable. Twenty percent before expenses would bankrupt the Dead Men inside of six months. We’d be working at a loss just to keep the deal going. I knew the club’s books well enough to know there was no way we could afford that deal. Martin looked at me and I could tell he was out of his element. He’d done well so far, but it was time for me to take over.
“Ten percent, and you can have it off the top,” I countered. It was more than I wanted to give him, but there could be no failure here. I stared at him intensely, not blinking and not letting him see me waver at all. Around us, the table of Mako foot soldiers and hangers-on were hanging on every word. This was the grandest sort of theater around – with real lives on the line.
“You drive a hard bargain,” he said finally. There was a relaxed breath from the table that was audible before he even finished his sentence. “Ten percent it is.”
Joseph reached into his pocket and pulled out a card. I couldn’t help but think to myself what kind of biker carries business cards? I knew the answer though. Joseph wasn’t just a biker. He was an entrepreneur who had decided to wear leather rather than a suit. He handed the card to me rather than Martin, and I took it from him steadily.
“When you need us,” he said, “we’ll be there. If you’d like a drink on your way out, just tell them to put it on my tab.”
His subtle urging that we leave the table didn’t come a moment too soon. We had the deal we’d been hoping for and a little more besides. The pressure of the situation was getting to both of us, though. I knew we had to get out of that bar before one stray word turned the deal on its head. We wouldn’t be safe until all of this was over.
We stood up from the table and made our way back out through the crowd. The noise seemed to rise as we walked away, returning the room to the party it was before we arrived. In the end, Joseph had been everything I’d expected and nothing I was prepared for. Maybe it was dumb luck that had saved us or maybe he was just giving us enough rope to hang ourselves. The truth of the matter was that there was no risk to Mako with this deal, and every risk to Martin and I. I couldn’t help but feel that every piece of the plan that fell into place was just another step towards ruin.
CHAPTER 6
MARTIN AND I STOOD beside his bike, putting on our helmets. A few Mako guys had followed us out of the bar and were now milling about outside, keeping an eye on us. Like it or not, these low-lives were now our partners. We’d gone into the meeting hoping that Mako and Dead Men could part ways peacefully. What we got – though it seemed a step in the right direction – was the exact opposite. The war that we’d feared might be inevitable truly was. The separation we’d hoped for between the two clubs was instead turned into a bond and a debt that might learn to regret.
The choices had been made though, and there was no turning back now. Somewhere, on the other side of town, Jarhead was scouring his caches for the weapons he needed for one last final assault. Joseph may have seemed casual about our arrangement, but I had little doubt that Mako was doing the same. We’d engineering the war that we’d feared for so long. I could only hope that making it happen at a time of our own choosing would be the difference between life and death for the club – and ourselves.
“We’d better get to the clubhouse,” Martin said as he put on his shades. “Jarhead will be rounding everybody up and we don’t want to be missed.”
“Send Rik a message and tell him it’s done,” I suggested. “We don’t want to have to pull him aside in person and explain everything. Let’s just hope he’s made our cause a few friends in the last couple hours.”
We were relying on Rik far more than I’d hoped to. We’d done the deal ourselves – pulling it out from under him – but a lot of the heavy lifting was still to be done. When we sprang the deal on the club, it was going to be chaos. Jarhead might call for our blood on the spot and if that happened, we needed a solid defense. The rest of the club would be split, and if we wanted to prevent bullets from flying, we had to hope for a clear majority.
Martin put his phone back in his pocket and said, “Done.”
I hopped on the back of the bike and soon the pavement was flying beneath us. At the very least I was glad to be getting off the docks. Being around Joseph’s goons was giving me an itch I couldn’t scratch. We’d be seeing far more than we wanted of these guys in the coming hours and days, but until it was necessary I preferred to stay out of the way. We couldn’t rest of the offer Joseph had made us. For all we knew, it was just a ploy to get us to throw the Dead Men into chaos so he could wipe us all out. I didn’t have a sense that he was going to double cross us, but I’ve always tried to prepare for the worst case scenario.
While we rode, I had time to be alone with my thoughts. Rather than dwelling on what was about to happen, I thought carefully about what had already passed. Martin and I had gone from impassioned lovers who were addicted to one another’s bodies to the worst kind of old couple – even though we were both still young. The past day had done so much to change that. As I held onto him, I could feel the difference in the way he was carrying himself. His insecurity and anxiousness had fled from his body, leaving the man I fell in love with behind. I was falling for him all over again, and the thought brought a smile to my face that simply wouldn’t fade away.
We were riding North across the city, looking to hook up with the highway. The last thing we needed was chancing to run into someone from the Dead Men on the road – someone who might question where we’d been coming from before the truth came to light. Everything depended on perfect timing, today. The clock was ticking and if everything didn’t go exactly as planned, we’d be leading ourselves into a slaughter. There was no back-up plan if things went south today. If Rik hadn’t managed to convince anyone over to our side before we revealed ourselves – or if he’d been lying about his own commitment to the plan – we wouldn’t be able to get out of town fast enough. The best case scenario would probably be extremely painful and leave us alone and penniless on the side of a road somewhere.
My concern for timing caused me to get extremely anxious when I noticed Martin pulling the bike towards a grassy field north of town. We had to get the clubhouse immediately, and unscheduled stops might mean bad things for the tight plan I’d put together. The field was a sun-dappled ex
panse of grass and tall trees. If it wasn’t for the hectic situation, I would have loved to spend time with Martin in a place like this. What is he thinking? I said to myself inside my head.
When he killed the bike’s engine, we were beneath a large tree with a warm breeze blowing across our faces. Despite the idyllic location, I was getting upset. We didn’t have time for this.
“Know where we are?” he asked.
“A field,” I relied tersely. “Come on, we need to get back to the clubhouse.”
He ignored my demands and our schedule and looked slowly around the field for a moment before speaking again. I was half ready to push him off the bike and ride it back to the clubhouse myself.
“This is where we had our first date,” he said, still gazing off across the grass.
“What are you talking about?” I asked, getting more and more impatient with every one of his observations. “We met at a bar.”
“Not that,” he said. “When we left the bar, you said you wanted to go riding. This is where I brought you.”
I looked around the field myself, in some ways for the first time. I hadn’t recognized it at all, and my heart ached at the realization. It had only been a few years. Had I really forgotten the foundations of our relationship that quickly? A part of me said that it was just that the field looked so different in daylight, but I knew that wasn’t everything. I’d lost so much of who I was back then.
“I know we have to get back,” Martin said, turning on the bike to look at me. “I just wanted to make sure we saw this place again. If things… if Jarhead…”
He couldn’t finish his thought and I tightened my arms around him, letting him know that I understood. It was so easy to think of Martin as a tough guy who was never bothered by anything. The new manner he’d assumed about himself over the past day only increased that sense in me. I had to remember that I loved him for more than his muscles and his defiance. He had a softer side that brought endless smiles to my face. He had a gentle way that was so often hidden because of the demands of his life. When we were alone together – when we visited places like that incredible field – I was finally able to see that side of him set free. In this place he wasn’t just Martin the Dead Man. Here he was the other half of my soul – the part that kept me going when it seemed like all hope was lost. We were about to enter the fight of our lives, and without him I might have lost track of exactly what I was fighting for.
“I love you, Leyla,” he said, as if it was the most important thing in the world.
“I love you, too,” I told him, knowing that the most important thing in the world was exactly what it was. Our love meant more to me than the club or the city or the whole planet. Somehow I had lost track of exactly why I was so desperate to make things work. It wasn’t because I’d fallen for the town or the lifestyle – it was for him.
I twisted around him on the bike and kissed him deeply on the lips. I felt the moment where the tension in his body released and he held me back, kissing me as though it might be the last thing he ever did. Someone told me once that you know your true love when he kisses you just like that. It’s not fear that’s driving him – its certainty. Martin reminded me with that kiss of how important our bond was. He reminded me that I couldn’t live without him.
“Martin…” I said softly, not knowing what words should follow. More than anything wanted to get off that bike and let the tall grass swallow us up. I wanted to run off into that field with him forever. We could leave our lives and our concerns behind. All of those feelings were summed up in my eyes as I stared into his.
“I know,” he said. “Come on, we need to get back. All of this will still be here tomorrow. I promise.”
I smiled at him in a soft, easy way that I’m not sure how I managed with such terrible thoughts swirling in my head. Even his reassurance that the field would still be there tomorrow fell flat. The field would undoubtedly be there – but would we be there? Would the experiences we were soon to have change us, such that we wouldn’t even be the same two bound souls that sat beneath a tree together? My mind reeled with terrifying possibilities, but his eyes kept me calm. I held onto him tighter than before and kissed him again, sure that the touch of his lips to mine was enough to overcome anything that got in our way.
We strapped our helmets back on, and a sense of serene resignation fell over me. The wheels were in motion and we knew what we had to accomplish. There was nothing left but to do it and hope for the best.
CHAPTER 7
AS WE APPROACHED THE clubhouse, my stomach wasn’t churning nearly so badly as I’m imagined it would. I knew what we were up against, but somehow the thought that it was no longer in our hands made things easier to cope with. Either Rik had convinced the others or he hadn’t. Either Jarhead would flip his shit or he wouldn’t. Either Joseph would honor his bargain or he wouldn’t. Save for the way we presented ourselves to the group, the results of our plans were now to be decided by the universe.
We got off the bike outside the clubhouse, and I noted the other six bikes present, along with the club van. Everyone was here, and I didn’t doubt what they were talking about. Jarhead would be inside calling for final action against the Mako – deluded with the thought that he could somehow defeat a mathematically overwhelming force by bravado alone. I hoped that somewhere inside, Rik was laying in wait, ready to reveal himself – and his co-conspirators – at our signal.
We went to the door and I could hear the loud conversation already. It had begun, and it was time to join the fight. Without even a word of good luck, Martin opened the door and stepped inside. The sounds of argument washed over us. It might not have been as loud or as all-encompassing as the music in Joseph’s bar, but it filled me up just the same. This was just another battle we were walking into. On all sides were those we counted as friends, though. If there was a real fight, all the winners would be losers.
I saw the ladies of the club lounging on the couches in the common room. The argument was happening behind closed doors. I had been afraid of this, but knew it was a possibility. I turned to Martin and he saw the meaning in my eyes.
“I’ll take care of it,” he said. There was something about the way he said it that comforted me more than all the hugs and kisses and assurances he could possibly lay on me. I considered the capable, confident man I’d first fallen for before realizing that I no longer had to rely on my memory to do so. Martin was changed. This was no longer a process of continuing growth. He had found himself once again and I knew that this time nothing could stop the charge.
My smile was genuine and my words honest; “I know.”
I squeezed his hand slightly and then moved off to join Misty, Gina and another woman I didn’t recognize. I watched Marty make his way to the meeting room out of the corner of my eye, trying not to betray my anxiousness to the other women. I sat down next to Misty with a smile.
“What’s happening?” I asked her, watching the door close behind Marty and hearing the subtle shift in the sounds of conversation as the Dead Men acknowledged the presence of the final member.
Misty was about to speak, but Gina interrupted her just as I knew she would. Gina was never one to let someone else tell a story. She always had to put her spin on it and I’d gotten used to reducing every estimation she made by at least half. That woman could exaggerate an anthill into a mountain if you gave her the chance.
“He finally fucking did it,” she said. So many of our conversations began this way. I knew there was no need for me to ask for clarification. She just wanted to make sure I understood she was outraged before she explained why.
“And your man is just as guilty,” she continued. I guessed from the fact that we weren’t ambushed as soon as we entered the clubhouse that she didn’t realize how correct her statement actually was. “We needed those guns, and Rik couldn’t get them. Not that it’s surprising with a meathead like Marty helping him out.”
“Don’t call him that,” I snapped. The silence that existed b
etween Gina and I seemed thicker than a solid fog in that moment. I realized as soon as she said it that a day or a week ago I would have let her continue steamrolling me with insults lobbed towards Martin. It took only a second for the shame of the way I’d let her do that in the past push me into action.
“What?” she asked, as though she must have misheard me.
“You know what I said,” I told her. “Martin is better than that, and you know it. If there weren’t any guns, then there weren’t any guns. End of story.”
I could see Gina considering – the gears turning in her head. She was deciding whether to press the issue and attack me or pull back and pretend that she’d never insulted the love of my life. She wasn’t used to being challenged like that. I looked over to Misty and it seemed like she was even more shocked. She was still learning the ropes around here, and “standing up to Gina” was a new trick she hadn’t yet been taught.
“The point is,” she said, “we’re pretty fucked without those guns. Mako is ready to give up the fight and we’ve got nothing to push them to the ground with.”
“Mako isn’t ready to fold, Gina,” I told her, not letting her back out of her ridiculous assertions at all. “They’re stronger than ever and the club can’t afford to go up against them.”
“That’s not what Jarhead thinks,” she told me. “He’s in there right now laying out the big offensive. He says he’s pulling out all the stops.”
“If that happens, we’re all in the ground and you know it,” I urged her. “You know this is wrong, Gina. The club can’t handle it and Jarhead can’t handle the club anymore.”
She sat back on the couch, fuming. She’d spent so long being the queen bee that she’d lost all of her real fight. It seems like such a small victory, but of all the fights that I was in that day – winning against Gina tasted the sweetest. The chance to finally put her in her place was worth all the danger I had put myself in.
Rise to Power (Motorcycle Club Romance) (Dead Men Motorcycle Club) Page 4