by Sam Crescent
The one bonus about not spending his time to hunt down assholes was he got to devote time to his woman, Mandy, his company, and their small family.
Glancing out over the yard, he saw all the men, women, and children there. It seemed kind of strange to have so many different clubs in one place. Five in total, now down to four. This didn’t include his own club.
He watched as Russ made his way over to Anna, pulling his wife into his arms as they made their way to the makeshift dance floor.
“You okay?” Mandy asked, taking his hand.
“I will be.”
“It’s going great.”
“It’s going a lot better than I thought it would, to be honest.”
“What did you expect? You made them bring their families. Of course they would all be on their best behavior.” She giggled. “How could they not? You’ve flaunted your wealth really well.”
“You think any of those men are good enough for the cause?” Lewis asked.
“Lewis, it’s not about being right for something, or willing. It’s about having the heart to make a difference. You’ve got to understand that. Even if every single man here agreed to help, unless they really wanted to, it’s not going to work. They need to have a smidge of your passion.”
“They will.”
She cupped his face and turned him to look at her. “I love you, Lewis Cox. You know that, right?”
“I adore you.” He stroked her cheek. He more than adored her.
For so long he’d given his entire life on the hunt to find her. There’s no one else that he would ever want again. She was his reason for doing everything that he’d done. He loved her more than anything in the world, and would continue to do so.
“Come on, let’s go and show them all how to have a good time.” He held her close and took her out onto the dance floor.
The hours were ticking away, and soon today would all be over. He wondered which clubs, if any, would consider helping them.
****
Devil stared at the Billionaire Bikers MC. They were all having fun, talking, chatting, being their happy selves, and he wasn’t happy. Far from it. Glancing down at his watch, he saw they had been there for the last five hours, and he was bored.
He’d waited, bided his time, kept Dick in a box even though that fucker wanted to cause another fight.
For five hours, he’d played his part.
The doting father, the club Prez, and now, he wanted this farce over with.
Playing by another Prez’s rules had gotten old real fast. He was done playing.
Making his way over to Lash, he nodded at him.
“I don’t know about you, but I’m done,” Devil said.
“Me too.”
“I’ll deal with Duke, you talk to James?” Devil asked.
“On it.”
He moved toward Duke who happened to be standing on his own, which was a surprise.
“You done?” Devil asked.
“That depends. What am I done with?”
“This play time, or whatever the fuck this is.”
“Hell, yeah, I’m done. I’ve been done for a long fucking time,” Duke said.
Lash and James joined them all.
“What’s the plan?” James asked.
“Simple, get our families to go for the car. You can keep one or two of your men with you, but we’re done. I’ve had enough of playing guessing games, and I didn’t even want to come here. I was curious, and believe me, that shit won’t be happening again,” Devil said.
With a nod to each other, he made his way over to Lexie.
“What are you doing, honey?” Lexie asked.
“Get the kids, go wait in the car.”
“Devil?”
“I played nice, and now I’m done. Round up the other women. Let’s get out of here,” he said. He kissed her lips and moved on to the next man.
One by one, they all began making their way out of the garden. No questions were asked, and he was more than happy about that.
Keeping an eye on the Billionaire Bikers MC, he stood by Lash.
“You think this is going to be a showdown?” Lash asked.
“I don’t know, but I’m prepared. Crow knows if this shit goes down, he’s to get my club and yours out of here.”
“Same with Twisted. It’s why he agreed to come.” Lash sighed. “This is bullshit. You know that.”
“Yep, I know that. Total fucking bullshit.”
James and Duke were left, and they each had a man with them. Devil had kept Pussy and Dick with him. Lash had Whizz and Blaine. Duke had Pike and Crazy, while James had his brother Pixie and Sean.
Devil saw that the Billionaires noticed they were all going, and with it, their own women and kids made their way into the large house.
“Was it too much to ask that we just have a nice family event?” Russ asked.
“We did. What you need to learn is that we don’t have family events with each other. They’re for club members only,” Devil said.
“Cut the shit, Russ. We’re all here, and we want to know what this bullshit is all about. I’m not here to have your wealth thrown in my face. I’m fucking bored,” Duke said.
“I was willing to bring my family, but now I want to move on. It was good enough while it lasted, but home is calling me,” Lash said.
“You wanted the Dirty Fuckers MC, you should have had some pussy on the menu. Kids, we don’t play like that. Whatever it is you want, we’re not part of it.” James spoke up.
They were all here to listen.
Devil watched as Russ looked at each of them before turning his attention to his own club.
“We posed no threat. We wanted this to be … a family event,” Russ said.
“And now we’re calling time up,” Duke said. “We’re not schoolchildren to be sent away because you’re not happy playing with us anymore. Cut the bullshit. Tell us what you want, and we’ll tell you if we’re willing to help.”
Devil waited.
He was a semi-patient man.
As he was getting older, he’d learned there was a great deal more to embrace, so long as he just had the patience, but even now, that was wearing thin. Five, nearly six hours of curiosity and he was ready to throw the towel in.
“The Billionaire Bikers MC is not just a club for a bunch of wealthy men to get their kicks in leather and bikers. We can have that no matter what,” Russ said. “We’ve built an image that some mock, like yourself, and others fear. We have one main mission as a club and that is to stop, reduce, if not, eliminate the world of men who abuse and traffic women and children, the vulnerable and the weak.”
Devil knew it.
“This is a cancer within the world,” Lewis said. “We’re aware that no matter how hard we take one down, another will come up fighting. It’s a never-ending battle.”
“So?” Duke asked.
“The Dirty Fuckers MC don’t get their hands dirty. We’ve done our time, and we don’t intend to lure danger to our town,” James said. “We are neither interested nor wish to start a war.”
“This is not about starting a war. The women we find, we need help to protect them,” Russ said. “Sometimes the men get away, they run, and we have no means of constantly protecting them.”
“What do you want us to do about that?” Lash asked.
“This is your fight,” Devil said. “We’ve got no part of that. You’re the one that wants to start battles with men and women all over the globe. That’s on you. And believe me, there are women who are equally part of this as well.”
“Devil’s right. Not every single person is innocent. What you gonna do then?” Lash asked.
“They will have what is coming to them.”
Devil stared, waiting to see what else they would say.
****
“So, you brought me all the way down here to ask for our help in supporting these women?” Duke asked. “For providing backup to the Billionaire Bikers MC?”
“This is something we feel pa
ssionate about, and we respect you and your club, Duke.”
“My club is not and will never be part of the Billionaire Bikers MC. Nor are we messengers.”
“You’re bowing out?” Russ asked.
“That’s right. My club, my rules. I don’t know what the fuck this was all about, but we want no part of it.”
“You’re not going to take it to the table?” Lewis asked this time.
“Nothing to take to the table. The Trojans don’t work with anyone. End of story.” Duke turned on his heel and left, feeling Pike and Crazy behind him.
Once they were out in the clear, he found his family waiting for him.
“You think that was the right move?” Pike asked.
“Do you really want to be taking orders from a bunch of pussies who are weekend bikers? Not happening. Not on my watch. They think they can order us around in their fancy suits, but I’m not biting to their tune, not now, not ever. It’s not something I’m going to do, and I don’t expect any of you to either. We can take it to the table though. I’ll bring it up. I’m sure they’ll be happy for us to join even if we change our minds.” Duke knew his club.
No matter what the financial gain would be, no one in the Trojans would ever put themselves with another club, nor would they help anyone else. It wasn’t the way they were, and it would never work, not in a million fucking years.
“We’ll bring it to the table, give the boys a chance to vote, but I don’t see this ever gaining ground.” Pike fist-bumped him and made his way toward his own bike.
“You?” he asked, looking at Crazy.
“You know me, I’ve already gotten rid of one bitch hanging around my neck. I’m not interested in adding any more. I’m with the whole club. I’ve got no interest here for anything else to happen. The fact we got out alive, that in itself is a relief.” Crazy made his way toward his bike.
Climbing behind the wheel, Duke started up the car, aware of Holly staring at him.
“Well?” she asked.
His son was in the back waiting to hear. “They wanted us to join forces. To help them with their personal mission. It’s not going to happen.”
“Why not?”
“Because that’s not what our club is about. I’m not having anyone come into the club’s life and tell us what to do. None of the boys would like this one bit.”
“You’re not going to at least tell them about it?”
“I will. First, we’ve got to head back home.”
Turning over his ignition, he pulled away from the fancy house and didn’t even look back.
“It was a nice visit,” Matthew said. “Nice house as well.”
“Yeah, it was all fucking nice.”
“Duke, what’s wrong?”
“Nothing, just thinking over the day. It has been a long-ass day.”
“I totally lost a bet with Landon though,” Matthew said.
“What are you doing gambling?” Holly asked.
“It’s not real gambling. We were just talking. Landon said he didn’t think we’d all kill each other. Maybe a few fights but that’s about it. There was one fight. I said it was going to be a bloodbath.”
“You sound a little upset about that, son,” Duke said.
“I owe Landon two hundred dollars.”
Duke burst out laughing. “Since when did you have two hundred dollars?”
Matthew went bright red.
“Oh, I see, you’re going to get your old man to foot the bill?”
Holly giggled. “You just called yourself an old man, and totally without my help,” she said.
He sighed. “You need the money?”
“I’ll earn it back.”
“Damn right you will. You’ll be cleaning the clubhouse when we get home.”
“Dad, come on.”
“Nope. I told you, you want to be irresponsible that’s fine. You’ll pay the price, and this is it.”
“Great,” Matthew said, sitting back, arms folded.
“You’re going to really make him clean the clubhouse?” Holly asked.
“Yep. It’s the least I can do.”
For the next several hours he listened to his son and wife chat, in between bartering about how he could earn the two hundred dollars without cleaning the clubhouse. By the time they pulled into the parking lot, Matthew was cleaning the clubhouse for a month for five hundred dollars, which also included the toilets. Kissing his wife, Duke led the way into church, which all the boys knew where to go.
Taking a seat at the table, he waited for them to settle down, and told them all what Russ was offering, what he wanted them to do.
“Now, I turned their offer down while I was there, but we all have a choice. I know what the Trojans MC means to me, but this isn’t about me. I want you to vote. Raise your hand if you want to take the deal, work with the Billionaires, or stay as we are. I don’t know if the deal with the Billionaires will be good or worse. That’s up to you if you want to take the chance.”
Sitting back in his chair, he watched as his men voted. No one put their hand up to help the Billionaire Bikers MC.
They all had their battles to face. The Billionaires would be facing their war alone, just like the Trojans had done for a long time.
“It was a decent day out though,” Pie said. “Lindsey enjoyed it.”
Yeah, it was a good day out, but that was all it would be. Nothing would ever come from it as far as Duke was concerned.
“Let’s get on with our lives seeing as we’re living to see another day.”
Chapter Nine
James listened even as the Trojans left. With Pixie and Sean at his side, he knew they were out. This was not their fight nor their deal to strike out at. The Dirty Fuckers MC wasn’t about any of that.
Sure, he felt for the girls, but that life wasn’t why they moved to Greater Falls. They had all done their time for shit like that.
With Pixie and Sean giving him the nod, he bowed out, calling time.
“With all due respect, you called the wrong people. We wish you well and thank you for the day.” Without waiting any longer, they left the grounds, leaving The Skulls and Chaos Bleeds there.
Cora was waiting for him as he made his exit.
“We’ll talk back at the clubhouse.” Nodding at his men, he climbed into the car, and Cora was already pulling out before he’d fastened his seatbelt.
“Do I want to know what that is about?” Cora asked.
James told her everything. After he finished explaining everything, he waited for Cora to say something, but she was silent.
“You think I was wrong?”
“Babe, it’s your club, and it’s your decision. I wish I knew why they approached us about it.”
James sighed. “It’s about Kitty.”
“What?”
“If they did some digging into each of the clubs, it’s probably because they know that Kitty was nearly taken and sold at an auction when she was much younger.” This was something he didn’t talk about as it was Kitty’s story. Not his. He’d been a fighter in Vegas, and she’d been this little slip of a girl at the time.
Now she had blossomed into a young woman.
“So, they figured you’d want to help.”
“Kitty’s been a member of the club for a long time. I’ve told you this before. No one talks about it because that is the way she wants it to be. Let’s just say she was close to being sold off, and we stopped it.” He took her hand, pressing a kiss to her knuckles.
“Do you think all of the clubs have something like that?”
“Yeah, I do.”
“What are you going to do?”
“Talk about it at church, but I don’t see any of the club changing their minds.”
“What about Kitty?”
“I don’t know. We’ll have to see.” He drove home, and by the time he made it back to Greater Falls, it was dark. Cora carried their child into the clubhouse, and he saw Teri, Dane, and several others waiting.
He
didn’t even look at Dane.
No matter what, Dane should have kept his cool, even if one of the Chaos Bleeds were trying to rile him up.
Ignoring Dane’s sorry face, James made his way into church, surprised that Kitty actually came into the club.
Teri wasn’t part of the club, not a member like Kitty.
She was the only female member of any club.
Pixie was the one to let all the club know what had actually gone down and what had happened.
James listened, wondering what the club would say.
Kitty was the first to speak up. “No.”
“No what?” Caleb asked.
“I don’t think we should be part of it.”
“Why?” James asked.
“Because … the life we’ve built, we may as well burn it down to the ground. I know it’s selfish and horrible of me to say this, but … we can’t win. Not this. We’ll end up dead, and we don’t have the means of taking care of everyone. This is much bigger than all of us together.”
“She’s right,” Leo and Paul said. “Some battles, they’re not ours. This is not our battle. We don’t fight this one, James. We can’t. This is not what we’re about, and we certainly don’t take orders from another MC.”
“So that’s settled then. No more picnics. No more playing nice.”
He dropped the gavel and watched his crew leave the room. When Dane approached, James stood, staring at the large man.
“I’m sorry, James. I don’t know what came over me.”
“I don’t give a fuck right now, Dane. You seem to be constantly forcing me to make a choice. Right now, it’s late and I’m tired. I don’t have time to deal with you and your shit, so stay the fuck away from me.”
With that, he brushed past him.
It had been a long-ass day, and he just wanted to sink inside his woman and forget about the last twenty-four hours.
****
“So then there was two,” Lash said.
“I didn’t expect the other three to stick around, not once they knew what I wanted,” Russ said.
“They why the fuck did you invite them?” Devil asked.
“They’re good clubs, and the more help we can get, the better it will be. We’re aware of the deal you’ve got going with Michael Granito.”
Lash looked toward Devil. They had turned their clubs around in the past few years. Their illegal deals had changed. They helped with witness protection, and also thrived in their personal business ventures, his own being a bakery, gym, the beauty salon Lacey ran, and of course he had other pies that he played in. The whole club did. Chaos Bleeds had their own as well.