Brooks (Dirty Misfits MC #1)

by Rylan, Savannah

  I shrugged. “I was under the impression that we all guided it. You know, since we’re all important.”

  Chops’ temples twitched. “Anyway, I think we could easily make four times what we’re pulling a month right now if we add a few lady auctions to our docket.”

  The room fell silent before Porter spoke. “You mean, like a charity auction?”

  Cole snickered. “Not that I don’t like a good charity, but uh, it’s not really our style, Chops.”

  I ground my teeth together. “You mean trafficking.”

  Chops’ eyes met mine as the room came to an ultimate standstill. It didn’t even sound like the guys were breathing. And when Chops didn’t correct me, it took everything I had inside of me not to lunge across the fucking room and dig his testicles out through his god damn anus.

  “Since when do we hurt women, Chops?” I asked.

  Archer leapt out of his seat. “I will not get into some fucking bullshit, down-right dirty-ass slave or sex trade that preys on the innocent women in this town. And if this is the kind of club we’ve turned into? I’ll gladly hand you my leather cut.”

  Porter nodded. “Same. I won’t be a participant in this nonsense.”

  I shrugged. “You can count me in, and you can consider me a rat. Because if that’s the route you really want to take? I’ll give you my leather jacket and walk my happy ass straight over to the cops.”

  Chops slowly stood. “Those are some serious words coming from your mouth.”

  I clicked my tongue. “Serious words for a serious problem.”

  Cole sighed. “This group has always had an unspoken agreement that we’d never harm women, children, or families intentionally.”

  Chops snickered. “And what the fuck do you think you’ve been doing since you started selling thsoe drugs for me, huh?”

  I came to Cole’s defense. “He’s probably just following the orders of a president who’s supposed to have our best interest in mind.”

  Chops growled. “I do have their best interest in mind.”

  I walked up to him, standing toe to toe. “There’s more to someone’s well-being than money. You should know that after spending the bulk of your tenure with this club as Hyde’s V.P.”

  He snarled. “Well, Hyde isn’t president anymore, now, is he?”

  Because you killed him. “Watch your next set of words.”

  Chops chuckled as he held out his arms. “This is the future, boys!”

  I watched him back up before he leaned against the front door. Almost as if he were preventing any of us from leaving.

  “The future is in trafficking. It might suck, and you might not like it, but think of it this way: with every auction we throw, we can also sell our services. The drugs. The chop shop. The mechanics we have on speed dial. We can sell everything in one place and capitalize on a very serious opportunity.”

  I shook my head. “Women aren’t property to be sold—”

  Chops yelled over me so hard I thought the house would shatter. “Who died and made you president!?”

  The gun on my hip burned a hole in my skin as Chops turned his attention to the other guys. “Look, our business at the chop shop is down forty percent and plummeting. We’ve had to fire two different outside mechanics because without the chop shop doing well, we can’t pull people over this way enough for them to even know we’ve got a fucking mechanics shop. We started selling the drugs as a desperation to pull us all out of the red, but fucking hell, aren’t you guys tired of living this way?”

  Archer shed his jacket. “I won’t be part of this shit. Count me the fuck out.”

  I watched him throw it at Chops’ feet before he tried shoving the man out of the way. I clenched my fists at my side as Chops gripped the man’s arm, yanking him back and tossing him into the middle of the room. And the second Archer went to charge him, I wrapped my arms around the man.

  “Let go of me, Brooks,” Archer growled.

  I pressed my lips to his ear. “He’ll get his day. Just breathe. We won’t be able to do a damn thing without you. Remember that.”

  That seemed to settle Archer down enough, and he scooped his leather jacket up off the floor. There, I already had one guy on my side willing to go down whatever rabbit hole I saw fit. And as Chops stared at me, I held my head high.

  “I take it the guns aren’t raking in the kind of cash you want to see, either?” I asked.

  Chops grinned. “Between the guns and the auctions—or possibly a prostitution ring—we’ll be unstoppable. With that kind of constant cash flow, we can rake the floor with those Black Flags guys, push them out indefinitely, and claim Santa Cruz as ours.”

  He sounds just like them. “Are you going to talk to the girls and make sure they get a good deal before you enslave them? Or are you just going to snatch them off the street like a common criminal?”

  He walked up to me and chuckled. “Does it really matter if they have a say? The sex trade is the future, and some of these women out here could do with a real dose of reminding as to what their actual role is in life.”

  I drew in a sobering breath. “If you’re going to make changes to how we get our money, in our by-laws it states that you need a formal vote.”

  Chops twitched. “What?”

  Porter nodded. “He’s right. You haven’t taken a formal vote the first couple of times, but we need to take one now. There’s too much at stake.”

  Chops whipped around. “I don’t need to take a vote for shit. I’m the president of this club, and what I say goes.”

  Archer snickered. “That’s a dictatorship, and you aren’t our dictator. You’re our president, which means this club is a democracy.”

  The guys nodded and I grinned as I drew in a deep breath. “All in favor of getting into the sex trafficking syndicate of the world, raise your hands.”

  And Chops was the only man that raised his hand.

  I chuckled. “Well, there you have it.”

  He growled at me. “You guys are making a big fucking mistake.”

  Archer shook his head. “There’s more to this than money and territory, even if you can’t see it.”

  Chops pointed his finger against Archer’s chest. “I will find a way to get you guys to see this my way. After all, I’m your president. And if you don’t like it? I can ask for your cut at any point in time I please.”

  Porter barked with laughter. “What? You gonna threaten to take away our coats if we don’t start selling women as if they’re property? Fine by me.”

  I nodded along with the rest of my guys and Chops took a step back. “I can force you to do whatever I please. And yes, if you don’t like it, I can forcibly remove your cut from you.”

  I slid my jacket off my back and handed it to him. “No need. You can have it if this is how things are going to be with you as president.”

  Archer did the same thing. “Yep. You can have mine as well.”

  Porter shrugged off his jacket. “And mine.”

  Cole tugged at his sleeves. “Mine, too.”

  And when all of us had our jackets off and dangling from our fingers, Chops stormed through the living room, heading down the hallway where the darkness swallowed him whole.

  “So, is that a ‘no’ to our cuts?” Porter asked.

  The guys chuckled as they put their jackets back on, but I didn’t find it funny. What the ever-blessed fuck just happened? Has Chops lost his goddamn mind? Anger unlike anything I’d ever felt in my life rushed through my system, yet I knew I was helpless. The only thing I could do was walk away. It wasn’t as if I could strip Chops of his role.

  Not without killing him, anyway.

  “We could vote him out, you know,” Archer murmured.

  I slowly looked over at him. “It would have to be unanimous across the entire club. And even then, he’d have to appoint a new president in his place.”

  Tanner finally spoke up after sitting wide-eyed through that entire church meeting. “Wouldn’t it just be the V.P. that
stepped up?”

  Finn scoffed. “He hasn’t appointed one yet, remember?”

  I blinked. “Wait, there’s no standing V.P.?”

  Tanner shook his head. “There’s no standing anyone right now. When Chops became president, he didn’t appoint anyone to any other positions.”

  I licked my lips. “So, there’s no normal V.P.? Or Treasurer?”

  Archer sighed. “We’ve been taking up our old positions that we had under Hyde, but Chops hasn’t formally appointed anyone, no.”

  And I know why. “Because he knew we’d act this way and that would still give him the upper hand. We turn in our cuts and he can rebuild from scratch.”

  Finn sighed. “We vote him out, he can still appoint a president we won’t stand just to spite us.”

  I pointed at him. “Bingo.”

  Porter stepped closely into the circle of men. “I mean, we could… well, you know…”

  I lowered my voice to a whisper. “Are you really suggesting…”

  Cole raked his hand through his hair. “If we can’t vote him out, we’ve got mutiny or killing him. That’s it.”

  I shook my head. “What the fuck happened with this place while I was in prison? Have you guys really been wheeling and dealing?”

  Archer nodded. “Yeah, and while we didn’t like it at first, it did make ends meet. The chop shop and mechanics shop isn’t what it used to be now that high-end clients are moving in with high-end cars they want to modify.”

  I shook my head. “So, modify the high-end cars. How hard is that?”

  Porter shrugged. “I think Chops isn’t taking that route because—”

  I growled. “Because it doesn’t get him to his fucking end goal, that’s why.”

  Tanner scoffed. “And as much as I hate to admit it, the money’s been great from the wheeling and dealing. I mean I can’t sleep well at night anymore, but at least I got a top-tier mattress to struggle against.”

  I rolled my eyes. “This is bullshit and we all agree, right? This sex trafficking thing?”

  All of the guys nodded vigorously and that gave me, at least in part, a bit of relief. So, I ventured into another line of questioning.

  “Have there been any issues with the Black Flags while I’ve been away?”

  The guys all looked around at one another and I knew that wasn’t good. But when none of them spoke, I knew it was bad in the worst of ways.

  “What?” I asked. “Someone spit it out.”

  Archer cleared his throat. “We have had some issues with them, yes.”

  Porter put his hand on my shoulder. “Look, those assholes have a big hold on the drug ring in town right now. And when we ventured into their territory to sell cheaper drugs cut with all that bullshit? It made tensions even worse.”

  I pulled the guys in as closely as I could. “I can’t get into the specifics right now, but my gut is telling me that the Black Flags were somehow part of the bust that put me away and got Gage killed. I’d run down the theories I’ve had a lot of time to think about, but we’ll have to save that for another time. The point is: I don’t think Gage’s death, Hyde’s death, or my incarceration was simply an accident.”

  Porter furrowed his brow. “Do you think Chops had anything to do with any of that?”

  I sighed. “I honestly don’t know, but we need to look into it. You guys with me on this?”

  Archer nodded. “You know damn good and well I am.”

  Tanner and Finn nodded in unison. “We’re in.”

  Cole shrugged. “I’ve never liked the man, even when he was V.P. I’m down.”

  And when I looked over at Porter, he grinned. “Dude, you know I’ve always got your back.”

  I grinned. “Thanks. But we have to do this without Chops catching wind of it. If he is involved in some way—”

  Archer waved his hand in the air. “We know, we know. Keep it on the D.L. Got it.”

  Porter patted my back. “And if this man goes down, guess who falls in line next to be president?”

  All eyes were on me as I shook my head. “None of us have formal titles, so that’ll be a different vote for a different day. But for now? Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer.”

  And as our whispered meeting drew to a close, I wondered if Porter was right.

  I wondered if these guys would actually vote me in as their president and give me that kind of trust.

  Sixteen

  Raven

  As I laid in bed, staring at the ceiling, I had a hard time wiping the smile off my face. I wasn’t sure if what Brooks and I had done was a good thing or a bad thing, but I knew it made me happy inside. I hadn’t felt this wonderful since before Gage had gotten killed. But the small voice at the back of my mind hounded me.

  You said you were done with all this.

  I turned onto my side and closed my eyes. I knew I made myself a promise after I buried my husband that I’d never step foot back into this life. I didn’t agree with it, I didn’t like it, and I didn’t enjoy the danger that came with it. And now, I’d been completely dragged back in. I rolled over onto my other side as my guilt swarmed over my happiness and fears. Tears rushed my eyes as I thought back to my encounter with Brooks and how I practically begged for it.

  “I begged for my husband’s best friend,” I whispered.

  I sat up in bed and wiped away my tears. The guilt ate me alive and I knew I couldn't stay at the clubhouse a second longer. Not with the memories etched all over this place. I knew Brooks simply wanted to look out for me, but this was all too awkward and too confusing.

  So, I wiped my tears away and slipped back out of the bedroom.

  I didn’t hear much noise despite the fact that I knew they were all having a meeting. Probably about me, and what to do about my staying here. I didn’t care, though, because I knew the hallways of this place like the back of my hand. Gage and I had christened every single one of them at one point during a particularly long spell of us going without seeing each other, and the memories made me smile.

  I inched my way down the back hallway and approached the side door, only to be met with a voice outside.

  And the voice sounded angry.

  Chops?

  I paused at the door and heard his curt voice. My gut clenched as my teeth ground together. I wasn’t sure what the hell it was about this man, but he rubbed me the wrong way. I knew he was the president of this club now, but he always struck me as nothing more than a pathetic little weasel. I tried to ignore his conversation as I waited for him to come back inside. Because once he slipped in, I could slip out. But the anger in his voice captivated my attention.

  And what I overheard was gut-wrenching.

  “No! Of course, they didn’t go for the fucking idea, asshole,” Chops hissed.

  I furrowed my brow as he tried to start up another sentence, like someone was flagrantly cutting him off. Or telling him to shut up. But all too soon, he was back at it again. And it kept me rooted beside the door.

  “I told you, these guys are a bunch of pussies. Always have been. No, no, no, I’ve got this and you know it. Don’t go questioning me just because the first plan backfires. That’s why we’ve got, like, thirty fucking plans intact. But Plan B requires him. You know that.”

  Him? Who the hell was “him?” Who was this asshole talking to?

  What the fuck is going on?

  I slowly turned around and got onto my knees. I crept upward, wanting to peek over the edge to see if he was physically talking to someone outside or not. My hands slid up the wall. I held my breath as I peeked over the edge. But when I did, I didn’t see anyone outside.

  Until a voice emanated behind me.

  “Scream and you’re dead,” Chops murmured.

  I held my breath and yelped with my mouth shut as something hard and cold pressed against my back.

  “Now, you listen closely, Mrs. Gage: I don’t know what you heard, or what you think you heard, but if you open your mouth to anyone about anything you ju
st witnessed, you’ll have to deal with me. Understood?”

  I swallowed hard. “Understood.”

  He cocked his gun. “With a bit more oomph.”

  I drew in a deep, quivering breath. “I understand. I won’t say a word.”

  He pulled the gun away from my back. “Great. I’m glad we’re on the same page. Now, keep those pretty little eyes of yours out the window or the fate that’s going to befall you will be worse than what your cute little head can imagine. Got it?”

  My lower lip shivered. “Got it.”

  He whispered in my ear. “Good.”

  When he kissed the shell of my ear, I jerked back. I threw myself to the floor and he chuckled at me before shoving my legs out of the way with his feet. He closed the door and locked it for good measure, then shook his head at me as if he were scolding a little child. He pointed down the hallway I came up from, like he knew exactly the trail I had taken, then turned his back and started down the hallway.

  And as I scurried into the corner, curling my legs up to my chest, I wondered if I should mention any of this to Brooks.

  Seventeen

  Brooks

  “He’s coming.”

  “Down the hallway.”

  “Everyone shut the hell up. Act normal.”

  “So… beers?”

  The guys hissed and chuckled to themselves as loud bootsteps echoed down the side hallway. I gave the guys one last look before pulling away from the group and heading into the kitchen. I didn’t want to be anywhere near Chops at that moment. Not after the kind of stunt he just pulled in that fucking church meeting.

  Who the hell did this man think he really was?

  Now, more than ever, I knew Chops was guilty. Of what, I wasn’t sure. But I knew he had a hand in all of this. In putting me away. In getting Gage killed.

  In murdering Hyde.

  It was a police shootout.

  “Yeah, with drugs conveniently in a sober man’s house,” I murmured to myself.

  “What was that!?” Chops asked.

  I ripped open the fridge. “Want a beer? I could sure as hell use one.”