“Prez.”
The sultry tone gets me turning. “Hey, Breezy, how you doing?” Automatically my arm goes around the sweet butt’s waist, hugging her to me.
Moving around to my front, she places her hands on my chest. “Want some company tonight, Prez?” She licks her lips suggestively. “Titsy’s available if you want both of us. You know we know how to take care of you.”
She’s right. They do. But I make it worth it for them. It’s give and take. Citizens don’t understand the whores in the club, why they’re there of their own volition, thinking we must coerce them in some way or that they are so down on their luck they have nothing better to do. The ‘nothing better to do’ part is correct, but only as far as the girls are concerned. They are right where they want to be. They like to fuck, love sex. As long as they’re getting those needs met, they’re satisfied. They get food and a roof over their heads for doing what they enjoy. Are they all trying to become a biker’s old lady? Maybe, but more often I think not. A nice idea in theory, but in practice I believe it would be as hard for these girls to stick to one cock as it would be for the man they were snagging to keep to a single pussy. Who am I to blame them for that? As long as everyone’s clean and takes precautions, it’s satisfying all our healthy appetites, both ours and theirs.
“Well?” Breezy’s hands start inching slowly downwards. She isn’t trying to hide she’s reaching for my cock.
Covering her fingers with my own to halt their journey, I realise I’ve too much on my mind to pay the girls the attention they’re wanting. “Nah, sweetheart. Not tonight, okay? Maybe tomorrow.” I wink over her head to Titsy who’s watching our discussion with interest. “Got some shit to do,” I explain.
A brief flicker of disappointment, then she nods toward the bar. “Want me to get you a beer instead?”
“With a shot of Jack. Thanks, babe.” I nod over to the table where Thunder and Mace are sitting, indicating I’ll be joining them. Seeing me approach, the enforcer kicks out an empty chair with his foot.
“She settlin’ in?” As I sit, Thunder jerks his head in an upward direction in case I might not have a clue who he’s referring to.
“Seems to be. She’s had a fuckin’ hard day.” And isn’t that the understatement of the century. “She’s not up for a serious discussion, that will need to wait until the morning.”
He nods. “Understandable. Got that meet arranged next week, Prez. With Lucio Silvestri. Wednesday suit?”
My brows rise. “That’s quick.” My concern had been that the crime boss was going to make us wait.
The temporary VP shrugs. “Maybe he’s curious why we want to see him. You got any problem with going to his house?”
I’d have preferred neutral ground, but it takes guts to walk into a lion’s den. No sign of weakness in meeting him on his territory. If he thinks it will give him the upper hand, it won’t. “Nah. That’s okay, VP.”
“Christ, Demon. When you going to find a permanent second hand?” Thunder shakes his head.
“We’ve gone through this.” I rub the bridge of my nose. “Look, Bomb is the obvious candidate, but he doesn’t want it.” Mace is shaking his head and holding up his hands. I grin. “Okay, so Mace is cool with what he’s doing now.” My smirk widens as the enforcer makes a mock show of wiping his brow, then I grow serious again. “Ain’t moving Buzz, he’s too good with figures. Sparky’s too…”
“Flaky?” Thunder helpfully supplies.
“Yeah, with anything other than bikes or routes.” The sides of my mouth turn up again. “So who do you suggest?”
“If Rusty was in a civilian role, he’d be winding down for retirement.” Mace has got it in one. “Who does that leave? Pyro, Ink, Lizard…”
“Paladin, and of course, Hell or Skull,” Thunder lists.
“Hell would be my choice.”
“He would be mine, Mace. But he won’t take it; he’s given enough years to this club. Mo’s his focus now. As for Pal? He doesn’t have enough miles under his belt.” I don’t bother mentioning Skull. He’s only been patched in a couple of months.
“Pal would be good though. I like his way of thinking.”
If it wasn’t that I’ve also been impressed with the transfer from Tucson, I would be thinking Thunder was naming anyone just to pass on the new patch that doesn’t sit easy on his cut. But my vision is of someone older, someone who’s learned more of the ways of the world. Trouble is, with Pal, his youth shows on his face. Sure, could mean he’d be underestimated which in some circumstances could be a plus, but my VP needs an ability to step into my shoes when I’m not around to wear them. Not sure Pal’s there yet.
“Well,” Thunder resumes, seeing my dismissal of his suggestion without me having to say it, “look at it another way. You put me into this role permanently, where you going to get a sergeant-at-arms from?” He replaces his glass on the table, then sits back, his thumbs through the loops of his belt.
He’s made a good point. There’s not one brother still here that I don’t trust to put the club first. But a couple of months back I’d have said the same for Taser. Yeah, his betrayal blindsided us. Certainly made me wonder more about the rest of the men around me. Maybe that’s why I can’t see the man I’d want at my right hand, apart from Thunder. But he’s right, a sergeant-at-arms has his eye out for any risks coming for the club. No man could do it as well as him.
“Get a transfer in?”
“Boys won’t like that,” Thunder warns. “It’s a promotion opportunity. Should go to one of our lot first.”
“Anyone got their eyes set on being VP?”
Thunder shrugs. If someone threw their hat in the ring, maybe I’d consider them. But no one has. Like Thunder, no one wants to step up. Likewise, there’s been no noise about filling the sergeant-at-arms role, either.
Mace seems to have lost interest in filling officers’ posts. When Titsy approaches, answering a summons from his crooked finger, I understand why. He raises an eyebrow at Thunder, who nods. My shot glass might be empty; my bottle of beer isn’t. As the two men rise and walk off with the club girl, I sit back to finish my drink, while contemplating how easy life is here. We understand each other without having to use words much of the time. We’ve melded together and formed a family. A strange one at times, but one which isn’t driven by the rivalry that comes from blood siblings you have to accept. This is a family of brothers who’ve chosen each other. We don’t let anyone join without a unanimous vote, nor without serving their time.
“Another drink, Prez?”
As soon as my empty bottle touches the wood, Dan appears to offer me a fresh one. Yup. Prospects know their role and make sure they do it if they want to get patched.
“Nah, thanks. I’m calling it a night. Hey, grab Vi’s suitcase out of her car, will you? Leave it outside her door.”
Glad I remembered, I walk up the stairs to my own room where I take a quick run through the shower. As I collect my clothes from the floor to throw into the laundry bin, I pause as I inhale a waft of faint musky perfume. Must have been from when Vi was hugging me earlier.
A final thought. Perhaps I should have called a whore to my bed, or at least jerked myself off in the shower. For some inexplicable reason, now my cock decides to come to life. Oh fuck. Admit it. It’s Violet. Sooner we can get her situation sorted out, the better. Just look at the state of me, all I can think about is her.
The wrongness of the thoughts I’m having about Violet make me wary of being alone with her. At the back of my mind is the thought that Nathan would probably have put a bullet in my head if I laid a hand on his little sister. Not that he’d have thought I wasn’t a good enough man, but he knew my lifestyle. It would be a crime to draw someone like her into this life, particularly as I wouldn’t be able to make a long-term commitment.
Why can’t life be easy? Why has she taken this step into my world? Why hadn’t she stayed in New York? But if she had, our paths wouldn’t ever have crossed, she wouldn’t h
ave Theo, and I wouldn’t be planning the death of the man who raped her and fighting this insane attraction for her. Instead I’d be fucking a sweet butt without not a care in the world. Well, only those of an MC prez.
The following morning Vi surprises me yet again. She emerges from her room, seeming to take a biker compound as much in her stride as she has anything else life has thrown at her. She’s not nervous or scared, but interested and, despite the circumstance, upbeat and cheerful. Whether she’s had a good sleep, whether it’s that she has someone else to share her burden, there’s a new confidence about her, and an obvious joy in being able to spend time with her child. I gain a new respect for her, which for some reason, makes me even more wary of spending time alone with her.
Instead I watch from afar. Jay’s happily been out spending my money, and the floor of the clubroom now has baby toys strewn around. There’s an elephant which flaps its ears and sings some fucking song that gets stuck in my head. Doesn’t take long before my brothers have an intervention and restrict its use to times when men weren’t around. Thank fucking God. If I ever hear a song about ears hanging low once more I swear I’m going to get out my gun and shoot that toy. There’s a colourful mat that can be placed on the floor and something that’s apparently called a baby gym. Even I smile when I see Theo kicking at it and giggling.
Jeannie, I’m pleased to see, has taken Vi under her wing. Identifying she has a need to be useful, she has her helping in the kitchen. I suspect Vi needlessly thinks she’s found a way to pay us back for our hospitality. She’s wrong in that, she owes nothing to us. I owe her.
So I apply no pressure. For four days I give her space to just be a mother.
If I’ve been avoiding her, she’s likewise kept a distance from me. Word’s reached me she’s not going to be leaving anytime soon, has accepted at least for now, here is the safest place she can be. But if I pocketed her keys to her car, well, that was just a precaution.
I tell myself I’m just giving her time to settle in and time for me to put my attraction back into the box where it belongs. At the back of my mind, and, I suspect in hers as well, is the understanding we need to face up to her problems. Angel might have lost her, might believe she’s disappeared, but she can’t hide forever. He’ll be doing all he can to find her. The only way I can keep her out of his clutches is to keep her prisoner. As a temporary solution it’s fine; long term, it would be ridiculous. The kid will have doctor appointments, at the very least.
The options, as I see them, are either facing him in court and clearing her position legally or starting somewhere far away from his reach with a new identity. The former seems unlikely. The latter? Well, that’s something I don’t want to face.
When I’d brought her here, Violet had taken extreme action because she couldn’t see any other way out. Since Theo had been born—even before that—she’s been dealing with one thing after the other. Here, she has support, even if it’s just another pair of hands more than happy to take Theo for a moment. That first day I’d seen a reduction in the stress lines on her face and had been unwilling to remind her of the problems she’s facing. While evading her issues and giving her space isn’t a permanent answer, I’m loath to remind her of the shit she needs to face up to.
Each day she’s here, she relaxes a little more, and each day it becomes harder to worry her. I’ve been unable to give her help before; providing her with a safe haven, putting her problems in abeyance for now, is what little I can give her. Doesn’t mean I’m not doing the worrying and planning on her behalf, though.
Before I know it, Wednesday has come around. I enter the kitchen to find my father already there.
“So how do you want to play this, Prez?” Hellfire takes a piece of toast and starts to slather a low-fat butter substitute onto it, while I’m tucking into a full fried breakfast Jeannie’s just prepared.
“You already eaten at home, Hell?”
He grins but shakes his head. He also takes a cup of coffee and foregoes his usual cream and sugar.
Seeing how much his habits have changed drives me to point at the meagre plate in front of him and ask, “Is it worth it?”
This time he grins wider, having no need for me to explain I’m referring to him having given up smoking, cutting down on the whisky, and now taking more care over what he eats. “Hell, yes,” he replies, chomping on his toast as though it’s the tastiest snack he could have. “Yeah, I get to…” Whatever he was going to say, he decides better of it, and makes do with a shrug.
The smile I notice more on my mom’s face nowadays could provide a pretty good clue as to what he’s alluding to, but this is my mom and dad we’re talking about. If I’ve jumped to the right conclusion, I don’t want to have confirmation. Mom’s certainly been happier lately.
Hastily, I return to his original question. “We go meet the don, suss out whether someone just needs to be given the facts of life or whether they have deliberate intentions.”
“What if Angel is there?” Thunder walks in, catching our conversation. He, too, takes a loaded plate from Jeannie. “Had any more thoughts about letting him know Violet and the kid are here?”
“Definitely not. Won’t show our hand unless we have to.”
But I will be very interested to meet the man if he turns up. Up to now, I’ve dealt mainly with Lucio. Sure, Angel’s been around in the background, but it’s only recently he’s become the underboss. I have several reasons to regard him as more than part of the furniture. Now I need to get the measure of the man, or reptile, that he really is.
“The product? What if they’re doing it deliberate? Yanking our dicks to get a reaction?”
“We don’t react,” I tell Thunder, firmly, remembering he’s new at being my VP. As sergeant-at-arms he’d have stayed back, watching, listening, his posture showing he had our backs. Now he may well need to interact. “In that case, he’ll put forward a proposal. We don’t comment other than anything needs to come back to the table.”
“That’s what he’ll do,” Hellfire confirms. “I’ve known him long enough to know the rules he plays by. Way he’ll play it, if he’s gonna step on our toes, he’ll stomp until we take notice, then admit it was him doing it. From there he’ll take it to where he wants to go and leave the ball in our corner.”
“Fight or give in will be our only options.” Thunder’s face looks set.
“That’s what he’ll expect. So no sign, not one flicker of our intentions.” I don’t really have to warn them. We all know the score. And we’re used to playing shit close to our chests. There’s no way we’re giving up territory to the Silvestri or allowing them to deal drugs around our businesses.
An hour later, we’re heading out to our bikes. While we all know it’s risky, since there’s no requirement to wear a lid in Colorado most of us ride without helmets, particularly in the warm summer months. I simply wrap my bandana around my forehead to keep the sweat out of my eyes and hair off my face before slipping on my shades.
By the time I’ve completed my meagre preparations, Hell and Thunder are also ready to get moving. The prospect slides open the gate, and then we’re off. Our route will take us in through the city, then out the other side.
I’ve had a lot of experience riding at the front of the pack. As VP, I took lead position if Hell wasn’t with us, but times like today, I have to stop myself standing aside and waiting for him to precede me, only just remembering in time it’s me who’s the prez. I set the pace, not too fast, not too slow, and enjoy the morning sun on my face, the cooling breeze rushing past, and the clear blue sky overhead. At least, for the moment, it’s not going to rain.
None of us have been to the don’s lair before. Oh, we’ve had meets, in their clubs, ours, in neutral territory, but never have we been to the very heart of the crime family. As I ride, I run through what I know of them. Lucio Silvestri has a few years on Hell though they both stepped up to the top spot around the same time. New blood, new deals forged. Since that time, things ag
reed in an unwritten contract have been abided to by both sides. Of course we know the Silvestri are into some shady shit that we would never touch, hence my concern for what Violet was potentially getting herself into. Drugs we know about, trafficking, too, but as long as they stayed their side of the invisible line, we weren’t going to get up in their business.
Unfortunately, with heroin now flooding our part of town, we need to make a stand. Especially with our plans to take the tattoo parlour upmarket. We get a bad rep? We’d never live it down.
I’m unsurprised when we’re faced with gates that we have to wait to be opened, then the need to ride our bikes up a long driveway. Crime obviously pays a lot more than can be earned by an MC trying to stay the right side of the line. We park, backing in so our rear tires are facing the house wall, as always, prepared for a quick escape should we need it.
My expectations continue to be met when we’re asked to hand over our weapons on entry. You don’t get to last long as a Mafia boss without being cautious. It’s something we would do were we inviting an enemy into our clubhouse. A quick pat-down, then it’s sorted.
Lucio doesn’t leave us hanging around. We’re immediately shown into a pleasant reception room. Whatever he’s into must be lucrative, I muse to myself, looking around. Could be imitation, but I reckon not, and there are some genuine antiques here. Not that I’m any expert.
“Gentlemen.” The man who hasn’t entirely lost his Italian accent steps forward. He glances at Hell, who stands just a little behind me and to my left, then his eyes examine his cut, before settling on mine. “So, are congratulations in order, Demon?”
I grin. “Not sure if it’s congratulations or commiserations right now,” I reply, mimicking his friendly tone. “Time will tell.”
He nods, then turns to Hellfire. “And you, old friend. You are well?”
“Just about managing to keep the shiny side up,” Hell replies. They grasp hands for a moment and exchange respectful nods.
“Retirement agrees with you?”
Satan's Devils MC Colorado Boxset 1 Books 1 - 3 Page 49