Love ya.
I shoved my phone in my pocket and looked around the large, empty expanse of the clubhouse. This place really was a disaster with garbage and useless equipment everywhere, but once we got all of this shit cleaned up, walls were going to go up, and it was going to officially be the clubhouse of the Kings of Vengeance.
“Yo, prez! We’re ready,” Dyno called.
I walked into the large room I had envisioned as the meeting room and saw the guys who were going to be my brothers sitting around a piece of plywood that had been placed on two sawhorses. They were sitting on overturned buckets while there was a lone folding chair at the head of the table. “That mine?” I asked the group.
Dyno shrugged and sat on the bucket to the right of the chair. “Figure the prez should have the one actual chair.”
There was another thing we needed to talk about. Titles.
I sat down on the chair and looked at each of the guys around me. “Three things we need to talk about,” I announced.
“He’s already got an agenda,” Sledge snickered.
Zephyr elbowed him in the gut. “Shut the fuck up, idiot,” he growled.
“We all decided I’m going to the president of the club, but there are quite a few other positions we need to fill in order for this club to be a success.” I cleared my throat and looked at Dyno. “I want this to be voted on, but I’m going to do the first nomination. I think Dyno should be vice president.”
Dyno puffed his chest out and nodded. “If the rest of the guys are good with that, then so am I.”
Everyone quickly agreed.
“Sergeant at Arms. Dyno, who do you think?” I asked.
Dyno tapped his finger to his chin. “Hmm,” he hummed. “I think either Zephyr or Rhino would be a good fit.”
“Rhino held up his hands. “I’m not interested in a title. I just wanna be a member of the club.” He pointed at Zephyr. “My vote is for him.”
I eyed up Zephyr. I hadn’t known any of these guys besides Dyno, but from the short time I had been with them, I had a good feeling about all of them. “What do you think about that, Zephyr?”
He shrugged and took a drag off his cigarette. “Sounds like something that would definitely be up my alley.”
I nodded and put it up to vote.
Everyone agreed, and we swiftly moved through secretary and road captain.
The Kings of Vengeance were an official club now, with members filling each position. Sledge was secretary and Point was road captain.
“Second thing.” I hitched my thumb over my shoulder. “Petra.”
“Does she even talk?” Sledge asked.
Dyno laughed. “She does, just not a lot.”
“Do we know anything about her?” I asked.
The guys grunted that they didn’t.
I ran my fingers through my hair. “From what I can tell, we let her leave and one of you keeps an eye on her.”
“For how long?” Point asked.
That was one question I didn’t know the answer to. “For however long I say.” I didn’t really think Petra was going to be an issue, but I didn’t want to risk it. “A couple of weeks to start with.”
“She gonna know we’re watching her?” Dyno asked.
I shook my head. “Distance. I honestly don’t think she is going to be an issue, but I want to be sure of it.”
“Now which one of you lucky fuckers gets the task of watching her?” Dyno laughed.
“Who says it isn’t going to be you?” I chuckled.
Dyno scoffed. “Cause I think the vice president of the club has better things to do than watch some chick feed her cat and go to and from work.”
Rhino raised his hand. “I can keep an eye on her. Sounds like an easy task.”
It was going to be an easy task, but it was also going to be a boring as fuck one. “Good. Get her settled in back at home and then make like you’re gone. I just want to make sure she doesn’t decide to run to the police when we’re out of the picture.”
Rhino nodded. “Can do.”
“Now onto the third and final thing we need to figure out.” I sighed and rested my arms on the table. “Core helped save Kimber. At least, that’s what she’s preaching at me.”
“The fucker who was part of the Rolling Devils?” Zephyr asked.
“He should be thankful we didn’t blow his ass up with the rest of his club,” Dyno snickered.
“I agree, but...” I trailed off. “If it wouldn’t have been for him, I never would have gotten the info I needed to get into the clubhouse.”
“Bullshit,” Point scoffed. “We would have figured out a way to get in there without his ass.”
It was going to be harder than I thought to get the guys to think about letting Core into the club. I sighed and tapped my fingers on the table. “I hear what you guys are saying, and I agree with all of it.”
“Then what the hell is the issue here? The guy needs to hit the road and be thankful we didn’t kill him.” Zephyr pulled a cigarette out and stuck it in the corner of his mouth.
“What if we bring him in as a prospect?” I suggested. That way, I could ease him in and hopefully, he could work on winning the rest of the club’s trust. I really didn’t think Core had anything to do with what happened to Kimber and or that he would betray the Kings of Vengeance.
“You bump your head climbing into the truck yesterday?” Dyno asked me.
I shook my head. “Look, I got Kimber on my ass telling me I need to give Core a chance because even though we might not have seen it, he did help to keep Kimber safe. She swears up and down that if it weren’t for Core, she would have been in deeper shit or even dead.”
“And the truth comes out.” Point made the sound of a whip cracking and flicked his wrist. “Gotta keep the woman happy, right?” he snickered.
I knocked my fists together at him. “Suck it, asshole. She’s got a damn point, and I did spend quite a bit time with him when I was a Rolling Devil. He was the only fucker in the whole club I actually liked.”
“But you really think we should bring him into the Kings?” Dyno asked.
Even my best friend was skeptical about my idea of bringing Core into the club. “We make him a prospect. He doesn’t get the patch until he proves to each and every one of us that he can be trusted and bring something to the table.”
“What happens if we all change out mind except for one?” Zephyr asked.
“Then he doesn’t get a full patch. Bringing in a new prospect or member needs to be a unanimous vote.” That was going to be the only way the club would work. I was going to be the president, but at the end of the day, this was going to be everyone’s club. These were ground rules we were going to have to set.
“I’m good with bringing him in as a prospect,” Rhino piped in. “He gets one chance. In my book, everyone deserves that.”
“Fine, fine,” Dyno muttered.
“Let’s put it to a vote.” I cleared my throat. “All in favor of allowing Core to be a prospect for the Kings of Vengeance.”
Dyno raised his hand, right along with Rhino.
“One fuck up and he’s out,” Zephyr muttered. He raised his hand. “I say aye.”
Point and Sledge both raised their hands and said “aye” in unison.
I slammed my hand down on the table. “Core can come on board as a prospect.”
The guys grumbled their agreeance.
“I guess that’s the first official meeting of the Kings of Vengeance.” I looked at each of the guys. “Unless there is anything else you guys want to discuss.”
“I got a question.” Rhino cleared his throat. “What the hell are we going to do about this shit-hole of a clubhouse?”
Dyno sputtered while Zephyr, Point, and Sledge nodded in agreement.
I sat back in my chair and smiled. “I got big plans for the club, boys.” I tapped a finger to the side of my head. “They’re all up here, and I’m going to need each and every one of you to help make them happe
n.”
“Never been afraid of a little hard work.” Rhino stood up tossed his cigarette butt on the floor. “I look forward to making this shit-hole livable.”
“Don’t know about you, but I already live here,” Dyno laughed.
The guys did already live here. I was the only one who actually had a life in Whitmore Lake. “First thing we’ll start work on is dividing the huge back of the place into rooms for each of you.”
“I like the sound of that,” Point called. “I don’t know about you assholes but sleeping in the back of the pickup isn’t any fun.”
“I’m on the floor with a couple of sleeping bags, jerk-off,” Sledge muttered.
I looked at Dyno. “See what you can do about getting a few mattresses in here. Something better than laying on the floor.” We were going to work on the bedrooms first, but they weren’t going to happen overnight.
“I’ll check with the thrift stores around. I’m sure I can wrangle up some mattresses.” Dyno nodded and stood up.
The guys wandered out of the meeting room with a little extra excitement in them, knowing soon, they wouldn’t be sleeping on the floor or in the back of a pickup.
The Kings of Vengeance had survived their first club meeting.
Everyone knew what their titles were with the club, Petra was going home but with eyes on her, and Core was going to get his shot at getting into the club.
Now to get the clubhouse looking like a place people actually lived, and then, I could say the Kings of Vengeance were up for business.
Until then, we were all going to bust our asses and have a hell of a time doing it.
*
Chapter Twenty-Five
Kimber
Arising problem...
“How did you do that with your tongue?”
Quinn fell on the bed next to me and sighed. “What thing?”
The fact he didn’t even know he had completely rocked my world with one flick of his tongue was ridiculous. “The thing you did when my whole body convulsed and I swear I saw God.”
“You’re welcome,” he muttered into the pillow.
I rolled my eyes and pulled the sheet over us.
Quinn had come home from the clubhouse and, without a word, had led me to bedroom where he proceeded to show me just what I had missed this morning when I decided to go to breakfast with Fancy instead of staying in bed with him.
“How did things go with the club today?” I asked.
“Club business, baby.”
I rolled my eyes again and shifted to lie on my side. “You really are going to try to pull that bullshit with me?” I knew he had gone to the club today to discuss Core, and I wanted to know what the club had decided. If they had decided no, I was going to have to pull my mixer out and make a batch of chocolate chip cookies to help sway them.
“Just let me handle the club, Kimber.”
“I just want to know if you are going to let Core to be part of the club,” I demanded.
He turned his head and looked at me. “Baby, come on.”
“Quinn.”
He scoffed and buried his face in his pillow. He muttered something but I wasn’t able to make out what he had said.
“Uh, come again?”
He raised his head and spoke forward. “He’s a prospect. At least, that is what we are going to offer to him. If he doesn’t want that, then he doesn’t have a shot in hell at being a part of the Kings.”
I pursed my lips. “Prospect?” I had saw all of the shit Quinn had gone through when he had been a prospect. It really didn’t sound like much fun. “That was the best you could do?”
“Stop talking about this, Kimber. I shouldn’t have even told you about him being a prospect.”
“Being a prospect doesn’t seem like a very good offer to me.” Thanks for keeping my girlfriend safe. Now you can be a prospect and clean my bike for me every day. Uh, no thanks.
“It’s a fucking amazing offer for a guy who should be dead right now,” he gruffed.
I pursed my lips and closed one eye. “I guess that does mean he will be part of the club, though.”
“Long as he doesn’t fuck up, yeah, he will.”
It was good think Quinn had just tired me out, because otherwise, I totally would have gotten into a fight with him.
“Should I be worried about the fact you’re so concerned about what happens to Core?” he asked.
I laid my hand on his back. “Because he helped to keep me alive. I guess I’m just trying to repay the favor.”
“You weren’t going to die there, Kimber. No way in hell I would have let that happen.”
There was no way he could have known that. Though it was nice to know he would have moved heaven and hell to keep me safe. “I guess I just don’t want the guy to die.”
“That ain’t gonna happen, Kimber. Now, just let it go.”
I could tell I was on the edge of pushing buttons too much. “All right,” I grumbled.
He rolled onto his side and gathered me in his arms. “I hear you, baby, and I am doing the best I can. When it comes to the club, I don’t have the only say. I need to listen to everyone.”
“And they don’t want to let Core in.”
He shook his head. “I didn’t say that, baby.”
Then what the hell was the problem with Core just joining the damn club? “I just don’t get it, Quinn.”
“He needs to earn our trust, and the way to do that is to be a prospect, Kimber. That’s how it is in any club. I’m thankful to the guy too, and I was friends with him before all of this happened. Just trust me when I say this is how things need to be.”
I huffed and laid my head on his chest. “Fine, but I think I’m still going to bake cookies just to get on every ones’ good side.”
Quinn’s body shook beneath me, and I knew he was laughing at me. “You do that, baby.”
I sighed deep and closed my eyes. Quinn stroked my hair and pressed a kiss to my forehead. I was almost asleep when his phone rang. “Ignore it,” I grumbled. He was my pillow, and I didn’t want him to move.
He rolled onto his back, taking me with him, and I laid on top of him. I snuggled into him and listened to him answer the phone.
“Yeah?” he muttered.
I closed my eyes and sighed.
“I’m busy with Kimber, Core.”
My eyes popped open, and I tipped my head back to look at Quinn. “Tell him,” I hissed.
“Quiet,” he hushed. I glared at him and tried to roll off him. His arm tightened around me and held me in place. “Let me talk, woman.”
I huffed but kept my mouth shut. For now.
*
Quinn
Kimber glared at me, and I was two seconds away from flipping her over and paddling her ass.
“I can call back.”
“You’re good,” I mumbled.
“Well, uh, did you have a chance to talk to the club today?” Core asked. His voice was unsure, and I could tell basically groveling to get a place in the club sucked.
“We had a meeting today.” I cleared my throat. “Right now, being a full-patched member isn’t in the cards.”
“Fuck,” he whispered.
“Quinn!” Kimber hissed. She smacked me on the chest and struggled to get out of my hold again.
I wedged the phone between my shoulder and ear and wrapped both of my arms around her. “You’re gonna have to start as a prospect, Core. After everything that went down with the Rolling Devils, everyone just thinks that’s for the best right now.”
“What? Really?” I could hear how hopeful Core was and that he knew the club giving him a chance as a prospect was unexpected.
“Yeah. Come into the clubhouse tomorrow, and we’ll go from there.”
“I’ll bring cookies, Core,” Kimber shouted.
For fuck’s sake. “Fucking women,” I muttered.
“I’ll let you get back to Kimber. Thanks a lot, Quinn. I’ll see you at the clubhouse tomorrow.”
I e
nded the call and tossed the phone on the nightstand.
“Was that so hard?” Kimber asked. She had a smile on her face and looked smug as hell.
“You keep up butting into shit with Core and the club and you’re going to make shit hard for him with the other guys.”
“What? Why?” she scoffed.
“‘Cause if they see the prez’s ol’ lady playing favorites with a guy, they’re gonna be pissed and give him shit,” I warned.
She rolled her eyes. “That makes absolutely no sense.”
“Bring those cookies and see for yourself, baby.” I was right about this because I would do the same thing if I were one of the guys.
Kimber laid her hand on my cheek. “I just want you to give him a shot, Quinn.”
“We are. Now let it drop.”
She sighed and finally nodded. “Fine. I’ll let it drop. I have enough to worry about with Fancy anyway.”
“Oh, damn. What shit has she gotten into now?” Fancy was a good friend, but she was also carried a shit ton of drama around with her those expensive bags and shoes.
She laid her head back down on my chest. “She just keeps dating all of these guys that are losers. The latest one, she actually liked, but he hasn’t called her back.”
“Not sure why the hell that is your problem, baby.”
“She’s my friend, Quinn.”
It was probably for the best that she worried about Fancy and not Core. “You can’t pick the guys she dates, Kimber.”
“I know. I just wish she would find the right guy and stop dating every guy just standing on the corner.”
“She’s working the street now?”
“No!” She slapped me on the chest. “That’s not what I meant. I mean she’s just dating every guy out there and none of them seem to stick.”
“She’ll figure it out, baby. I do think there is one problem arising you need to worry about.”
She lifted her head from my chest. “There is?”
I nodded and bucked my hips.
“Oh, for God’s sake,” she laughed. “Here I thought it was something important.”
Drop a Gear and Disappear (Kings of Vengeance, #1) Page 12