Because You're Mine

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER ONE

Spider

Lounging in his chair Spider spun it to face the wall of glass. It took up one entire side of his office and gave him a view over part of the city and the harbour.

And the ocean, the endlessly blue ocean, calling to him like the siren she was.

He hated spending time in this damned building and without a view to the outside world it would have been absolute torture.

His offices at the clubhouses in Joburg and Cape Town had no windows and he had hung large photos of the ocean to minimise the feeling of being enclosed in a cement box. The difference was that at the clubhouses he could walk outside, get on his bike and go for a ride, and no one would think it was odd.

Here, at the Cape Town IDMC Corporate offices, he felt like he was under a magnifying glass, being studied. He resented the way he was stared at and judged when he came into the office wearing his kutte, tee and jeans.

As one of the owners of the fucking company the judgmental attitude pissed him off.

Before he started here Kid had warned him that the attitude of their office employees weren’t the same as what he was used to. In Joburg he never wore a suit or pretended to be anything other than what he was and no one batted an eyelid. As far as he was concerned it was about how competent you were and not about what you wore or looked like. Joburg had a more relaxed atmosphere, but maybe it was because the office building was on the club’s property and their employees were all connected to the club in some way.

Here their office building was in the city centre and most of the employees had no connection to the club. It seemed that appearance and status was everything. To some of the people anyway.

Personally he couldn’t give a shit.

The judgemental bastards forgot one very important fact, he was the one who held the power.

He was the CFO of the Iron Dogz Group of Companies and it was his name on the door of the executive office on the top floor. The fuckers should start remembering who paid their salaries.

Katherine “Kat” Campbell, their General Manager, was the one person at the office he liked. Not only was she family and club, she was an outstanding business woman, and had supported him from the very first day he had walked into the conference room to meet their employees.

In his jeans and kutte. Suffice it to say, it had not gone down well.

Luckily he could work remotely and did so most of the time.

Today however, it was imperative that he be here.

He sighed as he looked out at the blue, the siren was calling to him. What he wouldn’t give to be out there right now, riding the waves or his bike up the coast.

Instead he was handling boring shit because he needed to be where he could do the most good, should shit hit the fan.

Not that anything was going to go wrong. They had planned too carefully.

In the run up to today the club had taken control over most of the docks to ensure the safety of their brothers and the cargo. There had been some kick back from Amos Fortuin, the boss of the Fortunes gang, when they shut down his access but it had been handled quickly and cleanly. Money talks.

They had their people in key positions on the docks and Dom Maingarde’s people were there as well. The loading of the container should go off without any problems.

But then again, it was best to anticipate problems, that way one wasn’t caught on the back foot. And that was why he was in the office along with Kat. The two of them would handle anything that might come up.

With a bored sigh he looked back at the monitor on his desk.

They had a couple of hours to go before their first shipment to the Wraiths would be on its way to the US. Their part would be done but the only time he would breathe easy was when the cargo made it through customs on the US side.

When Dom and the SWMC brought the business proposition to them he and Kid had focused on the money it would bring in. The club had been in dire need of a cash infusion.

Kriek, the previous Treasurer, had mismanaged the club’s money and driven them close to bankruptcy. Spider had been furious when he’d had a good look at the club’s books. According to the figures their businesses were in a steep downward spiral, showing zero growth.

He had to make hard decisions, cutting funding to unnecessary projects Kriek had funded, to save the club from bleeding more money.

They had been forced to find a way to make money, fast.

Heaven forbid disaster struck them as it did Joburg, there would be no funds available to rebuild. He had one hell of a job on his hands to get the club back into the black.

Kriek had let the dues of some of the senior members and elders slide. The elders he sort of understood but the senior members? No, not at all. It was unacceptable, even without taking a cut from the club’s miserable income you paid your dues, like everyone else.

His first order of business had been to dock outstanding dues from pay packets. It meant he wasn’t popular with some of the brothers but he didn’t care. He had a job to do and he would do it.

Their pitiful cash flow and low pay packets were the main reasons the officers and lieutenants had voted to get back into doing business on the dark side. They were careful and for now kept it on a need to know basis. Only the officers and those brothers they trusted were in on their new business venture, and it would stay that way for the foreseeable future.

At least until the club is fairly stable.

Today they were sending out their first shipment of arms in broad fucking daylight.

Unbelievable.

He couldn’t wait for it to be done so he could grab his board and drive down to the beach where he was meeting Kellen. They were going to hang out, catch some waves and just relax.

A couple of hours later the cargo had been safely loaded and the ship was cleared to sail.

It was time to get out of the fake air of the building and breathe the fresh ocean air.

The afternoon traffic was hectic and he was relieved when he finally reached the beach.

Kel was leaning against the side of his battered dark green Jeep, his wetsuit pulled up to his waist, waiting for him.

Spider grinned as he jumped out.

“Hey brother, hope you haven’t been waiting long. I had shit to take care of at the office.” He apologised.

Kel dragged him in for a quick hug and slapped his back.

“Hey bru, no sweat, I only got here a few minutes ago myself, my last client arrived late.”

Using the fob he opened the baggage area of his cage, dragged off his tee and threw it into the back. He wrapped his big beach towel around his waist, dropped his shorts and pulled on his wetsuit. His towel, shorts and slops joined the tee.

They were ready for the waves.

Sitting on their boards in the water they chatted to the other surfers about the expected change in the weather that would be bringing in big swells towards the weekend.

Kellen liked riding the big waves the storm fronts brought in.

Spider wasn’t scared of riding them he just knew he wasn’t experienced enough. Not yet anyway.

Hours later as the sun started sliding below the horizon he was pleasantly tired as he walked out of the ocean with his board under his arm. It had been a great few hours spent with a good friend and the other surfers who had come out to catch some waves.

It was almost full dark when he followed Kel’s vehicle out of the almost empty parking area.

With a last wave he split off from his friend and headed to the IDMC clubhouse. He hoped like hell one of the old ladies or a club slut had cooked dinner because he was starving and didn’t feel like cooking or microwaving something to eat.

Pulling up to the heavily reinforced steel gates he slowly drove through when they opened. Giving a chin lift to the brother on duty in the guard house as he passed it. Driving around to the garage he pulled in to his space, parking next to the other cages.

Before he could go inside though he had to take care of his wetsuit and board, he had it down by now.

Being a Tuesday the common room wasn’t as packed as it would have been on a weekend. Some of the older brothers were hanging out, chatting, laughing, drinking and some were getting blowjobs from the sluts. It was something he had never done, gotten a blowjob or fucked bitches in front of his brothers. He wasn’t body shy, not at all, he just wasn’t into being watched while he fucked.

Making his way through the tables he greeted brothers as he passed on his way to the stairs. He had a room on the top floor, the same as the other officers. From the corner of his eye he saw a slut heading his way, she’d been damned persistent lately. There was no way she would be getting anywhere near his dick, ignoring her he ran up the stairs. He wasn’t worried about being followed, the bitches weren’t allowed upstairs unless a brother invited them and escorted them to his room.

It was a rule Kid wanted to change.

Unlocking his door he closed and locked it and dropped his duffle on his bed. It took a minute to unzip and throw his dirty shit in the hamper. It was a habit that had been thumped into him by his mum since he was a little boy.

Picking up behind himself and keeping his room clean was second nature now.

He needed to shower the ocean from his skin. Undressing he walked into the small bathroom, it was only big enough for a shower, a basin and an enclosed toilet, he didn’t mind, it did the job.

Starting the shower he stepped in, tipped his head back and let the warm water cascade over his body. He washed away the sticky salt of the ocean then washed his hair. It would be a disaster if he didn’t. He had to admit, he was a bit vain about his hair and took care of it. The same with his beard, not that he had much of a beard, it was more of a short scruff.

Unlike his dad, brother and cousin he had never been into growing a thick beard, he liked it short.

Pulling on faded and battered blue jeans and a black tee he pushed his feet into his boots, brushed his damp long hair back and headed downstairs. His stomach was grumbling fiercely, it was time to find something to eat.

After getting a beer from the prospect at the bar he followed his nose to the kitchen.

Noe and Mads, one of the women in her crew, were sitting at the table, bowls of pasta in front of them.

“Damn, I hope there’s more of that.” He groaned as he drew in a deep appreciative breath.

“Ja, there’s a tray in the oven, help yourself.” Noe tilted her chin towards the big industrial ovens.

Spider opened the oven door and smiled at the size of the tray. Fantastic.

Loading his plate he drew out a chair, sat down next to Noe and virtually fell on his food like a ravenous beast.

“Did you go surfing before coming home?” She asked as she pushed her empty plate away.

Spider nodded. “Ja, I met up with Kel and we caught a couple of good ones.”

“You look tired.” She frowned at him. “You’ve got dark circles under your eyes. Aren’t you sleeping well?”

He shrugged. “I’m sleeping okay, taking over as Treasurer hasn’t been as smooth as I would have liked. I’ve been putting in long hours the last few weeks.”

It wasn’t as if she didn’t know what was going on but they couldn’t discuss it in the kitchen where anyone could over hear them.

He deliberately changed the subject.

“Where’s the Boss and the bambino? They usually eat dinner with you.” He mumbled as he stuffed his mouth.

Noe snorted. “Kid is in a meet with Orca, Blaze and Sly, and I put Laney down in his office.” She pointed at the baby monitor with a long finger.

Spider stopped eating and looked at her with a frown. “Anything I should know?”

The women looked at each other and both pulled disgusted faces.

“Some shit went down with the sluts over the weekend. Were you here?” Noe asked.

He slowly shook his head from side to side with a frown.

“Nope. On Friday afternoon Dizzy, Wrath, Blacky, and I met up with Rock and some of his Sinners brothers and took a ride up the coast. We got back late Sunday afternoon and spent most of the evening at their clubhouse before coming back here.”

“Lucky you.” Mads said with an exaggerated shudder. “On Saturday night the sluts and some of the hangarounds got into a fight. We heard they were fighting over who has dibs on the officers and lieutenants. Apparently the new slut, no idea what her name is, claimed she was the only one allowed to fuck them. That’s when the slapping and screeching started. The nasty-ass bitches were rolling around on the floor pulling out extensions and chunks of hair, while slapping and biting. I was told there were a lot of disgusting twats on display.”

“What the fuck?” Spider was instantly pissed off.

“Exactly what I said when Sly called Kid to come sort the shit out.” Noe growled. “I told him weeks ago he had to get rid of the more toxic bitches, but noooo. You fuckers had a vote and decided they could stay, now look at the shit we have to deal with.”

Spider held both hands up. “I voted to kick them out. I don’t stick my dick in sluts or hangarounds. Those bitches are nasty as fuck.”

Noe tapped him on his shoulder and winked at Mads, her lips curving up on one side.

“And that’s one of the reasons why he’s one of my favourite brothers. The day he brings an old lady home we won’t have to worry about some slut claiming she’s had a ride on his cock.”

Spider ignored them and went back to eating but then her words repeated in his brain, ‘the new slut claimed only she was allowed to fuck the officers and lieutenants’.

What the fuck?

Shoving his chair back he got up, swallowed the last of his beer and dropped the empty in the recycling bin. Not saying a word he picked up his still half full bowl of food and stormed out of the kitchen.

He was done with sluts causing shit and having the run of the clubhouse.

This was his club, his home.

It belonged to him and his brothers, no one else.

The sluts were here to serve those brothers who wanted a fuck, nothing more. They were nobody and not important in the greater scheme of things.

At Orca’s office he hammered his fist on the door twice then waited. He didn’t have to wait long. Sly opened the door with a heavy frown. Spider didn’t hesitate, he pushed past the brother and into the office.

Orca glowered at him but he ignored it.

“Spider, what’s the problem?” His prez snapped angrily.

He didn’t give a shit what his president was angry about right now, it was time to lay it out for him and the others. He was done ignoring the bullshit going on at the club.

Pointing his fork at his prez he then swung it to his brothers and let rip.

“I’m sick and tired of having to fucking slink into my clubhouse to avoid the fucking sluts. This is my club, not their fucking club. A club my fucking family started. I can’t have a beer at the bar without being accosted. I can’t walk through the fucking common room without having to tell some dirty fucking whore to stay the fuck away from me. I’m done, so fucking done. Every day I work my ass off for the club. After a long day seeing to shit all I want to do is get some food, sit at the bar or at one of the tables and have a beer with my brothers. In. Fucking. Peace.” He bit out angrily.

“Spider, brother, you need to calm down.” Kid said quietly.

Shaking his head from side to side he lifted his bowl, then shook it slightly.

“See this? This is my supper, and the only reason I was left alone to eat was because Noe and Mads were in the kitchen with me. Everyone in this fucking clubhouse know I don’t fuck sluts so what the fuck is going on here? Why am I, and the brothers who refuse to fuck those filthy bitches, being targeted the minute we walk into the fucking common room?”

Blaze opened his mouth to answer but Spider waved his fork at him to shut up.

“Want to know why I wasn’t here this weekend? Because this is no longer a place where I want to hang out. Dizzy, Wrath, Blacky and I hit the road with the Sinners and spent the entire weekend riding with them. Not with my club, with another club. What if shit hits the fan at the docks, or here for that matter, while I’m gone? There’s no one with my knowledge of the intricacies of the job we’re doing with Dom and the Wraiths. No one can step into my shoes. It will be a fucking disaster.”

“Spider, brother, we’re aware the situation at the clubhouse is less than ideal. We took it to the table and you know we were out voted.” Kid tried to soothe him.

He wasn’t having it.

“It’s time to veto the fuckers. We need to ban the party girls and hangaround sluts from the clubhouse during the week, only have them here on weekends to party. If the brothers want to fuck they can fuck the bitches living here. And here’s another thing, some of them have to go. There are too many of them, and they don’t lift a fucking finger to clean the clubhouse as per agreement. I’m sick and tired of naked sluts walking around like it’s a fucking whorehouse. We have to follow Ice’s example in Joburg, he threw the sluts out and put rules in place for the bitches living at the clubhouse. We need to do the same.”

“Okay, okay, brother.” Orca sighed. “Have a seat, let’s talk and find a solution to the problem. I’m with you on getting the bitches out of clubhouse but we’re going to have to get it past the brothers.”

“What if we don’t bring it to a vote?” Sly asked.

They all turned to him and he was silent for a beat before he continued.

“We call a meet, at the table, of the officers and lieutenants. I feel sure we’ll get the vote we want. There are the five of us here and I know Jury, Wrath and Dizzy will vote with us. That gives us eight votes out of the fourteen brothers eligible to vote. We already have a majority and I’m sure most of the other brothers will vote with us.”

Orca turned to Kid. “What do you think, VP?”

“I think we should do it. Our bylaws state that the officers and lieutenants can vote on situations they feel impact the club as a whole, and the brothers have to accept the outcome of the vote. Some of the brothers are going to be pissed but I don’t give a fuck. I hate that my old lady and baby girl are constantly confronted by the shit out there when they walk into the clubhouse. They are disrespected by sluts and brothers every single day. It has to end. I’m sorry, Prez, but the easy living you’ve let them have has to stop.”

He held up a hand when Orca tried to interrupt.

“I know, Prez, believe me I know. It easy to say it has to stop when we know we’ll be in the middle of a shit storm once we start changing the rules. You and I know the changeover is coming sooner than anyone thinks.”

There were quick intake of breaths from Blaze and Sly but he ignored them.

“Let it be me. Let it be me and my officers who slap the new rules on them. You and Hook take your retirement and breathe easy. My men and I? We’ve got this shit. Spider, Dizzy and I handled this kind of shit with Ice in Joburg, we know what to expect. And we’ll get the officers and lieutenants up to speed before we shake up the status quo.”

Orca was silent as he stared at Kid then snapped his gaze to Spider.

Spider shrugged as he shovelled the lukewarm food into his mouth.

Their prez gave a slight nod and a sigh. “You have a massive job ahead of you, you do realise that, right?”

Kid smiled, crossed his arms over his wide chest and leant back in his chair.

“I’m ready for it, Prez. The fuckers aren’t going to know what the fuck hit them once I start. We are in a new line of business, dark business at that, and we need brothers who are here for the club and not for the whores. We have too many useless old men who should have been retired a long time ago. On the other hand we have almost no young blood in the ranks. It has to change.”

Orca smiled. “And that right there is why you’re going to be the next president of the Cape Town chapter.”

It was the first time Orca had said it in front of others. That Kid was his choice as the next Prez.

Blaze was the first to agree.

“Hell yeah!”

Sly and Spider followed shortly after. “Hell yeah!”

“Now, what are we going to do about the slut situation we had this weekend?” Orca brought them back to the discussion.

“Ban the new bitch.” Spider threw out. “She’s a shit stirrer.”

“Done.” Kid growled.

“Okay, I’ll handle it.” Orca said.

He pointed a finger at Kid. “I want you and Noe at my house on Thursday. My old lady is cooking, you and I will be talking shit through.”

Kid nodded. “You got it, Prez, we’ll be there. My old lady loves Fatima’s cooking.”

“Everyone does.” Blaze mumbled.

Spider had to agree with him. Fatima, their Prez’s old lady, was an amazing cook. Especially when she made her Cape Malay dishes, those were the best ever.

“If Hook is feeling good he and Yvonne will be there as well.” His Prez looked at Spider. “I want you there, we’ll settle some business after dinner.”

“You got it, Prez.” Spider nodded his agreement.

Their president slowly pushed up out of his chair, rubbing his back as he straightened.

“I’m getting too old for this bullshit.” He muttered as he led the way out of his office.

They walked into the common room and Blaze whistled sharply, getting the attention of the prospect behind the bar. He sliced the side of his hand over his throat indicating he wanted the music turned off. The prospect, a very recent addition, instantly did as he was told.

There were angry shouts in the sudden silence until Blaze whistled again.

The minute the brothers saw their president standing with his arms crossed over his chest waiting on them they fell silent.

Orca let the silence hang, and hang, and hang, until it became uncomfortable. Only then did he speak.

“I’ve just been informed of the bullshit that went down in MY clubhouse this weekend. Who the fuck do you sluts think you are? Fighting over the brothers in MY fucking house? No, fuck no. That bullshit stops right here and now.” He looked around the room then pointed at a half-naked slut sitting on the lap of one of the older men.

“You, pack your shit. You’re done. Get out before I have you thrown out.” He snarled.

She pretended to be shocked, her hand slapping her naked tits as if to say, who, me?

“What did I do? I didn’t do anything.” She tried to defend herself.

“Bitch, you do not question me. You’re done, get your skank-ass off my property.” Orca snarled.

Spider couldn’t believe the slut, she tried to fight back, verbally.

“No, I’m not leaving, the brothers voted me in as a club girl. You can’t do anything without the brothers voting on it.” She stood with her hands on her hips, challenging him.

Deathly silence hung over those watching.

“Oh fuck.” Kid muttered and Spider looked to see why.

It was indeed an ‘oh fuck’ moment.

Noe stood with her arms crossed over her chest leaning back against the bar, her pissed off and narrowed eyes pinned on the slut. Mads standing next to her had the same expression and stance.

Orca tapped his president’s patch. “See this? This here says I’m the boss, and in my club I can fucking do as I please, any time I please. You didn’t leave when asked. Now you’ll feel.”

Turning towards the bar he smiled at the women, a cold predatory smile.

“Face, Mads, would you be so kind as to assist me by taking out the trash?”

Their prez calling Noe by her street name put an entirely new spin on the situation.

Both woman instantly straightened and Face gave him a nod. “Absolutely, Prez, it will be our pleasure.”

Stalking to the whore they grabbed her by her upper arms then frog marched her out the front door.

She struggled against their hold to no avail.

“Let me go! You bitches! I need my things!” She kept screaming but it faded the further they dragged her from the clubhouse.

Silence hung in the room until the one on whose lap she had been sitting got up the courage to complain.

“You can’t do that shit, Prez. We voted on her being here and I for one like young sluts sucking my cock. You should try it sometime, maybe then you won’t be such an as…”

He didn’t get any further.

Blaze tore across the common room and grabbed him by the throat, raising him up until his feet left the ground. The fucker’s face turned red as he gasped for breath, struggling in their SAA’s grip.

Bending towards the fucker Blaze whispered something in his face and the struggles seized instantly. Drawing the piece of shit towards him he then straightened his arm violently, throwing the bastard at the group he’d been sitting amongst.

Brothers, bitches, chairs, table and drinks went everywhere. Bitches shrieked as they got dumped on the floor.

Blaze was a big motherfucker and didn’t take shit from anybody. His temper has been extremely short lately. Understandable, his dad was fighting for his life against fucking cancer.

“Omo, you and your group of bullshitters will be in church tomorrow at eleven. Don’t think about blowing it off, you will be there. We’ll deal with your insubordination and disrespect in front of a full church. Do you get me?” Orca hissed coldly at the man slowly getting up.

“Yes, Prez.” The fucker said, avoiding their eyes.

Spider didn’t trust him, there was something about him he didn’t like.

“We’ll be there, Prez.” The rest echoed.

Without another word Orca turned and stomped back to his office, Blaze on his heels. Kid stood surveying the quiet common room before he shook his head and walked out, going outside to find his old lady.

Sly tapped him on his upper arm. “Let’s get a beer, brother.”

They stood with their backs to the bar sipping their beers. He took note of who looked pissed and who didn’t. Most of the older senior patches were pissed but there were a few of the younger men who hung around with them who looked decidedly cocky.

The lot of them were in for a fucking surprise tomorrow.

He couldn’t wait.