Chapter 35
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
RYAN
NOW
I had spent the entire first two weeks of being President trying to undo my dad’s deal. The final step was meeting with the President of the Horsemen to try and explain that we didn’t want any part in their drug market. What they did in their town was their own business, but the Vipers and Haven Cove will be remaining a drug-free zone. Mr Hutchins had finally agreed to set up a meeting between the two of us after he originally refused my calls and said he would only be dealing with my father, but once learning that he was no longer in the Vipers, he realized it was either me or no one.
I sat at a wooden table out the front of a cafe that sat directly in the middle of our two towns. Haz was inside the cafe in case I needed him. I watched as another bike pulled up next to ours but someone unexpected got off the bike. Silas Gray.
“I thought I was meeting the President?” I said from the table as he took a seat opposite me, with a shiny new patch on his cut: ‘President’.
“Looks like we both got a new title. Let me guess, you’re backing out of your daddy’s deal.”
“Vipers don’t do drugs, Silas. We never have and we won’t be starting now. My dad’s deal got him evicted from the club. You boys can do whatever you want in your town, but we won’t be working with you on this.”
This was probably the most tame conversation I’d had with Silas in years. The waitress came over and dropped the pinkest, girliest drink in front of Silas and I couldn’t help but laugh as I saw Haz wave from inside the cafe.
“You want out? Fine, I’ll give you an out.”
“Okay, that sounds too easy. What do you want in return?”
“What makes you think I want anything?” Silas smirked at me as he took a sip of the pink drink. He raised his eyebrows in surprise and took another sip.
“Because I know you. What do you want?”
“The buy-in for the deal was a hundred thousand dollars. If the Vipers pull out, then I have to pay the whole amount to Mr Hutchins and I don’t want to do that. If you pay your dad’s half of the buy-in, you’re out.”
“Fifty thousand dollars? Are you insane?” I didn’t have fifty thousand dollars and I didn’t even know how my dad would have had that money. He said he was doing this drug deal to earn money, so where would he have been getting the down payment from?
“If I get you the cash, the Horsemen and the Vipers are at truce. No more territory wars. You stick to your town and we will stick to ours.”
“Pleasure doing business with you, Ryan.” He held out his hand and waited for me to shake it. As I shook his hand, his smirk reappeared. What a fucking snake. I’d find a way to get the cash if it meant finally being rid of the Horsemen.
Once Haz saw Silas and I shake hands, he walked out of the cafe and came to sit beside me. We both watched Silas get on his bike and drive down the street.
“So, what’s it going to take?” Haz looked down at the drink before pulling the straw out and taking a sip. “This is actually pretty good.”
“Any chance you have fifty thousand dollars hidden under your pillow?”
His eyes went wide and his jaw dropped. “Damn, if only you asked me yesterday,” he replied sarcastically and I rolled my eyes at him before standing from the table and walking over to my bike. “Where to now, boss?”
“To find our way out.” I put my helmet on my head and started my bike as Haz did the same and stayed by my side down the highway towards my dad’s house.
If my dad was planning on doing this deal, then he had to have had this money somewhere and I just needed to find where. The Vipers had spare money around the clubhouse for emergencies, like paying someone's bail or lawyer fees. I didn’t know where Dad kept it though; he never let anyone know things like that and he didn’t exactly leave on the best of terms where he gave me a full handover. Hopefully he had calmed down after the vote and would be willing to help me back out of his deal, but based on the fact that he continued to ignore my calls, I’m going to say he was still pissed.
* * *
W hen we arrived at his house, I noticed his bike was in the garage with its cover over the top. When a member was evicted from the club, they were required to hand in their cut and get their Viper tattoo either removed or covered up. But the bike, that was theirs to keep and ride whenever they chose; the Viper decals just needed to be removed, which I guaranteed my dad wouldn’t do. It was harder with him because he started the club and none of us would have been here wearing these cuts if it wasn’t for him and Scotty. But in saying that, he was the one that made the rules in the first place, so it was only fair he followed them as well.
“What do you two want?” I heard my dad ask and I turned to face him as he walked across the lawn towards Haz and I.
“I just met with The Horsemen. Did you know Silas Gray is President now?” I wondered how long he had been President for. His patch looked almost as new as mine did, and my dad never mentioned anything about the change in presidency. But looking at his face right now, I could tell he didn’t know.
“The kid that tried to get into The Vipers?” I nodded in response. He knew firsthand the rivalry between Silas and I as teenagers.
“Well, I guess us old boys are pushed out of every club.”
“Haz, give us a minute.” I hit the back of my hand on Haz’s chest and he nodded before walking inside and leaving my dad and I standing by the bikes.
“We both know you’d still be wearing this President patch right now if you didn’t try to bring the Vipers into a drug deal,” I said to my dad as I leaned against my bike and crossed my ankles over each other. “Why did you do it?”
My dad motioned his head in the direction of the side gate that led into the backyard. We had lived in this house my whole life and I remembered the amount of times I tried to sneak in and out of this gate as a teenager to go to parties, or steal my dad’s bike. I used to push it halfway down the street before turning it on, hoping he wouldn’t hear, but at the time I hadn’t realized just how loud the bike actually was.
We walked through the gate and over towards the outdoor table on the deck. He opened his bar fridge that was always fully stocked with beers and passed one over to me before twisting off the top of his own and taking a sip.
“It was only a matter of time before you took over, Ryan. I knew my time was almost finished as President and I wasn’t ready for it to end. I was selfish and greedy and wanted to do one final deal to make a shit load of money so I could step back and let you take over.”
“But why drugs? We’ve never done drugs. You were the one who always used to say that and The Horsemen? Dad, they killed Jay.”
He looked down at his hands before rubbing them over his face. We had lost members before, but no one’s death shocked the Vipers as much as Jay’s.
“When I met Mr Hutchins, I didn’t know the other club was the Horsemen. When I found out, I was already in too deep and I couldn’t get out of the deal. Which is why I needed the Vipers to help me.”
“I met with Silas today. He told me that if I give him fifty thousand dollars then we are out of the deal. Where were you going to get that money for the buy in?” He refused to make eye contact with me so I knew I wasn’t going to like the answer. “Dad, where were you getting the money?”
“I was going to sell Scotty’s bike.”
Scotty’s bike from when he first started the Vipers was a classic. No one rode it and it stayed at the clubhouse at the end of the hallway. It was one of our most prized possessions.
“Well, I won’t be doing that. That bike means too much to the Vipers and Lexi.”
“Where are you going to get the money then, Ryan? We only have ten thousand in the emergency fund.”
“I don’t know, but I’ll figure something out.” I took the final sip of my beer and put the bottle back on the table before standing. I knocked on the back door to get Haz’s attention as he stood with Bella in the kitchen. We both walked out the side gate and back to our bikes. I didn’t know how I was going to get this money, but I needed to think of a way fast.
“Ryan, wait,” my dad called out to me before I turned my bike on. He made his way over to stand beside me. “I’m sorry for putting you in this position with the club, but I just wanted to say, I know you’re going to be the President this club needs.” He put his hand on my shoulder and clenched his fingers before walking away.