Chapter 11
Riding my Harley two streets over, I pull into my dad’s driveway before killing the engine.
It’s early in the morning and I haven’t been to sleep yet.
My adventurous wildcat kept me up all night with her little antics.
I finally waved the white flag saying I’d had enough, between her riding me and fucking her on every solid surface of my house. Christ, I might need to ice my balls.
“Everything okay there, son?” Dad asks as I come around the back porch.
Dad’s perched up in his wheelchair under the awning, drinking his coffee and sneaking in a smoke before Melissa can catch him.
“Yeah,” I say and gently sit down next to him on the cushion wicker chair.
“You sure? You look like you’ve been rode hard and put away wet.” He chuckles to himself. I’m sure he knows what I’ve been doing.
“I’m fine.”
“Put some baby powder on it and maybe an ice pack, you’ll be ready to go again by tonight,” he offers, and I find it extremely awkward to have a conversation like this with my dad.
“Sure.”
“What brings you by this early?” he asks.
“Need to talk to you about some club stuff and maybe something a little more personal.”
“Okay, shoot.”
I start with the club stuff. Then I tell him about burning down the Vipers warehouse and our safe house being lit up.
About the Fallon Chapter getting hit and losing a shipment to the prospect put in the barrel.
And then about the Vipers trying to hack our files.
We talk for a long while, and he gives me some advice on how he would handle it if he was in charge.
We talk about the protection runs and even maybe starting up another chapter in California to help out the runs from border to border.
Melissa comes out several times to bring breakfast and more coffee before her shift at the hospital begins.
“Thought you boys could use a healthy meal before I head in,” Melissa deposits some eggs, bacon, and toast on the table between Dad and me. She’s a general surgeon on staff there and has helped out our club on many occasions.
“Thanks, Melissa,” I voice as she comes out with a large pot of coffee.
“Y’all try to stay out of trouble,” she tells us bending down to kiss Dad. “Come by on Saturday for a meal with Allison and Annie.” She directs her words towards me. She’s taken on being a good mother-figure to Allison since her family abandoned her.
“I’ll see what I can do,” I say.
She was married before, but her husband was killed in a car accident years ago.
She relocated to Texas after leaving Portland, Oregon saying that it held to many memories for her to stay there.
Her and Dad were married a year before his ambush that put him in a wheelchair.
She hasn’t left his side, even though he tried pushing her away and demanding a divorce right after learning he would never walk again.
She stuck by him through his stubbornness.
They are truly happy together. She gave him back the light in his eyes after Mom was killed.
She’s a great woman and is so good with Rocky.
He calls her Momma, and she treats him like she’s been with him since birth.
They have a special bond. I think that is why I know Raegan will fit here perfectly with us.
“What’s the personal thing you wanted to talk about?” Dad asks after Melissa leaves for her shift.
“I met someone…” I say trying to put into words how I feel about Raegan.
“Really?”
“Yeah, she’s not from our world though.” Although her hacking into top secret companies and countries along with her hobby for illegal street racing is right up there with outlawing.
“So, what does that have to do with the price of beans? You can’t help who you fall for.” I think about what he’s saying and know that this is a totally different type of life than what Raegan is used to. We’re criminals who choose to break the law on a daily basis.
“But what if she can’t take our lifestyle? She doesn’t know that I’ve killed people before or done time. What if she gets in too deep and then decides this isn’t for her?”
“That’s a lot of ‘what ifs’, son. We don’t know what tomorrow will bring, hell, we might all die in our sleep tonight, then what? Don’t have any regrets in life. We live each day like it might be our last.”
I try not to but can’t help what I say next.
“I’m scared that she will end up like Mom, caught in the crosshairs of club wars.” I hang my head in my hands but then feel a strong hand on my shoulder.
“What happened to Anna was my fault. I was stupid and let my pride get in the way. I thought nothing could touch me and that left my family at risk. If I’d just listen to Gunner then she would’ve never been killed, Stone.
That’s on me, and I have to live with that the rest of my life.
You have a better head on your shoulders and do things differently than I did.
That makes you a better president than me.
You’re focused and are aware of your enemies and not afraid to examine things at every angle before striking. ”
Dad has never been one to pat someone on the back. He was always hard on me and my brother, Blaze, growing up, but ever since he met Melissa and having his first grandkid, Annie, he’s started to show a softer side to him.
“I still wonder if she’d be better off with a guy who works nine to five. She was seeing a doctor.” The image of her and fucking Hastings makes me grind my teeth together.
“Oh, horseshit!” Dad exclaims then lights another smoke. “Did I ever tell you that I stole your mother away from another man?”
“What?”
He laughs and his eyes glaze over as he stares out at the backyard.
“Yeah, she was engaged to be married to a guy when I found her on the side of the road. He was going to be a preacher, and after they married, they were going to do mission work in some small country in Africa. They were getting married two months from the time I met her, but I knew from the moment I saw her that she was it for me. It was like my body lit up when I was around her. She tried to deny it at first, but I knew she felt the same. Once I had her on my bike that was it. We didn’t look back. ”
“I never knew that.” I don’t mention how Raegan sets me on fire when she’s around. No woman has made me feel like this.
“We bumped into her old fiancé about a year before she was killed. As we walked away she expressed that she was so glad she’d found me that day. She couldn’t picture her life as anything other being my Ol’ Lady and was proud of it.”
I’m completely shocked that Mom was engaged before she met Dad and never said anything. I wonder if Blaze knows about this.
“Listen, it’s not like you’re marrying her tomorrow. Bring her by for dinner one night and let her meet the family. Let her meet the you that’s not president of Dead Road MC.”
I let out a breath of air. “She used to be with Havoc. They were together for a year and then broke it off.”
“Is this before or after that Debbie cunt?” Dad knows all about what happened with Havoc and Debbie. He was Havoc’s mentor and who sponsored him to prospect into the MC.
“Before. Raegan doesn’t think it’s a big deal that we’re seeing each other, but Havoc is my brother even if it was six years ago.”
“Holy fuck, Kane. Raegan! Boy, you sure do know how to pick them, don’t you?” I shrug my shoulders. “Geez, I remember everything about that girl, what was she, sixteen when they had a falling out?” He sits back in his chair contemplating something.
“Yeah, she’s finally back in town but doesn’t want anything but a friendship with Havoc.”
“Does he know that?”
“Yeah, after she almost kicked his ass at the clubhouse, they talked and are trying to be friends since they’ll be bumping into each other around town. Havoc and I are having a conversation after church today.”
“Do I even want to know why a woman is kicking a brother’s ass at your clubhouse?”
I chuckle thinking about how she also took down a prospect. After telling him that story, we’re both in stitches making him want to meet her even more.
“Is she inked or claimed?”
“Not yet, but if we keep going the way we’ve been she will be.” I smile at the thought. I’ve checked every inch of that delectable body and there’s not a smudge of ink on her. God, the thought of her body carrying my name in permanent ink sends a shiver down my spine.
“Bring her by the house, Kane, and let me meet this girl. If you see yourself being with her long term then man up and talk to Havoc. Just remember, you already have a war going on outside of the club, you don’t need one inside it to.”
I stay a little longer and shoot the shit with Dad. We discuss Blaze getting out of prison within the next week or so, and then I finally head out. I still can’t believe everything Dad told me about him and Mom.
I pass back by my house to check to see if Raegan has left yet and sure enough her car is still in the driveway.
I know she’s not a morning person, so I fight the urge to stop in and keep driving making my way to the clubhouse.
Lord knows my dick needs some rest from any activities until further notice.
Entering the clubhouse, I’m early for church so I decide to go to the office to try to work on some of the invoices from the auto shop and our other businesses.
A knock on the door brings me out of looking up routes for the next protection run when Brass comes in.
“Everyone’s here and ready for church, Prez,” he informs me.
After putting down my pen, I stretch my back and neck to get the stiffness out of my muscles.
“Alright, let’s go.” I stand and we walk out into the bar area and over to our room.
The others follow and I see Havoc is waiting in the back not wanting to enter with me. We all take our seats, and I bang the gavel to start the meeting.
“We have something crucial to discuss. Last night, I was made aware of someone in the Vipers MC trying to have us hacked. They want to access our files with shipping routes and our contacts.”