Chapter 19
Chapter Nineteen
“Any new business to discuss?” Zeke was ready to get the hell out of there. He was still irritated as fuck about Kyra’s date the night before. “If so, let’s hear it.”
“Heard some fuckin’ rumors,” Rage said next to him. “Had some bikers come into Heaven’s Angels two nights ago, got fucked up and were runnin’ their mouths.”
“Two nights ago? Why the fuck you only bringin’ it up now?”
“‘Cause it’s only a fuckin’ rumor and knew this meetin’ was today. For fuck’s sake,” Rage grumbled.
“Need to keep our ears to the ground in case the Shadow Warriors try to return from the dead,” Zeke’s brother announced next to him.
Did Rage already tell Zane the rumor? If so, that was fucked up. He should’ve told the president first, not the VP.
“Return from the dead like zombies?” Wheels joked.
Chaos offered his opinion next. “They’d be damn stupid if they resurrected that club.”
Zeke agreed. “And more than stupid if they try to fuck with us.”
“Guess there’d be another fucking cleanup on aisle five,” Cruz said.
“Agreed. No room for those motherfuckers in or around Shadow Valley,” Rage growled. “Or, fuck, on the Earth in general.”
Zeke shook his head. “Ain’t gonna argue that.
” Especially after what they did to Kiki, Rage’s mother.
Another victim, Jazz, Phoenix and Lyric’s mother, got the worst of it.
What the Shadow Warriors did was so fucking bad, Crow’s ol’ lady was scarred for life.
He glanced over at Rage. “So, what’d ya hear? ”
“Gotta do with those fuckin’ Deadly Demons,” the sergeant at arms sneered.
“Those motherfuckers,” Chaos snarled. “They were decimated when that federal task force ripped them the fuck apart.”
“Yeah, and then the Mafia took out any of those fuckers left. Lesson learned. Try to fuck over the Mafia and they’ll fuck you back even harder while using your own blood for lube,” Cruz said next.
Chaos continued with, “Then plant you six feet under with your head stickin’ out of the ground so they can shit down your throat.”
“Or blow your club into a million fuckin’ pieces,” Wheels added with a smirk. “Ka-fuckin’-boom!”
Yeah, the Mafia didn’t fuck around. They had no problem neutralizing any threats. But he didn’t give a shit about the Mafia unless it affected them.
“For fuck’s sake, what’s the fuckin’ rumor?” Zeke was losing what little patience he barely clung to.
Instead of Rage answering him, Zane spoke up next. “As we all fuckin’ know, anyone still breathin’ went to ground. Or patched into other MCs. The OGs figured they might reappear at some point.”
“We ain’t the OGs.” Zeke needed a goddamn answer from Rage, not a fucking history lesson from Zane. “For fuck’s sake, what’s the goddamn rumor?”
“The Demons’ territory’s been open ever since their fuckin’ demise. We missed a golden opportunity to take it the fuck ourselves.”
“Tell us the shit we don’t already fuckin’ know,” Zeke barked at Rage. He slammed his palm on the table, and yelled, “What’s the goddamn rumor?” causing all heads to twist his way.
About fucking time they paid attention to the person sitting at the head of the table.
“Word has it that Twisted Souls took over their territory in West Virginia. Got no fuckin’ doubt some of the former Demons joined them. Not sure if they’re takin’ over the Demons’ Ohio territory, too.”
That wasn’t good news. Not at fucking all. The DAMC’s territory didn’t need to be crowded by those stupid motherfuckers. “How ‘bout the territory they claimed just south of us?”
The Demons had expanded into Pennsylvania right before their club got wiped out. Because of their move north, Zak had reluctantly worked with the feds to keep a war from breaking out between the two MCs. He wanted the federal task force to do the dirty work so the DAMC wouldn’t have to.
A smart move by Zeke’s father.
“Not sure of that, Prez, but we need to keep on top of this shit. Could end up being a fuckin’ issue,” Rage stated the obvious.
Chaos shook his head. “Knew we shoulda taken that goddamn territory.”
“The OGs didn’t ‘cause it was too much for them to handle with their numbers,” Zeke reminded him.
“Coulda split it between us and the Knights.”
“At the time, the Knights didn’t wanna expand,” Zane reminded Chaos.
“Now they’re gonna regret it.”
“Now we might fuckin’ regret it, too.” Zeke hadn’t even been patched into the club yet when it all went down so he had no say at the time.
Now he did. “Got more members now but thinkin’ it’s still too much territory for us to cover.
Don’t give a fuck about the chapters in West Virginia or Ohio.
They can keep that bullshit. But anythin’ between us and the Mason-Dixon line, man… ” He shook his head.
Rage agreed. “No fuckin’ shit. That’s a whole ‘nother story.”
“Not likin’ this,” Zeke murmured, staring at the DAMC patch carved into the middle of the long table. “Not likin’ this shit one fuckin’ bit.”
The Twisted Souls were an outlaw MC that might mean trouble for his club. Zeke needed to be proactive and deal with it and not let the DAMC take hits from a rival club, like the Shadow Warriors used to do to them.
The Warriors would show up when the club least expected it, create some havoc, then disappear again. Being nomads, they didn’t have a home base, so they could strike, then go to ground easily. It made them more difficult to find and deal with.
Ultimately, in the end, they’d been handled and were a distant memory. But not before leaving scars behind on the DAMC.
They could never let that happen again.
“For fuck’s sake, all of this shit sounds like more than a rumor.” Zeke rubbed at his chest. The shit was giving him fucking heartburn.
To his right, Zane shifted in his seat. “Yeah, seems like more of a plan than a rumor. Gotta keep on top of this.”
Zeke glanced over at Rage when he said, “Know the Twisted Souls had issues with the Kings of Anarchy in the past. The Kings weren’t gonna put up with any of their bullshit, so they squeezed the Souls out of their territory.
Seems like that club’s now lookin’ to go where they ain’t gonna be fucked with. ”
“Of course they had to move fuckin’ west to be a thorn in our fuckin’ sides,” Wheels said at the other end of the table.
“Fuck,” Chaos groaned. “Shit’s been so goddamn peaceful. No threats, no rivals, no nothin’. Thought between us, the Knights, and the Fury up north, we had western PA locked down.”
Chaos wasn’t the only one with that thought.
“Could wait and see if they keep their shit tight and not try to encroach, or we can move on them before they expect it,” Zane suggested.
“Know my fuckin’ vote on that,” Rage grumbled. “Prez?”
Zeke sat back and once again stared at the carving in the center of the table.
It wasn’t only his club family they had to protect, but he now had a son. He might not have known him for very long, but no matter what, Ledger was blood. His blood.
And Zeke would die for him. He’d also kill for him.
Hopefully, it wouldn’t come to that.
But guaranteed, if the Souls fucked with them, they’d regret it.
“Thinkin’ I should have a sit down with the Souls’ prez. Maybe pass on a warnin’. No reason to start a fuckin’ war ’til there’s a reason. The Demons never really fucked with us, so the Souls might keep to their fuckin’ selves. If not, we’ll handle ‘em like the OGs handled the Warriors.”
Whatever they needed to do, they would do it to keep their club and families safe.
“Ain’t just gonna be you at that meet, Prez. Gonna be me and Chill, too,” Rage announced.
Yeah, he couldn’t face a whole other biker army as a lone soldier. They needed to show solidarity.
Zeke glanced over at his younger brother. “Set it up.”
“Where?”
“Somewhere neutral,” Zeke answered Zane.
“What ‘bout the Knights? Think they should be there, too?” Chaos asked.
“Couldn’t hurt to show the Souls that, together, the Angels and the Knights are a force not to fuck with,” Rage answered.
Zeke jerked his chin up at his brother. “Chill, reach out to them, too. Also, gonna tell Vi to get the Shadows to do some recon on the Ohio and West Virginia chapters in the meantime. It’ll be good to know if they’re tryin’ to be a powerhouse or not.
The more info we got in our back fuckin’ pocket, the better. ”
Not one officer in that meeting disagreed. The more prepared they were to deal with the potential threat, the better.
“Where is he?” could be heard over the loud, bass-thumping music being piped through the speakers.
For fuck’s sake. Someone sounded pissed.
That someone being Kyra.
“Get him out here. Now!”
Jesus fuck. He couldn’t even take a fucking piss in peace.
She could’ve fucking texted him instead of making a goddamn scene in front of all his brothers, the sweet butts, and anyone else hanging out in the common area. It was pretty damn packed for a Saturday night. Especially after having a church meeting with all the patched members.
He pulled in a breath to steel himself, checked to make sure his jeans were zipped, then strode out of the bathroom.
Of course, he practically ran straight into Bubbles as she exited the women’s room. Them walking out of the little alcove where the bathrooms were located at the same time wasn’t going to look good.
Fuck no.
It would look like he and the sweet butt had been doing shit together. Especially when Bubbles reached out to play with the back of his hair as they headed into the crowded, open space.
“I’m in the mood to get in some trouble,” she purred. “Are you?”
“Not now, woman. Gotta go deal with some shit.” Even though he shrugged the sweet butt’s hand off, Kyra caught what Bubble’s did.
From across the large room, deadly laser beams shot from her blue eyes and struck him in the chest.
The fuck if they were going to do this in front of everyone. No fucking way.
She stomped toward him, her face telling him everything he needed to know.