Chapter 21
Chapter Twenty-One
Last night, while grabbing a beer at the club’s private bar, Zane had come up to stand shoulder to shoulder with him. “They don’t wanna meet,” he announced under his breath.
Zeke turned toward his younger brother. “Who don’t?”
“Twisted Souls. Reached out to their prez. He pretty much blew me the fuck off.”
That wasn’t fucking good. If anything, it was sus. “You shittin’ me?”
“No, brother. Wish I could say I was. Makes me think they might be up to somethin’.”
“No fuckin’ shit. You give Rage a heads up?”
“Yeah. He’s gonna meet with Romeo ‘bout the situation.”
Zeke’s head jerked back. “My fuckin’ sergeant at arms is gonna meet with the Knights’ prez without me?”
“Sounds like it. Talk to Rage.”
Fuck that shit. “Last I checked”—he glanced down at this officer patch to make sure it was still there—“I’m still the fuckin’ president of this damn club. Rage should be talkin’ to me.”
So instead of having dinner with his kid and his woman—or the woman he hoped would soon be wearing his cut again—he was sitting in a dark corner at Dirty Dick’s, the bar the Dark Knights owned.
Despite it also being open to the public, it doubled as their clubhouse since all the Knights hung out there and their officers met in the basement.
Wasn’t fancy, but it worked for them.
Their former sergeant at arms, Magnum, had claimed a table in the back corner and no one had ever dared sit at it but him. Romeo, the current prez of the all-Black MC, had taken ownership of that table after Magnum retired his officer’s patch.
The wood table was scarred, stained and had seen a lot of shit.
Zeke sat across from Romeo. Opposite Rage, sat Voodoo, the Knights’ latest sergeant at arms.
Voodoo was a big, scary motherfucker. Bigger than Romeo, but not much smaller than Magnum. The man was so damn tatted up, it was hard to tell where his black ink ended and his dark skin began.
But no matter what, just his appearance screamed “don’t fuck with me.”
Zeke side-eyed Rage. At six-foot-three, Hawk’s son was a shit-load bigger than Zeke, but not as bulky as Voodoo.
He was just glad the OGs from both the Angels and Knights had the foresight to become allies over thirty years ago. Along with the Blood Fury up north, the three clubs had become a powerhouse and were usually never fucked with.
But tonight, he wasn’t liking what he was hearing.
By the Kings of Anarchy MC chasing the Twisted Souls out of their former territory, now the “biker army of the west” would have to deal with them instead.
Fuck both those outlaw clubs.
Just because the Angels hadn’t worn those diamond-shaped 1% patches in the last forty or so years, that didn’t mean they’d be fucking pushovers.
Being a one-percenter was more of a state of mind than anything. And not advertising it on their cuts helped them maintain a better relationship within the Shadow Valley community. With the pigs, too.
Not that Zeke gave a fuck about that second group, despite having family who had worn pig skins in the past and some who still did.
Zeke suddenly had an urge to spit. He caught himself since Romeo probably wouldn’t appreciate a hocker decorating the floor, despite the man not being a fan of pigs himself.
“You hear any other chatter?” Romeo was sitting back, looking like nothing in the world could bother him at that moment.
But Zeke knew that could change in a flash.
“Only what was heard at the club,” Rage answered.
Romeo’s dark forehead buckled. “Which club?”
“Heaven’s Angels.”
“Twisted Souls were there runnin’ their traps?”
“Not sure who the fuck they were since we don’t allow colors.”
“Aware of that,” Romeo grunted. “Been a while since I’ve been there, but remember bein’ made to remove mine just to see a little tits and ass.”
“Ain’t no little when it comes to our talent. They got huge fuckin’ tits and huge fuckin’ asses. They don’t got any, they don’t get the job.”
Romeo huffed out a breath. “Guessin’ you oversee all the tryouts yourself?”
One side of Rage’s mouth pulled up. “Perk of the job.”
Tink, one of the Knights’ long-time sweet butts, dropped off beers for all four of them. Before she could split, Voodoo’s hand shot out to snag her wrist, spun her around, and smacked her ass so hard, even Zeke felt the sting.
Damn.
“Later,” was all Voodoo said in his gruff voice.
“I have to—”
Voodoo repeated, “Later,” cutting her off.
Tink nodded quickly and skittered away.
Zeke watched the thirty-something Asian-American club girl rush off before swinging his gaze back to the Knights sitting across from him.
Voodoo was eyeing him. “Ain’t for you.”
Zeke lifted both palms. “Ain’t got a problem with that.” Even if he had been interested, he wasn’t fucking shit up with Kyra.
He might be a stupid fuck at times but he wasn’t that much of a stupid fuck.
“Know we normally share our girls…” Romeo started.
“No explanation needed,” Zeke told him.
The Knights’ prez nodded. “Back to fuckin’ business.” He shifted his dark brown eyes to Rage. “Heard them sayin’ they were takin’ over the Demons’ territories, right?”
“Yeah,” Rage answered.
“Sounds like they’re runnin’ from the Kings.” Romeo slowly stroked his bearded chin.
Zeke responded, “Sounds about right.”
Romeo stated the obvious next. “Kings ain’t takin’ no shit.”
“And they shouldn’t,” Zeke confirmed.
“Don’t blame the Souls for blazin’ a new path to get away from that crazy motherfuckin’ club, but would be better if that path led them somewhere that ain’t near us.”
Zeke agreed. “Ain’t arguin’ that.”
Romeo cocked an eyebrow his way. “You talk to the Fury?”
“No reason to yet. Demons’ territory was just west of us in Ohio and down in West Virginia.”
“’Til those fucks decided to creep north into PA,” Romeo reminded him.
“Right. Nowhere near the Fury. Will pull them in only if we gotta.”
“Sounds like there’s no fuckin’ threat at this point,” Romeo concluded. “The Souls stay away from us, we’ll stay away from them.”
“Still need to keep a fuckin’ eye on them,” Rage said.
“No fuckin’ shit,” Voodoo said. “Definitely gonna keep a finger on their pulse. They pull any bullshit, gonna make sure that fuckin’ pulse flatlines.”
That made one side of Zeke’s mouth hike up.
On the outside, both the Fury and the Angels appeared to be on the straight and narrow. At their core, not so much. But, like the Kings, the Knights didn’t give a fuck about appearances. They still clung to their outlaw patch with pride.
They were the same as they always were and did what they needed to do with zero fucks. Zeke would go back to the openly outlaw ways in a hot fucking minute if the membership agreed.
Unfortunately, the majority of his brothers, including the OGs, disagreed.
Romeo swallowed a mouthful of beer before asking him, “Whadya need from us?”
“Just checkin’ to see if you heard anything. Also wanted to give you the heads up. Need to make sure the Souls stay in their own goddamn lane. They don’t, we need to fuckin’ act.”
“No different than any other fuckin’ club trespassin’ in our territory without permission. They do, the Souls gonna learn a lesson same as they did with the Kings.”
“Thing with those motherfuckin’ Kings was, they weren’t waitin’ for the Souls to step outta line,” Rage said. “They went on the offensive ‘stead of defensive.”
Voodoo turned interested, dark eyes to Rage. “That what you wanna do?”
Romeo tapped his finger on the table. “Here’s the fuckin’ thing. If the Souls don’t take that area, then another club might. Might be best to see how those motherfuckers handle it first.”
“Or we can split that territory and not give them that chance in the first fuckin’ place.”
Romeo scrubbed a hand back and forth over his bald head as he regarded Zeke. “That patch is south of the DAMC’s. You cushion us from them.”
For fuck’s sake. What a short-sighted take. “But if those motherfuckers take our patch, they can take yours next.”
“And we’re supposed to be fuckin’ allies,” Rage growled.
“Might be allies but we ain’t your bitches,” Voodoo growled back.
Romeo shot his enforcer a look that clearly told him to shut the fuck up.
“You know we’re gonna stand by your side if fuckin’ needed.
Just like you’ll stand by ours. Just like the Fury will come south if called.
But not lookin’ to start a fuckin’ war when a line hasn’t even been drawn yet.
They start draggin’ their boot in the goddamn sand and creatin’ one, then we need to kick that fuckin’ sand right in their face. ”
“Wanna avoid the same shit we had with the Warriors. Took too fuckin’ long to eradicate them.” Too many members and ol’ ladies of the DAMC got hurt because of those fuckers. As the prez, he wanted to avoid living through that hell again.
“Ain’t gonna disagree with you on that,” Romeo murmured, running a finger over the letters roughly carved in the table.
Those letters spelled out “KNIGHTHOOD.”
It had been there before the first time Zeke ever sat at that table and would be there long after the last time.
“Heard congrats are in fuckin’ order.” Romeo’s words pulled Zeke from their topic of discussion.
“For?”
“Heard you now got some crotch fruit of your own.”
Rage shifted sharply next to Zeke. Most likely because, until Kyra gave the okay, Zeke hadn’t made any official announcement. Despite the fact most of his brothers knew the truth.
“Just one.”
Romeo grinned. “One’s all it fuckin’ takes.”
“He’s one reason why I wanna be proactive when it comes to those fuckin’ Souls.”
Romeo nodded. “A damn good important one.”
“Fuckin’ with family comes with an automatic death penalty.”
While Voodoo stated a fact Zeke agreed with… “Rather they don’t get fucked with in the first place.”
Romeo sat back and nodded again. “With you on that. That’s why your father built that damn compound.”
“You mean the retirement village?”
Romeo snorted. “Yeah. Ain’t a bad place to land. Thinkin’ we should build somethin’ similar. Hard to keep everybody safe when they’re scattered like us. Only place we got for a lockdown is this bar. Ain’t fuckin’ smart.”
“Only the OGs live behind those walls. Rest of us are scattered,” Zeke reminded the Knights’ prez.
“But not like us. You got Ace’s old farm with all those cabins. Also got the rooms above your church.”
That was true. The farm not only had the big farmhouse that Vi, Indie, and Scarlet shared after Ace and his ol’ lady, Janice, willed it to their granddaughters, it had ten cabins on the property.
The only places truly isolated and more at risk were the apartments above both the pawn shop, where Bri lived, and Heaven’s Angels, where Rage lived.
Rage could handle whatever bullshit came his way. Bri? Not so much.
His gut twisted at the thought of long-time member Nash’s daughter being so vulnerable. He’d have to have that discussion with Rage as well as her brother, Chaos. Maybe even pull in Nash. She’d probably refuse to move out, but she might not have a choice if the Souls ended up being a threat.
It’d be damn hard to protect her where she was. During business hours was one thing, after the pawn shop was closed at night was another.
Yeah, the more he thought about it, the more he realized the officers needed to sit down and identify all their weak spots. The clubhouse and The Iron Horse Roadhouse had been made bulletproof after the Warriors attacked the bar during a club Christmas party many fucking years go.
But the rest of the DAMC-owned businesses around town were still vulnerable.
And the fuck if he liked Kyra and Ledger living where they did.
But convincing her to move somewhere safer might not be so easy.
He might have to talk to Vi about moving her into one of the cabins on the farm, if one was available.
Especially since all of the current Shadows lived on the property, including that new guy, Reaper.
Yeah, that might be the way to go. The fact that she wouldn’t have to pay rent could be enough to sway her. He only needed to get Vi to let her live there for free. Her and Kyra being former besties might be enough to do the trick. Add in Ledger’s safety…
Yeah. He glanced over at Rage. He had no doubt his sergeant at arms would agree with his plan.
Zeke knocked his fist on the table. “All right. Gonna get outta your hair.”
Romeo once again rubbed a palm over his smooth noggin. “Can’t remember last time I had fuckin’ hair.”
“We hear or see anythin’ more, we’ll get in touch.” Zeke stood and Rage did the same.
Romeo and Voodoo also got to their feet. “We’ll do the same, brother.”
Zeke nodded as they clasped hands and bumped shoulders.
Their relationship had come a long way from when the Knights’ prez was chasing his ol’ lady Maddie and Romeo thought Zeke was trying to get a piece of her.
He hadn’t been, but he still did shit on purpose to set Romeo off about it.
Once they were outside and heading toward their sleds, Rage muttered, “Funny how he talks to you now, unlike when he used to think you were a cocky little shit.”
“‘Cause I was.” Zeke shrugged and grinned. “Might still think that way, too. But best part ‘bout that is, I now wear the same fuckin’ prez patch as he does so he got no choice but to deal with me.” He stopped next to Black Betty and faced Rage. “Time to put some plans in place. For the businesses and for everyone under our watch. Gonna talk to Vi about movin’ Ledger and Kyra out to the farm.”
Rage nodded. “Yeah, good fuckin’ idea. Been thinkin’ about Bri’s situation, too.”
“You ain’t the only fuckin’ one.”
“Doubt she’ll want to give up that damn apartment. She likes the convenience and the independence.”
“We tell her she’s gotta move, she’s gotta move. Ain’t her fuckin’ choice.”
Rage grunted. “Good luck with that shit.”
Zeke agreed it wouldn’t be easy but it needed to be done. “Between Chaos and Nash, they might be able to convince her without it becomin’ a damn fight.”
“Chill might be able to talk some sense into her, too,” Rage suggested.
While his younger brother had a hard-on over the pawn shop’s co-manager, that didn’t mean she’d listen to him. “She’s pretty damn stubborn.”
Rage shot him a no shit look. “What woman ain’t?”
No shit was right. He was about to deal with one himself.
And he wasn’t talking about Vi or Bri.