Chapter 29
The night might have been hot and humid, but it sure as fuck felt like Christmas. At the pig roast, he had two important gifts to give out in front of his brothers.
Gifts that would make a statement.
Once Nash’s band, Dirty Deeds, took a break from playing in the courtyard, Zeke would take the stage where everyone could see it.
State of Mine’s heavy metal version of The Thunder Rolls filled the night air.
While Phoenix might not have inherited his father’s skills at slinging ink, he sure as fuck inherited his mother’s gift of singing.
Whenever Dirty Deeds now played—which wasn’t often anymore—Nix stepped into the lead singer’s spot. While Nash’s voice was still good, it was no longer great, and he had no problem passing off the microphone.
Even decades later, every time Dirty Deeds played, The Iron Horse Roadhouse was packed wall-to-wall because they still piped the live music into the bar.
Having the band play made the club some damn good scratch.
When Zeke caught Nix’s eyes, they exchanged chin lifts and the biker with the long, black braid hanging down his back leaned into the mic. “Gonna take a little break. Be back shortly.”
Zeke had already warned Nix what was up.
“Cut the feed to The Iron Horse ’til the band returns,” he ordered Coop as he strode past him on his way to the stage. The bar’s manager gave him a single nod and texted one of the prospects working the bar.
As the band left for their break, Zeke jumped onto the stage. He clasped hands and bumped shoulders with Chaos and Bri’s father.
Nash asked, “You ‘bout to do a fuckin’ Diesel?”
What? Then he remembered the story about Diesel getting on that same stage to finally propose to his ol’ lady. But not until after Jewel had popped out their three daughters. “Hell no.”
That wasn’t fucking happening tonight. Especially when he knew she’d say no. And when he did get around to asking her, he wouldn’t be doing it in front of an audience. The fuck if he would risk getting shot down in front of all his brothers. He’d never hear the fucking end of it.
After a loud snort and a light punch to Zeke’s arm, Nash headed off the stage.
Zeke moved over to the microphone and glanced around until he found Kyra and Ledger hanging out under the pavilion.
Normally, kids weren’t welcomed at the pig roasts due to the crazy shit that could, and usually did, go down. But he had told Ky that Ledger’s presence was required tonight. He suggested putting their son to bed in his old room upstairs if he got too tired and cranky.
Of course, she had grilled him on why Ledger needed to be there. He explained that he was officially claiming his son in front of his DAMC family tonight and he wanted to make it a special occasion.
Thank fuck she had accepted that explanation without too much pushback.
He said into the mic, “Ky, come up on stage.”
When her eyes widened, he realized, like Nash, she might think he was about to propose.
When his gaze swept the packed courtyard, his heart skipped a beat when he noticed everyone’s surprised face. Holy fuck! They all thought the same.
But before Kyra could bring Ledger to the stage, a grinning Vi rushed over to her and shoved a piece of paper into her hand.
What the actual fuck?
With Ledger’s clasping one hand and some sort of document filling the other, Ky weaved through the crowd gathering closer to the stage.
Of course his brothers, the hang-arounds, sweet butts, and prospects were waiting for a fucking spectacle. But thank fuck it wouldn’t be like the one four years ago when he got busted with his jeans open and his dick down Bunny’s throat.
He was goddamn lucky his woman had given him another shot.
Both she and Ledger were the perfect motivators for him to get and keep his shit together. And having his shit together also meant him hanging on to the club’s presidency.
The DAMC needed to remain strong and united so Ledger could eventually take his spot at the head of the table. He was determined for the Jamison legacy to continue.
As soon as they joined him on stage, his gaze flicked to the paper in her hand.
Instead of giving it to him, she hid whatever was written on it against her chest. “Because you said you wanted Ledger here tonight to officially introduce him to your brothers, I figured it would be the perfect time to give you this.” She held it out to him.
He grabbed the document and scanned it.
He read it again slower, then closed his gaping mouth. “Where the fuck’d you get this?”
Her blue eyes sparkled in the stage lights. “I had Lily do the name change. I thought that’s what you wanted.”
“Fuck yeah, I do...did. But why did Vi have it?”
“She picked it up from Lily for me. Again, I wanted it to be a surprise.”
It sure was a fucking surprise. “You also get me listed as his father on his birth certificate?”
“Not yet. You’d need to be involved for that and it would’ve spoiled the surprise. Lily worked on his name change first. She said we can work on fixing his birth certificate next.”
“Fuck, babe, I…” His nostrils flared as he pulled in a breath. He was supposed to be the one giving out shit tonight. Instead, he got one of the best presents ever. “This mean you all in?”
“Just don’t screw up,” she warned with a pointed look. She gave him the palm to stop him before he responded. “I know neither of us are perfect, but we need to do the best we can. For him. And for us.”
“Yeah,” he breathed. “Gonna be a better man and president ‘cause of you both.”
“That’s all I ask. Now, why are we up here?”
He turned back to the mic, turned it on, and announced, “Yo! Got important news.” Since everyone was already watching them on stage, he immediately lifted the paper up in the air. “It’s fuckin’ official. My boy is now Ledger Allen Jamison.”
A roar went through the packed courtyard.
“Future fuckin’ biker right there!” someone yelled.
“No shit, that’s why I wanted you all to see me claimin’ my son tonight. Makin’ it official.”
In the midst of a bunch of boots stomps and fists pounding against leather-covered chests, Zane quickly walked across the stage to join them.
After tucking the court document inside his cut, Zeke took the small denim vest from his brother and held it up with one hand while planting his other on Ledger’s shoulder.
“Meet my little badass Ledger. As you can see on his cut, his road name’s Legend.”
His brothers all started to chant “Legend” in unison as Zeke slipped the cut on Ledger. He grinned when his son began to uncontrollably giggle.
Wheels jumped onto the stage next and brought over another cut. This one was much larger and was made of black leather. It also wasn’t new.
“Zeke,” Kyra whispered as soon as she recognized it.
He announced, “Doin’ more than claimin’ my kid tonight.” His hand covered the mic so no one else could hear him tell her, “Already got approval from the other officers to return this to you. You only need to accept it to make it official.”
His heart thumped wildly in his chest due to the possibility she might reject it instead.
In front of fucking everyone.
Despite knowing the risk, he took it anyway to prove to her how much she meant to him. He didn’t want her to doubt it in any way.
After taking it from his hands, she brushed her fingers over the rockers on the back that stated without a doubt that she was the property of Trouble.
“Be my ol’ lady?”
“Do I have a choice?” Her eyes once again twinkled.
He grinned. “Fuck no.”
She got a funny look in her eyes, then laughed. “Then I have no choice but to accept it.”
Thank fuckin’ fuck.
When he helped her put it on, everyone shouted again. From the crowd, he heard a hell of a lot of “Fuck yeahs!” too.
She looked sexy as fuck in his cut. For a second, he regretted having the party. He really wanted to drop Ledger off with his grandfather and drag her upstairs to knock boots.
Instead, with a hand curled around her hip, he pulled her closer and whispered, “Love you, babe. Thanks for givin’ me another shot even though I probably didn’t deserve it.”
She only hesitated for a second before she whispered back, “I love you, too, Zeke. And I wouldn’t have accepted this cut if I didn’t think you did.”
Hoots and hollers rose up when they locked lips on stage.
A small hand pounded on his thigh, making him pull back and glance down.
Ledger had his face scrunched up. “Daddy! Yuck!”
He laughed. “You see me kissin’ Mommy all the damn time.”
“It’s yucky!”
Zeke ruffled his kid’s dark hair before yelling into the mic, “All right! Now we got somethin’ to fuckin’ celebrate!”
He gave Kyra another quick kiss before leading his little family to the side of the stage and down the steps to the trampled grass.
Kyra leaned closer to ask, “Can we take him home now?”
“Can you hang a bit longer, babe? Wanna make my rounds. Also want you showin’ off that cut.”
Two seconds after rolling her eyes, she huffed dramatically, “I guess I can suffer through a roast pork sandwich and some of that homemade mac and cheese.”
“Legend’s gonna like that mac and cheese, too.”
Ledger pulled on Kyra’s shorts. “Want mac and cheese, Mommy!”
Zeke cocked an eyebrow. “See? Put somma that shredded pork on top of it and he’s gonna like it even more. Kid’s got good taste. Like me.”
In fact, just thinking about the spread set out on the table by the smoker made his mouth water. He’d have to hit that up next, too. But he saw his father leaning back against one of the pavilion’s wood posts and decided, after what happened onstage, he better have a word with him first.
Zeke wanted to get a better read on Zak since he wasn’t smiling. He also wasn’t frowning. His expression was pretty damn neutral.
He squeezed his son’s shoulder. “Save some of that mac and cheese for me, Legend.”
With a shouted “Okie dokie, Daddy!” he took off, darting through the crowd with Kyra chasing after him.
Zeke braced as headed over to where his father waited.
“That certainly made a fuckin’ statement.”
“That was the point,” Zeke told the previous DAMC president.
“No shit. Not sure why you waited so fuckin’ long to claim your son, though.”
“Claimed him from the second I knew.”
Zak shook his head. “Know what I fuckin’ meant.”
“Yeah. Didn’t do it sooner ‘cause was kinda busy tryin’ to get my woman back. Now they’re both where they belong, so we’re good.”
Zak studied him carefully. “Just gotta keep it good.”
“Yeah. That’s the plan.” He glanced over where Kyra and Ledger went but he couldn’t see them from where he stood.
“You need advice, son, you know I’m always fuckin’ here for you.”
Zeke raised an eyebrow. “Are you?”
“Of fuckin’ course. You’re my firstborn. Raised you to be the president of this club. Mighta stumbled along the way, but you’re finally gettin’ your footing.”
“Bet you’re relieved ‘bout that.”
“Sure as fuck am. This club means a fuckuva lot to me.” He looked past Zeke to the very busy courtyard behind him. “To us all. Wanted you to be a damn good leader. Make me proud.”
“Maybe you shoulda groomed Zane to hold the gavel instead.”
Zak shook his head. “No. Saw the potential in you long before you saw it yourself. Knew Zane would have his place at the table, but not as the prez. Knew deep down once you got your fuckin’ head outta your ass, you’d be the best one for the job.”
Damn. Zeke didn’t want to admit how much that meant to him.
Before he could respond, the club’s secretary and sergeant at arms was flanking him.
“Got a fuckin’ problem,” Rage growled.
His stomach sank. “What?”
Chaos looked and sounded pissed when he said, “Those goddamn Angels of Fury had just finished a fuckin’ run and were on their way over here to join us.”
Why the fuck would he be angry about the women coming to the pig roast? It happened on the regular. The Angels of Fury crashed their parties and clubhouse all the damn time.
But before Zeke could remind him of that, Chaos continued. “Got a call that some of ‘em were run off the fuckin’ road by a bunch of unknown bikers.”
That dropped stomach began to twist.
“What the fuck?” Zak grumbled. “They all right?”
“My sister’s in the fuckin’ emergency room,” Chaos answered with his expression tight. “Sounds like she got a few broken bones.”
Rage had fury dripping from his words when he added, “Coupla others got some minor injuries. Piper’s sled might be totaled. Doctors were still fuckin’ assessin’ her when we hung up.”
Jesus fuckin’ Christ! “And the rest?” Zeke was trying desperately to keep this anger from spinning out of control. He needed to keep his fucking head.
“Don’t fuckin’ know yet,” Rage answered. “Nash is headin’ over to the hospital now. Wanted to tell you before we head over to get more info.”
“Gonna follow you,” Zeke told him.
With his jaw popping, Rage nodded. “Someone’s gonna fuckin’ pay for this shit. Nobody fucks with DAMC property.”
No fucking doubt.
“Gonna hold down the fort here. Will catch Kyra and everyone else up to speed. You go to the damn hospital and see what the fuck’s goin’ on,” Zak said.
Zeke gave his father a nod, but he fucking worried this latest shit would make Kyra regret becoming his ol’ lady again.
For fuck’s sake. He was finally getting his life to where it should be and of course, shit had to hit the fan.
Tonight was supposed to be a happy occasion.
He had his woman back.
He officially introduced his son to his brothers.
He had his club.
It looked like he was finally getting his father’s respect.
Now this goddamn shit.
Whether the members of the Angels of Fury wanted to admit it or not, every single fucking one of them riding in that club were DAMC, Blood Fury, or Dark Knights property.
Rage was right.
Nobody fucked with their property.
And got away with it.