Chapter 10 #2
“No problem. That’ll be two hundred and two thousand dollars. That’s the bikes, the taxes, and filing for the paperwork, which the Atlanta office will handle when they deliver the bikes.”
Kai handed over a black credit card as if dropping two hundred thousand dollars was no big deal.
Damon ran it then got the exact details for the delivery and the names of the stuntmen.
Twenty minutes later, they were both out back on the driver’s course as Damon showed Kai all the tricks of the bike.
Kai left an hour later, happy as he could be on his new bike.
There wasn’t a photo taken to hang on the wall.
There wasn’t an autograph given or even asked for.
Damon didn’t treat Kai any differently than someone who’d walked in off the street, looking to buy a bike.
It showed Nellie exactly what kind of man Damon was.
Nellie headed to the dealership at lunch and was surprised to find a steady flow of traffic.
Some left with bikes, some left with Damon’s merchandise.
Nellie left with food and headed back to the garage where Damon’s hands were covered in grease as he worked on an antique motorcycle.
The other mechanics were working on either mechanical issues or customizing bikes.
Nellie was growing used to the sound of motorcycle engines, but the bone-rattling sound of a large pack of motorcycles had her looking up from the book one of the sales girls had given her.
It was a motorcycle club romance and Nellie felt as if she were learning all kinds of things today.
The first being that no matter what, she didn’t ever want to be called someone’s old lady.
Nellie saw the group of tatted-up, leather-wearing men circle the lot and park.
She looked back at her book and read about the MC guys on the page doing the same thing.
Was she asleep and dreaming? They threw their legs over and those who were wearing helmets, took them off.
Now, real life and fiction blurred, but she was pretty sure the three older men with the pot bellies were not from the books.
However, the guys who looked under forty could be . . . maybe.
“Bones,” Damon said as he wiped his hands on a rag before shaking the leader’s hand. He was tall, rail thin, and had a gray beard down to the middle of his chest. He was probably in his early sixties and looked every year of it. “Good to see you again. How are the bikes doing?”
Nellie noticed the way Damon moved to block her view and she wondered if he’d done it on purpose.
“They’re doing great. That’s why we’re here. My youngest boy, Jagger, just earned his cut,” Bones told Damon as Nellie tried to eavesdrop. She’d learned from the romance book that a cut was the vest that identified which club they belonged to and what their standing was in it.
“Congratulations,” Damon said, shaking hands with the man who must be Jagger. A man whom she was pretty sure was on the cover of the romance novel she was reading. “Are you wanting to upgrade the bike or do the paint and decal work on what you have now?”
“Paint and decal,” Bones answered. “He’ll get a new bike after he climbs the ranks.”
Damon handed Jagger a pad and a pen. “Write down how you want your name to appear under the emblem and I’ll get to work on it. I should have it ready next week. Do you need a loaner bike?”
“No, sir. My brother has one he’s letting me borrow,” Jagger responded as he handed back the pad.
Nellie saw the moment Jagger saw her curled up on the leather chair Damon had tucked away for her.
“Hey, baby.” His expression went from one of respect for Damon to a leer in a split second.
It gave her the shivers and made her want to turn invisible.
Damon side-stepped and cut off his view of her. “No.” His voice was eerily steady yet deadly at the same time.
“Just saying hi to a pretty lady,” Jagger said to Damon as he leaned to the side and winked at her.
“She’s off limits. That means you don’t wink at her.
You don’t smile at her. You don’t hit on her.
And you don’t talk to her. Unless you want to fuck around and find out why I have the reputation I do.
” Nellie stopped breathing at Damon’s words as he took a small step forward to crowd into Jagger’s space.
Jagger laughed it off. “Relax.” Then he did something stupid. He put his hand on Damon’s shoulder and laughed as he tried to step around him to get to Nellie.
Nellie heard Bones curse and the next thing Nellie knew, Damon had Jagger’s arm wrenched behind his back and his face shoved up against the towering toolbox. “I’m sorry, Bones, but I won’t be able to find the time to do your son’s bike.”
Bones didn’t race forward. Instead, he stood stock still where he was as did everyone else.
They were the nervous-looking ones, and it was when Nellie glanced behind her that she saw why.
The entire garage was lined with mechanics wearing Townsend Motorcycles shirts, each holding tools that could inflict serious damage.
They had their boss’s back and were intimidating as hell.
“I’m sorry for the disrespect of your old lady,” Bones said, not looking at Nellie. Ugh, old lady? She had to be ten years younger than Damon.
“She’s my brother’s old lady, which makes her my sister. Your son needs to learn his manners.”
“I will be sure to remind him of his manners. Please accept my apology. Jagger?” Bones still didn’t move.
Jagger looked ready to fight, but then Damon wrenched his arm higher up his back and Jagger grunted in pain. “I’m sorry for any offense, Damon, ma’am,” he said between clenched teeth.
Damon leaned forward and Nellie saw him whisper something to Jagger. Jagger’s red face turned pale. “Yes, sir. I understand,” he said softly.
Damon let go of his arm and shoved him toward his father. “Take the bike. If Jagger does a better job apologizing, I’ll consider doing the work on it. If not, there’s a garage on the south side of Charleston that does decent work.”
“No one touches our bikes but you,” Bones said. “We’ll make it right.”
He glared at his son who started to walk his bike back out of the garage. Neither Damon nor his employees moved until all the bikers were driving away. Then his employees just went back to work as if nothing had happened. Meanwhile, her heart rate was through the roof.
“They won’t bother you again. Sorry about that.” Damon grabbed his tools and went back to work.
“Um, you just made an entire biker gang back down.”
“I can be persuasive.”
“Are you in a gang?” Nellie asked before she could stop herself.
“Nope. But I had to be stronger than any gang member to earn their respect and to get the gangs to leave me alone. I’ve been in more fights than I can count and beaten up too many men to even begin to count.
But it allows me a freedom few have. A freedom to work with every club since they know I’m neutral and am not a potential member.
I’m not a nice person, Nell, but I don’t commit crimes and assaults unless I have to. ”
“You’re telling me that if I wanted my brother-in-law killed, you know a guy or two?” Nellie asked, smiling, to let him know she was teasing.
“I do. We’ll see if it comes to that.” His tone was matter-of-fact.
Nellie’s smile fell. She’d been joking. Damon was not.
“Hello!”
Maggie’s voice sang out unexpectedly. Damon was already straightening up and wiping his hands so he could grab the bags she was carrying. Yeah, he was a real meanie.
Damon kissed Maggie’s cheek and took the bags from her. “Is it time already?” Damon asked.
“Well, we women need a little more time than motorcycle gods.” Maggie turned to Nellie and smiled with such warmth that the fright from Jagger was a distant memory. “Come on. I brought outfits for you to try on for Bex’s party tonight.”
“Hold on,” Damon told them, setting down the bags and answering his phone on speaker. “Is everyone okay, Gator?”
“Hi! It’s Sue Ellen, is my sister with you?”
“I have you on speaker.”
“Sue Ellen, what happened today?” Nellie asked, rushing forward with Maggie to surround the phone.
“Well, Bex is a badass and I want to be her when I grow up. Also, Peter is amazing. I got to meet his wife and she’s so nice.”
Damon looked ready to interrupt so Nellie reminded her sister to get back to what happened on their outing to the banks.
“Well, seems I’m a millionaire, believe it or not.
Nell, there was so much cash in those accounts!
Too bad I probably won’t be able to keep it all.
I moved all the money to a new account that Ingram won’t be able to touch and handed over all the statements to Peter and Bex.
At first glance, Bex said it might be hard to prove where the money came from since a lot of it was cash deposits. ”
“You’ll be able to keep that money if they can’t prove where it came from,” Damon said.
“I’m hoping, because you know I won’t get anything from Ingram.
The house is in a family trust and the prenup that I signed only gives me bare minimum in alimony and child support.
Especially since he was trying to get custody and make me pay child support.
Anyway, even if he goes to jail, his family owns a lot of our assets,” Sue Ellen explained.
“What about the properties?”
“I own a dry cleaner. My three-year-old owns a parking garage and my six-year-old son owns a strip club. I cannot tell you how that makes me feel, besides sick to my stomach.”
“What the hell?” Nellie gasped.
“Money laundering,” Damon said instantly.
“Bingo, dark and brooding. That’s what Peter and Bex said too. As the owner, I gave them permission to set up cameras and access whatever systems they could to monitor activity.”
“Tell them about your attorney,” they heard Gator say in the background.
“Oh, my new attorney called and told me he got all the papers from Mr. Maybury’s office. He’s going over everything and we’ll meet tomorrow to hopefully sign the papers to make me officially divorced.”
Nellie sighed with relief. “That’s wonderful news, Sue Ellen. Are you coming to the party tonight?”
“No,” she replied, dropping her voice. “Gator is cooking a special dinner for us. Nell, this man is cooking for my children and me!”
Damon clearly looked uncomfortable, but Maggie was grinning just like Nellie was.
“Gator is a good one, Sue Ellen. I’ve known him my whole life. There’s no one with a purer heart and who knows how to treat a woman better than Gator,” Maggie told her.
“I’m seeing that. It’s quite the change for me. A very good change. Oh, the kids want a push on the new swings. Have fun tonight and thank you all so much for helping us.”
Sue Ellen hung up and Maggie hooked her arm through Nellie’s. “Come on. Let’s give Rowan a heart attack.”