Chapter 7 A New King #2
“But you won’t betray her so long as you’re married?” Crutch asked.
“That’s the gist of it.”
Before either of us could say more, the door opened and Travis Caldwell walked in looking an absolute mess.
It looked like he had a rough night and an even worse morning.
The dark circles under his eyes, the messy hair, and the sheen of fuck sweat that clung to him said that his father had been right.
The asshole had been buried deep inside someone’s pussy and didn’t want to come out for this meeting.
“Sorry, Prez, didn’t realize there were others waiting on me.”
“It doesn’t matter if I’m the only one waiting on you.
When you’re summoned by the president of your club, you get your ass moving.
Don’t care what you were doing beforehand.
You can get your nut later, asshole. Now, take a seat.
” Crutch pointed to a chair in the far corner of the office.
“Over there. You wreak of pussy and the rest of us don’t want to be contaminated by it.
Last thing any of us need is our women losing their minds because we come home smelling like strange.
” Crutch grumbled the rest as if he had experienced that very thing firsthand before.
Grandpa hid a grin, unsuccessfully behind his hand as I shook my head in disbelief.
“Hey Tr-Bigfoot, how ya been?” I asked.
“Good catch,” Crutch assured me.
“Hanging in there. You square things with Jasper yet?” I shook my head. “Get that done or I won’t take whatever this is seriously, you hear me?”
“I hear you.”
“Good, now that we have that cleared up, you missed the part where the kid sounds about as loyal as they come, even if it is a bit misplaced from what I can tell.” Crutch turned from his son to my grandfather then. “Now that Bigfoot’s here, Tim, tell us about the property deal you have for us.”
Grandpa laid everything out for them. He would hand over the fifty acres of our ranch that bordered the clubhouse property for the amount owed on the land to the bank.
Another fifty acres would be mine, free and clear, to ranch or share with the club as I saw fit, but only upon me becoming a full-fledged member.
“The land deal is on the table whether he joins, makes the cut, or not,” Grandpa said.
“I’ll be honest with you, it’s the only way my wife and I can keep the property our house is on or we’ll have to move and start over.
Don’t want to do that at my age. Can’t go lower because we owe what we owe, thanks to my son. ”
“What about your son’s other debts?”
“They aren’t leveraged on the land. Those debts will be paid by him or they’ll come out of his ass. His creditors know that and have accepted it.”
Crutch nodded. “If they become a problem for you, your wife, your grandson here and his woman, you will let us know immediately so we can handle it.”
“Mighty kind of you,” Grandpa said as he tipped his hat at the man.
Crutch turned back to me. “You willing to share your portion of the ranch with the club, should you become a member?”
“Can’t do it on my own and if I become a member, that’s like stepping into a family, right?”
Crutch grinned. “That is correct. Okay then, so ranching might be a family business for us to consider then.” He glanced over at Bigfoot who gave him a nod and then back to me.
“You do not get paid to be a prospect. That said, we understand you have a wife who is dependent on you. We will give you a schedule that you can work around the time you spend on the ranch or wherever you’re currently working.
If there’s a conflict of your time, we will work it out for you. Your wife know you’re doing this?”
“She encouraged it,” I told him truthfully.
“Did she now?” Crutch looked at his son again and something passed between them that I wasn’t privy to. “You know why that is?”
“She knows that your club keeps this town running. I’m guessing she sees that as a sort of job security for me, considering the trouble we had at the ranch thanks to my dad trying to run it into the ground.”
“Smart woman,” Crutch said without much enthusiasm.
I could tell he didn’t think my answer was the truth, but to my knowledge it was.
Simone saw the club as a means to a better life in Violence.
She didn’t want to leave the place she’d lived since she was eleven.
I understood that. I didn’t much want to leave Violence either.
There was one reason I’d go and she was no longer an option.
By the end of our meeting, I was officially a prospect being brought on by Crutch himself.
My grandpa’s land would go to the club so they could build family housing for club members on it.
My land, should I fully join the club, would be used as a business front.
The ranch would always be flush with cash no matter how it was doing because that was how some of the dirty money the club made was about to get cleaned.
When we were dismissed, I was sent directly to Jasper to learn the ropes and make good with my former best friend. Just as I got there, a text came through on my phone from my wife.
Simone: Off to see Cass for the weekend. Going to live the college life for the weekend with my bestie.
James: Remember you’re married. Certain parts of the college life are off limits to you.
Simone: Duh. See you Monday.
I didn’t bother to point out, again, that we didn’t have the money to take off to wherever Cassidy attended college. I knew she needed a break away after the miscarriage, though, so I let it go.
“That the wife?” Jasper asked.
“Yeah,” I agreed as I put my phone away.
“You staying married even though…”
“Even though,” I said.
“I was sorry to hear about the baby. Is she doing okay?”
“Yeah, off to hang with a friend for the weekend. First time getting away since it happened. We can’t really afford it, but she needed it, and I’ll be here, so…”
“I get it. Kinda.” Jasper grinned at me and then glanced around and leaned in to whisper, “You weren’t wrong about me swimming in pussy here.
We’re not supposed to touch the club girls until we’re members, but there are other women that come in and they aren’t off limits.
” He winked and whistled a tune all the way to the back of the bar where he started to show me the ins and outs of running the place efficiently.
Something I would need to know for the weekend since the club was expecting out of town guests and they were ready to party.