CHAPTER ELEVEN
-:- AXEL -:-
Training over and I can’t help but chuckle at Paisley’s face when she had finished the warm-up stage of the training. She was sweating, red as a tomato and puffing hard. Meat, Target, and Wings were the trainers this morning, and they put the women through their paces. They also did it with damn huge smiles on their faces.
Eden, Tilly and Mia sat on the bench watching everyone and shouting encouragement, but while they did that they were eating donuts and drinking chamomile tea. They are at different stages of pregnancy and I had to chuckle because Eden is nearly ready to hatch, Tilly is six months and Mia is three, so their bumps are all different sizes. Going from little to large, it was visually amusing but earned me a scowl when Mia caught me grinning.
Stepping into church, I take my seat and scan the room to be sure everyone is here. The only one missing is Dep, and he’s away on a mission for Forest, which I’ve been informed about as it’s on behalf of Paisley. Everyone is relaxed and talking, but boy, they can make some noise.
“Okay, shut the fuck up, all of you. I’m calling the meeting to order and let’s get it rolling because we have quite a bit to cover. PT, anything to report?”
PT shakes his head. “Nothin’, Pres. I’m on top of everything and have nothing to bring to the brothers’ attention.”
Giving a nod, I turn and look at Specs. “Anything?”
“I’ve placed a tracker in Paisley’s ring…” Specs starts to say, but BS jumps in, asking. “What ring?”
Turning to TwoCents, who gains everyone’s attention. “Well, I purchased a ring for Paisley and myself, you know, ‘cause we’re married. If she realized she didn’t have a wedding ring, she’d have been asking where it was. So, I went and bought one, and one for me, and before you say anything, I’m keeping her.”
Placing my hand over my mouth to hide the smirk that is on my face, I watch as the scene plays out. I knew it was coming the moment the wedding rings were mentioned, and the brothers didn’t let me down.
‘Keeping her? What.the.fuck!’
‘He’s gonna get killed when she finds out.’
‘I can’t wait for her to find out this fucker married her without her knowing.’
‘Can I get a front row seat?’
‘I’ll bring the popcorn.’
“Shut the fuck up, all of you. I’ll deal with it,” TwoCents snarls, but I can see that he’s genuinely worried, and he’s serious about keeping Paisley as his wife.
“Okay, listen up. Nobody let slip about their marriage. You get me? Not a single fucking word. We support TwoCents as he’s always supported us, and if we can make sure Paisley sees his worth, then that’s all good.” I make sure they all know I’m serious, and I see the younger brothers Mensa, Web and Roadrunner giving each other side-eyes. But when Mensa bursts out laughing, I know they’ll keep quiet and not bust TwoCents’ bubble. “Moving on Stitch, anything?”
“Nothing. I’ve checked Paisley every few days and her memory is returning in flashes, but it may never all come back. She had to have hit her head badly to have caused the suffering she’s had, but I think her memory will come back in time.” Stitch leans back in his seat and he turns his head to look at TwoCents as though to say, ‘Sorry brother.’
“Okay. TwoCents report.”
Taking out a notebook where he always writes his reports before coming to church, he makes a start.
“Club Whisky’s profits are up by 2%. If it increases then I think we should raise the staff’s salaries a little more.”
Murmurs around the room agree, and as it’s not particularly a voting issue, I feel as President that they all should have the right to disagree on topics such as this.
TwoCents continues, “Shooting Range. With the new supplier for merchandise, we are seeing more sales and a small increase in profits, otherwise all else is the same. Coffee House, I say it’s time to give a salary increase to Liam as he has increased our profits by 14% since he took over as manager.”
“I agree on that as he’s doing a fantastic job. He has even mentioned to me when I was in last week with Mia, that we should think about opening another Coffee House on the edge of town.” My giving that information has the brothers thinking.
“We have a lot of businesses now and I don’t think we should overstretch ourselves,” Hammer comments, and some of the brothers nod in agreement.
“Yeah, I think we should stay as we are for the time being, and we can expand if the need arises,” I add, getting more agreement nods.
“Construction profits are solid. Hammer does a good job keeping materials to cost, changing suppliers as and when necessary,” TwoCents continues, and Hammer gives him a chin lift to let him know he appreciates the comment. “We need to look at a warehouse because the building and yard that the construction crew are using have been outgrown. We can sell that and expand. There are so many empty buildings we can purchase and use that would suit the purpose.”
Hammer stands up to address the room. “I think it’s time we looked at getting a bigger base of operations for the construction teams. We’ve been buying the power tools we need on a regular basis, rather than renting them. We’re saving a lot of green this way and the tools are always available when we need them. Even if we have to take them off one job to another for a day, we’re saving money and time. There were occasions when we couldn’t get what we needed from a rental firm for two or three days and that almost shut jobs down. Now, it’s just costing the time fetching and returning them.
“We also use more men now and with sub-contractors coming to the yard each day, it’s getting crowded. We know there are plenty of places available to us, as TwoCents just said, so I think it’s time we upgraded. I think we should consider upping our manpower, too. We could be making better profits by paying our own wages to men rather than paying out for the sub-contractors. Something to consider in the near future.”
“I think we should leave all this to Hammer because he knows what he needs and can organize what men he needs. The building issue, yeah, find what you need, then bring it to the table,” I add and everyone agrees, so we can move on with the meeting.
“Continue, TwoCents,” I state.
“Hot Hogs Cages have far exceeded what we thought, and have work to keep them going for years to come. As quickly as they fulfill an order, they have a new one on the waiting list.
“Bespoke Furnishings has a high profit margin and they have orders for the next year. Wood Supply is running at a profit of 30% and I think we should give the four of them a salary increase. Maybe ask them again about being brothers of the club?” TwoCents surprises me with the last part of his comment.
“We’ve asked the four of them a few times and I think we need to just leave them be now. They will come to us if they are interested in the future.” I close this discussion down because you can’t force people to want to be in an MC. They either do or they don’t like the lifestyle. But I have noticed that all four have a bike now.
TwoCents continues, “TJs, Garage, and the Wine Shop are all good. We have nothing to report more than we’d normally report. The Tattoo Shop will have repaid for the shop cost and the equipment in eighteen months in my calculations. If it continues growing, Reuse has mentioned they may need to take on another artist, but at the moment, he and Hashtag are coping.
“All bank deposits are now being double manned by an enforcer plus, at least, one other. Since the bank raid, it’s highlighted how vulnerable we’ve let ourselves become. If anyone is asked to accompany an enforcer, there is no side-stepping the task. The last deposits were good. Forest finished the one I started and the last run that Stitch made was taken by Wings and Buzz.”
“Okay, businesses are doing well and I’m happy that all the work we’ve put in is paying off at last. We don’t have our hands in anything dirty and can file taxes like every man.” Grinning because this is what I’ve wanted for my brothers, especially brothers that are prior military and needed purpose. “Anything else?” I ask TwoCents, knowing he has, but leading him to where we need to be.
“Yes. Lily, who is Star’s friend. You all know who she is, well she has asked if I will do her financials. It’s not going to take hours to do her ledgers and keep her straight. I think it’ll be fairly easy money for the club to earn, and helps Star’s friend at the same time.”
“Just give me a show of hands. I don’t want to debate this because it’s TwoCents that will do the work and if he is happy to do it, then it’s money in our pockets.” I check who has raised hands, and it’s unanimous. We can move on.
TwoCents indicates he has more to say, so I give him the floor.
“I spoke to Nell to see if she had any knowledge about Senator Brooks. She knew the basics of what we know and didn’t think he was ‘dirty’, apart from being a man-whore, that is. I also asked about DeSantos. She’s going to see what Vitale knows. Now that started a whole new topic of conversation. It’s taken Nell a long time to divert his ‘loving intentions’ away from her. If this contact re-ignites his desires, she won’t be happy.
“Dep has taken Sober with him to do some ‘out of town’ digging. Senator Brooks may also have links to Charles Irvin, hence the DeSantos link. He was part of the DeSantos Cartel and their gun-running and trafficking operations. Forest’s FBI friend, Aaron, has suddenly become tight-lipped, so there may be a tie-in with one of their operations somewhere.”
TwoCents looks at all of us in turn, and we get the message. If the FBI is tight-lipped, then they are ‘out to get him’ themselves, or they are ‘hand in glove with him’ and that would mean they are protecting him.
Forest has given the floor to TwoCents with it being about Paisley, but everyone can see he is not too happy about the FBI friend being quiet. My thoughts are that this Aaron has gotten dirty, or he’s trying to stay quiet and out of the way. We all know they could make him disappear if shit hit the fan.
“Right, nothing else to cover. Let’s call it quits and enjoy the rest of our day.” I jump up, quickly making my way out of church, and go looking for Mia. I’m ready to give her some extra loving.