Chapter 14
Being in the same room with my family and Truce made my skin crawl.
They hadn’t said anything derogatory toward me, but it didn’t matter.
I was being overlooked like I so often was with them, unless I was giving them money or other benefits.
My family occasionally glanced at me. That wasn’t the case with Truce.
Every time I turned my head, his eyes met mine.
The darkness there made me shiver, but I held them in.
I’d met Truce before. There was no way I could avoid him even if I didn’t watch the fights.
Dad had brought him home twice when I was there.
He started fighting for Dad after I moved to Bristol.
I wasn’t sure how deep he was into everything, except as a prizefighter.
And it didn’t matter. All that did was that he’d be taken down alongside the others.
There was a prolonged silence that increased the tension in the cabin. I was worried something would set off a fight. I was relieved when Reaper broke it.
“We’re interested, but we can’t just blindly offer our funds or muscle without proof of what you have. And we sure can’t ask friends to get into business with you if we can’t vet everything you’re involved in,” Reaper told Dad.
I was prepared for Dad to refuse. He guarded the location of those fights more than he ever did his children, or at least me. To my shock, he nodded.
“I understand that. I’ll contact my daughter when the next fight happens.
We’re planning to have a regular fight in the next week or so.
She’ll bring you to the house, and we’ll go from there.
You have to understand. Until I know you’re in, you’re not allowed to drive to a location. You’ll be taken in a blacked-out van.”
“Agreed. Is there anything else we should discuss now? We’re very interested in your business,” The Punishers’ president replied.
“What about your businesses? What do you do that’s illegal?” Rome piped up to ask.
“That’s a discussion for next time. I can promise you, our hands are far from clean. Don’t double-cross us. We have connections and friends you don’t want to get on the bad side of,” Reaper warned.
“Enough talk. We’ll discuss things more after you’re our guests at the fight. Aubrielle, it’s good to see you. We’ll talk soon,” Dad said.
I felt sick to my stomach. And like that, the meeting was over.
We exited the cabin along with my family and Truce.
I was afraid they’d try to hug me, to make it look good in front of the Punishers, but they didn’t.
We got ourselves situated on the bikes while they piled into the two vehicles.
Dad, Rome, and Truce got into Dad’s SUV.
That left Jock and Jace to ride in Jock’s truck.
My group smiled, waved, and gestured for them to go ahead of us.
After a momentary hesitation, my family did.
Out on the hardtop road, they went west while we headed east. I let out a relieved breath when we were down the road.
There was no way to talk on the bike, which was good.
As the miles between them and us increased, more of the Punishers joined us.
As one group, we rode back to Bristol and through the compound’s gate.
I knew we’d stop at the clubhouse to debrief before going our separate ways for the night.
I was exhausted and wound up at the same time.
Waiting inside the clubhouse were the rest of the club brothers, Jonas, and Pax. Astrid, Cheyenne, and Alisse were there too. The other women and kids were nowhere to be found, but it was late. Kids would be asleep.
The babble of voices talking over each other was a bit jarring. Before anyone was told anything, we grabbed drinks. Shadow ordered me a Jack Daniel’s Fire whiskey with Coke. I liked the cinnamon taste. I thought about saying no, but then I changed my mind.
When everyone was settled, Reaper, with help here and there, retold the whole thing.
I sat there sipping my whiskey and reliving the night.
It could’ve gone so badly, and I was prepared for it to.
However, overall, my family had behaved better than I’d ever seen them.
They must really want this to work out with the club.
Questions were asked, and points were clarified. Finally, the update was finished.
“So we sit back and wait?” Maniac asked.
“Yeah, except Spawn will keep up his research. We’ll go prepared when the date and time are determined,” Reaper said.
“I hate the idea of Ellie going anywhere near them. It was bad enough she had to endure them tonight. And what the hell was that fighter’s malfunction?” Shadow snapped. He was scowling.
“Elle, is Truce always that way?” Mayhem asked.
“I’ve only met him twice before. He became Dad’s prize after I left home.
He’s never said much, but his focus tonight seemed a little more intense.
It may be due to the situation we were in.
He was there as muscle for them. Glad they didn’t bring more, and they had no idea about yours,” I informed them.
“Spawn, when you’re doing your thing, let us know if you discover anything about Truce. Wish I knew his real name,” Crusher muttered.
“Truce is his actual first name. I heard Dad remark on it once. I don’t know what his last one is.”
“How old is he?” Spawn asked.
“I’d place him no more than a year or two older than me,” Shadow answered.
“Thanks,” Spawn muttered. He was jotting it down on a small notebook he took out of his cut pocket.
As we sat there, with the guys chatting, I let the whiskey take hold, and when it did, my body sagged as my eyes closed.
The next thing I knew, I was moving. I opened my heavy eyelids to find myself in Shadow’s arms. He was striding toward the clubhouse door.
The others were standing and appeared to be preparing to leave as well.
I waved as soft goodbyes were called out.
Then I closed my eyelids again. I was too tired to tell my man that I could walk. Or maybe I knew it would be a lie.
???
I was distracted not only by work and the homework from my computer class last week, but also by preparations for the Fourth of July party we were having in two days.
Since the holiday fell on a Thursday, most club businesses would have a four-day weekend.
The exceptions were Eden, The Punishers’ Deuce, which was their bar, and the Fortress of Bravery.
The strip club and bar would be closed on the fourth and fifth.
The Fortress planned to remain open because too many kids relied on the place as a sanctuary.
The distractions helped me not obsess over when Dad would call with the fight notice. Another thing I worked on was making the house spotless. Shadow helped me with that. His parents and sister were coming to the party.
For major holidays, often those with family who weren’t actually estranged would join.
Barrett, Meredith, and Blythe Marie were coming on Wednesday evening, and they’d stay through Friday.
We offered to let them stay longer, but they said we didn’t need them intruding for that many days. Our protests fell on deaf ears.
Meredith, Blythe Marie, and I worked out what we’d make for the cookout and coordinated with the other old ladies so we wouldn’t end up with duplicates.
I hadn’t had anyone to cook with since Mom died.
Sure, I’d helped a few times before when I came here as a guest, but it was different when you were a full member.
I refused to let my corrupt family ruin my time with the Punishers or Shadow’s family.
I’d gotten groceries and made sure fresh sheets were on both beds, and there were plenty of clean towels.
Today, Shadow was at the brewery to meet with a customer who wanted to start selling their ales.
Both Reaper and he had to be there. I was safely behind the compound’s walls, so I told him to take his time.
With all the housework finished, I turned to pulling out my recipes. Blythe and Meredith had shared theirs with me. I asked them to do it so I could ensure we had all the ingredients here when they arrived.
His mom told me they’d bring the ingredients from home, but I refused.
It was just more stuff to drag here. After a back-and-forth debate, Shadow told them they were stressing me out, and he wanted all three of us to be as stress-free as possible.
When Barrett sided with his son, they’d admitted defeat good-naturedly and emailed me their recipes.
“Jonas, I’ll unpack them. Thank you. I appreciate this so much,” I told him.
The ringing of my cell phone caused me to jump.
It was across the kitchen. I hurried over, snatching it up without glancing at the screen because I was focused on pointing to where I wanted Jonas to place the bags of groceries he’d just walked in with.
The prospects had made grocery runs for the past few days.
“Hello,” I said after pressing the call button.
For a second or two, I heard nothing. Then my dad’s voice came out of my phone. My awareness snapped to him.
“Aubrielle, glad I caught you and didn’t need to leave a message. You need to bring no more than five Iron Punishers to the house on Saturday night. Be here by seven. We’ll take you to the fight from there. I hope they mean to back this expansion. It won’t bode well if they’re messing with us.”
The threat was clear in his tone without the words. My heart sped up as I took a moment to inhale, then answer him.
“I’ll let them know. We’ll be there. They aren’t messing around. They want this partnership more than you can imagine, Dad. Is there anything else you need us to do? Or bring?” I asked.
I saw Jonas’s eyes widen, and then he took out his cell phone. His fingers flew over the screen.
“Just make sure they’re prepared to make our expansion dream a reality. Oh, and make sure you bring an extra payment. We need it.”