Chapter 9
Chapter Nine
Hannibal
I head back downstairs with the prospect who let me know church’s about to start.
I stop at the bar to grab a shot first. Scrubbing my hand over my face, I brace myself for what’s about to happen.
“You know what this is about?” Midas asks, walking up to me.
“Maybe.” I throw back my shot, wincing at the burn.
“So it’s about Lola,” he grumbles.
“Is it gonna piss me off?”
“Everything pisses you off lately.”
“Fuck you.”
I grin as I make my way into church and take my usual seat.
I look around the room, feeling a wave of something foreign.
I don’t know if it’s nostalgia or heartburn.
I never expected to care—always taking my role here for granted.
After becoming a fully patched brother, I thought I’d be coming in here until I died or wound up in jail.
I can’t get my head around the fact that soon it’ll be another church, in another club, in a different home.
And I’ll be the one sitting in the top spot like the one Havoc takes as he addresses the room.
“Alright, calm down. I have a few things we need to discuss. First, I’ve decided who’ll be taking over for Khan.”
“As long as it’s not Driller,” Crane mumbles, earning a united here, here from the others.
“Driller couldn’t lead a dog on a leash.”
Havoc grunts his agreement before his eyes move to me.
“Actually, his replacement’s in this room.”
G nods, so I know Havoc’s already told him.
But everyone else looks confused.
“That’ll piss Driller off,” Kruger says, grinning.
“Hannibal, it’s been an honor being part of the same club as you. I can’t wait to see what you do as president of the Ohio chapter.”
There's silence for a minute before the room erupts.
“Holy fuck, Hannibal. You’re leaving?” Midas asks, shocked.
I wait until the noise dies down before I get to my feet. “I didn’t make this decision lightly. When Havoc asked me, I honestly wasn’t sure it was for me. I’m not exactly one for orders.”
A couple of brothers snicker.
“What you don’t know is that I have a daughter.”
That shuts everyone up.
“I met her mom, Melissa, while I was home on leave. It wasn’t anything serious––I had no plans to see her again. You know how it goes.”
I sit down and rake my hand through my hair. “Imagine my surprise when six months later, I got a message through my CO that she’s pregnant with my kid. I told her straight up I wasn’t interested in being a parent. We fought. She found out real quick why I was named after a psycho. After that, she was more than happy to raise the kid alone. We’ve barely spoken since. I send her the money, and she sends me photos. That’s it. Then, a few weeks ago, I got a phone call.” I look at G and his expression shifts as realization dawns. That was the day I bailed on him, and he ended up in a situation that caused a fight between him and his old lady.
“Melissa passed out while driving. She and my kid were okay, but the tests showed she’s got an inoperable brain tumor. That’s why she passed out. Her parents and sister died in the last few years, so when Melissa goes… there’s no one left to take Millie butt me.”
“That’s why you were asking me about foster care,” Midas murmurs.
“I don’t want to fuck her up. Part of me still thinks she’d be better in the system than with me as a father, but?—”
“But there are things that could happen to her in foster care that you’d never do to her,” Mac says.
I look around at my brothers and feel something loosen inside me. I’m not sure what I expected their reaction to be, but I’d been prepared for the worst. I mean, what kind of man willingly considers letting his daughter go into foster care?
“One who knows where he falls short,” Havoc says, reading my mind.
I sigh before continuing. “Either way, when Melissa dies, Millie’s coming to live with me. I’m taking her to Ohio for a fresh start. And you should also know that I have an old lady now to help me not fuck her up.”
“Jesus, it’s like I don’t even know you anymore. I went out and brought back a stripper.” Toot whistles. “You went out and came back with a whole family.”
“Wait—you brought back a stripper?” Mac frowns, making Toot roll his eyes.
“Focus on the important shit. So, who’s your old lady? You’re not taking Lil from us too, are you?”
I shake my head and huff out a laugh. I like Lil. I’ve fucked her a few times, but even with my dick in her, I could tell I unnerve her. If she ever saw me lose it, she’d run for the hills.
“My old lady’s Lola.”
“Lola? Havoc’s ex, Lola?” Toot asks, wide-eyed.
G hisses. I can’t say the rest of the brothers look too thrilled either—except Mac, who looks thoughtful. “I get it. She fucked over our president, but I’ve always thought there was more to it.”
Havoc scoffs. “You have no fucking clue what you’re talking about.” He looks at me. “No offense, Hannibal, but that woe-is-me act of hers? It’s bullshit.”
I shake my head and grind my teeth together. “I get that you’re pissed, but she’s my old lady now, so I expect you to keep your opinions to yourselves.”
Havoc doesn't say anything, just shakes his head.
“I’m with you, Hannibal,” Crane, of all people, jumps in.
“Something never sat right with me about that whole mess. And you didn’t see her when she saw you and Nevaeh together for the first time.”
“She was jealous,” Havoc sighs.
“That’s the consequence of her actions.”
“She didn’t look jealous to me. She looked crushed. I swear it was like you obliterated her without even trying.”
“What do you want me to say, Crane? She fucked my brother while I was in prison. You think I care?” Havoc says.
“You ever ask her why?” Mac asks.
“No. Why would I? She made her choice, and I made mine.”
Mac shakes his head.
“You know Khan and Driller lied to their club, telling them you flat-out refused to see them. Why do you assume it was any different for Lola?” Crane asks.
“Because Lola knew me better than anyone. She knew I’d never willingly abandon her.”
“But you did,” I cut in.
“Whatever your reason, you chose the club over her. You walked away without a word—and now you’re pissed she moved on?” I fold my arms over my chest, getting pissed on Lola’s behalf.
He growls, but I stop him.
“It doesn’t matter anymore. I’m just saying it’s not as simple as you’re making it out to be. That was then, and this is now. She’s my old lady, and I expect her to be treated with respect when she’s in the room. That’s not up for debate.”
I look around at all the guys, making sure they know it’s aimed at them too.
Kruger sighs. “She won’t get any grief from me. Figure she’s had enough of that lately.”
“And yet you’re the only one saying it. You all assume she has no loyalty, but she came here to warn us that Driller and Khan are up to something. Driller’s been using her as a punching bag and yet she still came, knowing it would be her and the baby that would take the brunt of his anger if he found out.” I grit my teeth before I continue.
“I’m looking forward to giving Driller a taste of his own medicine.”
“I’m in,” Toot growls.
“Only pussies put their hands on a woman. A fucking pregnant one at that.”
The room gets rowdy again until Havoc yells at everyone to shut the fuck up.
“For now, Lola's being kept under lock and key until we can be sure she wasn’t planted for info.” He looks at me. “You got her phone? I wanna know if Driller tries to contact her.”
“No phone.”
“Bullshit.”
“I searched her, her bag, and her car. There wasn’t one. When I asked her about it, she said Driller smashed the last one and she never replaced it. She apparently has nobody to call anyway.”
“Just keep an eye on her. She could’ve stashed a phone somewhere, knowing this might happen.”
I grit my teeth and nod. No matter what, he’s still my president. But now that Lola’s mine, I don’t fucking like him talking shit about her.
“Moving on…G, you’ve been digging. Do you have anything to share?”
G nods, looking pissed. “I’ve been working with Byte, and we’ve managed to find links between Khan and five of the missing girls so far. There’s a lot more digging to do. Doesn't help that the sheriff did dick all investigating the disappearances. Any credible forensic evidence would be useless now, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t a paper trail to follow.”
“Not like he was ever gonna see his day in court anyway. If this fucker’s trafficking girls, we’ll bury him our fucking selves,” Circus snaps.
“Yeah, we will. I just don’t have a lot to work with right now,” G tells him. “What we did find was a shitload of money being funneled into an offshore account. It seems Khan was preparing for a rainy day.”
“More like he was preparing for the day he’d need to flee to a country with no extradition laws.”
“Fucker should know that won’t stop us,” Havoc growls. “My gut says if Driller’s still hanging around, then Khan isn’t far either. There's strength in numbers, after all. Right now, Elmo's keeping this quiet. We want as much information as possible before we take down Khan because they’re already going to be pissed that Hannibal's the new president.”
“You ready for that? Might be a good idea to take a brother or two with you, just until shit calms down,” Capone suggests.
“I don’t give a fuck if they like it or not. But they will fucking respect me or they’ll end up breathing through a tube. As for bringing brothers with me, it might rock the boat more. Don’t think I won’t call on you if I need to, but Havoc says there’s a handful of brothers in the know that’ll will have my back. Elmo’s one of them. If I want the club to respect me, I’ve gotta give it back to them.”
“He’s right. He’s gotta go in strong. Taking brothers from here’ll only make him look weak—and that won’t instill faith in any of them,” Havoc agrees before turning to G. “Keep digging, and make sure Hannibal gets a copy of everything. Can’t watch for shit if we blindfold him.”
“On it.”
“That’s all for now. Unless any of you have something to say?”
Nobody does, so Havoc bangs the gavel, ending the meeting.
“President? The fucking president—and you didn’t tell me?” Midas huffs as we leave.
“I’m sorry, we besties now?”
Midas’s shrugs. “I’m not a fan of all the changes.”
I get it. Being a foster kid, he didn’t have stability or a family. He found that here, but there’s been a shitload of upheaval in the last couple of months. We’ve had Blade and Conan step down, and Havoc and G step up into the president and VP positions. Now I’m leaving.
I slap him on the back. “You’re acting like I’m dying, not transferring chapters. Want me to give you a hug?”
He snorts, then shoves me into the door. “Asshole.”
“Admit it. You’ll miss me when I’m gone.”
“Like a boil on my ass,” he says, and I smile.
I walk out and head over to the bar where Dice is cleaning glasses.
“Dice, two coffees, make one a decaf.”
“Cream, sugar?”
“I have no fucking clue.”
“Three sugars and some half and half,” Havoc tells Dice as he walks up behind me.
“Just in the decaf,” I add Dice as he goes off to make the drinks.
“No second thoughts?”
“You tell me—you’ve been president for a minute. Is it everything you thought it’d be?”
He laughs. “Not even fucking close. But someone’s gotta do it, right? Might as well be me.”
“That’s how I saw it, too. I promise I won’t send you the ones that piss me off in little pieces.”
“Most of them will follow you if you give them a reason to. There are a few, though, who’ll cry about how unfair it is. If you wanna chop anyone up, start them.”
“Will do, Prez.”
“Better get used to hearing that yourself. It’s weird as fuck.”
I grin. “My mama always wanted me to be president. Not sure this is what she had in mind, but beggars can’t be choosers. You got any idea when this is all gonna go down? I need to get shit sorted. CPS is already up my ass about Millie.”
“Soon. I’ve got the house. Lola’s already living there. Makes sense for you to both use it. It’s only a two-bedroom, but should be enough to keep CPS of your backs for a while.”
“Thanks. I’ll take it for now and see what’s out there before I decide whether to buy or build from scratch.”
“There’s a lot of space on the compound. Only a few live on-site. Those with families live closer to town.”
“It’s something to think about. But first, I need to figure out what Millie’s gonna need. And with the baby on the way, I’ll need shit for that too. I don’t know what Lola already has, but I’ll get it sorted. Jesus, at this rate, I’m gonna be gray by this time next year.”
“Nobody said this was gonna be easy. But if anyone can do it, it’s you.”
“I hope you’re right, for all our sakes.”
“Here ya go,” Dice says, placing the coffees down in to-go cups.
“One on the left’s yours. Can I get you anything, Prez?”
“You know where my woman is?”
“She went upstairs. Said she was going to write for a bit.”
“Alright. Thanks, Dice.”
“I’m going to find my old lady. She’s due a break.”
I smirk. “You just want to get your dick wet.”
“You’ve seen my old lady, Hannibal.”
“I have. But it turns out, I’m more partial to your ex.”