Chapter 25 Freya
TWENTY-FIVE
FREYA
“Come again?” Stone asked.
My father chuckled as he took the first bite of his steak.
“Mm, this is good, Bronx. You cook a decent slab of meat. Make sure to keep my daughter well-fed, yeah?” my father asked.
My eyes widened as my mother began giggling.
“That’s as much of an approval as you’re going to get from him,” she said.
I looked over at Bronx and watched relief flood his face.
“I think I can speak for everyone when I say we could use the help, yes,” Texas said.
“Well, since my daughters are wrapped up in this shit, I figured the Celtic Riders have a stake in this fight you seem to have gotten yourselves in,” my father said.
“Sorry, did you say daughters?” Hayley asked.
“Yes. Is that an issue?” my father asked.
I looked over at Hayley and watched as tears rushed her eyes.
“No. Not at all,” she said breathlessly.
“Good. Family helps family, and we’re intertwined tenfold. It’s probably not good for Rose and me to leave just yet, so I hope you’ve got a room for us,” my father said.
“Take any one you’d like,” Stone said.
“I’ll place a call to my V.P. after dinner.
I’ll fill him in on this fight you’ve got going on between the Chinese and the police.
Protocol is to send out the core group to help.
They’ll come in on their bikes but without their cuts on.
They’ll look like tourists until they are required not to be any longer.
Once we figure out how big the mess is, there’s a secondary core group I can call in, if need be,” my father said.
“Thank you. Seriously,” Notch said.
My father waved his hand in the air. “My crew hasn’t gotten to where they are now without digging themselves into some serious trenches. We had help back then too. But we asked for the help because we were also cleaning up our act. I’m assuming you guys are too?” my father asked.
He stared everyone down at the table before Bronx spoke up.
“We are, yep. I’m the numbers guy, so I’ve been allocating funds and investing everything to make sure we’ve got steady income as well as disposable cash sitting in money market compounded funds to pull out for when we want to establish our bars around the area.”
My jaw slowly fell open as my father chuckled.
“A numbers guy. I like it. Never had the mind for it. I’m still amazed at my treasurer and the shit he can pull off sometimes.”
“So, you’re really going to help us?” Texas asked.
“Let’s not beg the man,” Stone said.
“I’ll help so long as you’re cleaning up your act. That’s important, especially with a crew that’s bringing families into the loop. You’ve got my daughters to take care of now. I won’t be helping a crew that has no want to protect them,” my father said.
“I’ll protect Hayley with my life. Whatever it takes,” Stone said.
My father leveled his eyes at Bronx. “And you?”
“There isn’t a thing I wouldn’t do to ensure her happiness, safety, and security,” Bronx said.
“Good man. And with that, I need to go place a phone call,” my father said.
Then, with one last bite of his steak, he stood up and walked down the hallway, leaving the table filled with silence as we all glanced around at one another.
“Well, that could have gone worse,” Notch said.
“You’re telling me,” Mom said, grinning.
“He always that intense?” Stone asked.
Mom giggled. “You haven’t seen anything yet. But you will.”
All of us laughed around the table as my father emerged from the hallway.
“That was quick,” I said.
“We have a code. I gave the word, and my V.P. said he’d handle things on his end,” my father said.
He sat back down as we all stared at him.
“Well, aren’t you guys gonna eat? Your good’s getting cold,” he said.
Then, with a rousing moment of laughter, we fell into easy dinner conversation. And Bronx held my hand throughout dinner, not once feeling as if we had to hide anything from anyone.