Chapter 24 Maverick #2
“They worked their asses off to get where they are now,” Jane said with pride evident in her voice. “Yes, at first it started off on illegal activities, but it created something more, a brotherhood, and it doesn’t end there.”
“It doesn't?” I asked.
“No,” she quipped. “A man is only as strong as the woman he has beside him, hon, and that’s where we came in.
It started off with just me, and this place was a hell hole.
After I left the law firm I was working at and became Teller’s ol’ lady, I started handling the clubs legal strategies and did a lot of shit to clean this place up, which is why I know firsthand how important it is for these men to have the right women by their sides.
And that’s why no one else can make this decision for you. ”
She was right, I hadn’t been thinking about mine and Maverick’s relationship through the right lens.
He was the president of one of the largest MC’s in the country, which meant that I would have a role to play, too.
One that I couldn’t take lightly. Though I understood the club a little more, my mind was still running a mile a minute.
“She means that, while the men handle everything on the outside, we handle everything on the inside,” Cherry added.
“Bingo,” Jane said. “The first thing is the club girls, which are way more tame now thanks to me. Now they get vetted and background checked before joining, they sign NDAs and have strict rules they must follow like picking a birth control method, regular checkups and always fucking with condoms. Other things are like making sure shit gets done like cleaning, planning for when other clubs come down, playing nice with the bitchy stepford wives around town. Nothing happens within these walls without me knowing about it, but now that Maverick has taken over, I have handed many of the reins to the newer ladies, like Serena and even Anna even though she’s a club kid and not an ol’ lady, she still helps out.
You’d be responsible for those things, too. ”
“I had no idea so much went into this,” I admitted.
“We have a lot of responsibility to make our men look and feel good both between these walls and around town,” Alice said. “It wasn’t always like that, but now that it is, it plays a huge part in the success of the club.”
“You’re young, though, Thea,” Cherry said. “No one would blame you for not wanting to take all of this responsibility on, but damn is it worth it!”
Her response made the whole group start howling like wild animals and Anna and I just laughed at the crazy women around us.
The satisfaction I was feeling now knowing more about the club dynamics was quickly replaced with thoughts of Matteo.
If they were doing business with that monster, what other kind of monsters were they working with?
“What about the company the club keeps?” I said, hoping they would catch on to my question. Of course Jane did.
“Look,” Jane said. She looked over at me and made our eyes connect to make sure I was catching on to the seriousness of her tone.
“I wish I could say that everyone the club had dealings with shared our same moral compass, especially the one that tells us not to hurt women and kids, but they don’t.
What I can tell you is that the club has never dealt with Matteo Santoro before now.
All business came from his brother, Luca, who is a great guy and a friend of the club.
He has a beautiful wife he adores and a baby about to be here, which is why his brother is stepping in for him. ”
I just stared at her. I had met Luca and Margo before. I don’t think they fully knew who I was other than how Matteo introduced me as his girlfriend, not as his prisoner, so I can’t speak on whether or not they are good people.
“Maverick told me about your friend and Matteo, and I assure you he and the rest of the boys were disgusted and ashamed, but you can’t make enemies out of men like that, especially since Luca will be back in a few months.”
“So Matteo is in New Mexico,” I asked with a faint voice as I tried to come off as if I wasn’t ready to scream on the inside.
“Yes,” she said. “For a meeting tomorrow and then he’ll be flying back out, but that’s all I know. The rest is club business that they don’t discuss with women. I only know that much because that’s what my son told me on the phone last night when he called me.”
“Thank you,” I said to the ladies seated around me, and I truly meant it. I was beginning to think I was wrong for judging the club, and even though I was scared as hell at the idea of Matteo being in the same state as me, I knew he had no way of putting two and two together and finding me here.
“If I were to become an old lady, how would it happen?”
I didn’t miss the strange looks that everyone gave each other, like they didn’t want to tell me.
“What?” I asked, looking around at them.
“It’s silly,” Serena said. “I’m sure it doesn’t have to be the same way.”
“We’ll,” Cherry added. “The boys are sticklers for the rules, even though most of them were made when their dads were three sheets to the wind.”
“Is it that bad?”
“Your man has to raw dog you in front of the club,” Anna answered nonchalantly. “Basically like a dog pissing on its favorite tree.”
I gasped. They can’t be serious?
Jane laughed at the expression on my face. “Very much like pissing on a tree,” she said. “It’s because old ladies typically aren’t from the club life, and it’s like a last barbaric attempt to make sure she can accept the club in all of its filthy glory.”
“You’ve all done it, even you, Serena?”
I was still in shock. I knew kinky shit went down at night, but I was never allowed to go to the parties once they got too wild.
She blushed and nodded her head. “A few times,” she said. “Only to make sure, of course.”
“Gross,” I said, scrunching my nose and then I laughed.
I sighed. Was I really considering fucking Maverick in front of his club? Could I really go through with it?
The fact was that I loved Maverick, but in order for me to be with him, I would need to give him my trust and fully accept the club.
It was then I decided that I would tell him the truth about Matteo if I wanted to stay, but before I could make that decision, there was still one more thing I needed to do.
I spent the next twenty minutes creating a plan with Anna and Serena on how I could make that happen.