1. Crow
CHAPTER 1
CROW
I was born for this.
Present day…
“We’ve got company, Pres.”
I’ve been the president of the Soulless Kings MC: Marble Falls, TX chapter for four years now, but I still look around for my dad whenever someone says ‘Pres’. I know I won’t find him unless we happen to be conducting business at the cemetery and zombies suddenly become a real thing. But that doesn’t seem to matter.
“Take care of ‘em,” I order into the coms we use on our more dangerous runs.
“Copy,” Poker, my Enforcer, replies.
Poker, along with Screamer and Ghost, the club’s Road Captain and Sergeant at Arms respectively, are at the back of the building so I listen for sounds of a struggle or gunfire from my position at the front.
I signal to Journey, my Vice President, to wait before entering the warehouse. We’re meeting a new buyer, an MC that popped up after we obliterated the Banging Bashers MC.
Journey nods before turning to face the opposite end of the building. Several seconds later, gunshots ring out. I tense but remain in position, trusting my brothers to handle themselves.
Once the chaos dies down, both Journey and I face the door.
“All clear,” Poker says, and I can hear the grin he’s no doubt wearing.
“Let’s do this,” I respond.
Weapons drawn, Journey and I enter the building and make our way down a long hallway that opens up to the main area of the warehouse. Five men form a line in the center of the large space, and it’s easy to figure out who’s in charge.
“I trust that your crew handled whatever went down outside?” the man in the middle asks.
“What the fuck do you think?” I bark.
He slowly twists his head and spots Poker, Screamer, and Ghost walking toward them from behind. When he faces me again, he smirks.
“Good. I’d hate to have to find another supplier.”
“There are no other suppliers.”
He and I stare at one another for a long minute as if sizing each other up. Apparently satisfied with what he sees, he steps forward.
“I’m Snap, president of Limitless Throttle MC.” He thrusts his hand out to shake mine. “You must be Crow.”
“I am.” I nod to my left. “That’s Journey, my VP.”
Snap tilts his head backward. “And those yahoos?”
Instant fury slams into me, and I lunge forward and wrap my hand around Snap’s throat. “Disrespect me or my brothers again,” I snarl. “And I’ll see to it that you and yours are no more than trash in Marble Falls.”
The fucker doesn’t even have the decency to appear afraid. Instead, he smirks.
“And if you don’t get your goddamn hand off me, I’ll?—”
“You’ll what?” I growl, tightening my grip.
Snap slowly reaches between us and grabs my wrist and squeezes. He’s stronger than he looks, but I refuse to show him my pain. Neither of us lets up for a very tense minute. He’s the first to break.
He releases my wrist and raises both hands in surrender. “I meant no disrespect.”
Taking a deep breath, I release him and drop my arms to my sides. “Don’t make me question that again.”
Snap nods curtly. “Can we get down to business now?”
Snorting, I shake my head. “You seem to think you’re in charge here,” I snap. “Got news for ya… You’re in Soulless Kings territory. You’d do well to remember that.”
He steps closer. “And you’d do well to remember that I’m not some two-bit chump off the streets looking to score. I’m the president of an MC just like you.”
“Don’t particularly give a fuck who you are as long as you’ve got money, and you don’t conduct business on our turf.”
Snap turns to the man on his right. “Trick, show him.”
Trick, Snap’s VP according to his patch, reaches into his pocket and pulls out an envelope before thrusting it at me.
“What’s that?” I demand.
“Whaddya think?” Trick counters, a scowl on his lips.
“I think that’s way too goddamn small to be the twenty-five grand we agreed on.”
“It’s all there,” Snap states, his eyes boring into mine.
I yank the envelope out of Trick’s hand and open it. It takes everything in me not to laugh in his face. “A check? Are you serious?” I slap the paper against Snap’s chest, but he doesn’t grab it. “I ain’t a fuckin’ bank.”
In all my twenty-nine years, I’ve never seen an MC that deals in checks. Cash money is the only money accepted, unless it’s one of the club’s legitimate businesses.
And I’ve seen a lot. My father was the president before me, and my mother was a Bangin’ Betty before becoming his ol’ lady. I grew up in the club, and when the old man died, I was handed the reins.
I was born for this, and I’ll be damned if I’m gonna do something that would have my dad rolling over in his grave.
“Money is money,” Snap says. “It all spends the same.”
“And I can’t exactly take that to the bank and have them question how I got it.” I glare at him while I tear the check into tiny pieces and let them fall to the floor. “You’ve got forty-eight hours to get me cash, or you’ll have to find a different supplier.”
“We’re letting him walk?” Journey balks.
“I’m giving him forty-eight hours.” I smirk. “We’ll see if he walks after that or not.”
Without saying a word, Snap shoves between Journey and me, and his brothers follow him. I turn to watch them go.
“Forty-eight hours, Snap,” I call after him. “Not a second longer.”
He raises his hand and flips me off. I should pull my gun and shoot him in the back but instead, I just chuckle. He has no clue who he’s fucking with, but he’ll find out if he tries to cross me and mine.
“Well, that was an epic waste of time.”
I turn back around and face the others, but my focus is on Ghost. “Not exactly.”
“Pres,” Poker begins. “G’s right. We got shit out of this.”
“Have I taught you all nothing?” I bark.
“We got info,” Journey says before I lose my patience.
“Yeah, that Limitless Throttle MC is led by a pussy,” Screamer snaps. “He brought a check, dude. I mean, what the fuck was that?”
“You’re right about that,” I agree. “Snap doesn’t have the balls to do a damn thing to SKMC. He’s too soft.” I grin. “And we also learned that those yahoos aren’t a threat to us or our business. I’ll take that info over money any day.”
“They’re not walking in forty-eight hours, are they?” Ghost asks.
My grin widens.
“Fuck no.”