Chapter 17
Chapter Seventeen
“Yo, brother! You with us?”
Was the DAMC prez talking to him?
Rage had two things on his mind, and neither of them were what was currently going on around him. The first was what happened a few hours ago: dealing with the Twisted Soul at Heaven’s Angels, and the second…
Lyric.
It pissed him the fuck off that he couldn’t stop thinking about her. Worrying about her. Wondering what she was up to and if she was safe.
If he had to admit it, he also hoped he got to see her naked again soon.
He could watch naked women swinging around a pole at the strip club all fucking day and night but it just wasn’t the same. It wasn’t his choice to see Cashmere, Opal, Velvet, Shimmer, or the rest of them flashing tits and ass. It was business.
When it came to Lyric—despite it not being smart—he wanted to give her the business.
“Rage in the cage musta had a rough night,” Wheels teased at the other end of the table. “Watchin’ big titties and dump truck asses shake, rattle, and roll all day and night can be fuckin’ exhaustin’.”
“He can switch with me. Being assistant manager of the gun shop bites ass,” Cruz said.
“So, you wanna bite some stripper ass, instead?” Wheels clarified.
“Better than bitin’ Dawg’s ass. Or Ice and Irish’s.”
“Once Dawg decides to step down from the manager’s spot there, it’s all yours, though,” Rage reminded Cruz. “Really wanna give that the fuck up to deal with a buncha catty bitches? Gets old real fuckin’ quick.”
“Yeah, guess not. Better to visit with a wad of ones.” Using his hands, Cruz did the motion of making it rain cash.
Rage snorted. “Oh yeah, you’re a big fuckin’ baller like that. Singles are too fuckin’ rich for your blood. You’re tossin’ quarters at my girls, you cheap ass. Luckily, you haven’t taken out one of their eyes, yet.”
Cruz grinned. “Got me confused with Wheels down there.”
Rage glanced around the table. “Just so you all know, the girls share with me whenever you assholes are cheap motherfuckers.”
Next to Rage, Zeke snickered.
Rage pinned his gaze on him. “Same with you.”
Zeke held up his palms in surrender. “Ain’t goin’ into that club no more ‘less it’s gotta do with this club.” He stabbed his finger into the table. “Ain’t fuckin’ up a good thing with Kyra and my kid.”
Across from Rage, Chill mumbled under his breath, “So many other ways to fuck it up, instead.”
“Ain’t doin’ that shit. Keepin’ my shit clean.”
Everyone stared at Zeke sitting at the head of the table because no one believed him.
Zeke shrugged. “No fuckin’ lie.”
“Any-fuckin’-way. Thought there was a reason for this emergency meetin’,” Chaos said.
“There is,” Zeke answered. He jerked his chin at Rage. “Tell ‘em.”
“Two incidents with the Twisted Souls in the last coupla days.”
Grumbles circled the table.
He told them about seeing the four Twisted Souls heading north. One with a side car and no passenger.
Of course he left out the fact that Lyric had been his backpack.
“Think they’re doin’ their runs up to Pittsburgh at night to avoid us.”
“Gonna get that info to Vi. She’s trackin’ their runs.
The numbers, the route, and the date and time.
” Zeke looked around the table. “Anyone sees the Souls in our patch, we need to let her know the details. That goes for all of you. Spread the word to the rest of our brothers. We see a pattern, it’s gonna help us deal with ‘em. Especially if we need to set up an ambush. Easier to take out a few of them at a time than the whole club at once.”
“Speakin’ of ambushes, had an issue at Heaven’s Angels a few hours ago.”
“And the reason why I called this meetin’,” Zeke added.
If the room wasn’t wired before, it was now.
“What issue?” Chill asked, now on high alert.
“Had a Soul in the club. Thinkin’ he was scopin’ out the business to take intel back to his club.”
“For fuck’s sake!” Chaos shouted at the same time Cruz pounded the table with his fist and yelled, “Goddamn ballsy!”
“Was he wearin’ his colors?” Chill asked more calmly.
“No. Rooster got a gut instinct ‘bout the guy and he was right. We fuckin’ handled it.”
“How d’you handle it?” Chill asked, intently focused on Rage.
“Like I said, ambushed him. He won’t be talkin’ to anyone but fish.”
“Damn,” Wheels whispered, then a smile grew across his face.
“How we deal with shit like that gotta be a future discussion,” Zeke started. “The quarry is good in a pinch, but it’s somethin’ we don’t got control over.”
“What—” Chill began to ask.
Zeke shook his head. “Ain’t a discussion for tonight. With us tryin’ to open the dispensary, don’t got the scratch now for any other options.”
Rage tried to get them back on track. “If they’re runnin’ north late at night, easy enough to ambush them in the dark.”
“Or do we wanna get them when they’re heading back down south? That way the Mafia ain’t getting suspicious when their product keeps disappearing. Get them after the drop,” Cruz suggested.
That was a good idea, but only for the occasional ambush to thin their numbers. Like they previously discussed, it would be smarter to cut the head off the snake first. That snake being the Russos. They had the funds, the manpower, and the firepower to take the Angels out.
Wheels spoke up first. “Don’t know what the fuckin’ solution is, but we better come up with one soon. After what they did with the Furry Angels, I’m thinkin’ they’re gonna keep fuckin’ with our weak spots.”
“Are you saying the girls are our weak spot?” Cruz asked.
“Ain’t they?” Wheels countered. “Kids and women are always easy targets.”
Cruz groaned and shook his head. “That shit don’t leave this room. Kinda like my balls where they fucking are. Actually, more than kinda.” From where Rage sat, he could see the club treasurer cup his nads.
Zeke grunted. “Know how I feel about that fuckin’ club of theirs.”
“Nothin’ we can do ‘bout it, brother,” Chill said next.
“Says who?” Zeke asked his younger brother.
The VP snorted. “You gonna tell ‘em what to do?”
“They can pretend all they fuckin’ want, but they’re still goddamn DAMC property. What we say goes.”
Here we fuckin’ go again. Rage dropped his head and shook it.
“Think that’s fuckin’ funny?” Zeke asked him. “Their fuckin’ club’s gonna be bigger than ours soon. Don’t want any other club thinkin’ we’re pussies ‘cause we can’t control our fuckin’ women.”
The Angels of Fury outgrowing the DAMC anytime soon was an exaggeration. It took decades for the DAMC to get as big as it was. They were choosy as fuck when it came to who they allowed to wear a prospect cut. And the number of women who wanted to join an all-women’s MC was a handful.
He needed to bring the conversation back to the Souls and the threats to their club—a club that included those same women.
“Since we’re talkin’ ‘bout the women, wanna bring somethin’ else up.
With the threat of the Souls movin’ product through our area, it’ll be best if Lyric moves in with Bri.
Havin’ both of them sharin’ that apartment would be safer. ”
Chaos cocked an eyebrow. “You run that past my sister?”
“Think she’d have a problem with it?” Rage asked the club secretary.
“Think she don’t got a say,” Zeke interjected.
“Bri don’t fuckin’ pay a damn dime in rent.
Nix said Lyric’s been savin’ up to get her own place.
Don’t blame her. Nobody sittin’ at this table wanted to live with their parents once they were old enough to move the fuck out.
Thinkin’ Rage is right. Safer for them two to share the apartment than for Lyric to get a place on her own.
” The DAMC president turned toward Chill. “What d’ya think?”
The VP stared at the carved DAMC logo at the center of the table for a long minute, but before he could respond, Wheels did. “Might put a kink in Chill hittin’ that.”
“Fuckin’ asshole,” Chaos barked. “Don’t need to hear that shit ‘bout my sister.”
“Then plug your fuckin’ ears. Everybody knows my brother’s been sniffin’ around your sister for a long damn time,” Zeke told him.
“Don’t think Bri knows,” Chaos mumbled under his breath. “And I ain’t tellin’ her.”
“Why the fuck are you even bringin’ this shit up durin’ a meetin’?” Chill asked Rage, not sounding at all like his normal chill self.
“Just fuckin’ explained it,” he answered. “Lyric wants to move the fuck out.”
“No, why you? And why are you makin’ that decision for the girls?”
Damn. Did Chill and Trouble switch personalities? The man was more uptight than usual.
“Ain’t makin’ any fuckin’ decision. Just makin’ a goddamn suggestion. So fuck off,” he snapped at the VP.
“Like I said. Think it’s a good idea with what’s goin’ on with the Souls and the motherfuckin’ mob. Neither of them got a say in this. Yeah, they can bitch and moan ‘bout it, but what’s new? What we could do is take it to a fuckin’ vote. We agree, then they’ll have to live with it. Period.”
While what Zeke suggested was one way to go about it, it wasn’t ideal to force the women to do shit they might not want to do. Chaos and Chill clearly recognized that, too, since they both groaned.
At the other end of the table, Wheels hooted. “Women always got somethin’ to fuckin’ say.”
Zeke slammed the gavel on the wooden table.
“Let’s do a quick vote and get it the fuck over with since we didn’t call this fuckin’ meetin’ to talk about the women.
We got more important shit to talk about.
” His gaze circled the table. “All in favor of Lyric sharin’ the apartment over the pawn shop with Bri? ”
“Aye,” Rage responded, since he thought it was the best choice for Lyric. Plus, like Bri, she wouldn’t pay a damn dime in rent or utilities. It really was a win-fucking-win for everyone, except maybe Bri since she’d have to share her space.
Despite not being thrilled about it, Chill also voted for it.
In the end, it was unanimous.
“All right. Who’s gonna tell ‘em?” Zeke asked.
“Fuck that,” Chaos said.
Chill spoke up next. “Ain’t gonna be me.”
Wheels once again hooted. “Not it.”
Cruz lifted both palms. “Got no skin in this game.”
The only two left were Rage and Zeke.
Zeke looked over at him. “You brought it up, you can let ‘em know.”
Great.
“Got no problem lettin’ Lyric know since I got another appointment with her. But as for Bri…” He let his gaze slide from Chill to Chaos.
“Fuck that,” Chaos repeated. “Ain’t breakin’ that news to my sister.”
“Chill, you tell Bri,” Zeke told his brother.
“Why the fuck do I gotta—”
Zeke cut him off. “Divide and conquer.”
Chill sighed. “Whatever.”
Good. Since he already ran the idea past Lyric, no conquering would be required on his part. Out of the two women, Bri was more likely to lose her shit.
“Good luck, brother,” Chaos muttered.
“All right, back to those Twisted motherfuckers,” Zeke announced. “Gonna have a meet with Vi and the Shadows. Chill and Rage are gonna sit in on it, too.”
Rage wondered if Chill knew that before a second ago.
“They come up with any ideas on handlin’ this shit?” Cruz asked.
“Guess we’ll see. That’s the point of the meet,” Zeke answered.
“Need to set them up,” Wheels said.
Rage glanced down the table at the road captain. “Who?”
“The Souls. Then the Mafia will handle those motherfuckers for us. Like what happened with the Deadly Demons. The Russos ain’t gonna play if they think they’re gettin’ fucked in the ass.
We need to steal the shit they’re transportin’ and make whoever’s transportin’ it disappear.
Make it so the Russos think that the Souls are takin’ their shit and goin’ on the run. ”
“If they’re usin’ shit like side cars to transport it, doubt they’re transportin’ enough at a time to make it believable that the Souls are gonna be livin’ the high life if they steal it,” Chill said.
“The Russos might not believe the Souls are fuckin’ them over, but that someone else, like us, are fuckin’ over the Souls. Could make us a target.”
“True. But we could make it look like they’re skimmin’ off the top to make extra scratch.”
“That’s another fuckin’ option, but might not be the best one. For now, at least,” Zeke said.
“Here’s our fuckin’ options and what we can discuss with Vi and her crew to see which is gonna be the smartest and easiest route.
” Rage lifted a single finger. “One where we manufacture a fuckin’ war between the Russos and another crime family.
” He added his middle finger to his index finger.
“We manufacture a fuckin’ war between the Russos and the Souls.
” He held up three fingers. “Make it look like the Russos are fuckin’ over the cartel they’re dealin’ with.
Or”—he dropped his hand to the table—“we get the feds involved.”
No surprise he was met with grumbles on the last option. He didn’t want to deal with the feds, either. But it was a last resort, if needed.
“Anybody got anything else to add to that list?” Zeke asked.
When no one brought up anything else, he continued.
“Got a list to take to the Shadows. Will let you all know how we’re gonna handle this shit goin’ forward.
For now, let’s get the fuck outta here.” He smacked the gavel on the table again.
Rage needed to let Lyric know she now had a place to land and could move out of her parents’ house.
But for now, that could wait.