Chapter 8 The Nerve
The Nerve
Havoc
How dare that woman just show up at my door like we’re going to be friends? With a cake! Like she’s going to buy my goodwill with some nasty store-bought cake. Why do beautiful women think they can have any man?
“So, what was that all about?” Creed walks in with the cheap bribe in hand.
“You took that?”
Creed glances down at it. “Um, yeah. It looks delicious.”
That’s not in question. She’s rich enough to afford a designer cake. “Food from a poisoned well.”
Creed walks over to the silverware drawer and pulls out a fork. “I’m pretty sure she has the same city water as we do.”
“That’s not what I meant.”
He stabs his fork into the cake, cutting off a massive piece. “Did you mean to sound crazy, because that’s sure how you’re sounding.” Creed shoves the whole thing in his mouth.
“I’m not crazy. I’m being a responsible parent.”
Creed snorts, which is no small feat with that much cake in his mouth.
“I am. You don’t understand.”
“What I understand is that this cake is the bomb. Seriously, it tastes better than those cakes made by the lady Bear went out with—you know the one I’m talking about.
She makes them for the coffee shop, but won’t sell them to the club.
” He slices off another bite. “How haven’t we made convincing her a priority? ”
“Bear said she’s got all the business she can handle as it is. We wouldn’t want to overwhelm her.” Why are we even talking about the pretty cake lady? “Creed, seriously, you can’t let a woman with a good cake buy your favor and outweigh your good sense.”
“I don’t know. This cake is pretty persuasive. What should I be afraid of when it comes to the beautiful neighbor next door? Because I’d be fully willing to shovel her driveway if she pays me in this.”
Like I’m worried about my kid doing hard work. He already shovels the snow for Mrs. Florintine down the block. And she definitely can’t cook. She’s also going on eighty and hard of hearing, so there’s no real issue there. “That woman is a predator.”
Creed snorts as he lifts up the fork. “Oh really? All I saw was a beautiful woman and cake.”
That’s what they want you to see. Until they have you wrapped in their web so tight that you can’t breathe. That’s when they go in for the kill. “Women like that are easy to spot when you know what you’re looking for.”
“Educate me.”
The kid doesn’t mean it, but it’s time I started opening up his eyes to the real world around us. He isn’t a little boy anymore. “What did you see this morning?”
Creed tips his head to the side. “A pretty woman.”
“Creed.”
“Fine.” He closes his eyes and thinks. “There was a man there with her. An older man. They didn’t look alike, but he was old enough to be her grandfather. That’s all I got. She seems pretty normal, even if she’s probably fairly rich.”
“That wasn’t her grandfather.” I can’t keep the sneer out of my voice. “That was her sugar daddy.”
“Her—” Creed’s mouth drops open. “Cool.”
“Not cool. She’s using her body to live off a rich man. Who is probably already married. Cheaters aren’t cool.”
“Cheating isn’t cool, but getting paid for being hot is.”
Don’t slap the boy upside the head. “He isn’t paying her because she’s pretty. He’s paying her to have sex with him.”
“Oh. Prostitution is legal in—”
“Creed.” I give him the look.
“Fine. It’s gross, but still, she seems like a nice lady who is an out-of-this-world cook. What do we care if she sells her body? It isn’t like all the money we make is squeaky clean.”
All the money I make. There’s a big difference between selling guns to people who need to protect themselves and selling your body to have nice things rather than going out to work for them. “Just be careful around her.”
Creed grins.
That boy is going to make me go even grayer than I am.
***
My least favorite job attached to the club is reviewing the books.
Thankfully, Integer takes care of them on a daily basis, and all I need to do is audit them every few months, or I’d go nuts.
The fact that one of my brothers is an accountant hurts my soul.
Bikers and accountants are polar opposites.
But Integer is a cool guy, even if he’s a little boring at times.
Creed pokes his head inside my office. “Dad, everyone should be here in a few minutes. I’m going to turn the music on now and start the fire outside.”
“Do you have enough snacks and drinks?”
“I think so. They’re mostly coming over to talk.”
“If you need anything, I’ll be here doing the books.”
Creed laughs.
“Watch out, or I’ll make you do it, Mister Straight-A Student.”
“I can help if you want. Ledger has been teaching me a bit of accounting.”
That’s a good thing in theory. I just can’t see my son being the nerd of the club. “You interested in becoming an accountant?”
“Absolutely not. It gives me a headache even thinking about it. I want to design bikes like Rogue. But someday when you’re ready to retire, I want to be ready to take over as the club prez.”
“You know this isn’t a monarchy. The job doesn’t just get passed down to my son.”
“That’s why I’m learning everything I can to be a good prez. Including accounting so that auditing the books doesn’t take me six years.”
It’s not quite that long, even if it feels like it. “Good plan.”
“Unlike you, I plan to have a ‘fine’ old lady on the back of my bike when I do it.”
“Creed, life isn’t that simple.”
He glances down at where his tattoo is under his sleeve. “I know.”
The death of his friend is hitting him hard…I need to stop these drug dealers NOW. “Wanna talk about it?”
“That’s what I’m going to do with my friends.” Creed starts to turn away, but stops. “Thanks, Dad.”
I give him a chin lift when words fail me. That boy is the best part of my life.
And the most irritating. Other than these books.
***
An hour later, when I’m in the thick of it, there’s a knock on my office door.
Wire opens the door. “Creed said you were in here. Thought you might like a beer to distract you from working.”
“Thanks.” I take the cold bottle he holds out.
The name Wire doesn’t fit my brother at all, yet we still use the moniker he got when he was a kid because he was so thin.
“How is Rykka doing with all this?” Wire’s daughter has been friends with Creed practically since birth.
Wire sinks down on the couch on the side of my office.
“Quiet. My old lady keeps saying that she’s just fine.
It’s taking her a while to process it, but I don’t like how quiet she’s gotten.
My little girl usually tells me everything.
I hate that she’s gotten quiet with me. But at least she’s talking to her friends.
Thanks for letting the kids do this somewhere safe.
The idea of them drinking in the forest… ”
I cringe at the thought. “No way are our kids that stupid.” Even as I say those words, I know how easy it is to miss the signs of drug use.
No one would have thought Berzerker’s kid would have died of an overdose. I click on the security cameras in the backyard.
Everyone knows they’re there, so we aren’t invading the kids’ privacy…
much. The six of them: Rykka and Journey are on the couch closest to the firepit wrapped in a blanket Creed brought out for them—my boy is thoughtful making sure the girls are warm—Kross has his boots perched on the edge of the firepit, Haze is on the picnic table with a beer in hand—out of the group he looks the saddest—Creed is perched on the deck railing, nursing a beer smiling, while Grim had to be the rebel and throw a blanket on the cold wood to sit on.
There’s no way that kid isn’t freezing, but Grim looks completely calm.
This is exactly what the kids needed.
“Hey, you finally had someone move in next door.” Wire stares at the image in the bottom corner of the screen.
I forgot that I had aimed a camera that way while it was empty to keep an eye out. Sitting on her deck next to a lit fire is the irritating woman. She’s got a book in hand and a mug on the arm of the chair. “Yeah.”
“She’s awfully pretty. You must hate her.”
All of my brothers think they know me so well. The firelight glints off her hair, turning the dark locks fiery. “Looks have nothing to do with why I don’t like her.”
Wire chuckles. “If that was my neighbor, I’d be over there offering her a beer.”
“And your old lady would bash you upside the head with it.”
“She is a little feisty.” He grins.
A motorcycle roars into our driveway. Saber arrived. Creed stands up and walks over to the gate.
I follow his movements with the cameras.
Saber misses the kickstand twice before getting the bike settled.
Tell me I’m wrong and that kid didn’t ride here drunk.
“ARE WE READY TO PARTY?” Saber grabs a case of beer out of his saddlebag that looks a bit too wobbly to be full.
“I’ll call Lyun.” Wire reaches for his phone.
“No. Let’s see how the kids respond.” I turn on the outside microphones.
“Saber, buddy, how many did you have on the way?” Creed walks over to him.
“Just a few. Like four or six.” Saber shrugs and lurches to the side.
Creed offers him a shoulder and takes the case of beer from Saber. “We were supposed to meet here for drinks.”
“I know.” Saber nods, rocking them both forward. “But I wanted to start the party early.”
Carefully, they walk back to the backyard, leaving the gate open behind them.
The rest of the kids are standing waiting as they reach the deck.
“Kross, call his dad. Grim, get Saber some water,” Creed says.
“Why are you calling my dad?” Saber stops walking suddenly. “The party is just getting started.”
“Yet it’s almost over for you. What were you thinking riding over here drunk?” Creed asks.
“I was thinking about my friend in the ground. And then, I was ready to start the party. How can you all just stand there so calm when our best friend died? When our brother is rotting in the ground, cold and alone.”
Creed helps Saber into the chair Kross was in. Rykka starts to bring him their blanket when Creed steps between the girls and the drunk kid.
Good. Creed remembered me telling him never to trust a drunk, especially around a woman.
“You raised that boy right.”
Yeah, I did. “All the brothers helped.”
Wire nods.
Grim holds out a bottle of water to Saber, who knocks it to the ground. “I don’t want water. Gimme a beer. This is a PARTY. LET’S PARTY!!!” Saber moves to stand up.
That kid is in so much pain.
“This isn’t a wild party. This was supposed to be a time to remember our best friend.
Instead, it’s become about you being a drunk idiot who could have killed himself or someone else.
Then we could have lost you too.” Creed bends over and picks up the bottle of water.
“So you’re going to stay seated, shut up, and drink your water until your dad gets here.
Get me?” Creed holds the bottle out to Saber.
Tears fill Saber’s eyes as he takes the bottle. “I miss him.”
We all do.
***
“We’re talking about last night.” I hand Creed a cup of coffee as soon as he ambles in the kitchen.
“Figured that.” He takes a long swallow and sinks onto a stool at the island.
“Pancakes?”
“Like I’m ever going to say no.” Creed grins. They’ve been his favorite since Fly made them with candy smiley faces when Creed was three. “It wasn’t a big deal. Saber came drunk, and we took care of it.”
“Not a big deal.” I turn around to face him as they bubble on the griddle.
“What happened last night was huge. And it had nothing to do with Saber and everything to do with you. Got to tell you I’m proud of how you handled that whole situation.
You were calm, protected the women in your care, and handled the situation like a man.
I’ve never been prouder of you than I was last night. ”
“So you were listening.” Creed rubs the back of his neck.
I just raise an eyebrow at him.
“Saber’s just hurting right now. He didn’t mean to be that stupid.”
“Sad isn’t an excuse to be stupid like that.”
“I know.”
“We’ll handle Saber.” Now that we know he needs some extra help and a bit of tough love. Lyun was ready to throttle that boy last night. Can’t say I blame him. If Creed did something that stupid, we would be having a different kind of talk right now.
To work off his anger, Lyun took apart Saber’s bike. It’s now a pile of parts in the middle of his garage. I probably wouldn’t have been that nice…
“Did you get the books done last night?”
“Ugh.”
“I’ll take that as a no. Want some help?”
That boy fills my heart with so much pride. “Help would be good.”