14. Ethan
Ethan
We've been riding about four hours when Prez signals us off the highway for gas. "How much longer, Prez?"
He looks at me sideways. "You one of those kids who asks ‘are we there yet’ the whole damn trip?"
"Nah. Just never been this far out of town before." I laugh at myself before he can.
"Bout an hour more." He shakes his head, grinning. "Wanted to swing through Spring Vale first, get eyes on it before we make any promises to anybody. That work for everybody?"
"Yes, Prez," we all say together, and he smiles before topping off his tank.
Before we pull out, Prez radios back to the compound to check in, Cash's voice crackling through on the other end confirming everything's quiet.
Nerd, Spook, and a couple of the younger prospects stayed behind to hold down the gate while the rest of us make the trip, and Prez seems satisfied enough with that to climb back on his bike without a second thought.
The rest of the ride's shorter with that decided. We slow roll through Spring Vale, taking in the place we might soon be responsible for. There’re quiet storefronts and cracked sidewalks and a quietness that tells you trouble's already made itself at home somewhere close by.
Prez called ahead, and I can tell by the set of his shoulders he's been looking forward to seeing his sister again since we left.
Mallory was taken by the same trafficking ring that had Piper.
She was held a lot longer than Piper ever was, and it was the Harte of Steele MC that finally got her out, not her own brother's club.
I know that eats at Prez more than he'll ever say out loud.
He waves us down to a slower pace and cuts onto a dirt track, dust rolling up thick behind us in a wall of brown.
A prospect meets us at the gate and waves us through without much ceremony.
Their compound's smaller than ours, rougher too, more barn conversion than proper clubhouse, but there's a house going up at the back of the property that looks solid and well planned. It’s the kind of house a club builds when it's thinking long term.
"Listen up." Prez turns to us before we go in. "We're guests here. Don't touch their women, don't start anything stupid. Tonight we party, tomorrow we work."
The door swings open and Mallory's standing there, and it's been years since I've laid eyes on her. I met her once when Brick took me to the Clubhouse for a family day years ago and she was there with Razor. When Mom found out he had taken me there she went to court and got a ‘No Contact Order’ so that he couldn’t take me there again.
Not a trace of what she survived shows on her now, bright and unguarded in a way that almost throws me.
She spots Prez and takes off running, jumping straight into his arms. He catches her, holds her tight, and there's a softness in him right then I've genuinely never seen before.
"Blake." She says his real name like it's still the only one that fits. "I was so excited when you called."
She pulls back and scans the rest of us, grinning. "Tyler, Braxton, and Ethan, right? Told you I never forget a face."
We all nod, and something flickers across hers, some old shadow surfacing and gone again before she shakes it off.
Prez sets her down, his arm draping easy over her shoulders. "Show us around, Mal?"
"Absolutely. Follow me."
I duck off to text Cassie while we walk, telling her we made it, everything's fine, before I catch back up with my brothers.
Mallory leads us into the main room, where every eye in the place lands on us at once. Their Prez, Tank, crosses over and shakes hands with Razor, introductions moving down the line fast. Beers get passed around and we settle at a long table.
"Tonight we party." Tank raises his bottle. "Tomorrow we talk."
"Tonight we party, tomorrow we talk," we echo back, bottles up.
Knuckles ends up deep in conversation with a Harte of Steele brother they call Crow, both of them comparing notes on running security for a compound this size, and by the sound of the laughter carrying over every few minutes, it's turning into a genuine friendship rather than the polite small talk I expected between two clubs that barely know each other.
Brax and Bear have their heads bent over a hand-drawn map of Spring Vale for a good hour, tracing routes and arguing logistics like old friends instead of men who met for the first time three hours ago.
Mallory's curled into the lap of a big, quiet one they call Hawk, the one who pulled her out in the first place, and it's not hard to see where that's headed.
She's healing here, and looking at the way she fits against him, I don't think she's ever going back home for good. It’s a strange thing to feel glad about, losing a woman from your own club's blood, but it gives both our clubs common ground we didn't have before, and that's worth something too.
The rest of the night runs the way these nights always do, loud stories and louder drinking.
There's a scatter of women moving through the room who flinch a little too easy around strange men, survivors probably, still finding their feet here, and a separate crowd of club girls circling for company.
None of them get anywhere near me. I've got everything I want waiting on me back home, and from the look of it, so does the rest of my crew tonight.
Next morning we're at their table eating breakfast when Tank sets his mug down. "Let's talk." We follow him into a cramped little office, standing room only once the desk claims its share, Razor and me in the two chairs, everybody else lined up behind.
"So, what brings you all the way out here, Razor?"
"Got ourselves a situation. This is Shotgun.
" Prez tips his head at me. "Married himself a hell of a woman a few days back, Cassie.
Except it turns out she's Del Torro Famiglia, and there was a bounty riding on finding her.
She'd been running from town to town before she landed with us.
Her family finally tracked her down, and we've reached an understanding, but it comes with a price.
They want Spring Vale cleaned up, and we're not positioned to open a second chapter to run it.
Figured I'd come to you first, see if there's a way to work something out before we go looking anywhere else. "
Bear, their VP, studies me a long moment before turning back to Prez.
"Need to take that to the table, discuss it as a full club before we commit to anything.
We're closer to you now than we've ever been, what with Mallory and Piper both.
We'll do what we can." He stands, and the rest of them file out behind him.
"You think they'll help us, Prez?" I ask once the door shuts.
"If they don't, Mallory'll make their lives hell about it." He laughs knowing his own sister better than she knows herself. "Pretty sure half this club's already looking for an excuse to get in her good graces."
They're gone the better part of an hour before Tank and Bear come back with an answer.
They'll take Spring Vale, clean it out for us and for the Del Torros both, but they want help in return, something they've been trying to get off the ground for a while now.
A village, built up to give the women they rescue somewhere real to land, work to do, a life that isn't just recovery on paper.
They need hands and resources to make it happen faster than they can manage alone.
Prez stands and crosses the room to shake Bear's hand. "Deal. I'll send men over as soon as you're ready to start building."
There's nothing left to hash out after that, no tactics to argue over, just a handshake between two clubs who've decided to trust each other.
Knuckles and Crow trade numbers before we saddle up, already talking about a return visit that has nothing to do with business, and Brax promises Bear a set of blueprints for the compound's security setup by the end of the week.
We ride out with the whole crew of them waving us off from the gate, and I can't get back to Cassie fast enough.