Chapter 3
AXEL
We didn’t stay at the hospital long after Wren stormed out. It felt awkward as fuck. Not that it didn’t feel awkward when she was there.
I couldn’t help myself. I took the opportunity to argue with her. It’s like it’s in my damn DNA at this point. I immediately regretted it, though.
I got the stink eye from Sophie before we left, and I know she’s mad that I argued with her best friend. Grayson wasn’t too happy with me either. He’ll get over it, though, because he knows how much Wren riles me up.
“We have that club slut from the Detroit charter coming today,” Rowan says as we walk through the parking lot.
“Okay, did Gray already approve of her?”
Rowan nods. “He still wanted us to introduce her to the guys, though. We’re really doing this as a favor to the guys from Detroit. She was moving here, and they wanted to look out for her.”
“Makes sense. We don’t really need her, though. We don’t really have a lot of single guys left.”
He chuckles. “I know, but it doesn’t hurt to have another girl in the mix. Nash and Cole have probably fucked Ana and Lucy into oblivion by now. They need a break.”
I snort.
“You’re not fucking kidding,” Everly mumbles.
I hop on my bike and put my helmet on while they strap in Hazel’s car seat and hop in the SUV, then we head back to the club. The afternoon sun beats down on me, warming my skin against the cool air. It’s a silent reprieve from the awkwardness we just experienced in that hospital room.
We pull past the gate and into the club parking lot, and I pull my bike next to all the others while Rowan parks further away.
By the time I get off my bike and pull off my helmet, they’re walking up to me.
I lead them inside and watch as Rowan takes Hazel and Everly upstairs.
I tell all the guys to meet in Church and then head in there myself.
Rowan will be in charge of things until Grayson is ready to come back, so he’ll lead our meeting today. Thankfully, we don’t have much to talk about, just the new club slut and how we did with the fundraiser yesterday.
I take my seat at the table and watch as everyone files inside. Rowan is the last to appear and he closes the door behind him before taking his seat. He reaches over and bangs the gavel, bringing our meeting to a start.
“First, let me just say, you all did great with the school fundraiser yesterday. Everly is ecstatic with how much money we raised. Do you have a total for us, Cane?”
Cane is our club secretary, he’s the one in charge of our finances and he keeps us on track with all our businesses. “We raised almost twenty-five thousand dollars. It’s one of our best fundraisers yet.”
“Fuck yeah,” Cole murmurs. “That will do the school some good.”
“Yeah, it will,” I agree.
“Thanks for all of your hard work,” Rowan says before moving on. “We have a new club slut coming today. She’s from the Detroit charter and they asked that we take her in because she had to move to the area. Her name is Patience. She’ll be here shortly.”
“Patience?” Nash chuckles. “Is that her real name?”
“Doubtful,” Cane grumbles.
“She’s going to need that patience to deal with the two of you,” Luke laughs with a pointed look in Nash and Cole’s directions, making us all laugh.
My phone vibrates in my pocket, and I take it out, seeing Officer Rojas’ name flash across my screen. I frown and swipe to answer the call.
“What’s up?”
“You have about a half hour until you’re getting raided,” Rojas whisper-hisses down the line.
I sit straight up and everyone at the table stills. “What the fuck?” I bark.
“Chief really has a hard on for you guys,” he mutters. “He’s claiming he had an anonymous tip that there are drugs at the club. If you have anything illegal, get rid of it now.” The line goes dead.
“Fuck,” I growl as I toss my phone on the table. “Check the clubhouse high and low, if there’s anything that shouldn’t be here, get rid of it quickly. We have less than thirty minutes until we’re being raided.”
Everyone jumps into action. Rowan calls Grayson. I call Lenny, who he picks up after the second ring.
“Lenny Thompson.”
“Lenny, it’s Axel. I need you to come up with a reason to swing by the club in about thirty minutes. I just got a tip that we’re about to get raided,” I tell him as I walk out of church.
“Be there soon,” Lenny murmurs before hanging up.
Rowan gets off the phone at the same time and then he’s right by my side as we walk into the main room. I’m so busy checking on all the guys that I don’t even hear the new club slut walk in. I turn around and come toe to toe with her.
“Shit,” I mutter as I take a step back.
“Hi, I’m Patience,” she says as she sticks her hand out in offering.
She’s a pretty girl. She’s on the taller side with blonde hair and blue eyes. She’s slim with slight curves and a pretty smile. She looks like she is in her early twenties. She doesn’t do a thing for me, though.
I take her hand and introduce myself. “Axel, sergeant at arms. We’re in a bit of a rush right now, Patience. I need you to just chill at the bar for a bit,” I order as I nod in that direction.
Her eyes widen but she nods her head and walks toward the bar. I watch her until she sits down and then head up to my suite to check it out.
We’re not a club that deals in many illegal activities, but the chief is looking for anything he can find to fuck us over, and I just want to make sure there’s nothing for him to find.
I climb the stairs and head down the hallway to my suite, punching in the code and walking straight to my kitchen.
I have a few joints in a drawer, so I pull them out and walk to the bathroom, flushing them down the toilet before heading into my room and making sure my extra gun is in its safe.
They’re all legal, but I don’t want him trying to take them on a technicality.
I have about ten more minutes to spare before the cops arrive, so I head back downstairs and find the rest of the guys there.
“We good?” I ask as I come to stand beside the bar.
“We’re good,” Cane confirms.
I nod and then we all make ourselves comfortable. Most of us hang out by the bar but a few of the guys make themselves comfortable on the couch in front of the tv. We get notified by Levi when the cops pull up, but none of us move from our positions as the prospects let them in with our permission.
It’s quiet for a moment and then the door bursts open as police flood the clubhouse.
“Police!” They announce. “Search warrant!”
“Get on the ground!” A few of them shout.
One of the newer cops walks over to me and tries to shove me to the ground. I smirk at him when I don’t even budge. “Get down!” He yells as he pulls his weapon.
My eyebrows shoot up before I put my hands up.
“What the fuck, Carter!?” Rojas yells from across the room. “Put the fucking gun down!”
“This asshole doesn’t respect the badge!” Carter yells, waving his gun around.
“You expect me to respect this manic mother fucker?” I laugh.
The crazy asshole steps forward and shoves his gun into my chest. “I’ll show you fucking manic.”
I clench my teeth so hard that I fear I’ll break a tooth but then sink to my knees to avoid being shot in my own clubhouse.
“Don’t make threats you can’t keep,” I bite out.
Just then, there’s a commotion near the door. We all look that way as Lenny and Wren walk inside.