4
ROWAN
Grayson called for Church about twenty minutes ago, so I’m waiting inside our meeting room for everyone to show up.
Church is what we call our mandatory meetings.
It’s where our members vote on everything that happens with this club.
It’s also a member’s only meeting space.
Prospects don’t get a vote, and outsiders don’t get to come inside.
Today, we’re meeting to discuss the Devil’s Knights.
They have slowly been integrating themselves into Silver Springs, and we can’t let that happen.
Our club has had multiple run-ins with them already, and the longer they stay here, the more problems they’re going to cause.
We’re also here to talk about the dive bar that we bought a few months ago.
The last of the stragglers walk into Church and are followed closely by my brother.
Grayson has been president for over a year now, and he’s perfect for the role.
We were all surprised when John Parker chose Grayson as his vice president a few years ago.
Our father was John’s vice president for longer than we were alive, so we suspected he would choose another old-timer to take dad’s place.
He didn’t, though. He chose his daughter’s ex-boyfriend.
Personally, I think that he did it as a way to control what Grayson did with his daughter and with his club.
It didn’t work out for John, though. He’s in the ground and Grayson is reunited with Sophie and their son. He’s taken this club in a new direction. A better one that falls more in line with the law and keeps our members out of jail.
Grayson stands at the head of the table. I’m on his right, Axel on his left. He bangs the gavel, and silence falls over the room as he takes his seat.
“Guys,” he says with a nod of his head in greeting. “I called you in to talk about the Devil’s Knights.” Grumbling breaks out around the room. “Quiet,” Grayson orders. “I know you all have shit to say, but we’re all going to take our turns.”
“Like good little children,” I mutter, drawing a few laughs.
“Exactly,” Grayson snorts. “I know that a few of you have had run-ins with them. I won’t tell you to back down. Not now, not ever. If you see them doing something we don’t agree with, take them down. I want them to know that we set the tone in this town. We keep our town safe.”
Everyone at the table nods their heads in agreement.
“A few of the prospects saw them fucking with people’s cars over on eighth street yesterday,” Cane mutters. “They said it looked like they were cutting brake lines. The prospects scared them off and told the people not to drive their cars until they had them checked out here.”
“Why the hell are they targeting random people?” Cole asks.
“Are we sure that they are random?” I mumble, making everyone face me. “They targeted Everly and Travis.”
“Yeah, but we know why. I doubt that Mrs. Simon is involved with them,” Nash chuckles.
That’s fair. Mrs. Simon is ninety years old and cranky as can be. I’ve helped her with her groceries before, and she bitched the entire time.
“I heard you were pulled off one of their members,” Grayson says to Axel.
Axel purses his lips. “He fucking deserved it.”
“What did he do?”
“He wouldn’t take the hint with Wren, so I handled it,” Axel says nonchalantly.
I share a quick glance of surprise with Gray. We all know there is strong sexual tension between Wren and Axel, but it always surprises us when they stick up for each other. Especially since Axel is usually so standoffish.
Grayson clears his throat. “Good. Is Wren okay?”
“Yeah,” Axel replies cooly.
I can tell he’s ready to change the subject, so I do it for him. “I saw a Devil’s Knights member watching Everly at the grocery store.”
“Why would they still be following her?” Atlas asks. “I thought they had it out for Travis, not her.”
“That’s what I want to know,” I mutter. “I don’t know what their game plan is in following her, but I don’t like it. She’s pregnant, it’s not like she can protect herself right now.”
Now, I know that’s bullshit and that pregnant women are more than capable of taking care of themselves, but as close as she is to her due date and after what she’s been through with the accident, that’s the last thing she needs to be worrying about.
“Have we looked any further into the connection between Travis and the Devil’s Knights?” Atlas asks.
“No, but we’re going to now,” Grayson says. “Noah, I want you to find out what was going on between Travis and the Devils. Everything. I want you to find out if there is a connection between them and Everly, too.”
A growl slips from my mouth, making my brother look at me with a raised brow. I bite my lip to stop from saying something.
“Will do, pres,” Noah tells him with a worried look in my direction.
“Good,” Grayson says as he relaxes back in his chair. “I think we should put a prospect on Everly in the meantime. Is everyone okay with that?” He asks. Everyone around the table murmurs their agreement. “Do I need to put prospects on Wren, too?” He asks Axel.
“Nah, he’ll back off now.”
“Fine. I also wanted to let everyone know that the renovations on the bar are almost done. We’re set to open in a month since we don’t have to hire new staff. We still need to come up with a name, though.”
“What about Sovereign Spirits?” Nash asks.
Murmurs of approval break out. “Let’s put it to a vote,” Grayson says. “All in favor of naming our bar Sovereign Spirits?” Everyone gives their assent. “Sovereign Spirits it is. We’ll plan our grand opening soon. We’re done for the day,” he says with a slam of the gavel.
I stand from my chair and follow the rest of the guys out of Church, bypassing the bar and heading straight to my suite.
I’m pissed off and I don’t know why. I should be happy that Grayson agreed to put Everly under our protection, but why would he choose a prospect to do it?
Nothing against our prospects, but they’re still green.
They haven’t seen the shit that the rest of us have. The shit that I’ve seen.
I punch in the code to my suite and slam the door behind me, walking into the main room and collapsing onto my couch. I reach up and rub my jaw and wince at the ache. I’m always clenching my jaw when I’m stressed out.
I shouldn’t be this affected by Everly Sinclair. So why am I?