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I paused, biting into my cheek, wanting to choose my words carefully. "This wasn't always the plan, Reign. I'm not stupid."
"No, you're not. And, no, it wasn't. But it was the plan by the time you walked back in after that shit with the Russians. This has been something heavy on all our minds since they started fucking with the NBPD a couple years back. Everyone is sweating it. The Mallicks, they have a shitton of businesses to protect them. The Grassis have their restaurant. Breaker and Shooter are big time, but are still small fish. These guys will be itching to take down an organization, not individuals. We need to branch out. You couldn't be a member, babe. Not because you're a woman. You've proved to pretty much all of us that you have what it takes. But we need you on something else and to be on something else, you can't be associated to the illegal side of business. Make sense?"
It did.
Damn them.
I really wanted to be angry about not getting patched-in.
Hell, I had started to take on a 'doing this for all women' attitude about the whole thing.
But if they were trying to go legit, then things had definitely gone bad with the law. The Henchmen had been around for a long, long while without ever sweating any kind of heat. And, well, I was a lot less offended that they weren't choosing me if they were trusting me to take care of their money. And, in doing so, I would help ensure their safety.
It wasn't such a bad deal.
No patch, sure.
But a helluva lot of responsibility and respect.
I could live with that.
I took a deep breath and nodded.
"Alright."
"Alright?" he asked, brows drawn together.
"Did you expect a fight?"
"From you?" he asked, smiling. "Fucking always, babe."
"Well, for once, you won't be getting one. I'll take the job."
"I have a feeling there's a catch here somewhere," he said, brow lifting.
"I'm sure there is. I just haven't thought of it yet," I said with a smile.
"I'll be eagerly awaiting that battle," he said, shaking his head. "Welcome aboard, Maze."
"In my non-official capacity," I emphasized.
"You're a member in all the ways that matter, babe. Don't nitpick."
With that, he turned. I did too, smiling huge because no one could see me.Repo
1 Year-The ring felt weighted in my pocket.
There was no other way to put it. It was a simple square-cut diamond on a platinum band. It was big, but understated. The box was black and tucked into my back pocket.
It weighed little in a literal way.
But figuratively, it was heavy as fuck.
It carried with it all my future good times, all the bad days, all my sleepless nights, all my plans, all my hopes.
It was such a little nothing.
But it was also everything.
Maze had seemingly effortlessly made the transition from probate to unofficial club member. The first couple of months, with nothing really to do, she hung around and pitched in still in little ways, doing a little cleaning or cooking, but only when she wanted to, not when someone tried to tell her to. I say 'tried' because she had, on more than one occasion, knocked fellow members onto their asses. And maybe they would have tried to retaliate if she was just any other member, but she wasn't. She also belonged to me.
She moved out of the basement, where Duke and Renny still lived until Reign put in the plans for an expansion of the club rooms, and into my room with me. I liked having her there, but it made me realize real quick that I needed to get a place of my/our own. I was pretty fucking laid back about a lot of things, but the first night I walked out into the clubhouse and got hoots from the guys about overhearing me and Maze fucking, yeah, I flipped shit.
Sure, we fucked like porn stars half the time.
But that was mine and Maze's business, not everyone else's.
The ring was the first surprise.
The house was the second.
With all the money I had socked away rebuilding and selling vintage cars over the years and having next to no living expenses save for the cut I gave The Henchmen, I had a nice chunk to sock away on a small cape-style fixer-upper right off the closest side street to the compound. It was within walking distance for the nights when we had one too many to drive home. It was seconds a ride away if the shit ever hit the fan and I needed to get my ass there.
It felt almost wrong to be deciding to move out after being the only real live-in member at the compound. But, that being said, Duke and Renny stepped into the place I vacated. They were there. They kept an eye on things along with some of the older men who had nothing else to do with their time but hang around.
