Banger picked up a wooden stool and slammed it on the table, the splintering wood sounding like cracking bones. “I don’t give a shit if she is or isn’t. Why the fuck is she in our clubhouse?”
Rock didn’t flinch. “I’ll take care of it. This is my personal affair and it doesn’t involve the club.”
“Every goddamned thing each of you does involves the club. How can you have been part of this brotherhood for as long as you have and not fuckin’ know this? You got shit for brains? The fuckin’ minute she stepped her ass in here, it involved the brotherhood. Fuck!”
“I get that, but this is my problem that I have to take care of.”
“You fuckin’ put the Insurgents in a bad position. This isn’t some bitch you saw at a damn nightclub and wanted to fuck. This is a client’s wife, a big-ass client for one of our loyal outsiders. Liam doesn’t deserve the shit you just dropped on him. This is bullshit!”
All eyes were on Rock, and several brothers had their heads down out of respect for the verbal beat down their president was giving to a fellow brother.
Rock lifted his chin in defiance. “I said I’d take care of it. The rich fuck doesn’t know she’s here, and she’ll be gone before he finds out. Liam doesn’t know either. She was in a bad way and needed my help. We go back a long time.”
“What are you planning to do about it?”
“I’m not sure yet.”
“Well you fuckin’ better get sure real fast ‘cause her ass is out at the end of the weekend. And the only reason it isn’t tomorrow is ‘cause we got the celebration for patching Puck, Johnnie, and Blade in on Saturday. We got enough shit going on with the Skull Crushers, Demon Riders, and now the goddamned Gypsy Fiends. I can’t fuckin’ afford to take on an asshole who’s got enough money to buy an army and raze this place to the ground just to get his bitch back. Fuck! I never expected this shit from you, Rock.”
“I said I’d handle it.”
“You fuckin’ better.”
“If you need my help, bro, let me know,” Bones said.
“Same goes here.” Wheelie stood up, followed by Jax, Chas, Chicory, Bear, Bruiser, Axe, Throttle, and—except for four of the older members—everyone else in the room.
Rock straightened his shoulders and looked at his brothers, a gleam in his eye. The magnitude of support the brothers just gave him reinforced the love he had for the brotherhood. He’d never experienced such love and loyalty in his life, not even with his mother. Her undying loyalty had always been with his pa, and he could never figure out how she could’ve stood by such a selfish, cruel-hearted sonofabitch. But that was over. She was gone. His pa was locked away. Rock was in the Insurgents. And Clotille was up in his room.
A wolfish smile crossed his face.
“We’re already so deep in shit over this that I don’t give a damn who helps you. Just get it fixed.” Banger cleared his throat. “Now, on to other business. We’re meeting with Baylee to draw up plans for our new strip mall….”
An hour later, Rock went into the great room, laughing and talking with his buddies. When he spotted Clotille sitting at one of the tables, a cup of coffee in her hand, his heart soared. She was wearing another one of his T-shirts and it turned him way the hell on. She had on a pair of yoga pants, and he couldn’t wait to check out her ass in them when they went upstairs.Damn, she gets my blood boiling.As he approached she looked up from the magazine she was reading and smiled at him.
“Where have you been?” she said as he took the chair next to her.
“Church.” He laughed at her quizzical look. “A meeting. We call it church.”
“Why?”
He shrugged. “Just do.”
“Okay. What was your meeting about?”
“I can’t talk about what we discuss during church. It’s club business.”
She nodded. “I talked to Frederick this morning.”
He stiffened. “What did he have to say?”
“The expected: he loves me, he wants me to come home, he’ll destroy me if I leave him.” She laughed as she pulled at her hair.
Rock scowled. “What does he mean by ‘destroy you?’ Does he got something on you?”
She licked her lips and averted her gaze. “He’s helping a lot with my family, so I guess he means that he’ll pull the financial plug.”
“Is he supporting your brothers too?”
