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Once the IV is removed from Hartley and they’ve taken their last set of vitals on her, the nurse lets us know she’ll be in with a wheelchair as soon as the paperwork is done. Helping her get out of the hospital gown and into the pair of baggy sweatpants and one of my tee-shirts, I move around the bed to stand behind her so I can run a brush through her hair. Every day I brush her hair and Hartley loves it if the moans escaping her mouth are anything to go by. The only thing I don’t do is put her hair up in a ponytail or messy knot thing. I have no clue how to do it and I’m not about to gnarl her hair up or anything else to cause her more pain.
Hartley and her sister are at the house with Trina and my mom. The meeting between the two of them went better than I ever thought it would. My mom instantly fell in love with her and has been there since we pulled up to anticipate every single one of her needs before anyone else could. The only stop we made on the way home was to get her prescriptions filled and make sure the prospects got what she needed at the store as far as drinks and food she wants until the girls can go through what we have and what they want.
My mom also flipped the hell out learning she’s gonna be a grandma. The screaming and dancing around the living room that commenced when she heard the news will forever be ingrained in my memory. Especially the large smile covering my mom’s face. Mom wrapped us up in her arms and held Hartley and myself for so long as my brothers looked on laughter filling the room. It was a good moment. She’s excited and has wanted grandbabies for so long now. My son or daughter will be her first one and I can already tell they’ll be spoiled as hell. Not just by her, but the rest of the men in the club.
Now, it’s time to turn my attention to the meeting with Sal. I’ve left my woman in the capable hands of Trina, Jaelyn, my mom, and Cal. Austin is back at the clubhouse resting even though he wants to be put back on guard duty. I had to argue with him to follow doctor’s orders because he feels as if he’s letting us down as a club because he’s not pulling his weight right now. We’ve all assured him he’ll be back on his feet soon and then he can get back to work for us. Austin will definitely be patching into the club, and we’ve had more than one talk about it in the past few weeks. Cal will also be patching in at some point as long as he keeps busting his ass the way he has been.
Walking into the common room of the clubhouse, all the guys are sitting around in various places. My brothers are sitting at a table with smiles on their faces as they talk amongst themselves about something. Talon is the only one I’m not seeing here as my gaze wanders around the room once again.
“Where’s Talon?” I question the room at large as I pull my vibrating phone from my pocket to see a message from Sal.
Sal: Five minutes out.
“I think he just ran up to his room. Not sure if he was alone or not,” Boxer responds to me, his voice filled with laughter.
“Someone get him. Sal will be here in five minutes. I want everyone in church who’s a patched member. Evan, make sure the bar is stocked and ready for church to be done,” I order as I walk toward the hallway with our meeting room as Cal stops just outside the door.
“What’s Sal comin’ here for?” Evan asks as if he has the right to that information.
“Excuse me,” Death says from his seat at the end of the bar where he’s drinking a bottle of water.
I warned the officers of the club earlier Sal was stopping by for a meet. I’m sure he isn’t expecting to meet with all of us, but depending on what he has to say it will be easier if we’re all there to do any votes needed before he even leaves the clubhouse. He’ll be okay with it. Sal is pretty laid back and understands when we need to have votes and stuff for anything he offers the club. Today will be no different and we’ll all be here for him to do the vote to save time all the way around. There will be no other phone calls needed or anything else.
Boxer leaves the room to go in search of Talon instead of heading to our meeting room.
“Cal, when Sal gets here, knock on the door and let us know so he can come in. We won’t be discussin’ anythin’ until he’s here,” I order the prospect just before entering the doors.
“Got it,” he responds as the rest of the men file in the room behind me.
Taking my seat, I don’t bother slamming the gavel on the table or anything. Not only are Boxer and Talon not in here but there’s no point until Sal gets here and lets us in on what he has to say. Hopefully we can get out of running drugs and protecting any shipments of drugs because none of us want to get hauled off to jail for the amount of drugs being run. He’s already told us we’ll scale back on things and only be used when he really needs the clubs help. That doesn’t mean we’ll get out of the runs we help him with. We’ll see what he says as soon as he gets here in a few minutes, I guess.
By the time Talon and Boxer walk through the door and take their seats, there’s a knock on the door letting us know Sal is here. Rifle being the closest one to the door gets up to let him in. Sal walks in followed by Tomasso. They remain standing at the head of the table and give chin lifts in greeting to us.
“Sal, it’s good to see you again so soon. Not really somethin’ we get to do,” I greet him, nodding at Tomasso.
“Yes. I have some information for you. What I’ve managed to dig up is Eric joined the Rising Rebels not that long ago. He was the leading force behind the overthrow of the previous president. Eric is apparently now leading the assholes and not giving a shit what they do or who they hurt. It makes sense with what we’ve learned of how he treated your woman,” Sal informs us all. “The man stole a ton of money from her, cheated on her every day multiple times, and beat the fuck out of her on a regular basis. He threatens and taunts her with what he’ll do to her sister if she doesn’t comply with his demands. Even now they’re not together. Mona was also his ol’ lady. Been with him for years now. Including when he was with Hartley.
“Eric isn’t the only one who got away that day either. There are at least five men who managed to leave before we got there. We haven’t seen them or heard anything about where they’re hiding out now either. I’ve been putting feelers out and our soldiers are hunting for them every day and night. They’re going to fuck up soon and we’ll be there when they do. I already know you want your pound of flesh from each and every single one of them because of their treatment of Hartley. One of these days I’ll get to meet the lovely woman. Seen the pictures of her and I’m not surprised you made her yours. She’s a beautiful woman.”
“Fuck!” I grind out, pissed at hearing how my woman was treated so horribly by a piece of shit and knowing how many men are still out there.
“How did they stumble on your warehouse?” Talon questions him as he leans back in his chair.
Lighting up a cigarette after pulling one from my pack, I wait for Sal to respond. I’d really like to know the answer myself.
“No clue. Yet. We’re still digging into things. As soon as we find out, we’ll let you know. I’m still not sure what his end game is and how much it involves your ol’ lady. Again, we’ll let you know what we discover. Now, why I’m here and wanted to speak with you. It’s good you’re all here,” Sal says, looking around the room. “I know you want to get off the runs of drugs and I might have found a way to accomplish it. It’s not much better, but it’s the best I can do for now.”
“What are you proposin’?” I ask him, sitting up straighter in my chair at the head of the table.
“We’re getting into the drug business. Instead of multiple times a month needing you for these runs, it would be once a month and the pay day for you would be triple what you’re getting now. The runs aren’t local, but they aren’t far away either. A max of a day tops for you to be gone. Half the time with the shipment then you can do what you please on the way home,” he states, continuing to look around the table.
“Let us vote on this and we’ll let you know. Help yourself to anythin’ at the bar as usual when you’re here,” I tell him as Sal and Tomasso turn to leave our meeting room.
Once the doors are closed behind them, I look at the men surrounding me. Not a single one of them are giving anything away with their facial expressions. I have no clue what any of them think of this idea of Sal’s.
“Give it to me,” I say, letting them have their say before I say a word.
“Not sure I want to be protectin’ guns either,” Death is the first to speak up and voice his opinion. “Still the same risk if we get caught with the shit.”
