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“You buy off the rack in this town and no one will ever take you seriously, Gregory. Didn’t your grandfather teach you anything?”
“He taught me to think for myself.”
“And if you’d done that, you wouldn’t be in the position you are in now,” he said, folding the paper and laying it on the table before getting to his feet. “Besides, you only have a brief window to seal this deal. She is already in over her head. Latest reports state that she is agreeing with the board on everything. Thought you said this woman had a backbone.”
The tailor stood, placing his pin cushion on the small table beside him before grabbing a chalk pen. Standing straight, the tailor started hash marking my shoulders, the scorn still on his face. Ignoring him, I said, “She does have a backbone. Had no problem putting me in my place before she bolted from Tennessee. She took the hide off my back before she left.”
“I like the woman already.”
I rolled my eyes. “You just thought she didn’t have a backbone. Make up your damn mind. What else do you know?”
“Lots. Your woman is currently living in the company’s penthouse. The company security team guards the kids twenty-four-seven. Fucking pussies couldn’t watch a potted plant. Got a team over there now packing everything up. Also, the board is insisting that Linsey hire a nanny of their choosing to look after the heir. Fucked up if you ask me. Putting all that shit on a three-year-old. Anyway, your woman is refusing, but it won’t last. Got a brother digging into every board member. What he’s already found out isn’t good. Your woman is in trouble, Vicious. The mother-in-law isn’t the only one who wants your woman dead. A few of the board members are taking steps to oust Linsey and take over the company. Duchene International is ripe for a hostile takeover.”
Fuck. I knew it was bad, just didn’t think it was this bad. Linsey was in over her head. She needed help. Thank God, I had Montana and the club looking after her. She may not know it now, but without their help, she was about to lose everything. Even the girls. Thanks to Montana and his connections, the Soulless Sinners could head off some of the minor shit. Now that I was here, I wasn’t going to let anyone hurt Linsey or take those girls away from her.
Montana Stone was unlike any man I’d ever met. Sophisticated, cunning, maniacal, the fucker was GQ wrapped in a biker’s persona. Bastard didn’t play games. What he said he meant. He ran this damn town with an iron fist and no one ever dared cross him. If they did, Montana made damn sure everyone felt the example he set worldwide. He had ties to the Italian Mafia and Russian Bratva. He dined with the crème de la crème of society and partied hard with the riffraff. The man had his hands in everything and he just happened to be one of my longest friends.
“By the way, mom found out you moved back to town.”
Turning to stare at the bastard, I growled, already knowing he passed on that information. “You have a big fucking mouth.”
Montana shrugged, neither agreeing nor disagreeing. “She invited you to dinner tonight. Bring Elizabeth. Mom said just family tonight.”
“Really?” I questioned, feeling the need to poke the bear a bit. I wasn’t the only one with dark family secrets. “Does that mean all the family?”
Montana narrowed his eyes. “No.”
“You really need to forgive him, Montana. It’s been twenty years.”
“No.”
“I know you know he came to help the Golden Skulls when that shit with theSocietywent down.”
Montana scowled, crossing his arms. “Your point?”
“My point is you should call your brother.”
“Didn’t know you cared.”
“I don’t but regardless of how you feel. Kansas is still your baby brother. He’s survived shit, Montana. Real shit if you catch my drift. I figured since you are in a giving mood, you might extend some of that attention to your own flesh and blood.”
“Fuck you, Gregory,” Montana sneered, then quickly changed the subject. “You give any thought to my proposal?”
Sighing. I knew the fucker wouldn’t relent. From the second I showed my face back in the city, Montana’s been hounding me about removing my club colors and joining his club. Said since I was going to be in the city for the foreseeable future that I’d make a fantastic addition to the Soulless Sinners. The fucked-up part was that I was thinking about it. I thought I found my home with the Golden Skulls, but I never really felt settled. Like I was missing something.
What most people don’t know about the Soulless Sinners was that for the club to even consider a new brother, the applicant must own their own company. Then the applicant had to show a hundred percent profit within the first year of being a prospect while devoting twenty hours a week to the club. That was just the basics. Then there was all the other shit that came with being a Soulless Sinner. While the club had chapters all over the United States and around the world, the National Chapter, the one in New York City that Montana ruled, was a cut above the rest. Also, no Soulless brother from the National Chapter wore colors. The only time anyone would ever see the National Chapter wearing the Soulless Sinner patch was if they were visiting another chapter or out on a club run for charity, but even then, the brothers took precautions to hide their identities.
Total anonymity was a must for any brother in the National Chapter. Composed of influential men, the National Chapter brothers owned banks, marketing firms, investment firms, security firms, you name it. I could look at any paper and see a brother’s face plastered in the business section or on the society page. Men who believed in something more, wanted something more, needed something more, joined the Soulless Sinners, hoping to find whatever it was they were missing. Not every applicant made the cut. Nope, the Soulless Sinners Motorcycle Club wasn’t like any other club. Only those without a soul would ever consider joining the club and even then, that didn’t guarantee they’d ever wear the patch.
“I’m still thinking about it.”
“Think faster,” Montana growled, looking at his watch. “Got a board meeting coming up in a few weeks to go over new applicants. Want to present your name to the board.”
The tailor stood, removing the unfinished suit jacket from my body. “That will be all, Mr. Van Otto. I have everything I need. I will have the suits finished and delivered to you within the week, along with everything else Mr. Stone has requested.”
Nodding, I stepped off the dais I’d been standing on for the last hour and stretched my back. “Montana, I said I needed time.”
“You’ve got two weeks. Also, we’re going to the club tonight. The boys want to welcome you home properly.”
