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Despite none of us getting any sleep, they all agreed that we—Reid—needed to show his face and start day one of his leadership as he means to proceed.
“Yeah, let’s go,” JD says, pushing from the booth and smoothing his shirt down. “Come here, little dove,” he says, stealing me from Mav and wrapping me in his arms as Reid throws enough cash down to cover our breakfasts three times over.
After being told off by Hallie for paying and saying our goodbyes we all head out.
“Are you ready for this?” I ask Reid, after managing to snag the passenger seat before Devin called it when Ezra announced that him and Ellis would take Kristie and Daisy back to the house.
“Pet, I’m always ready.”
I chuckle. “Trust me, Big Man. I know.”
Reaching over, he squeezes my thigh. “I’ve got you by my side and my boys right behind me, what could possibly go wrong.”
“Dude, are you trying to feel me up or something?” Devin barks from the middle seat, making us all laugh.
“Oh, I’ve no idea,” I mutter.
The clubhouse parking lot isn’t as busy as I remember it being on my previous visits but then I guess quite a large proportion of members died last night alongside their beloved leader.
“Shit, this is quiet,” JD says, echoing my thoughts.
“Good. If they’re not with us now, they’re against us. And they should all know by now what happens to those who are against us,” Reid states. “If they’re here, they’re loyal and they want change. That’s all that matters.”
He kills the engine and throws his door open, ready to march into his lair.
I linger behind them, more than happy to slip in unnoticed and be a silent support for him. But apparently, that isn’t how Reid sees this going because he drags me from my hiding spot and tugs me into his side.
“Every queen should stand beside her king, Pet. We do this together.”
I shudder as a wave of unease washes through me, but I use it to fuel me and hold my head high as he sets off toward the door, JD, Mav and Devin right behind us.
The second he opens the door, the scent of both cigarette smoke and weed hits my nose and the heavy beat of music floats through the air along with deep male voices.
But the second we crash through the second set of doors, the entire place falls silent.
As expected, there aren’t anywhere near as many men in here as there would have been a few weeks ago. But that’s okay. Hell, it’s more than okay.
One person—I suspect Cash, who’s behind the bar—begins clapping, and after a few seconds, the entire place has erupted in applause for its new leader.
Jumping over the bar, Cash rushes over and pulls Reid into a man hug, slamming his fists on his back.
“We’re so fucking ready for this, man.”
Over the next few hours, every single man in the building approaches Reid to congratulate him and offer their support for whatever the future holds. It’s a humbling experience and I’m only on the outside looking in, I can only imagine how Reid feels right now.
Fucking good, I hope. After all the years of planning that’s gone into this, he deserves it.
Once he’s spoken to everyone, we head up to the offices and between us, we rip every single thing out of Victor’s office and dump it out the back where the junior members embark on a bonfire, lighting his stuff up just like they did to the man himself, so I hear.
“I think you’re going to need some furniture, Big Man,” I tease as the four of us stand in the middle of his empty new office.
“Hmm,” he mumbles.
“What’s wrong?” I ask, looking up at him from where I’m snuggled against his chest.
“Nothing just… overwhelmed, I guess.”
The fact he opens up and doesn’t try to hide what he’s feeling behind his macho, alpha bullshit warms my heart. It just shows how far we’ve come in such a short amount of time.
