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“A partnership?” Bull jerked back. “We don’t partner with outsiders.”
I sat back and crossed my arms over my chest. “Told him that.”
“Then we’ve got nothing to discuss.”
Bear held up his hand. “What did he propose?”
Bull grunted and sat back, but I noticed the other members hadn’t reacted. I wasn’t sure if that was good or bad. “They’ll purchase the property, if the council agrees, for a hundred and fifty k. There’s enough ground for the racetrack and a small hotel. They’ll build and manage the hotel, and we’ll take on the racetrack. Their cousin Cole was also there and would be the third in this deal, but all he expects are referrals and advertisement for his garage.” I scanned the faces and finished. “Ben would have a contract drawn up to detail everything including everyone’s responsibilities, and we would split the profits equally.”
Bear ran his hand over his beard and his attention shifted to Pop. They shared a look before he settled his stare back on me. “He feel confident they’d sell the ground to him?”
“Seemed to.” I pressed my lips together, not sure how much more to say, but then I decided it was time to share my opinion. I didn’t usually, but this was important to me, but even more, it was beneficial to the club. “If you want my opinion, I think this has the potential to make us a lot of money, but more than that, it keeps the Widows on their side of the street. We’re not getting that property from the town on our own. As long as they accept Ben’s bid, he’s gonna own it. His confidence and willingness to work with us says a lot in this community.”
“I’m with Race.” Ritz put his elbows on the table. “We’ve got nothing to lose.”
Bull grunted. “Except our reputation.”
“Our reputation isn’t good right now, brother.” Tank voiced what we all knew. “This might be what changes that. We offer something fun for the community while proving we’re willing to work alongside the other business owners. It’ll also go far in improving our reputation that Dimarco Construction is willing to partner with us.”
“I agree with that.” Gunner nodded. “But I’m not gonna lie. I’m not sure how well we’ll all work together.”
“That’s a lot of fucking ego running the show,” Ritz added.
I pointed at Ritz, but kept my eyes on Bear. “I told Ben the same thing.”
“What’d he say?”
“He agreed.” Bear snorted out a laugh, so I continued. “But didn’t seem concerned. Don’t forget he grew up with six brothers. He knows a lot about competition and ego.”
“And compromise.” Bear studied me for a moment before facing Pop. “What do you think?”
Pop scanned the faces around the table. “Think it’s time for a change. We need to make a statement to the Widows.”
“What kind of fucking statement will this make?”
Pop shifted his attention to Bull. “The Widows have a national chapter at their back. We don’t. But in doing this, we could have this town at our back. An easy way to keep our hands clean and push the Widows out is to have the town’s support.”
Murmurs of agreement sounded through the room, but my eyes were locked on Bull. He didn’t agree, it was easy to see that, but he wouldn’t publicly disagree with Pop. He’d lived through a hell of a lot more than any of us throughout his years as a member and his opinion was to be respected.
With a small grin on my lips, I faced Bear when he called for the vote.
At the end of the meeting, it was unanimous.
And with any luck at all, I’d be back on the track by summer.
Chapter 35
Race
This week, I learned the best thing about small towns was how quickly the town council made a decision. They had their meeting on Wednesday, and Ben had their decision by Thursday afternoon. He cut the check on Friday, and Dimarco Construction became the owner of just shy of eleven acres that shared a property line with the Sinners.
Closing my eyes, I smiled when Becs burrowed her body in closer to mine. Running my hand down her naked back, I thought about the past week and realized I’d wasted a hell of a long time ashamed of a past that helped me become who I am now. Becs pointed that out months ago, but I wasn’t in a place where I could really hear her. Going home had shown me that the fear I had of wanting to go back to my old lifestyle had been just that, fear. It was never real. I hid for a long time, but I wasn’t hiding anymore.
I twisted my neck when I heard my phone vibrate on the nightstand. Slowly lifting my arm from around Becs’s back, I reached behind me and grabbed my cell. Staring down at the screen, I read the message a few times before grinning.
Ritz: Our boy’s at Crush
Glancing at Becs, I saw she was still sleeping and slowly pulled my other arm from beneath her before sitting up as easily as I could. Luckily, Becs slept like the dead. The only thing that seemed able to wake her was Wyatt.
