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“It’s the nature of the beast. If something happens now, though, she’ll have the club at her back. Not just ours, but the mother chapter too.”
“And what does Viper think of this?”
Scope stands up, his face going hard. “I’m the president of this club. I say what goes, and Viper respects that, even if we don’t always see eye to eye.”
I blow out a frustrated breath. “So how the fuck does this affect us, making her our old lady?”
“You can’t.”
I reach for his throat, but Knight stops me, thankfully. Killing the club president is frowned upon.
“You can’t until she is a patched member or kicked out. She is doing this for Mercy, so I’m shortening her prospect period. Six months is long enough. Sure, some guys will bitch and moan about it, but I can be pretty fucking persuasive when I need to be.”
“Don’t ask us to hold back for six months. Not when you know you’d never have been able to do it yourself.”
“I’m not asking you to stay away from her. I’m telling you, you can’t make her your old lady before then. Try fucking dating or something.” He sits back down, this time on the edge of his desk. “You hardly know her. And a few days ago, you all thought she was a villain. Who knows? Maybe she is. We’ll find out within the next six months. It’s easy to hide yourself in the beginning. But for that length of time, when she’ll be around us all the time, it’s impossible. For what it’s worth, I have a feeling she’ll be one of the best damn prospects we have.”
“Yeah, and how do you think she’s going to feel when the vote doesn’t go her way? How will Mercy feel?”
He doesn’t say anything to that, but he knows I’m right.
“You think if she doesn’t get patched in, she can become our old lady, and everything will just be hunky-dory? Whatever faith she has in us will be broken. You might have just fucked up any chance we have with her. But whatever, as long as you’re happy, right?”
I storm out before I can say anything else. Something that might get my ass kicked. Shoving my way into my room, I kick the door shut and fight the urge to put my fist through the fucking wall. Running my hands through my hair, I think of all the ways I can talk Jinx out of this, but I know she won’t listen. Not when she’s made up her mind about something. Fuck. Why didn’t she talk to us about this first?
I think of Nico and Rex and wonder how the fuck she managed to talk them into this. I pause. That’s if she told them. Stands to reason that if she didn’t speak to us first, maybe she didn’t speak to them either.
And if that’s true, they might be able to convince her what a colossally bad idea this is.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Jinx
My first few weeks of prospecting went about as well as I thought they might. I knew some of the men would be pissed, so I mostly just gritted my teeth and let them bitch.
I had barely seen Knight, Eightball, and Splinter since the day I got my cut, so I can’t help but assume they’re done with me. It’s not like I didn’t prepare for the eventuality, but I can’t deny that it stings.
Mercy and I have checked out five buildings for our center. The first one had been our favorite until now. We’d just finished viewing an older Georgian-style building that used to be a library before budget cuts were made. A couple bought it to fix it up, but put it on the market when their marriage fell apart. It’s just outside of town in a somewhat rural setting, which I think adds an element of tranquility to the place. Set on five acres, the four-story building includes a fully equipped kitchen and café downstairs. I knew before I stepped inside that this place was perfect.
“Holy shit, this place is perfect,” Mercy mumbles as the realtor steps out to make a call.
“My thoughts exactly. We could convert the top two floors into small apartments.”
“Women on the top floor, teens on the third?”
“Let’s play it by ear. I’m not a fan of segregation unless it’s for safety. Besides, most of the women who will walk through those doors will have been to hell and back at some point or another. How nice would it be to have them mentoring the teens?”
Mercy squeezes my arm before walking over to one of the larger two rooms down here on the main floor.
“There are smaller rooms back there, where they kept special documents and older books and stuff, that would make great rooms for one-on-one counseling. And this space is big enough to convert into a gym area where we could teach self-defense. I know someone who owns a gym. I’m sure she can help us with this part.”
“Sounds good. I like how much land comes with the place too. We can set up a garden out back and get some of the women involved with planting vegetables and shit. And later on, we could always expand out there if we needed to. I also think having it all fenced in will give everyone a sense of peace and a place to go get some air without worrying about looking over their shoulders.”
Mercy looks out the floor-to-ceiling window, staring at the view. “It’s perfect. I just don’t think it’s going to be in our budget. Besides, I was just supposed to be looking, working on a plan, and—”
“Mercy?”
She looks at me, and I can see it in her eyes—the dwindling hope as reality sets in.
