CHAPTER ELEVEN
B-ry
I woke up irritated and feeling like I had energy to burn. Maybe it wasn’t so much energy as aggression. Something. It bothered me that Laurel had brushed me off so quickly. Fucking dismissed me not even five minutes after I had pulled away from her body. I wasn’t sure what I was more irritated at, that or the fact that I was pussy-whipped enough to know that I’d go back again. Did that make me weak? Maybe a little.
It had been three days and I was still letting it get to me. I needed a distraction. So with that in mind, I headed to the gym.
I warmed up longer than necessary, my eyes blindly boring a hole in the wall as my feet pounded the concrete floor and my knees hit my chest. It didn’t escape me that I was running in place, much like I felt like I was doing with Laurel. I changed tactics, doing slow squats until I could feel the burn in my upper thighs.
When that failed to take my mind away, I moved to the heavy bag. The world around me got lost as I tossed out punch after punch. Sweat started to drip in my eyes and I shook my head flicking the distracting drops away.
“I know this frustration,” Yuri said as he walked up and held the bag for me.
I never knew what to think of the guy, to be honest. He was older than me by at least ten years. While he wasn’t as built as most of the guys that worked out here, he was still someone I wouldn’t want to fuck with. He trained most of the men that fought in the Russian underground fights. He had never stuck is nose up at me, so there was that. In fact, he was the one that had let me in here. It went without saying that this gym wasn’t just open to anyone. Ninety-five percent of the guys that trained here were Russian, and those that weren’t, were known by association. I guessed you could have put me in that last category.
All the months that I’d been coming here, I’d picked up on two things. One, Yuri was damn good at reading people. And two, he knew what the hell he was doing. Though he wouldn’t ever say it out loud, I knew he could point out every single weakness we all had.
I tried to keep the shock off my face when he talked to me. It wasn’t something he did a lot. Really, this was probably like the third time. One of those times being when I had asked if I could pay my dues and use this place.
Since I didn’t really know what to say, I kept working the bag.
“This has lady problems written all over it,” he said not taking my silence as an invitation to fuck off.
I didn’t like to get into personal stuff. Especially not with someone I didn’t one hundred percent trust. I’d never do anything to put the club in danger. Same was said for Laurel. It would kill me if I ever became the weak link and they used her to hurt me.
I let out a deep grunt as my fist connected with the bag.
“Okay,” he said with a little chuckle. “Don’t talk. Just listen. There is always one main thing when it comes to women. They are either worth it or they are not. Only your heart can tell you the right answer. In case you’re unsure, ask yourself this. Will you regret it if you walk away?”
“I didn’t think this was a wine bar,” I said as I cut my eyes over to him for the first time. “What? We gonna do each other’s hair next?”
His head fell back as he bellowed out a laugh that rang out through the whole gym.
Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed how no one stopped to look. Which I didn’t find odd. When I was in the zone, nothing around me existed. I was sure it was like that for most everyone else here too. That and, these people knew how to keep their nose out of shit.
“I’d say yes, but you don’t have enough hair to do anything with, yeah?” He slapped me on the back as he walked off.
I couldn’t help the smile that spread on my face. I shook my head and got back to work. But his words wouldn’t stop playing over and over in my head.
I was pissed. Not at Yuri. At myself. I had let myself get into a situation where I knew I wasn’t going to come out on top. I wasn’t going to win with Laurel no matter how hard I tried, or how many different angles I came at her with.
But would I regret walking away?
With one last punch, I pushed the answer down. I couldn’t admit it, not even to myself.
I went back to the compound, showered, and got ready for Church. I knew this was going to be a big one. There was a lot going on and a shit ton of things I knew Iron would want decisions on. I had to get my head in the game.
I hit the second floor just as Iron was unlocking the door to the sacred meeting room. It looked like I was the first one here. Since I was usually at least five minutes early for scheduled meetings, I wasn’t surprised. Most everyone else would be right behind me with Fitz stumbling in last, more than likely. He always seemed to barely make it in time. I had no idea why, though. Maybe he was just terrible with time.
This meeting was important. Only officers were here. Which meant that Mason, Ky, and Lake were left out this time. I had a feeling there was a vote as far as Mason was concerned coming around this time. I was ready to throw down my vote. I had been for a while now.
“Lotta fuckin’ shit to talk about so let’s get to it,” Iron said calling the meeting to order. The room went dead silent as we waited for him to continue. “No playing around anymore. Mason was brought here to fill the VP spot. I know I have history with him, so I’m leaving it up to you guys. I want to hear what you have to say before we vote. But I think it’s about time we let him know if he was in or out. And if you don’t think it’s a good fit then we need to figure something else. You guys have done a good job and I’m real proud of this chapter, but it still feels incomplete. I’d like to rectify that as quickly as possible.”
It was true, the table felt empty without a Vice Prez. Iron had done a good job taking it all on himself, but it wasn’t fair to him. Or to the club really. We needed someone to balance Iron out and compliment the rest of us. Someone that was on the same page as far as where this club was headed and could help make decisions to benefit us all. Also someone with a level head and wouldn’t snap if something went against what he thought was best.
In other words, we needed Mason. He honestly was the best man for the job. I wasn’t saying that because he was pretty much the only option right now. I was saying that because I’d seen him with the brothers. I’d seen him step up and lend a hand without even being asked. He never once pushed back at having to jump through the same hoops as prospects had to. Even though he’d already done it all before.
He’d belonged to a club before, so I felt like he got what we were all about. I could also sense that he was looking for something a little different from the one he’d previously held a patch for. That club was fucking shady and unhealthy, if you asked me. It seemed like Mason was looking for exactly what we stood for. He was looking for people that would watch his back as much as he had theirs.
The fact that Mason and Iron had known each other was a positive in my book. They seemed to have a way with one another. I thought that if Mason had the VP slot then they would balance each other out perfectly.
And that was what I said when it was my turn, ya know, in fewer words.
The vote was unanimous.
We finally had a Vice President.
Thank fuck!
“I want to bring Lake and Ky to the table. I think they deserve spots here. They know the club well enough. They both have different backgrounds. We got a lot going on here and I think the more hands and heads we have to help out, the better. For Lake?”
No one objected.
I didn’t think they would.
“Ky?” Iron said and went around the room again. Another round of ayes and it was settled. “Well, that was easy.” Iron said with a little chuckle.
Next, we moved on to the prospects. Since we didn’t have anyone that we thought was quite ready to move up, we started talking about guys that had expressed interest in the club. There was a new batch of guys that had wanted in. I only cared for two of them with a third that I would maybe give a chance. Though I didn’t see him lasting long. Then again, I thought the same thing about Blade and he had surprised the shit out of me. The rest of the ones that were brought to the table, I voted to cut loose. I wasn’t the only one.
So it was settled, we had three new prospects to break in. I tried not to smile. Sure I could go hard on them sometimes and maybe I got a little enjoyment out of it, but everyone had to do their time. I did. It didn’t matter that I’d grown up in the club and that my pops had a patch. I still took the shit and proved I was worthy of it. It was the only way to know that you really wanted it.
“It’s settled then. Fitz, you take care of the new prospects. Make sure you tell them what we expect from them. It isn’t going to be an easy ride,” Iron said. “Mouse and B-ry, you get to let Ky and Lake know what we decided. Since I hadn’t really talked to them about it, see if they are interested first. If not, no harm. But I’m pretty sure they both want in. I wouldn’t have brought it up otherwise. I’ll hold back on Mase until we can throw a party. Think he’s earned it.”
We all were in agreement.
“Now.” Iron’s tone turned dark and serious. I knew this meeting was far from over. “Cable says there’s been nothing on this Keften guy. There hasn’t been any unusual activity around here. No kind of suspicious peak in abductions or missing kids in the city or surrounding areas. Cable said Bocca hasn’t found anything either. While I don’t want to let our guard down on this, I also don’t want to keep pouring all of our energy into it. I don’t want us to start slipping up because our sole focus is on one thing. We got a lot going on and since there hasn’t been a single thing that makes me feel like we need to look out, then I want to pull back. I’m not saying that I’m going to tell Cable to end his search, I’m just saying to put it in the background. Maybe this fuck realized it just wasn’t worth it. Or hell, maybe he moved to another country. Anyone object?”
Most of us shook our heads. There hadn’t been any leads on the guy, least of all any that put him near here. So Prez was right to pull back some. We had a shit ton of other stuff to worry with.
“Alright,” he said.
We moved on to what was coming in and what was to go out in the next couple of weeks. Things were getting heavy but nothing we couldn’t handle. Iron explained that the Irish had found another buyer and wanted to up their intake. It wasn’t much, so Iron had made the decision to go ahead with it. Other than that, things were going pretty smoothly.
The meeting broke and a few of us stuck around to talk party stuff. Since it was almost the weekend, we figured Saturday would be good. Then a few of us headed over to the store to stock up on meats and beer. And of course, I grabbed some of those bean patty things that Cami liked. At the last minute, I snatched up a few bags of salad and a couple of different dressings. Yeah, that was for Cami too. Or so I told myself. It wasn’t that inside I hoped she’d bring Laurel. I knew bagged salad wasn’t up to her standards, but it was the best I could do without raising suspicion. Not that the girl couldn’t use a damn burger or two.
Yeah, I’d noticed the weight loss. It killed me but I didn’t want to say anything. I knew it was more than likely due to lack of money and maybe stress rather than her starving herself on purpose. That was the only reason I’d held back. The last thing I wanted to do was make her feel worse about her situation.
And to be honest, she probably wouldn’t say anything about bagged salad. I wasn’t being fair in thinking that. The Laurel I knew now wasn’t the same one that I’d first met. Maybe sometimes it was hard for me to see past that rich girl that I’d been introduced to. Or it could have been that it was who she was when I first got a taste of her. Maybe I didn’t want to forget that snobby woman that gave me hell from the moment she laid eyes on me.
Ky eyed the salad as I put it on the belt at the register. He looked up at me, his eyes narrowed and his mouth twitching like he was trying his damnedest not to say anything. I held his gaze, refusing to back down or give anything away.
“Yeah, okay,” he said and shook his head.
I knew Ky was onto me, had been for months now. Though I knew he had no clue who I’d been spending my time with so I wasn’t worried.
But honestly, it wasn’t like I cared if he knew or not. If I had it my way, Laurel would be coming to this thing. And she’d be doing it because I invited her. Oh, I, for damn sure, would be making sure that everyone knew she was off limits. It was the fear of losing what little I did have of her that kept me from outing the whole thing.
Well, fuck.
I had my answer.
I would regret it if I walked away.
I’d regret it so damn much.
Maybe it made me a pathetic pussy, but as long as no one knew about it, I guessed it was okay.