Chapter Three
ZZ
“What are we doing here, Prez?” I ask as the rest of our brothers pull in, followed by the Red Ladies. We’re standing in an empty parking lot, a large building to the right of it. If you turn around, HQ is across the street.
He lifts his shades to the top of his head. “I’m movin’ the Red Ladies.”
I shake my head with a laugh. “Did you discuss it with Diz?”
Braxxon grunts. “What the fuck do you think?”
The bastard seems to forget he kept a huge fucking secret from the MC and we’re all still a little raw from it. I’d say we have the right to question him on any changes to our life or lifestyle. He hasn’t been consulting us on anything, and it’s going to wear us all thin if he keeps it up. “I think you’re makin’ a shit ton of changes without holdin’ meetin’s, is what I think.”
Pyro is gonna be pissed off.
I doubt the Red Lady move has been brought to his attention and he’s the VP of our MC and Braxxon’s brother; we recently discovered.
“I’m workin’ through some shit.”
Aren’t we all?
“We could’ve walked around the corner,” Dizzy murmurs when she’s near. “What’s going on?”
I cross my arms with a smirk. “More change.”
“The fuck?”
I turn my head when Pyro growls beside me. “Right.”
Braxxon waits until the rest of the brothers and the Red Ladies are gathered around before he gives Pyro an explanation. “I’m movin’ the ladies here and before you say shit, remember I’m the president, and I make the calls.”
“You want us to, what? Sell our houses and move our headquarters? All without discussing it with us or getting our thoughts on it?” Dizzy questions him. “You know I respect you as a president, but you’ve been pushing it lately.”
Pyro snorts. “He’s more than pushed it.”
I agree.
Braxxon lifts his sunglasses to the top of his head and scrubs his right hand down his face. “I know I’ve been pissin’ you all off left and right, but we need to do this. The ladies are a group of four, I’m worried about their safety,” he says with exasperation. “I have a feelin’ bloodshed is comin’ again, I have enough shit on my plate. I’m makin’ the right call. You’ll even have room to expand your members if you want. You can recruit after the move,” he offers.
“Fuck that noise,” Diz snorts. “We’ll do the move, but I’m not adding more ladies right now.”
“As you wish.”
“Too easy,” Pyro murmurs beside me.
I agree.
Dizzy is keeping something to herself.
Too many secrets with our family.
Secrets rip families apart.
Secrets get people killed.
I fucking hate secrets.
“Here’s the keys,” Braxxon offers. “You got 20k to use for the inside.”
“Gating and the outside exterior?”
“I want top notch. It’s not in your budget. I’ve already hired a crew. They’ll be here in a couple of weeks.”
“You’ve been busy,” I pipe up. “Busy keepin’ us in the fuckin’ dark.”
“No fuckin’ shit,” Pyro grumps beside me. “Do we need to be here for this shit?”
Braxxon turns towards his brother. “Got someplace better to be?”
“Yeah, fuckin’ my wife.”
It must be nice getting fucking pussy.
I’ve almost forgotten what Storms feels like.
Almost.
Braxxon doesn’t say anything to Pyro’s retort.
“C’mon, Pyro. Check out our new digs with us.” Dizzy nods for him to follow her.
“Is a ton of change normal here,” Seneca questions Brax.
I chuckle. “We used to have routines. I don’t know what the fuck those are anymore.”
Brax’s phone buzzes and he ignores it. “We’ve never had normal, ZZ. Don’t fuckin’ lie to the brother.”
“I’ve got shit to handle at Impressions. You need me?” Shadow mumbles from the sidelines.
“Go.” Braxxon muses with a nod of his head.
“Brother,” Sniper warns lowly. “Patience lines are runnin’ thin.”
Understatement.
“I don’t fuckin’ have to explain my every fuckin’ move to you motherfuckers,” Braxxon growls while he digs his phone out. “Fuck! What,” he snaps when he answers. “No. I sent a fuckin’ prospect with them, Angel. They’ll be fine.” Braxxon says no more and hangs up the call with Winter. “She sent them away and is worried,” he snorts. “Typical female bullshit.”
“Lana was diggin’ into the women,” Sniper sneers. “Winter was smart to send Lana away with her sister and Ripley.”
“I know my fuckin’ wife is smart,” he growls. “Fuck. I’m outta here. You fuckers know what you’re supposed to do today. I don’t gotta hold any fuckin’ hands.”
“I’m gonna have to intervene,” Sniper states when Braxxon rides away on his lady. “My brother obviously has a lot weighin’ on his mind.”
“I’m new here and shit,” Fox chimes in. “Keep in mind the entire charter relies heavily on the decisions he makes.”
“I could kill Pops for this shit,” Sniper groans. “Puttin’ all this shit on my brother so young. We were too fuckin’ young.”
I do agree with Sniper on that.
Pops faking his death and forcing Braxxon to take on the leading role not only here, but the entire charter, it was a fucked-up thing to do.
“It definitely rocked the charter when news spread about him bein’ alive,” Fox chuckles. “Do the dead rise here often?”
“It has been a common occurrence lately,” I quip.
Pyro walks out of the lady’s new club and shocks us with the news. “He’s been talkin’ with our rival MC, the Gunners. They’ve been through a few presidents over the last two years, their lookin’ to disband. Only half want to start a new charter. The other half, the ones who cause us half our fuckin’ problems, they want to keep Gunner MC and as it is. A cesspool of bullshit.” Pyro lights a cigarette as he continues. “There are too many members wantin’ to go legit, and Brax can’t place them all inside our charter. That’d be madness. He’s basically got our club problems and the Gunners problems too.”
Fuck!
“So… you’re tellin’ us not only do we have future cartel problems, but we have Gunner bullshit too?” I interject before anyone else. “How the fuck do you even know this? You aren’t even really speakin’ to Brax right now.”
“That’s what I’d like to fuckin’ know,” Sniper demands.
“He was smokin’ a joint on the rooftop last night when I did my rounds.” Pyro shrugs. “Maybe it was his olive branch?”
“Hell of an olive branch,” I point out. “He still owes you more though.”
“I agree,” Sniper snorts. “Even though he’s our brother. He did you dirty.”
“No shit,” Pyro grumbles and then looks down at his hand and grins. “I’m almost over it though.”
Sniper punches Pyro in the arm. “Bastard ass.”
“Okay. I’m over it,” Pyro concedes. “Jinx remedies it all.”
I nod my head. “She’s an awesome chick.”
“I agree,” Sniper adds. “She evens you out.”
“No shit,” Pyro snorts and cups his junk. “She’s got me by the balls.”
Sniper gazes at his phone, his face pulling into confusion. “I’ve gotta go. Piper says she needs to talk to me in person.”
Pyro’s body stiffens, just barely, enough for me to notice.
When Sniper is across the parking lot, I cross my arms. “What do you know?”
“Your woman’s abilities are rubbin’ off on you,” Pyro mocks. “I don’t fuckin’ like it.”
“What abilities?” Fox questions the group, curious.
“Don’t ever let Storm get a read on ya,” Pyro warns. “She’s got this freaky, fucked-up ability to spot lies, read your moods and your body language. It’s unnerving as hell.”
I grunt. “It’s true,” I tell the new guys and then focus my attention back on Pyro. “Now, spill. We’ve got enough fuckin’ secrets here.”
“Piper’s pregnant. Sniper is about to find out in about five minutes or so.”
I suck in a breath.
Sniper was already tripping out over Piper wanting to adopt because shit is so unstable with the club right now.
He’s going to lose his shit.
“Oh, fuck.”
“Yep. He’s gonna be drinkin’ tonight,” Pyro chuckles. “He’ll be okay though. Sniper has always wanted the family life. Shit is no secret. He’s just worried.”
Lucy comes out and joins us. “What’s up?”
I wrap an arm around her neck and squeeze. “Your buddy is gonna be a daddy.”
Lucy pulls away from me. “For real?”
We all nod.
“Oh, man. He’s gonna flip,” she scoffs. “Even though he’s gonna kick ass at it.”
“Yeah, he will.”
“It pisses me off at how good at life Sniper actually is,” she stresses. “I better go make sure his favorite whiskey is in the clubhouse.” Lucy looks to Pyro. “Will you let Diz know, please?”
“Yeah, darlin. I gotcha.”
When she’s out of hearing distance, Seneca shuffles his feet. “She’s close with Sniper, huh?”
Oh, no. I shake my head. “Don’t even,” I warn. “It isn’t worth it. Trust me.”
Seneca chuckles. “I’m not so sure about that.”
“You sly motherfucker,” Pyro praises. “But I wouldn’t proceed with anything more than fun. Sniper trained her and Salt, and between the two, I don’t know which women is scarier, and that’s not an overstatement.”
“I agree. If your lookin’ for fun, she’s your girl. If not, back away with caution,” I add. “You don’t wanna get on her bad side.”
“Whose bad side,” Lyrics soft voice chimes in.
Shit.
“Lucy,” Seneca offers up without a care.
“Oh, no,” she says sweetly. “I would advise against it.”
“And, you?” Fox chimes in.
Lyric’s beauty is the dangerous kind.
The kind that slays motherfuckers.
“I don’t know,” she says quietly with a shrug and turns and walks away from us.
“Nope,” Smokey warns from behind us. “Don’t even.”
Quiet bastard.
“For once, I agree with Smokey,” I voice out loud. “If you aren’t her high school sweetheart. You don’t stand a fuckin’ chance. No man does.”
“She’s hung up on a first love?” Fox curiously questions.
“She is,” I say with a nod. “She has her fun. She does it quickly and quietly. No repeats. Her heart isn’t hers to give. The fuckin’ bastard never contacted her after a move or some shit. We don’t really know.”
“I’m sure she could find him online,” Fox muses. “If she really wanted too.”
“She knows where he is and doesn’t seem to care,” Dizzy growls. “Why the fuck you talkin’ about my girl for anyhow?”
“Because we fuckin’ can,” I growl back. “The new guys are just gettin’ a little background. Damn, Diz. Chill.”
Dizzy’s defenses drop. “I’m protective.”
“We know,” I assure her. “How do you like the new place?” I asked, swinging the subject off one of her ladies.
“It’ll be some work. Where’s Lucy?”
Almost forgot. “She went to make sure Sniper’s favorite whiskey was in the clubhouse. He’s gettin’ some news that’s gonna rock his boat.”
“I know,” she murmurs. “Heard Piper throwing up a few days ago. I kind of figured.” Diz retreats into her own head for a moment. “There’s so much to do. Pyro… can you get Brax to work in some time for the girls and me to head home and start getting shit in order, please? He’s still got us in the rotation.”
Pyro gives a firm nod.
It’s good to see him back in VP mode. “I’ll handle him. How long do you think you ladies will need?”
“Two weeks? Two of us need to put our homes on the market. Plus, we have to pack up not only our personal belongings but our HQ. I’m not looking forward to this mess.”
“I can give you the few weeks, but no longer,” Pyro warns. “He’s stressed about more than we know, and safety is obviously a huge concern for him if he’s willing to move you here. We have one prospect with Akela, Ripley, and Lana. I’m sendin’ two with you.”
Surprisingly, Dizzy nods in understanding. “I get it. We may feel safe, but we aren’t.”
“Exactly.”
“Shits gonna get bad, isn’t it?”
“Yeah, Diz. There’s no way Scorpions aren’t gonna retaliate. Watch your sixes, okay?” Pyro says with soft eyes. “They’ll be better prepared when they return. We may call you back sooner. Work fast, darlin.”
“We’ll be out of here in the morning then,” she remarks as she watches Lyric and Salt exit their new home. “If anything happens to them,” she whispers with a croak. “I’ll die.”
I fist my hands. “Nothin’ is happenin to our girls,” I promise. “It’s why Brax is movin’ ya here.”
“The next few months are gonna be a bitch, yeah,” Pyro sighs heavily.
Fucking understatement.
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