“Okay, okay, everyone shut their goddamn mouths for a second.”

The noise in the room became a murmur as everyone took their seat.

Reese sat down to the left of Levi. On Reese’s right was Zac. Short hair with a black bandana that almost covered his eyes. A bottle of whiskey in front of him, cap off, always ready for a top-off shot.

Next to Zac sat Ellis. At the end of the table was Luca, a sign of respect to sit directly across from the President of the charter. On the other side of the table were Jason and Brett, the almost-seven-foot-tall enforcers who had the same amount of murders on their souls as tattoos on their skin. To Levi’s right was Hawk. He was more ruthless than Jason and Brett combined. He wore a ring on every finger and wore a five o’clock shadow the same way he wore a scowl. The funny part about Hawk was that he had really bright blue eyes. It was weird to see eyes like that on a guy that was so hardened and violent.

Levi stood while everyone else sat.

This was the table. This was the charter.

Levi put his hands flat to the table and looked around.

“… you do a double slip,” Hawk said to Brett. “Two in the front, two in the back. Makes her clench up and wiggle, which only makes things crazier…”

Everyone stared at Hawk.

He looked around and finally looked at Levi.

“Keep going,” Levi said. “We all want to hear this story. So, what happens next? You stick two fingers in her pussy, two in her ass, then what? Huh?”

“You make her come,” Hawk said. “Or you get her right to the edge and then take your hand away and replace it with your cock.”

“Which hole?” Levi asked.

“Depends on how much you want to make her scream,” Hawk said with a grin.

“With your pencil?” Zac said. “The only way you could make a woman scream is if you used your pencil dick to pop a balloon when she wasn’t looking.”

Everyone started to laugh.

Hawk stood right up without hesitation and ripped open his jeans. His right hand disappeared into the front of them and Reese turned his head.

“Fucking hell,” Reese said.

“That’s enough,” Levi said. “Let’s keep our cocks tucked away for now. Hawk, take your hand out of your pants and sit down.” He sighed. “I can’t believe I just had to say that.”

Hawk did as he was told. He plopped back down and put his hands onto the table.

“Fuck, man,” Brett said, “You should wash your hands.”

Hawk grabbed Brett’s shoulder.

Brett threw an elbow and smashed Hawk in the mouth. “Oh, fuck.”

Hawk held his face and groaned.

“Don’t touch me with your cock hand,” Brett said.

“Cock hand?” Luca growled from the end of the table. “What the fuck is this?”

Everyone at the table started to laugh.

“Anyone touches another person at this goddamn table right now, I’m going to make you put your cock on the table and I’m going to shoot it,” Levi said. “Any questions?”

The entire table went silent.

Reese smirked.

The guys didn’t listen, but when it came to their dicks, they listened. That was all part of the freedom though. Drinking, riding, fighting, and fucking.

Levi slowly sat down. “Okay. We have to talk about what’s going on around us. Just keep things up to date and keep our focus. I talked to Harvey earlier today. Met him over at the barn. Called in a phony call on a fire there. Wanted to figure out-”

The door blasted open.

“What the hell is it now?” Reese asked.

In came one of the prospects - Richie - carrying a large black tray full of drinks. A shot and a beer for everyone.

“You’re fucking late,” Levi said. “Meeting’s already started.”

“Oh. Shit. Sorry. Should I go?”

“Jesus Christ,” Luca growled. “You’re already here. Give us the fucking drinks, prospect. Then get the fuck out.”

“Yeah. Right. Sorry. Cool.”

“Cool?” Ellis asked. “What the fuck is this? Are we surfers or some shit?”

“You surf some pole, brother,” Hawk said.

“I’ll surf your mother,” Ellis shot back.

“What the fuck are you two trying to accomplish here?” Levi asked.

“I say we vote on shooting them,” Reese said. “Both.”

Everyone raised their hands.

Levi stood up and reached for his gun.

“Oh, shit, no, fuck, no,” Richie said, freezing up.

Reese shook his head. That was the problem with prospects sometimes. They thought the life was easy. Fun and games. Like some video game or some shit that would come to life. That nothing could ever go wrong. Not to mention, if you freeze up at the sight of a gun, you were fucked in this world.

Levi pointed the gun at Richie. “Move your ass, prospect.”

“Holy shit,” Richie said.

He quickly started to put the drinks down, going too fast. When he put the beer bottle down for Hawk, he spilled it. Hawk jumped up and put the bottle upright, but a good portion spilled on the table and on Hawk.

“Looks like you pissed yourself,” Luca said.

Reese winced, knowing that was going to set Hawk off for good.

Hawk turned and looked right at Richie.

Reese looked to Levi and Levi simply shrugged his shoulders. Prospects needed to learn to sink or swim. Simple as that. Only this prospect was facing off with a guy like Hawk. He’d fucking kill someone just for looking at him the wrong way.

“Give me the tray,” Hawk ordered.

“Yes, sir,” Richie said.

Hawk took the shaky tray and with his massive hand, took the rest of the beer bottles off and put them on the table. He put the shot glasses down next, keeping one for himself to drink. He threw the shot glass back and handed it to Richie.

“Go stick that up your ass,” Hawk said.

“What?”

“Did I speak a different language? I said go stick that up your ass. Then come find me so I can see you did it.”

“You… y… you can’t be serious,” Richie said. He looked at Levi.

Levi shrugged his shoulders again.

“Eyes on me, asshole,” Hawk said. “If you don’t do it, I’m going to put an entire bottle of whiskey up your ass.”

“Fuck,” Richie said. “I’m sorry I…”

Hawk moved fast. He lifted the drinks tray and slammed it down over Richie’s head. The tray exploded into pieces. Richie stumbled back, hitting the wall. A small cut on his forehead started to bleed.

“Do I need to repeat myself?” Hawk said.

“No, sir,” Richie said.

“Now get the hell out of here,” Reese said.

Richie hurried to the door and got out of the room.

“We need new prospects,” Reese said.

“Agreed,” Luca called out. “When I was earning my cut…”

“You had to fight a fucking T. rex,” Hawk said.

Everyone started to laugh again.

“Okay,” Levi said. “Business for a fucking minute here. Damn.”

“You met with Harvey,” Reese said.

“Yeah. He said right now everything looks okay for us. No talks. Nothing pushing our way yet.”

“That’s good for us,” Jason said, raising his shot glass.

“Not quite,” Levi said. “Our brothers up in Frelen were hit hard. Our brothers in Daurian too. I talked to Gaige and he was heading east into Nevada. A lot of our brothers are doing that. Running lost or moving to reform new charters and push back later.”

“Anything on Miller?” Reese asked.

“Same. Moving east for the moment.”

“So, we look weak now,” Luca said. “Have charters shut down.”

“Nothing’s shut down,” Reese snapped. “We had guys move elsewhere. The businesses are still standing. Functioning to provide a real front for everyone as they move. That’s what we need.”

“What?” Zac asked.

“You heard me. If the badges come sweeping through, we need books to show that nothing is happening.”

“But a lot is happening, brother,” Hawk said. “We’re trying to hold back DRM while keeping the runners happy as they move their way down south.”

“We need to find new and secure routes,” Reese said. “And push harder into the strip club and work out some ideas there.”

“Jesus Christ, man,” Jason said. “You’re talking a major restructure.”

“Do we have a choice?” Reese asked.

“We have a vote,” Luca said.

“Easy now, brothers,” Levi said. “We can’t discount what our VP is saying here. Things are toxic out there. But Hawk is right. We’ve got deals that are already in place. If we pull back then Luca is right, we look weak. Right now, it looks like we’ve had a couple of charters hit some rough waters. Mind you, the badges that went through took down other MC’s too. Wiped them clean. We’re standing. This charter is strong.”

“What about Colt?” Ellis asked.

“Fuck him,” Levi said. “Winston has his eye on him.”

“Colt is a hot-headed deputy looking to make his mark,” Brett said. “I don’t like that.”

“Winston is smarter,” Levi said. “And we own Winston.”

“Either way, we have to be careful. More than ever,” Reese said. He reached into his pocket and took out the obituary. “We can’t forget the sins of our past.”

He slid the paper across the table and stood up.

“Shit,” Hawk said. “I almost forgot about that.”

“I didn’t,” Reese said. “Remember that time? When we fought too many wars at once? When the badge pushed hard at us? When we pushed back? When we thought we had fucking friends?”

Levi clamped a hand to Reese’s shoulder. “That’s where you were today? Digging through memories?”

“Digging through the past, Levi,” Reese said. “Because the past gives us a hint to the future.”

President and VP had a short stare down. Reese would never back down from Levi. Even if it was a sign of disrespect. It was up to Reese to look bigger than Levi could. Reese was royalty when it came to the club. Levi had simply worked his ass off to get the patch. So, respect flowed both ways for the sake of the club.

“Let’s have a drink,” Levi said. “To our fallen brother, Laszlo.”

Just hearing his best friend’s name made Reese writhe inside with anger.

Zac slid his shot glass across the table to Hawk. “Drink mine. I’ll drink from the bottle like a man anyway.”

“Here, here,” Levi said. “Let those black angels guide him along the dark road and find the freedom we all keep in our hearts.”

Everyone took a drink and slammed their glasses down to the table.

Reese smacked his lips together and wanted another drink.

“What’s the plan, Prez?” Hawk asked.

“The plan is to talk, vote, push forward with the MC,” Levi said. “That means our deals stay on and stay strong. We keep our eyes open for anything with the badges. Keeping contact. You, old man…” Levi nodded at Luca. “Use a goddamn phone.”

“Over my dead body,” Luca said.

“You realize the technology in these things?” Zac asked. “I mean, it’s not what you think anymore.”

“Technology,” Luca said with a groan. “I don’t need that shit in my life right now.”

“Dead horse,” Reese said. He lit up a fresh smoke and casually looked around the table as it seemed that everyone was looking at him for some kind of advice or something. “Look, I didn’t dig up that picture to stir up old shit. Lasz was my best friend. We grew up like brothers. I still keep an eye on his stepsister.”

“I bet you do,” Hawk said. “Do you make her call you her brother while you’re fucking her?”

Reese could handle most of Hawk’s bullshit. But not when it came to a comment like that. Reese grabbed his empty shot glass and tossed it at Hawk’s head. It hit him perfectly square in the forehead. It didn’t actually cause any damage, but it was enough to get his full attention. Hawk jumped right up, lip curled, anger burning in his eyes.

“Don’t ever say that again, brother,” Reese said, strangely calm. “I would never do that to Lasz and I would never do that to Steph. I’m making a fucking point here.”

“We get the point,” Levi said. “There was a time when too much was happening at once and we lost more than we bargained for.”

“His life wasn’t a bargaining chip,” Reese said. “And none of our lives will be either. I say we have Ellis double check the books and find out where we are with our cash and our inventory. And we actually figure out where we stand from a business standpoint. And as a club.”

“Hey, the front part of this is working just fine,” Levi said, referring to the plumbing and repair business that was run out front. “We are getting by without issue.”

“This shit is going to catch up to us,” Reese said. “Hopefully we’ll control it before the badge does.”

“Let them try and fuck with us,” Brett said. “Watch what happens.”

“I’ll take a bullet to the head before I get charged with anything for this club,” Jason said.

The enforcers were in full swing, as they always were, ready for war.

Reese knew the club was strong and would stand strong. But they were also stubborn. The business end had been widened in the last few years, giving them all a cushion. Reese had planned for that cushion to give everyone a chance to see what could be, but all it did was fuel the fire that burned in their outlaw blood. Not that Reese could argue with it. They owned a massive piece of land where they had the building for the plumbing company. They had a lot right next to the plumbing business for custom work on motorcycles. Then at the very end of the property was the salvage yard. Taking a page out of their brothers from Frelen, it was nice to have junk lying around, because sometimes it came in handy when hiding things.

“Okay,” Levi said. “I think we should call this as is here. There’s nothing to vote on. Ellis, all dues paid?”

“Paid,” Ellis said.

“Zac. Anything we need to know with technology?”

“Nothing,” Zac said. “We’re secure here. I haven’t seen anything coming through the police station or anything that matters.”

Levi looked at Luca and gave a respectful head nod. Then he went to Brett and Jason.

“What do you have?”

“Just a few shakedowns,” Brett said. “Got us a few bucks.”

“Had to tangle with a prospect from DRM,” Jason said. “Thought I saw someone following me. So, I turned and tagged him.”

“Shit,” Levi said.

“What did he want?” Reese asked.

“After a few of these…” Jason held up a fist. “He started to talk. Said he wasn’t put on me. He just followed to practice. Thought he could give something back to Sledge and get a patch.”

“Christ,” Hawk said. “Prospects are like horny teenagers.”

“This guy ain’t fucking anything anytime soon,” Jason said.

“What’d you do?” Levi asked.

“Made it so he wouldn’t be looking at me or us for a while,” Jason said. “Then I put the heel of my boot right to his balls and gave a good twist, just for effect. I have an image to keep up.”

Reese cringed. Everyone at the table shifted in their seats and casually checked between their legs, thankful that Jason wasn’t crushing their manhood.

“Hawk?” Levi asked.

“Talks with the runners are as planned,” he said. “D.O. is looking forward to another run. He fully understands what’s been happening to the other charters. I made it seem like it was a bullshit situation on their end. Stupid mistake. Just to keep tension from forming.”

“Good,” Levi said. “Everyone’s done talking. Now get a drink and find yourself a reliever.” Levi cracked the gavel on the table and everyone stood up.

Conversations instantly broke out as Reese waited for the guys to clear the room.

“You should join them,” Levi said. “There’s plenty of action out there.”

The relievers were women who hung around the club looking to get claimed by one of the guys. That meant doing what you were told, no matter what. If you were claimed by a patched in member, it was instant protection from anything you were dealing with in life. They were, most of the time, good women out there. Honest and hardworking, just trying to find a way out of a bad situation. Others were lost, and would forever remain lost, unable to put down the bottle or stay away from drugs, meaning they needed the club to protect them from a certain kind of hell that only an outlaw could save them from.

Either way, there were times when a reliever was useful. Sharing a bed for a night was needed to keep things in check.

“I don’t need any of that,” Reese said. “Too much on my mind.”

“They’ll take care of that for you. You’re the VP, brother. That means take two, three, four. Drown in tits and pussy until that mind of yours settles.”

Reese raised an eyebrow. “My mind isn’t going to settle here. We have to keep our guard up, Levi.”

“I know that,” Levi said. He put a hand to Reese’s shoulder. “You can’t let on to the guys too much and too hard. They’ll panic. They’re outlaws, Reese. They fight to the end. To the death. They don’t care about the destruction around them. We’ve worked hard to keep this town clean. To keep it as safe as we can. Our balance of power and respect is always in question. Not that I give a shit what anyone thinks of us, but it’s good to have enemies act like friends.”

“Pushing guns through is risky right now,” Reese said. “And we know there’s a supply of junk in this town too.”

“We voted on and said no to that business,” Levi said. “That could be our junk.”

“Protect everyone and feed them junk?” Reese asked.

“Not the best, but better than what we have now.”

“If that junk brings in heat that puts attention on us…”

“We know where it’s coming from. Sledge and his dogs don’t give a damn about that, Reese.”

“Then it’s time we take them to the pound, Prez,” Reese said with a cocky grin.

Levi laughed. “Meeting’s over. Go get a drink. Have someone relieve a little of that tension.”

“You worrying about my dick that much makes me wonder if there’s something wrong with yours,” Reese said.

“I’m doing just fine here,” Levi said.

He pointed to the door and they both walked in silence.

When Reese opened the door, he saw that all the guys were surrounding one of the pool tables in the clubhouse. They were all cheering and making grossed out noises.

“What the hell is this?” Levi asked.

Reese figured it had something to do with Hawk. Maybe he had a woman on the table and was demonstrating his fingers trick he had been talking about at the table. Reese pushed through the guys and finally saw what was happening. It was Hawk, but it wasn’t what he expected. To put it lightly, Hawk was making sure that Richie kept up with his orders of where to put that shot glass. And it was happening right on display.

“Hey, VP, check it out,” Hawk said.

“You all have issues,” Reese said. “And when he’s done here, throw that fucking glass out. Then give our prospect here a stiff drink and a little attention from one of the relievers.”

“I was hoping for a bullet to the head,” Brett said.

“No! Please no!” Richie cried out, bent over the pool table.

“Nah,” Reese said. “See if he can survive this and still get it up and enjoy himself. Either way, he’s not going to make the cut.”

“Please! Reese! VP!” Richie cried out.

“You don’t get to call him that, asshole,” Hawk said.

Reese waved at Hawk to shut up and he stepped forward and put his boot right to Richie’s ass. He gave a hard kick forward, knowing it had to damn well hurt the prospect. That shot glass was going to no longer be seen.

As Richie toppled to the floor in pain, starting to get sick on the floor, Reese looked to a couple of other prospects.

“Clean the floor and take him to the hospital,” Reese said. “Liquor him up and tell the doc he got drunk and curious about his body.”

“Damn,” Hawk said. “You’re vicious, VP.”

“Remember that,” Reese said.

He pushed back through the guys and went to the bar for a drink. With a fresh beer in hand, he walked away from all the action.

When he got to his room, he sat down on the corner of his bed and took a big drink. He didn’t need the obituary to know what it said. He had read that thing a million times and had it memorized by heart. Word for word. He’d lived through it. He’d watched it all happen. It should have been a wakeup call to leave the MC life, but it only shoved him deeper into it. Then again, it was the wakeup call for someone else to leave the MC life.

Reese gritted his teeth and heard the creak of a door behind him.

He reached for his gun, stood, turned, and watched someone emerge from the bathroom.

A woman was standing in one of Reese’s flannels, her long legs showing, her dark hair pulled back.

“Jesus, woman,” Reese said.

“Is this okay?” she asked.

“You tell me, sweetheart.”

The woman opened the flannel and slid it down her arms. She was naked and slowly walked toward Reese. He released his hold on his gun and took another drink from his beer bottle.

She walked right up to him and touched his face. Her hands eased down his leather cut and moved to the inside of it, touching his chest. She kept going down, finding the zipper of his jeans before lowering herself down.

Reese took a deep breath and shut his eyes.

They were called relievers for a reason, even if the relief was only temporary.