Chapter Twenty-Nine
Hack
Sliding off my bike, I wait for my brothers to do the same. Following behind them, we walk straight to the common room then head to a table near the back. Boz motions for a prospect to bring us a round, then we all take our seats.
“That was too fucking easy,” Smoke says in a voice that sounds a hell of a lot like Parker’s when he doesn’t get to do something he wants to do.
Round lifts a brow to his son. “What the fuck were you expecting, boy, a repeat of O.K. Corral?”
Smoke’s right. Taking out the President of the Saints was easy. Putting a bullet in the fucker’s head, having a sit-down with the officers, and getting back our money didn’t even take a whole day. We rode out of here right at daybreak, and the sun was just starting to set as we rode back into the gates.
We walked right into the clubhouse without a problem, led by Scout and two other men who had turned in their cuts a couple of months back. Only a couple of the boys even tried to pretend to put up a fight. Luckily for me, those few included the little fucker that talked shit about Pru the day I brought her to the club. I enjoyed taking him down a notch. I only wish I could have taken his ass out permanently, but Boz wanted as little bloodshed as possible.
As soon as the fight ended, we went looking for the Pres. We found him passed out in his bed with an empty bottle of Jim Beam in his hand. Boz kicked the bed hard enough to make the whole thing shake, but the bastard just kept snoring. When he realized the man wasn’t gonna wake up, Boz just ended him right there. The bastard never knew what hit him.
Smoke leans back in his chair and sucks in a deep breath. “I still can’t believe the VP told us he would handle the body himself.”
“What were we gonna do, play Quincy with his ass?” Round asks with a shake of his head.
“You’re showing your age, sweetheart,” Lisa says as she places our beers on the table, the same beers the prospect was supposed to be bringing us.
I’m glaring across the room at the prospect when Lisa adds, “If you want them to understand the reference, you should probably say Ducky or Bones.”
“Quincy was a good fucking show,” Round says, wrapping a hand around her ass and pulling her close.
Lisa leans down enough to give him a kiss. “Since you’re back and no one’s bloody, does this mean we’re off lockdown? If so, Lettie and I want to run to the mall. We haven’t gotten Scarlett anything yet, and we always get the new babies something from the club.”
Just hearing my daughter’s name brings a smile to my face. She and her momma are finally safe. If they ever go back to Clarksville, not that they will for anything more than a visit, Scout will watch out for them.
“We’re off lockdown,” Boz answers for Round. “But I don’t want you going anywhere just yet. You and Mom can go shopping tomorrow.”
Being in the club long enough to know not to argue, Lisa nods her head. After giving Round a kiss. She pulls away from him and struts across the room. I watch every step she takes. I have one hell of a woman waiting for me upstairs, but that doesn’t stop me from enjoying the way Lisa struts.
“Let my brothers tell their old ladies about lockdown,” Round orders, his voice just loud enough to be heard above the noise in the room.
“Will do.” She looks over her shoulder and nods then walks out of sight.
When I look back to the table, Round is glaring at me. “I’d appreciate it if you didn’t stare at my old lady’s ass.”
“But brother, she’s got a fine ass,” I say, grabbing my beer.
“I love Addy’s ass, but she can be standing right beside me when Lisa walks into the room, and I’m still gonna look my fill,” Brew adds before taking a drink.
Smoke chuckles before grabbing his own beer. “Me too, and it pisses Gidget off every damn time.”
“She’s your step-mother,” Round growls, popping his son in the back of his head. “Show her some fucking respect.”
“I’ve been showing her respect since I was thirteen years old and figured out the joy of jacking off,” Smoke says, a cocky grin on his face.
Round stands up from his chair, trying his best not to smile. “I’m out of here.”
He is just leaving the common room, when Brew looks to Boz. “You think the Saints are gonna be smart enough to vote in Scout?”
Before we left the Saints clubhouse, Boz and Smoke had a sit-down with the officers. He let them know that he would be willing to consider giving their club a hundred-grand finder’s fee out of the money we found in the basement. He would only do this if they’d call a vote for the next president, instead of automatically bringing in the old president’s son, who just so happened to be the same little fucker I had to knock on his ass. They agreed without hesitation.
He went on to offer them even more if the person they voted in was Scout. Not money, but something a hell of a lot more important—the chance to be Grim Bastards. Boz has been talking about adding a new charter for a while. Talking to Scout, he decided he wanted that charter to be located in Clarksville. Boz made it clear to them all that the Grim Bastards would be in their town either way.
“Yeah, they’ll do it,” I say, taking a long draw off my beer. “They’re not strong enough to fight us and win, and they’re not stupid enough to try.”
“They’re holding the vote tomorrow night. If it goes the way the officers expect it to, Scout will be here the next day to discuss the transition,” Smoke states, letting Brew and me know more about what was said in the meeting that we were not part of.
“You gonna tell Pru about her mom?” Boz asks as he sets his half-empty bottle on the table and motions for a prospect to come our way.
“I ain’t got no choice,” I say, running a hand over my bearded chin. “Too many of the Saints know what happened. They also know Pru is her daughter. If they do decide to charter in to the Grim Bastards, it’s gonna come out.”
When we let Clair go last night, she found her way right back to the Saints clubhouse. According to the VP, she came in screaming about everything we had said and done. That alone was a colossal fuck-up on her part, considering the Pres was already pissing his pants about the Grim Bastards causing his club trouble. To make it worse, she started ordering the boys to retaliate. The Pres only listened for a few minutes before he pulled out his piece and put a bullet right between her eyes.
Boz comes out of his seat and grabs the prospect’s shirt as soon as he gets near the table. “I told you to bring us our beers, not Lisa.”
The prospect starts spewing excuses, but Boz stops him with a shake. “Next time, I don’t care if someone kicks your ass and takes the beers out of your hand. You crawl your ass over here and make sure I got what I asked for.”
The prospect nods his head, and Boz lets go of his shirt, giving him a shove backwards. “Now, get us another round, and bring along a bottle of Jack and four shot glasses.”
When the prospect takes off, Boz sits back down and looks at me. “If they charter in, I can order everyone to keep their mouths closed. Not that they should be talking anyways, but some brothers gossip like they were born with pussy between their legs.”
Shaking my head at their offer, I tell him, “I’m gonna tell Pru.”
“Tell me what?” she asks as she walks to our table with Trix by her side.
I scoot back from the table and stand up, wrapping my arms around her. “I’ll tell you as soon as we get to our room.”
Without saying anything to my brothers, I lead her through the common room and up the stairs. When we finally get to our room, I lock the door and lead Pru to the bed. Sitting down, I pull her into my lap and hold her close.
Deciding it’s better to get it over with fast, I give her the news fast. “Your mom’s dead, baby.”
“What?” she asks, leaning back enough to look me in the eye. “Did you kill her?”
Her question surprises me enough that it takes a second for me to respond. “No, the old president of the Saints did.”
She continues looking at me for a second then finally relaxes against my chest. “I’m glad you didn’t have to do it. If you had, you would have spent the rest of our lives trying to make it up to me.”
Again, I’m shocked as shit at her words. She’s right; I would have felt guilty. I would’ve worried that she would hold it against me. Even so, I would’ve done it if I thought she was a real threat to Pru or Scarlett. But it didn’t take me long to figure out that Clair wasn’t a threat to anyone but herself.
“I should be sad, right?” Pru asks, drawing my attention back to her. “My mother is dead, so I should be crying my eyes out, but I just feel relief.”
“You can feel any damn thing you want,” I say, dropping a kiss to the top of her head. “Sad, mad, happy, relieved.”
“I’m gonna stick with relieved for right now, but no promises on tomorrow,” she whispers against my neck.
Placing another kiss on the top of her head, I change the topic to something I hope makes her happy. “Lockdown’s over, so tomorrow, we can go look at some houses.”
“I want to look at the one near Gidget,” she says, kissing my beard-covered chin. “I like the idea of having a friend close by.”
I like the idea a hell of a lot, too. The fact that Smoke will be just down the road, if I have to be out of town, will be a relief. I just hope the man wants to sell. I could pressure him and get my way, but I’m not gonna. If the old man wants to keep his place, I’ll let him. That doesn’t mean I won’t try my best to talk him into my way of thinking.
“We’ll go there first,” I promise her, holding Pru close and laying us down on the bed.
It takes me a second to maneuver us around, but it’s not long before I’ve got her on her back and my body is resting between her thighs. “Well, we got our plans for tomorrow, but what are we gonna do tonight?”
Pru wraps her legs around me and lifts her hips just enough to rub against my cock. “I just gave Scarlett her bottle and changed her diaper, so I’ve got a few free hours. You think you can keep me occupied?”
Grinding against her heat, I bring my lips to hers. “I think I can come up with something.”