DECLAN

 

The night was getting started. People were filing into The Grindhouse to go about their usual wild nights. The conversations and laughter and the music were all distant though.

I stared forward and ignored everything. A little bit of alcohol in me loosened me up to the point that I didn’t feel as bad as I did just a few hours ago. My mind still wasn’t clear though.

I lost track of time. It felt like an eternity when I heard the front entrance to the bar open. Just from the corner of my eye, I knew it was her. I didn’t even have to look at her to remember.

Her dark hair. The curves of her waist. Those damn luscious tits of hers. And the way everything fit in those jeans and her top.

“Declan!”

I jumped up to my seat and moved over to her. The rest of the club had my back to check on her.

I put my hands on her arms to make sure she was all right.

“Are you—”

“I’m fine,” she said as she put her hands up. “I told you he wouldn’t do anything to me.”

“Did he—”

“He didn’t put a finger on me, okay?”

“What happened?”

She looked over my shoulder at the other club members then back to me.

“We have to talk,” she said. “Alone.”

“Yeah… Right…”

I walked with Michelle to one of the back rooms in the clubhouse. We had a place to ourselves. There wasn’t much inside of it outside of a bed and some clothes. It was another place for us to relax when neither one of us wanted to head back home.

I shut the door. It was quiet except for the sound of the music thumping through the walls.

The way she paced back and forth, I knew something was wrong. I couldn’t push her though. Whatever she had to say to me, she would tell me when she was ready.

I leaned up against the wall and crossed my arms. She finally stopped pacing and looked up at me with a smile.

“Tony told me that you have a deal with the Chinese,” she said.

I made it a point not to let Michelle in on club business. It didn’t matter that she was my old lady. Everything that happened in the chapel, stayed in the chapel.

It wasn’t just because things had to stay between the patches though. As strong as Michelle was, I knew she would worry. There was always a chance that the club would be in danger. It was the life she knew long before we decided to get hitched. She accepted it. I had to do everything I could to protect her from it.

“Tony didn’t want me. He wanted to talk to me.”

“About the deal with the Triads?”

“That’s right.”

I hesitated for a second but I knew I couldn’t keep it from her. There was no point in denying it.

“What about it?” I asked.

“He wants in on the deal.”

I waited for a second. I didn’t have anything to say though.

“Tony said that he knows how well the Chinese pay. He said he wants in on the deal. Just for a bit. Once he makes enough money, he’ll take his cash and the rest of the Vultures will leave Ivory for good.”

“If he wanted in on the deal, why’d he ask you and not me?”

She scoffed at me.

“And what would you do if he asked in on the deal?” she asked. “You’re already planning on killing him. That’s not a secret. He had to talk to me because I was willing to listen to him.”

“So, that’s it then?”

I put the pieces together quickly. What Michelle was telling me made sense and I knew she wouldn’t lie to me.

“Cross is in town because he wants to make some good money. And he’s using you to do it.”

“Yeah…”

“What did you tell him?”

“I just told him that I would talk to you. I don’t… I don’t deal with club business. That decision is up to you.”

“And what happens if I don’t agree to let him in on the deal?”

Michelle hesitated for a second. She was the strongest woman I’d ever known. Nothing ever scared her. When there was concern in her eyes like there was now, I knew it was serious.

“I know Tony,” she said. “I’ve seen what he’s done with my own eyes.”

“You don’t think I can do what I need to do with him? Him and his crew are only five total.”

“Not without a price. There’s no point in putting you or the club in danger when you can avoid it. He said he’d blow up this whole town if it came down to it. After what happened with the Corps and all of the shit that Jon had to deal with… The last thing Ivory needs is another maniac running amok and having to be put down.”

“Cross already needs to be put down. I don’t see what the problem is.”

“There’s another way.”

She walked up to me and put a hand on my chest.

“Let him in on the deal,” she said.

“You can’t be serious.”

“Just let him make his money then he’ll walk away.”

“You really believe he’ll do that?”

“I believe he’s capable of anything. Right now, I don’t think just outright killing him would be the best option.”

I turned around and put my head down. I closed my eyes to try and gather my thoughts.

The decision was simple. I’d already made it when I was in the chapel with Ghost. Now Michelle was talking to me and making things even more complicated.

“He’s up to something,” I said. “If he’s as crazy as you say he is, this isn’t just a matter of letting him in on the deal and letting him make his money.”

“Maybe you could just get out of it entirely.”

“What?”

I slowly turned back around and looked at her.

“If what he’s saying is true, then all of this is because of your deal with the Chinese,” she said. “You back out now, you won’t have to worry about anything. Not Tony. Not the Chinese. Not even Lieberman or the cops.”

“You’re not serious.”

“We’re trying to start a family. I… I want to have your child. I don’t want our son or daughter to have to worry about anything—”

“Our child won’t have anything to worry about. I’ll protect them. You know I will.”

“I know. I just don’t want you to have to protect them.”

She sighed a deep breath through her nose and shifted her gaze away from me. It always hurt me to see her when she was upset. I could feel that shit in the pit of my stomach. I wanted to do everything I could to make it go away.

I looked down at her and went over my options.

“I let Cross in on the deal. He makes his money and he rides off for good. I say no and the Reapers go to war with the Vultures over Triad money.”

“Or you can walk away entirely,” she whispered. “Wash your hands free of everything.”

She reached her hand up and brushed her palm against my temple. Her touch pulled a sigh out of me.

“I know how much this shit weighs down on you,” she said. “Just be my husband. Just be a father. I don’t care about the money. I don’t care that you’re president. I just want you to be there for me.”

Looking into her eyes, it was getting harder for me to think straight.

“I can’t make the decision myself,” I said. “I’ll have to put it to a vote.”

“Then put it to a vote. Those men are your brothers. I know they’ll make the right decision.”

“Yeah… We’ll see about that.”