My head was pounding and no amount of sheets over my head could protect my eyes from the blinding sun. I clumsily reached over to my nightstand and grabbed my watch. It was already two in the afternoon but it felt like I barely got any sleep. Time to finally get up.
I sat up in bed and the room began to spin. It took every ounce of power in my body to keep from hurling all over the comforter. After two deep breaths the intense headache calmed down. I realized that I wasn't at home but at the MC clubhouse in the spare room. What happened last night?
Fuck. Damn. Shit. Alcohol can really screw a man over. I needed to go apologize to Owen. See if I could fix the mess I made last night.
.I went downstairs to find Slade sitting at the bar nursing a beer.
“Rough night?” he asked, his head swaying back and forth. He was still drunk from last night and still going.
“You could say that,” I replied, sitting down next to him.
Slade cracked open a beer and slid it over. “Kill that hangover.”
The thought of more alcohol made me want to empty my stomach all over the bar. But Slade was right, this would get rid of my hangover. I shut my eyes and took a few sips, suppressing the urge to throw up.
“Feel better?” Slade ran his fingers through his long dark hair. Why he never got it cut was beyond me. But the girls go crazy over it.
I set the beer down and wiped my mouth. “A little. Do you remember what I did last night?”
Slade laughed. “You mean you don't remember?”
“I remember being with Owen and drinking a ton after he left.”
Slade laughed harder, choking on some beer. “Let's just say that you went a little crazy. Tried to pick a fight with anyone who walked by. Eventually Hunter had to kick you out. Took five of us to drag you out of there.”
Embarrassment flooded my cheeks. “Hunter is going to kill me.”
“Don't worry about it, we left him a big tip. At least you didn't get stabbed again.”
“Cheers to that.” We clinked our beer cans and continued drinking.
Dagger came over and draped his arms across both of us. “Pain said we have a meeting in an hour.”
“Better not be one of those boring financial meetings with Isaac. We don't need to know all that shit,” Slade said.
I downed the rest of my beer in seconds, hoping it would erase the memory of Owen. It didn't.
—
Pain slammed the gavel into the wood table. “I know everyone's busy but we need to talk about the Sacks County Annual Picnic.”
A collective groan echoed through the meeting room. Every year Mayor Jackson put on a big picnic to get Sacks county together. And every year, the Devil's Hellions MC donated a sizable contribution. It was the one time of the year that we could really make our presence known. To show the community that we were a force of good and not evil.
Pain turned to Isaac. “How are the coffers doing?”
Isaac licked the tip of his finger and flipped through pages. “We're down a lot from last year.”
Slade leaned over to me. “Told you it was going to be a financial meeting.”
Isaac sneered at Slade and continued, “We can only donate about half of what we gave last year.”
Pain nodded. “Well it's better than nothing. Hopefully some of the richer members in the community can make up the difference. Dagger, try Jonathan who owns the strip club and see if he wants to help out this year.”
Dagger nodded and took some notes.
One of the prospects knocked on the door and opened it up slightly. He must have been new because I didn't recognize him. We went through prospects pretty quickly around here. They tended to have a short lifespan.
“What is it?” Pain asked annoyed.
“Mrs. Thatcher is still here waiting.”
Pain rubbed his eyes. “I totally forgot. Tell her we'll have a decision in a moment.”
The prospect retracted his head and closed the door.
Pain folded his hands and began, “Mrs. Thatcher came to me this morning with a problem.”
“Mrs. Thatcher?” Isaac asked.
“She's the one that owns the coffee place on Main,” Pain replied. Isaac nodded. “Her husband has been a little rough with her lately. Her two black eyes and bruises confirm the story.”
“Why did she come to us and not the police?” I said.
“She doesn't want him arrested. Mr. Thatcher runs half of the coffee shop and she can't do it without him.”
“So what does she want us to do about it?” Big Mike asked.
“Just give him a little scare. Make sure he doesn't do it again. Normally I'd turn this over to the police but Mrs. Thatcher is willing to pay us for it.”
Isaac shook his head. “Even though we need the money, this doesn't feel right. We barely know Mrs. Thatcher and we've never even met Mr. Thatcher. I don't think we should start lending our services out like mercenaries.”
“You're overreacting,” Pain said, his fingers resting on the gavel. “She's a member of the community and needs our help.” Pain picked up the gavel. “Everyone in favor of helping Mrs. Thatcher?”
The Devil's Hellions MC raised their hands in unison except for Isaac. It was good for him to be cautious but I'd never turn away from a damsel in distress—especially one that is being beaten by man.
Pain pounded the gavel into the table. “Now that we have that settled. Mrs. Thatcher says her husband likes to hang out in the back of the coffee shop after it closes. Sometimes he has his buddies with him so we need to show up in force. Now I want it known that we are not to use lethal force. Got it?”
Everyone nodded. Slade cracked his knuckles and grinned. That man was a boxer in another life.
Pain smiled. “Good. We meet back here at nine.”
“I'll meet you there. I have some things I need to do first,” I said.
Pain hammered the gavel. “Dismissed!”