“Then I guess you’re all voted in,” Tiny said. He
threw them each a prospect jacket and watched them all slide the jackets on. “I
want you all to know this is not a fucking competition. I don’t want fighting
between each other unless I demand you fight. This is a family. We all work
together, and you will all work together as if you’re brothers and your lives
depend on it. I don’t run a fucking crèche. Is that understood?”
The men nodded.
“Good, the toilets need cleaning out and my club women
are all busy.” The look on their faces made him chuckle.
“Dismissed.”
He watched people file out of the club, some of the
Chaos Bleeds crew and the others from his own club. Standing up, he drew Eva to
his side, kissing her lips. “Are we good?”
After their argument the other night he didn’t know
where he stood with her.
“We’re okay for now. I want to talk about this again.
I don’t like how you keep cutting me off.”
“I’m old, Eva.”
“No, you’re not. You’re perfect, but you don’t see
it.”
He took her hand and led her through to his office.
Closing the door, he pulled her against him. “Butch got a call last night.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.
Gonzalez asked about you. What you did with your day or where you went.
Butch warned him that you were unpredictable.”
“You’re worried he’s going to come after me?”
“He came after Tate after I killed that cop. There’s
nothing to say he won’t do the same with you.”
Eva stared at his chest. “You haven’t attacked or done
anything to make him think you’re going to be naughty. You’ve covered
everything else up.”
“I know. Thing is, he’s playing by different rules.”
“Are you sure killing him is the right thing to do?
What if he’s got stuff in play?” she asked.
“Gonzalez is going to get killed. He paid someone to
whack Murphy and Tate. We’re waiting for the right time, and then we’re going
to kill him.”
She stared at him long and hard. “You know when you’re
going to kill him, don’t you?”
“The town hall.
We’re all arranging for Butch and Pussy to get married there. Gonzalez
invited himself. We’re going to lure him there, and then we’re going to kill
him and the men who come with him. Pussy took out Homer. We can take him out.
Whizz and Ned
are
already dealing with the men
Gonzalez paid to hit back at us. We’re working from the outside in.”
“You’re not going to want me there, are you?”
“You and the kids are going to go to a safe place. I’m
not willing to risk your safety because of this.”
She shook her head. “Don’t push me away.”
“I’m not. We’ll talk about more kids after this mess
has blown over. Until then, I can’t think about it. Not right now.”
Tears filled her eyes as she looked at him, cutting
away at his soul.
“Baby, don’t cry,” he said.
“You’re not old, and I’m tired of your throwing that
up in my face. I love you. I want to have more children with you. Why can’t you
see that?” she asked.
“I can see that. I just don’t want to deal with more
kids right now. After Gonzalez, I promise, we’ll have this talk.”
She cupped his face, dropping a kiss to his lips. “You
better.”
“I love you, baby.”
“I love you, too. I’m sorry for being a bitch. I guess
Gonzalez is finally getting to me.
The stress of it all.
I’ll back off about more babies for now. I’m going to grab the kids and head
home. Will I see you tonight?” she asked.
“Yeah, I’m not sticking around here.”
“Good, I miss you when you’re gone. Are you bringing
Lexie and Devil? They can come and eat dinner with us. Bring their kids, too.
I’ll set up a room for them.” She passed him without saying another word. He
felt bad for putting off the babies talk, but right now, he just couldn’t
handle worrying about another person. Tiny worried about Eva so much already,
and their two children, so more would just send him to an early grave.
Moving around to his desk, Tiny placed the files on
top.
“I never expected to see Whizz whistling again,” Alex
said, walking into the office.
“Don’t you have anyone else to bug or to annoy?”
“Nope.
I’m not allowed to go back to Vegas, remember? I’m stuck here until I
go back.”
“No one’s stopping you from jumping on a plane and
leaving.”
“I’m not willing to risk the backlash off Gonzalez.
The man’s a sick fuck, and I’ve got a kid and a club to think about.”
“You’re not going to make any snide comment about
Devil and his crew being there for our prospects?” Tiny asked, looking up at
him.
“No. I’ve been a dick, and I apologize. Did you tell
Eva about the warning Butch gave us?”
“Yeah, I told her. I don’t think it’s going to do much
good. She wants more kids.”
“So?” Alex took a seat opposite the desk.
“So, I’m getting fucking old, and I don’t want to
start having more kids with all these fucking threats. It’s a struggle at times
getting time alone with her. I’m a selfish bastard. I want more time.” Tiny ran
a hand down his face. “Fuck, what happened to easy living?”
“You fell in love, and there went the easy living.”
Alex shrugged. “I want more kids. Obviously I can’t have them with Cheryl, but
I’ve been thinking about the future. I want more kids when the time is right.”
“Good for you. You need a woman to stay around long
enough to get them.”
“I know. Money buys everything, Tiny, even women
willing to give me a kid.”
Tiny shook his head. “What happened to you to make you
so cold?” They’d known each other a long time. Tiny would never have pegged
Alex down as the guy to screw a woman and leave a kid behind without checking
to make sure first. The condom had broken from his encounter with Cheryl, leaving
a kid as a consequence of a dirty weekend. Cheryl was now with Butch, and Alex
was trying to make a relationship work with Matthew, his son.
“I didn’t get cold. Life happens, Tiny. Before you
know where you are, you’re old and waiting for someone to make life
meaningful.” Alex stood. “I think Lash is perfect by the way.”
“What?”
“To take over
from you when you hand in the president crown.
Lash is perfect. Angel is a lot stronger than people give her credit
for. They would be great taking over the club you’ve taken so long to build
up.” Alex walked toward the door.
“How do you know they’re perfect?”
“Because they’re
strong together.
They’re a solid unit, which is what this club needs.
No one needs to follow someone who doesn’t have a clue what’s going on. Murphy,
he’s not got what it takes and neither has Tate. She’s my niece, and even I see
the truth of the decision. I’ll stand by whatever you decide.” Alex left the
room, leaving Tiny alone.
Standing up, he stared out of the window in time to
see Eva climbing into the car. He’d take his bike to get home to her.
“It was a pretty interesting morning,” Devil said.
Without taking his eyes away from the window, Tiny
nodded.
“Yeah, three new prospects.
It doesn’t seem
real, does it?”
“Do you think one of them is working for Gonzalez?”
“No. Whizz did all the necessary background checks. I
trust him with this. Whizz can do anything with a computer.”
Eva drove out of the compound, and worry filled him.
What if Gonzalez was going to send someone to hurt her? She had been through so
much as it was. All of the women in the clubhouse had been through a lot.
Running a hand down his face, he tried to fight the
fear. This was part of being with a club, the expected part. People got hurt in
their world or they got killed. Tiny wasn’t looking forward to putting another
body in the ground. He’d been putting bodies in the ground for too fucking
long.
“They all seem like good guys. I wouldn’t trust my
judgment though. I got one of our own killed.”
Tiny knew he was talking about Ashley. The Chaos
Bleeds club whore and overall sweetheart had lost her head to Gonzalez while
she was working for the crew. The death had fallen on all of them quite
heavily. Tiny saw it in all the men. They each felt responsible for her death,
and no matter how much revenge they took, it wouldn’t bring her back.
“Ashley was trying to help. It’s not your fault that
she got killed,” Tiny said. “She knew the risks.”
“No, she didn’t know the risks, as otherwise she
wouldn’t have been stupid enough to get herself killed. I can’t accept that she
went willingly to her own death, and I didn’t even see it.” Devil took a seat,
removing his jacket. “Lexie is pregnant again.”
“Congratulations.”
Should he give Eva another kid? He didn’t want to risk
having twins again. Miles and Tabitha were angels, but when they were first
born it had been a fucking struggle to get any sleep or rest. Eva had been
exhausted, and so had he. For over three months they didn’t get two minutes to
themselves to fuck or talk. Their life had been dominated by what the twins
wanted or needed. He didn’t want to go back to that.
You’re being a selfish bastard.
Was he being selfish for wanting to spend as much time
with his woman as possible?
“Usually I’d be celebrating. My woman is pregnant
again. It’s time for a celebration, but right now, I can’t. With our other two
kids I had a hold of everything. Piston County was our home. I had a deal going
with Jerry, everything was working out, and now it has been taken from under
me.” Devil stopped to turn his head.
Tiny watched him grit his teeth.
“That bastard has turned the town upside fucking down,
Tiny. If we don’t get control of him, Elizabeth could end up like Judi. He
could have my little girl working the streets or pushing drugs. I don’t want
that for her. She’s my girl, my baby. All of my women need to be protected.”
“I feel you, man.”
“I need to know you’re on board with taking this
fucker out. I don’t want any arguments from you or begging for me to keep him
alive,” Devil said.
“Gonzalez put my daughter in the hospital. You’re not
going to get anything else from me but compliance. I want him dead. I don’t
care who gets to end the fucker as long as he’s not breathing and I’m there to
see it.” Tiny stood and took the hand Devil offered him.
“Then we’ve got a deal. I love my family, Tiny. I’ll
do anything for them.”
“Good. Eva wants you and Lexie to come to dinner.
Bring the kids. I’m not in the mood to be on the bad side of Eva right now.”
“Why?”
“She wants more kids, and I’m too old to give her what
she wants.”
“You’re insane,” Devil said. “No one is ever too old
to have kids. Give your woman what she wants. She deserves it for putting up
with your ugly ass.” Devil moved away. “I’ll be there around seven and bring
the kids.”
“Yeah, Eva said you can stop over. She’s getting the
rooms ready for you to stay.”
“You’re a lucky guy, Tiny. She’s a good woman, and you
should let her have more kids. You won’t let her get a job, and it won’t be
long before she starts to hate your guts.” Devil left the office.
What the fuck should he do?
****
Tucking hair behind her ear, Eva picked up Miles and
took Tabitha’s hand as they made their way out of the bathroom. Dinner was
cooking in the oven, slow cooked lamb with mashed potatoes and vegetables. It
was a luxury meal but not challenging. If it was just her and the girls from
the club then she would have tried something else. There was no point in trying
to get Tiny and Devil to eat something different. They were meat and potatoes
men, and they never allowed her to forget it. She didn’t mind.
“Mommy?”
Tabitha said.
“What, baby?” She walked them across the hall into
their bedroom where she laid out their clothing.
“Daddy’s sad all the time.”
“No, he’s not sad. He’s just busy. He got the club to
look after as well as us, angel. He’s busy.
Very busy.”
She placed Miles on the floor. Her two children
started to dry themselves as she got together their creams.
“Bastard,” Miles said, yelling the word.
He’d spent too much time at the club.
“Enough!” Eva said, frowning. “It’s a naughty word,
and we don’t say naughty words in this house.”
“Bastard.
Bastard.
Bastard.”
“Miles, listen to your mother,” Tiny said, snapping at
their son.
Miles kept his mouth closed.
“What do you say?” Tiny asked, stepping into the room.
“I’m sorry for being naughty, Mommy.”