“So I say yes, I keep breathing? Then what?” Jameson grins as if he’s won already.
He produces a key and undoes the cuffs.
“You keep your job, life, cozy little beach house, plus you run this new clubhouse for me. Twister here has vouched for you, and your military record speaks for itself. You’ve got a problem with authority, though, so you’ll be running the Philadelphia Chapter. I can tell when a man has a broken moral compass. Yours don’t point true north, but you’ll do what it takes for the right reasons.” I rub my wrists as this stranger breaks down my character like he’s known me all his life.
“President?” Jameson nods.
“Who’s he?” I point at Vincenzo.
“Twister? He’s your Vice President.” Oh good.
I swing wide and nail the fucker in the nose. I feel the cartilage break and blood splatter all over my fist. I sway into the wall, my body giving out, and the last thing I remember is Jameson laughing with his arms crossed over his chest while he watches my body slide down the wall.
“You’ll do Cable.”
I wonder how he found out about my nickname on the boats as I passed out again.
Present Day
“I’ve gotto stop ending up on the floor like this,” I mutter as I lift my sorry ass up and sit at the kitchen counter gingerly so as not to upset my balls, which have just resurfaced.
“YO!” I grind my teeth as my front door slams shut.
“We came to pay our respects.” I turn slightly and see Twister, Tank, and Bars walking down my hallway.
They’re all wearing their cuts, but under them are dress pants and shirts.
“You fools clean up nicely. Were you at the cemetery?” Tank nods and heads straight for the leftover food.
“We stayed in the back.” I thought I had heard the distant sound of Harleys but had been too out of it to care.
“Thank you. You’re all in time to help clean up.” I point at Twister.
“You in my office.” I carefully get off the stool and walk past him.
“You alright, Prez? You’re walking like you got a stick up your ass.” Bars calls out, and I flip him off.
“My girl kicked in the balls before she left.” Fuck, why did I say that?
“Your girl?” Twister gets this crazed look in his eyes, and Tank whistles while double fisting two chicken legs.
“Don’t read too much into it. It’s a developing situation.” I open the office door and walk in, leaving them wondering ‘cause I am not adding anything else for them to rip me apart with.
Twister walks in and shuts the door with a little grin.
“Is she the one?” His eyebrows waggle at me, and I groan.
“Enzo, my balls hurt, my ego is bruised, and I just said goodbye to my Gran for the last time. I don’t have the bandwidth to deal with your brand of stupid today. How are my docks?” He frowns and sits across from me at my desk.
“Fine, boss. No unusual activity. We have it handled.” I nod and run my hands through my hair.
“Civilian life was supposed to be less stressful.” He laughs at me.
“Another lie the military sold, yeah.” I nod and smile.
“Facts. Okay, so how’s the clubhouse build going?” I see a flicker of something I don’t like in his eyes.
“The code inspector was out again. They’re gonna red tag us if we don’t add an ADA ramp.” I want to laugh at the fact that the code inspector is making a motorcycle clubhouse put in a handicap ramp and parking area because we’re zoned as a social club, but the law is the law, and we might one day have need of it.
