“I’m about to put him to bed if you want to come and tell him a story.”
“Yeah, just give us five more minutes.”
Lilly kissed Cole one more time, smiled at me, and stepped back inside.
“He looks great,” I said, unsure what to say.
“He’s perfect,” Cole said. “And he’s why I can’t get directly involved in your work.”
“But—”
“Call it retirement, call it handing it off to a new group of guys, whatever you want.”
I would have killed to have Cole say he could help. I could only imagine the violence, the chaos, the fights that he had partaken in as a Black Reaper. I had told him about myself and about what I knew about him, but with the details about what had happened back in… not Los Angeles, but someplace near it—Springfield? Springstown?—I knew very little.
I suppose that was a mark of Cole’s experience, that he’d gotten me to admit everything and him nothing.
“I’ll need to make some calls and get some things lined up first,” Cole said. “Don’t expect anything imminent for a couple of weeks. But if you want to make a difference in Santa Maria? I believe you can. And I believe I can give you the resources to do it. And do it right, and you may yet become Black Reapers.”
Shit. This is real. No more imagining. No more wondering what if. This is…
Tara can come to Santa Maria without fear.
“I look forward to it,” I said.
“Just one thing,” Cole said. “Do me a favor. Keep this only to yourself and to anyone you’d want in the club. Invariably, others will find out. But the MC world is not for the faint of heart. It is a thing many idolize but few understand. You don’t just get to sign a piece of paper and join; you have to prove yourself worthy first. So…”
Don’t tell Tara. Keeping her safe means keeping her away from this. For now.
“I understand.”
* * *
I drove home on my bike so excited that I had to consciously reduce my speed. The last thing I needed on a night like this was for the corrupt cop to pull me over for speeding and then get me on a DUI, even though my alcohol intake was below the legal limit.
This was the miracle we’d needed. This was our chance to make a difference. This was our chance to grow out of being a bunch of boys.
I had planned on just going straight home, knowing I’d have to take care of Tara tomorrow. But the chance to set something up, to protect her, to be a man, to be… to be everything I wanted to be…
I got down Freedom Alley without incident, taking care to drive only the speed limit and only stay in one lane. I made it back to the house with ease and came in without knocking.
“It’s me!” I shouted.
“Damn, knock so we don’t shoot your fucking head next time,” Connor growled.
“No, guys, seriously, listen to this,” I said. “I ran into a guy who used to run a motorcycle club, right? I had drinks with him. He says he wants to help us. He’ll give us money and weapons. We just need a prove we’re serious about fighting, and we can become an MC. This can be our chance. This can be what we need to help defeat the Bandits once and for all.”
Silence fell. The other five boys looked at each other and then to me.
And then Steele and Garrett burst out laughing.
“I remember the first time I got conned,” Mason said dryly.
“Let me guess—he also promised strippers and pussy every weekend!” Garrett shouted.
“Guys, it sounds bad, but seriously—”
“Yes, seriously, it sounds like someone who rides a bike convinced you they could offer something they could not,” Steele said.
