I drove into Denver, my brother singing loudly at the top of his lungs, and I couldn’t help but smile. Lordy, I loved my Teddy Bear. He made my life so full and I couldn’t wait to spend the day with him.
* * *
Sundance
Orion and I walked out of Monumental High East and made our way to our bikes. Moses and Rocky, my Sergeant and VP, respectively, had already headed outside to their Harleys, stowing product in their saddlebags.
Monumental High was the name of all of our cannabis stores in and around Denver. We’d separated each shop based on locations around the city. Orion and I managed Monumental East and West, Moses and Rock managed North and South, although, I was ultimately responsible for all of them.
Ten years ago, we’d started with our grow business, Full Moon Farms, then expanded into our own stores. We now had two in Monument, but the majority of our business was still in Denver. Both endeavors brought in a shit ton of money for the club and our own personal income wasn’t hurting either.
“Wings?” I asked.
“Hell, yeah,” Orion said with a grin. “Chuck’s Clucks?”
“Hell, yeah,” I mimicked, and he chuckled.
Jesus, it was good to be back on neutral footing with my kid. I had to give most of the credit to Raquel, because she’d pointed a few things out that neither of us were seeing. Once we pulled our heads out of our asses, things went back to normal, and I didn’t feel like we could fracture at any second.
“You’re payin’,” Moses said.
“Good idea,” Rocky piped in.
“I can do that,” I agreed.
We climbed on our bikes and rode over to Chuck’s, my stomach rumbling almost as loud as my engine. Chuck’s was renowned for their wings, but they had a pretty extensive menu, and you had the option of eating on the side of the restaurant that was filled with games for both adults and kids or eating on the side where it was quiet.
After parking our bikes, we headed inside and the hostess walked us to our table, almost slamming into a table because she was ogling Orion. We took our seats and had been sitting for about three minutes when we heard yelling from the games’ side of the building.
This wasn’t the normal sounds of people having fun… this was the screech of a woman who sounded in distress, so the four of us went to investigate.
As did the manager.
“Those men stole money from my brother, and I want them dealt with,” the woman demanded.
My heart raced. I recognized the sexy rasp and quickened my steps to get closer.
“Ma’am, they insist they didn’t, and your brother is…well, he’s…”
“He’s what?” she snapped, grabbing the wrist of a tall man who’d tried to walk away. I could tell he wasn’t fully aware of what was happening. “Far too trusting for his own good? Kind? What?”
“He beat up one of the patrons,” the manager accused.
“Wyatt?” I called.
She spun to face me, and her face crumpled. “Hi. Sorry, I don’t have time to talk,” she said, and faced the manager again. “My brother used the restroom and these men took advantage of him while he was in there. He defended himself.”
“Your brother’s a retard and a liar,” one of them snarled, and I saw red.
“What the fuck did you say?” I growled.
Rocky, Moses, and Orion moved in tandem, each grabbing one of the guys and shoving them to the ground to keep them from running.
“Sundance, I’ve got this,” Wyatt said, her brother trying to pull away from her.
“Skee-ball, Riot.”
“Okay, Teddy Bear, give me a second. I have to deal with this.”
