As I take my seat, the rest of the brothers filter into the room. We only have nine chairs in here for the committee members, but we've called the meeting with everyone who is on site this afternoon, even the prospect has been invited. The rest of the club will be updated later.
As the last of the brothers filter in, the last through the door is Prospect, and as he closes it behind him, Nitro bangs the gavel on the table and the room goes quiet.
"Brothers," Nitro calls, and everyone turns to face him. "Thank you for being here, we have a few things to go over, so I'd appreciate your patience. First, Nova and Mason’s uncle turned up at the garage this morning, looking for the kids. We, of course, told them we hadn’t seen them."
Everyone remains silent, eyes focussed on our Prez as he relays information to us. "If he or anyone else turns up looking for them again, then you know nothing. We promised both Nova and Mason we would protect them, and we meant it. If you are unsure what to say, simply tell them you don’t know and you will call someone. The only people you call is myself, Wrath or Ice. Am I understood?"
"Yays," are yelled around the room before everyone falls silent again, turning back to Prez, waiting for the next bit of information.
"Today sees the last day The Legion Riders are an MC before they join us tomorrow. We will hold a party here tomorrow night to welcome them, and I expect each and every one to welcome them with open arms. This has been in the making for months and it will not be an easy transition for some of those brothers. So, let’s make them feel at home right from the moment they walk through the door. Some of them will also be moving into the spare rooms here, I have the club whores making those rooms up. Ice…" He turns to look at me.
"Prez?" I ask.
"You might want to prepare Nova and Mason about the party, we all know how these parties can get, I'd rather they weren't here, but there is no safer place for them to be."
"Yes, Prez," I state. He's right, they will be safer here with everyone at the club, but I just hope we can keep them away from the sort of shit that will be going on down here.
"Next order of business," Nitro calls. "Andrea Bennett, Nova and Mason’s guardian is on her way, she will be here in a few hours. Prospect…"
"Yes, Prez," Prospect responds.
"Given that the uncle is hanging around, I've advised Andrea to stop just outside of London. You need to go pick her up in the van with the tinted windows. You leave right after this meeting," Nitro tells him.
"Yes, Prez." The kid is good, I need to talk to Prez about patching him in soon.
"Next order of business." Nitro turns to me. "Ice, over to you."
I give him a nod and swallow the lump that’s forming in the back of my throat, my mouth suddenly feels very dry. Why the fuck did I not grab a drink before I came in here? I clear my throat and scan the room. Prez and VP know what’s coming, judging by the smirks on their faces.
"Nova. I'm claiming her," I state, full of confidence.
"All those is favour," Nitro calls.
Both he and Wrath yell 'yay' at the same time, with the rest of the committee following suit. However, Blades clears his throat then looks over the table at me. He looks nervous, he fucking should be if he's about to say what I think he is.
"Ice, brother. You've only known this girl for a few weeks and you're already wanting to claim her. You know nothing about her, except the trouble that she's in. I'm sorry but nay."
The room is so quiet you can hear a pin drop, but I can hear the pounding of my blood in my ears as the rage builds. I push myself up, knocking my chair over as I do. "What the fuck is your problem?" I yell, leaning forward, my fists clenched as I rest them on the table.
"You seem to have had an issue with her since she came here, and now you're saying no to me claiming her. What fucking difference does it make to you if I claim her or not?" I shout across the table at him. He keeps his head tipped low. I see him shake his head, but he doesn't say anything,
"Well? Fucking answer me," I scream, the rage taking over. I'm normally calm, I'm normally rational, so my reaction has everyone stunned.
"Ice." Nitro's voice is low, warning me I need to calm down. But I don't think I can, I've never been this angry before.
"Look," Blades says quietly. "I don't have a problem with her, I just think you need to get to know her a little more before you lay claim to her. Making her your ol' lady is for life, brother, it's not something you do on a whim."
"A fucking whim?” I scream. “You think I'm claiming her on a fucking whim?" I push away from the table and storm around the others, pulling him out of his seat. Nitro and Wrath grab me and pull me away from him, both holding on to me.
"Easy, brother," Wrath bites out in my ear. He's at my back, his arms wrapped around me, as Nitro places himself between Blades and me.
My anger is bubbling away inside of me, and Wrath has a death grip on me, which is a good thing as I'm worried I'll throttle Blades if he lets me go.
I don't want to be this honest, but I need to be. I need him and them to know that I'm serious.
"I know all I need to know. I've known how I feel since the day I met her. Claiming her is not something that I'm choosing to do lightly. I know it's for life, that’s exactly what I fucking intend," I yell.
"Yeah, but does she?" he yells back at me. He's getting angry now. "You're in here fucking claiming her, but does she know what you're doing? Does she know what it means?" He pushes Nitro's hand away from him and takes one step toward me. Nitro turns his body to face him, blocking any more movements.
