Another silence but I can tell they’re seeing my point now.
“Ma’s not gonna like you leaving,” Onyx says. “You know that, right? If Queenie ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy.”
“I’ll talk to her myself,” I say. “She always comes around when grandchildren are involved.”
Slate speaks for the first time. “It sounds like you’ve been planning this for a while.” Of course, Slate’s already putting the pieces of the puzzle together.
“Yeah, I’ve been planning it since before the cave,” I admit. “I talked to Cray about it weeks ago. He gave me his blessing.”
“You talked to Cray before you talked to us?” Jasper looks genuinely hurt and I understand why. I would be too.
“I needed to know if Vulture’s name could be carried forward before I brought it up to all of you. Cray is Vulture’s brother. Since I don’t want bad blood with Nova’s only living family member, I asked his permission.”
My old man is sitting at the head of the table with his arms folded across his massive chest. He’s now staring at me with an expression I can’t fully read. He can be expressive when he feels strongly about something. I’ve seen him angry, proud, grief stricken and in combat mode. What I’m seeing in his expression and body language right now is something new. Granted, he’s a man dealing with his son pivoting in a direction he never expected. That’s got to be hard.
“I guess the bottom line is do you think you’ve got what it takes to be a club president,” Rock comments. “It’s a whole different role than being a numbers cruncher. I’ve been grooming Jasper for the job his whole life and somehow you think you’re just going to step into the role.”
My eyebrows fly up. “Hell the fuck yes, I do. If you’d been paying attention to me at all, you would know that already. I’ve been living, eating, sleeping, and bleeding for this club my whole fucking life. Since I ended up in this marriage you arranged,I’ve been tracking down threats to her life, helping her run her businesses, killing the man who wanted to ruin her just to send you a fuckin’ message about how jealous he was of your success, and I recruited my own man on the inside of the local PD. Fuck, I even turned him into a rockstar in the process.”
Glancing around the room, all my good humor is suddenly gone. And I’ve got zero fucks to give when it comes to getting their approval. “It’s personally fucking insulting to have you all sit around this table acting like I have to convince you that I’m fuckin’ worthy of living my life and making decisions for my damn self.”
When they don’t immediately respond, I wrap it up. “This conversation is a fuckin’ courtesy, not an obligation. The bottom line is my decision has been made. If you can manage to get past your shock of me not staying put in the club our old man started, you’ll see that this can only benefit us as a family.”
I turn my head to pin Rock with a steady gaze. “Do you want to know what’s better than a son following in your footsteps in becoming a club president?” Not waiting for him to answer, I hold up two fingers. “It’s having two sons running two clubs. It’s twice the manpower to get shit done, twice the fighters when shit goes sideways, and twice the brainpower. There ain’t ever gonna be a time when club shit comes between me and my family, so the way I see it, you’ve got nothing to lose and everything to gain by getting on board with this idea.”
Rock looks at me for a long, hard moment. I see some glimmer of respect flicker in his eyes. Now that I’ve spelled it all out for him, he not only sees the benefit, but he understands two more important things that I’m waiting for him to bring up.
“You resurrecting Vulture’s old club also gives us security along the border we share, which was the primary reason we wanted that territory. And we get an alliance through you with that cagy bastard Cray, who never trusts any fuckin’ body.”
I just look at him and nod. “Like I said, we only gain with me taking that territory and starting my own club.”
Jasper speaks up. “I don’t understand why your club can’t be an affiliate to the Sons of Rage.”
Still looking at my old man, I answer Jasper’s question, “Because I’m not taking orders from you, Jasper. You might run the Sons, but I’m not putting my club under your thumb as well.”
Our old man speaks up, his voice sounding more confident than angry, “If Raging Vultures is a Sons affiliate, Cray won’t agree to an alliance. Mica’s club offers him a bridge between our clubs.”
“I’m starting to see the benefit to this idea,” Rock says.
“It’s not an idea, it’s a plan. I’m doing this with or without your approval.”
Slate is the one who cuts through all the bullshit. “You’ve already won us over, Mica. So, you can stop being so defiant about it.”
Onyx reluctantly agrees. “We’d have to be blind to not see you’re capable and ready to lead your own club. I hate that you’re striking out on your own because it feels like we’re losing you. I don’t even know how to deal with not seeing you hanging around the clubhouse, beating off all the new club girls and being the apple of ma’s eye. Shit’s gonna be depressing around here for a bit.”
“You’re not losing me, asshole. You’re gaining a brand-new allied club, one with a club president who’s proven he’ll go the mat for you every single time. Nova and I will still be showing up for Sunday morning breakfasts and showing off all the babies I plan to have with her.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Jasper mutters under his breath. “Next you’re gonna be telling me we’ll still hang out on weekends.”
“Why wouldn’t we?” I shoot back. “For the umpteenth time, our clubs are going to be allies. We’ll ride together, watch each other’s backs and we’ll protect our territory together. This ain’t some kind of abandonment. It’s a smart expansion.”
Onyx spins an empty beer bottle that happened to be on the table. Watching the amber bottle twirl, he says, “You call it Slate. Is he lying or telling the truth?”
After a long, thoughtful pause, he gives me a short nod. “Mica’s telling the truth, at least as he knows it to be. Unless something gets in the way of his plans, it’ll play out just like he says.”
Jasper finally cracks a smile. “Raging Vultures. That’s actually a decent name. Did your old lady pick it out?”
“Fuck no. She did like it though,” I tell him, finding my sense of humor again.
