He smacks me hard on the shoulder and stands. “One of these days, you might learn to listen to me willingly.”
“As if I don’t already.” I scoff. He may be my president, but I am the vice president. It has been a long time since I felt the need to bow at anyone's feet.
“You know what I mean.”
I shrug. “I am too old to be kneeling, your highness. I don’t know if I could get up off the floor.”
“Oh, fuck off,” he grumbles. “Let’s go into the church.”
I follow him to the room that we use to discuss important matters. It has black walls, a large table with twelve chairs situated around it, and a huge viper wrapped around a phantom that sits on the wall above the president's seat.
Engraved on the table itself is another iteration of our patch with the name of our club and our chapter—Phantom Vipers—Texas.
Xavier takes his seat at the end of the table, and I sit next to him in mine. I place the brick of cocaine onto the table and slide it over to him. “It is all there.”
He nods. “I never doubted it.” He moves the brick over to the side and leans on the table with his elbows. “You going to tell me how you wrecked your bike?”
I lean back in my chair and roll my eyes. “This woman's fucking car came out of nowhere. It was too late to stop.” I shrug. “That’s all.”
“I’m assuming you played it out so that you could get away unscathed by the police.”
“Yeah, I ended up basically kidnapping the poor woman and child and forcing them to drive me where I needed to go.”
He starts to laugh. “So, you hit this woman’s car and then fucking forced her to drive you somewhere. How did she not shit her pants?”
I shrug. “I’m not sure. I was pretty impressed.” I can still feel the way her skin felt under my hands.
He leans back and lets out a breath. His face forms into a frown as he stares at me for a moment.
“Just spit it out already, Xavier.”
“How are you doing?”
God damnit. I knew he was going to ask me this. Tomorrow is the anniversary of my baby girl's death, and it hits me harder and harder every year. I don’t want to fucking think about it though.
I pinch the bridge of my nose. “I am fine. I’m always fine. There is nothing to worry about.” I lie right through my teeth. Last year, I nearly drank myself to death, and he knows it. But I am okay right now, at least.
He shakes his head. “I’ll let the matter go for now. But if you do what you did last year, I will personally beat your fucking ass.”
I chuckle. “Sounds like a deal. I don’t plan to drink or do anything else, for that matter.” I shrug. “I might go for a long ride or something.”
He clenches his jaw. “That sounds like a good plan. Why don’t you take Viper with you to keep you out of trouble?”
He says it as a question, but I know better. He is telling me to do this. He knows what kind of trouble I tend to get myself into when I’m in this headspace.
I nod. “Fine. If I decide to go riding, I’ll take him. But I don’t know if I’m even going yet.”Hell, I still need to figure out if my bike is even salvageable. I may need to start from scratch again.I let out a breath.I guess I could use a new project to keep my mind busy.
Accepting my answer he nods. “Did you have any issues with any of the other crews nearby? I know the Blue Devils have been roaming around the area the past few days. Their president reached out a couple of days ago for a meet but I told him to fuck off.”
I raise my brow. “I didn’t have any issues with the other clubs, but why did you tell their president to fuck off? I thought we were trying to keep the peace for now.”
He shrugs. “The way he made it seem like we owe them something pissed me off. And besides this is our fucking territory. It always has been and they need to learn their place.”
I sigh. Xavier has always been quick to let his emotions get the better of him.
Xavier stands from his chair and leans on the table. “Okay. You look like shit, so go take a nap or something before heading home.”
“You don’t have to tell me twice,” I grumble and make my way to my room in the clubhouse.
