He nodded at me as I walked inside, and I nodded back.
“Casa fill you in?” I asked, sliding onto the stool next to him.
“Yeah, he called and it doesn’t sound good,” he replied.
The club was pretty empty, since most of the brothers were down either dealing with the Skinny situation or in Charleston trying to sort out a deal with the Bloody Bastards MC. They’d had offers coming in from other clubs to supply them with product for a fraction of what we charged, and Hardy had decided that the threat of losing their business was big enough to warrant him going down there and dealing with that shit directly. It wasn’t just the loss of money that bothered him, but the fact the new product wouldn’t be half as pure as they shit we supplied.
And a dirty product meant dead bodies.
And dead bodies always meant heat from the cops.
Being the Mother Chapter of The Devil’s Highwaymen, it always made our lives easier to keep the cops out of our business—even the ones on the payroll.
A couple of the newer prospects were lingering, clearly looking for something to do other than just hold their dicks in their hands while they waited for Hardy to get back.
I stood up, making a decision that Hardy might not like, but making it all the same. I nodded for the two young prospects to get over to me, and they did, both of them eager to help.
“What’s your orders while Hardy’s away?” I asked, feeling Dom stand up behind me.
“Watch the clubhouse, watch the warehouse, and watch the bikes,” the eldest of the two replied, sounding deeply pissed off at having to wait around while everyone else had important shit to do. “You need some help with something?” he asked eagerly.
“Cutter, right?” I asked and he nodded. I looked to the other guy, but for the life of me I couldn’t remember his name. The kid barely looked seventeen and had only been with us for a month or two, but I’d seen him around, and just like Cutter he was a hard worker and eager to please. “There’s a meeting going down tonight, caught everyone by surprise.”
“You think it was purposeful?” Cutter asked.
“Sure as shit it was. Could get messy.”
“I’m in,” Cutter replied, barely letting me finish my sentence.
We both looked at the other kid, but it was Cutter that asked him.
“Max?”
Max nodded and cracked his knuckles. “Yeah, I’m down for that.”
I wasn’t sure he was ready for it, but decided it was the best way for him to learn. Besides, it was better to go down with a crew than just me and Casa, so the more people I got on board, the better. Hopefully the other club would see us as a big enough threat and not try to kill us.
“All right, we’re rolling out as soon as Casa and Pipes get here. Get your shit together, and make sure you’re carrying. This ain’t a party we were invited to.” I held out my hand and they both took turns in shaking it before stalking away to gather their things.
I turned back to Dom and he nodded and looked away, a look of pride shining in his grey eyes. Before I could say anything else, Casa and Pipes walked in, looking serious.
“Ready?” Casa asked.
He reached out and I shook his hand, pulling him into a rough hug before letting him go. I did the same with Pipes, and then Cutter and Max joined us.
Pipes eyed the prospects before looking at me questioningly. “Think it’s wise?” he asked, and we all knew he wasn’t being disrespectful to me or the prospects. Going in with two or three of us was one thing, but turning up with six or seven brothers—well, we were sending a message, that was for sure.
I nodded. “Yep, think it’s about time we show the other clubs that the Highwaymen aren’t to be fucked with. Hardy said to make sure we were getting our fair cut, but I think we need to be going in and asking for more now that they’ve shown their hand.”
My brothers all watched me, their eyes dark and their expressions grim. They nodded and grunted in agreement.
“I’m thinking we show them what respect really fuckin’ means, and what happens when someone disrespects our club like this.”
I smiled grimly, because it wasn’t what Hardy had asked me to do, but I knew it was the best decision for the club regardless. Hardy was biding his time, readying for retirement. Long after he was gone, the club would still be going, and I needed to secure our position with the other chapters—make sure they really knew not to fuck with us, or try and cut us out of any deals in the future.
“Let’s roll out,” I said, and my brothers followed me out of the clubhouse and to our bikes.
We’d be in downtown Atlanta in under thirty minutes, and then we’d see what was what. I hoped we’d all make it back alive, but none of us were under the illusion that death wasn’t a possibility. But more importantly, after everything that had happened in the past twenty-four hours, I’d come to the conclusion that I wouldn’t be letting anyone walk all over the only thing I had left.
And if that meant starting a war, or going head to head with Hardy after all of this, I was ready for that too.
