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Inside the church, a stained-glass window remembered those who had lost their lives in the club. But it was the artwork on the walls that tore people’s hearts out. Inglorious had hired a portrait artist to paint murals of his fallen brothers. They were all there, from Pink, the first casualty in the war, to Psych, one of the final ones. The church and graveyard would never open to the public under any circumstances. The Unwanted Bastards would die to protect it.

“Nanci, you needn’t worry about that; I never even considered it,” I replied reassuringly.

“I know. It needed to be said.”

“Well, babe, it didn’t. If it was Rage, I’d feel exactly the same as you. Now, what do we have to play with?” I asked, changing the subject as grief briefly crossed Nanci’s face. Her brother’s loss would always be an open wound for her, and I didn’t wish to cause Nanci pain.

“Number one and two mines, the bowling alley, theatre, the Silver Dollar Hotel, Grand Hotel and the Plaza Hotel. I thought we could also use the town hall and the schoolhouse. We have the stables and coaching inn, but I’m not sure we want people walking in and out of them. The stables because we have live animals and the coaching inn because it’s where the fire equipment is kept.”

Emily made notes as I considered what was on offer. “We also have Main St,” I said, considering.

Nanci nodded in agreement. “You’re already plotting, aren’t you?”

“Yup, sure am.” I opened my notebook and jotted down the buildings that Nanci had given me. “Any limits other than those just mentioned?”

“No. However, I don’t know how we’ll manage doing anything when the brothers are always about.”

I caught Nanci’s eye and grinned. “You leave that to me. We’ll get the whole club out for a day, giving us time to do what’s needed.”

Nanci frowned. “It’s going to be hard for me to do much because Inglorious has me under a tight watch. I can get keys and access codes to places, but I’m not able to physically do a lot. Inglorious freaks if I even lift a cup of coffee. If he got his own way, Inglorious would hand me a straw to sip out of while he held the mug.”

I began laughing. That probably didn’t help Nanci, but I remembered Drake being the same when I was pregnant with Dante and Peyton. “It’s fine, babe. About three weeks after you’ve given birth, all the extra overprotectiveness fades. They’re more concerned about the baby than you. That’s when we have the freedom party.”

“I always thought you guys were drama queens until now. Inglorious is gonna end up dead or divorced. I’m still deciding which,” Nanci quipped.

Emily and I both laughed again. When it actually happened to you, it wasn’t so amusing. But when you watch someone else suffer—yeah, it was seriously funny.

“Okay, give me a week, and I’ll get in touch with you with a solid plan. I’ve got ideas, but I need to see if we can source the equipment for some of them.”

“That will be fine,” Nanci replied. As we closed our notebooks, the food arrived. Without a second thought, we tucked in, but my mind was super busy with planning Halloween at Merritt.

Nanci

When I walked into the clubhouse, Inglorious almost pounced on me. I put a hand up to his chest to hold him back, and Inglorious took on a wounded expression.

“Babe, I’m just checking you’re okay,” Inglorious stated indignantly.

“Do I appear incapable of looking after myself?” I retorted.

“Don’t go there, Prez. That is a trick question!” Hercules cautioned.

“Danger, Will Robinson. Danger!” Oil yelled as he strolled through the rec room. Daisy Duke reached up and slapped him on the back of the head as he passed.

“Stay out of it, Oil,” Daisy Duke advised.

Oil grinned at her and kept walking. I knew exactly where he was heading. Meadow had returned after a couple of weeks off to recover from everything she’d been through. Oil absolutely adored her cooking, and Meadow had a habit of making him cookies.

“Keep your fucking mitts off my old lady’s cookies!” Chill yelled.

Oil threw him a dirty glance over his shoulder. “Watch what you say to a fuckin’ founder, boy,” Oil snapped back.

Much to our amusement, we could all hear Chill grinding his teeth.

“Meadow loves me, son. Just remember, I’m letting you date her.”

I slid past Inglorious, who was looking between Chill and Oil, clearly wondering whether he’d have to break up a fight. I sat down in the armchair next to Daisy Duke, and she winked at me.

Oil paused by the kitchen door as I watched Chill across the rec room. Chill had risen to his feet and folded his arms. What Oil had said were fighting words.