“Ha!” I shouted, jabbing him in the side. “There it is. Oh, you done fucked up now. Tell me, or I’m going to tell Mama you called her a dog.”
He scoffed at me. “She’s as likely to believe that as she is to believe I sprouted wings out of my arse.”
“You being insulting is probably the most believable thing I could say.”
“You’re forgetting – I’ve known Mama since I was a child. She’s basically been my actual mother. Whereas you’re the little whore who got her sons kidnapped. You could have me on recording, and she’d still find a way not to believe it.”
“See what I’m up against? I’ve no friends in this place, and I’m just trying to bond with you.”
“You’re not bonding. You’re prying.”
“So, there is something to pry into? Please, Vienna.”
He sighed. “Fine. You win. There’s no crazy gossip. I simply don't have time, Rachel. That is the honest truth. The club gets everything I've got to give.”
“But why? Other members have the time. Even members higher up than you - Dante, for example.”
“Yeah and look what it cost him.”
“You mean Laura? As sad as it is, she just wasn't built for this life.”
Neither are you. You’re looking for every reason you can to get the fuck out of here.
True. I did want to get out. But it wasn’t because I couldn’t handle standard club life. I didn’t want to be around when theinevitable explosion happened, when it all seemed so easily avoidable.
“Exactly. Not every woman is built for this life.”
“But Jenna told me that you could have a girlfriend who isn't a part of the club life.”
He shot me another side eye. “That might work for regular members, but not a patched member like me. When Dante is the President, it's no secret he's going to make me vice. I have a certain responsibility to bring in a suitable woman. Not just to the club, but to her, too. Any woman of mine, old lady or otherwise, would be in danger. Especially if other clubs got word that she wasn't bound by old lady status, and therefore without protection.”
“I guess I can understand that. But what's stopping you from finding someone right now?”
“What would be the point if there was no future? I don’t want to offer a woman false hope.”
“But she might come around to the idea if she had time to adjust before you became vice.”
“Do you know what my title is at the moment?”
I shook my head.I mean, I knew it. It was right there on the front of his cut, impossible to miss. But I didn’t really understand what it meant.
“I'm the peacemaker. So not only do I keep camaraderie amongst the men here, it's also my job to keep peace amongst the other clubs as much as I possibly can. I have my own moles everywhere - you said Dante told you about the prospect we had to take out a few weeks ago. That was only able to happen because I was able to speak to one of my informants and get the information I needed quickly.”
“Do you regret it?” I asked quietly. Sometimes, when Vienna was just being Vienna, it was easy to forget that he was a stone-cold killer. Which was silly, because the man was built like a mountain, and had a vicious glare when he wanted to. But I had only ever known him as a friend – and a sweet one at that, who always showed nothing but loyalty. It was hard to connect that man with the man who killed mercilessly.
“No. He needed taking out, and I’ve worked hard over the years to make these contacts. I’ve no shame in using them. They’re the ones ratting their club, not me.”
“Do you ever regret the time you’ve given to the club? Especially in light of what Macbeth has done. It’s robbed you of so much.”
“Not at all,” he answered, although I detected a note of hesitance in his voice. “The club is my life. It's all I've ever known, and I'd die to protect any one of my brothers.”
“There's never been anyone serious?”
He playfully punched me in the thigh. “You'rebeing fucking serious.”
“Come on, Vienna. I'm just trying to get to know you better.”
“Fine,” he said, sighing once more. Why did everyone always fucking sigh around me? “There was one woman.”
