I went into church with nothing but Rachel on my mind – which really pissed me off, as I should have been thinking about Macbeth and his whereabouts, but all I could focus on was that woman who drove me to distraction.
It was clear to anyone with eyes she was annoyed that I had cut our day short, but she hadn’t thrown her usual bitch fit… that alone had me nervous. Rachel was an expert at hiding her feelings and emotions behind that godforsaken blank look. However, ever since I had broken the lock, she seemed to have no control when it came to me and flew off the handle at the slightest bit of provocation. The fact that she had remained silent, not once, but twice in the space of a day, had me on fucking edge.
What the fuck was wrong with me that I was nervous about the way that tiny woman would react?
And yet I was. She was a vicious little bitch when she wanted to be, and she could cut glass with her tongue.
Maybe she’s making an effort,I thought to myself as I took my seat next to Crash’s chair and pulled out my cigarettes.
Yeah, and maybe I’m about to bend over this table and let the club all have a turn riding my ass. One of those was much more likely than the other, and I didn’t fancy the likes of Sunshine pounding me into oblivion.
“Everyone with us?” Crash asked as I flicked the lid to my lighter and sparked up.
Here we fucking go.
This was the first church meeting without Macbeth – apart from the quick emergency one that night. How had it only been a day since that had happened? If it wasn’t for the relentlessthrobbing in my head and the pain from my stitches, I might genuinely have believed it was all a crazy, fucked up fever dream.
I had gone from throwing Rachel out, to being kidnapped, to escaping, and then fucking Rachel’s brains out in one night. Then I had repeated it the next morning, drove her angry mother home, had a day out with my old lady and kid, and now I was sitting in church.
But that was the way club life worked. It was a fast-paced atmosphere, and if you blinked too often, it would feel like entire years had passed.
We lived like we rode. Fast, dangerous, and utterly head-spinning.
“Looks like it, boss,” Zach replied to Crash, pulling me out of my thoughts. I looked at the empty seat next to Zach and expelled an angry puff of smoke.
The stupid fucking bastard.
I’d find that cunt if it was the last thing I ever did, and God help him when that happened.
“Right. We’ll address the elephant in the room. Trent,” he snapped, looking at Zach’s eldest. Trent sat up straighter, looking from his dad to the president, and back again. “You wanna be the treasurer?”
He blinked a few times, his mouth falling open slightly in surprise before he regained his composure. “I—Sure, boss.”
“Move up,” Crash said, nodding his head at the empty seat.
“Nice one, Trenty boy,” Vienna smirked at him. “Does that mean Imogen will finally get the fuck out of the garage and stop pestering us all about the way the books are being run? Which was fucking Macbeth’s job anyway, might I add, so harassing the innocent men in the garage achieved nothing.”
“I’ve got a feeling you’ve fucked it, Ven. They’ll both be in the office now,” I laughed back at him, taking a draw of my cigarette. “Imagine it. ImogenandTrent, both lecturing you for your expenditure.”
“Then I quit. I’ve no business being in the garage, anyway. I’m the rat whisperer. I have nothing to do with money.”
“Didn’t you want petty change the other day because Mama said you couldn’t run your tab up any higher?” Monster frowned.
“You,” Vienna hissed, throwing his pen at him. “Are a nasty little snitch. I knew you were fucking eavesdropping.”
“It’s hardly snitching. We all know about your tab, Vienna,” Crash laughed.
“And it was hardly eavesdropping, either! Not when Mama was screaming for all to hear!” Monster said, throwing the pen back at Vienna. He ducked, and my hand shot out, catching it before it connected with the side of my face.
“If that had hit me—”
“I was aiming for Vienna!”
“Don’t fucking interrupt me,” I flicked my wrist, sending the pen back at him, hitting him straight between the eyes.
“Why are you laughing, Vienna?” Monster grinned, rubbing the spot where the pen had smacked him. “Aren’t you supposed to be the peacemaker?”
“I didn’t see anything. I was too busy recovering from the unjust attack inflicted on my character by your fine self. You’re on your own with this one.”
