Other shoe be damned.
CHAPTERTWENTY
When I walked into the room where we held Church, it fell silent. All eyes shifted to me, and their instant readiness for my words sat heavy.
Things felt off, and as I took my seat at the head of the table, my eyes met Damon’s. He nodded slightly, and I relaxed into my chair, ready to start. “I called this meeting to talk to you all about what happened over the weekend, but Damon has a more pressing update he’ll be starting with.”
The Sinners looked to their enforcer, and he cracked his knuckles like he was ready to fight one of his own. “There’s whispers on the road—the Sinners have become a target. Turns out that piece of shit Cain put in the ground was part of The Reaper's Wings and they’re not too happy they’ve lost a member of their crew.”
The words had barely finished leaving his mouth before I exploded. My fists connected with the table. I saw red as a newfound level of rage consumed me. Flying up from my seat, unable to contain my anger, I roared, “Those bastards should have thought about what type of scumbag they initiated!”
He wanted to hurt Rose. Tried to drug her so he could fucking rape her.
The Reaper's Wings was the club that operated out of Bridge Point. They were ruthless motherfuckers—part of the one percent. Word was they dabbled in the weapons trade, mixing business with the Italian fucks who ran the industrial part of their city.
Rifton, their club prez, was supposedly real close with some guy they called Caduto, both of whom were as shady as they came.
“Settle,” King mumbled under his breath. The one word cut through the sea of red.
I lowered back into my chair, still seething, and forced myself to calm the fuck down so I could address my guys. “As most of you already heard, Saturday night I killed a man who spiked Rose’s drink. The same piece of shit who’s been drugging and raping women all over the city. The P.D. did what they always do for us and swept it under the rug. Played it off to the media that they were still looking for the guy who killed him, but suspect it was an unresolved gang-related hit, seeing as the guy had some questionable prison tats.”
Taking a minute, I looked at each of the Sinners. They wore stoic expressions, many had clenched fists as they too struggled to keep their composure.
My little firecracker had become quite popular amongst the Sinners. A little sister figure—someone they held with high respect.
And now that I’d publicly marked her asmineless than an hour ago, I imagined their perspectives shifted slightly. She went from just being someone they respected to someone theyprotected.
It was the way of the Sinners.
Once you’d committed to a woman, she became your old lady in every sense of the word, and therefore, became family to everyone in the club. I could practically see the wheels turning in everyone's heads, the pieces of information I’d given being processed.
“What’s the plan, Prez?” one of our newest prospects asked, clearing his throat after, like it embarrassed him to speak up.
“The plan is…we wait it out. We listen, and keep our eyes peeled. We assess whether we’re dealing with rumors or facts. If we’ve pissed off The Reaper's Wings,they’ll let it be known. Until then, business as usual.”
Immediately, the Sinners started speaking at once, some more quietly than others. A few were pissed, standing in their chairs and yelling from across the table. Some sat back and watched, their arms folded across their chests.
It was the first time I’d ever felt like I fucked up as their prez…like their trust and confidence in me was slipping through my fingers.
“If anyone has abetteridea, I’m all ears,” I bellowed, garnering their attention back. “Is it fuckin’ ideal that we sit back and wait? No. It isn’t. But unless we want to barrel into this situation headfirst and risk walking into a goddamn ambush, there’s not much else to do. The Reaper's Wings are shady motherfuckers who don’t give a damn. They have a reputation that precedes them—they don’t care whose blood is on their hands or what repercussions there may be for it.Wedon’t act like that. We have a code. And it’s time you all remember it.”
My chest heaved. There was more I wanted to say, but the more I did say, the more I risked exploding at them. Again.
Thankfully, King, my VP, took over.
“Now, I know a handful of you are newcomers, but most of you aren’t. Pops was real clear on his intentions for this club. Protect each other, protect our women, protect our community. Just because Pops isn’t the prez anymore, doesn’t mean his legacy doesn’t live on through Cain. If you all don’t like the way he’s running his club, you can see yourself the fuck out, or shut the fuck up. Like it or not, Cain’s right. The best course of action at this point is to observe.”
He turned his attention to Damon and tipped his chin toward him. “Our enforcer’s out there listenin’ and watchin’. If anything changes, we’ll reconvene and go from there. Until then, we listen to our prez and remain idle, but vigilant.”
A trickle of pride spiked within my chest, and I nodded in thanks to my second-in-command.
The Sinners were quiet after that. Their attentiveness shifted back to me.
“You are all my family,” I began, my voice controlled despite the hesitancy I was feeling. I hated being vulnerable, but I knew what needed to be done to restore some of their faith in me. “Not so long ago, I had a brother, and he was the most important person in my life. My loyalty to him was unwavering—until it wasn’t. He showed me his true colors and destroyed the respect I had for him. He went from being the one person I’d do anything for to the person I loathed the most. I cut him out of my life and now he may as well be dead for as little shit I give about him or his miserable existence.
“Point is, I didn’t choose him as my family, and didn’t hesitate to walk away from him, either. Ichosethe Sinners. You’re all my brothers, and I’ll protect this family at all costs. If you don’t agree with how I run things, that's on you, but you willrespectthe choices I make. We’ve dealt with a lot of shit lately and haven’t had time to decompress. So let's do that. Family dinner this Sunday in the side lot—show up any time after four. We’ll go as late as Rose lets us.”
Nods of understanding bobbed amongst the men, and that was enough for me.
