The Badger’s Den was my home.This place was my roots.People came in, drank, talked, and left their stress at the door.That’s what it was supposed to be.
But this?
This was something else.
I shook it off and got back to work, but I couldn’t shake the weird feeling crawling up my spine.
Frank and Nick might’ve smiled like neighbors.
But I’d just seen the wolf behind the grin.
And it was watching.
Chapter Nine
Twister
The main room of the clubhouse buzzed with the low rumble of voices.Boots scuffed concrete floors, and the occasional clink of a beer bottle.We’d dragged in the biggest goddamn table I had bought a month ago.It was custom-built from reclaimed wood by some old-timer up north, and the guys sat around it in mismatched chairs we’d scrounged up.A Saint’s Outlaws flag hung behind me.Just the way we liked it.
I stood at the head of the table and gave the room a once-over.“Alright, let’s bring it in.Church is in session.”
The conversation dimmed like someone turned down the volume knob.Swift leaned back in his chair with his arms crossed, and a smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth.Wheels had a beer in one hand and a rag slung over his shoulder.Hodge leaned forward with his forearms on the table, and his usual scowl was carved deep.Podge had his damn notebook open like always, pen ready to scratch notes we probably didn’t need, but he took anyway.Gramps sat next to him, sipping black coffee like the eighty-year-old soul he claimed to be, even though he was barely fifty.
“First up,” I said and slapped my hand on the table.“We need a name for the rage room.”
Groans and chuckles rippled around the table.
“Here we go,” Swift muttered.
“I’m serious,” I shot back with a grin.“We’re not gonna open the doors to some half-assed named place.It’s gonna be our main cash flow, so let’s make it count.”
Wheels grinned.“What about Smash Shack?”
“Sounds like a burger joint,” Hodge grunted.
“Or a brothel,” Nugget laughed.
“Rage Relief,” Podge offered.
“Sounds like a pain med commercial,” Swift fired back.
Laughter broke out.
“Breakers,” Magnum suggested and twirled a toothpick in his mouth.
“Too generic,” Gramps said with a shrug.
“Demolition Den?”Cord tossed out from the side, then raised his hands.“I know, I know.I’m not patched, but come on.”
“Let the kid talk,” Gramps said.“Good idea or bad, everyone’s got a mouth.”
“Wreckless Abandon,” Hodge said slowly.“You know, play on ‘reckless’ with a ‘w’.”
“Kind of hard to know unless they see it spelled out, don’t you think?”I asked.
Rev tapped his fingers against the table.“Saints’ Smash?Keep it in the family.”
“Smash City,” Swift said with a smirk.“Straightforward and kinda badass.”
