A TOUCH OF GREY
IRON DOGZ MC BOOK 7
RENÉ VAN DALEN
A TOUCH OF GREY
Iron Dogz MC Book 7
Copyright © 2021 René Van Dalen
ISBN 978-0-620-93986-7
Cover Design Danielle Burrows Art
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Cover Copyright 2021 Danielle Burrows Art
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All rights reserved. In accordance with the U S Copyright Act of 1976, the scanning, uploading and electronic sharing of any part of this book without permission of the publisher is unlawful piracy and theft of the author's intellectual property. Thank you for your support of the author's rights.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are a product of the author's imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales or persons living or dead is coincidental.
Warning: This book contains graphic language, violence, abuse and sexual content. Intended for mature audiences, 18 years and older.
DEDICATION
For Jayne and Mari
Without your help my books wouldn’t happen.
And as always
13 1 13
♥
She seems to hide all looks that have ever fallen
into her, so that, like an audience,
she can look them over, menacing and sullen,
and curl to sleep with them. But all at once
as if awakened, she turns her face to yours;
and with a shock, you see yourself, tiny,
inside the golden amber of her eyeballs
suspended, like a prehistoric fly.
Black Cat
by
Rainer Maria Rilke
AUTHOR’S NOTE
As with my previous books I want to warn you, my reader, that this book has triggers for sensitive readers. It contains graphic language, sex, violence and abuse.
Please, be aware of the above triggers before you continue.
Another thing, please note that my books are written in South African English and that I use quite a few Afrikaans words in my writing as well.
I’ve translated most words as the books unfold, but some might have slipped through. Please check the glossary at the back of the book if you find one of those slippery little words.
During author DeeDee Prince’s release day party readers entered a competition to name the new prospect and club girl at the Iron Dogz MC, Johannesburg.
Julia Beresford came up with both names and won the main prize.
You will meet Adder and Snow in this book.
The following two readers had such great suggestions we felt they deserved a prize and a mention as well.
Ashley Wheelock
Danielle Parrot Hynes
Thank you for taking part.
Change and turmoil is a large part of this book.
As always, join me for a walk on the dark side.
CONTENTS
DEDICATION
AUTHOR’S NOTE
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
CHAPTER NINETEEN
CHAPTER TWENTY
CHAPTER TWENTY ONE
CHAPTER TWENTY TWO
CHAPTER TWENTY THREE
CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR
CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE
EPILOGUE
COMING UP NEXT
OTHER BOOKS BY RENÉ VAN DALEN
IRON DOGZ MC
PLAYLIST
GLOSSARY
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
CONNECT WITH RENÉ VAN DALEN
CHAPTER ONE
Hawk
Slouched behind his desk Hawk stared at their membership lists on his laptop. Ziggy had updated it after Kid left but they still had vacancies at the table, and to be honest, he had been dragging his feet long enough. It was time to fill up the empty spots and move forward. He had given the brothers more than enough time to decide who they wanted as their officers. It was time to put it to the vote.
And he, and everyone else, had to accept that Spider was definitely leaving.
He had dropped the ball where his cousin was concerned. He had been aware Spider was struggling but he hadn’t done anything about it because he had thought it would sort itself out. He should have done more, should have talked to him, should have talked to Ice and Bulldog, and now it was too late. They were losing another valuable member to the Cape Town chapter.
Not that he regretted sending Kid to Cape Town, not at all. He missed his best friend but he needed someone he trusted implicitly to guide the chapter into a better future. It was still a bit of a mind fuck thinking about him as a married man and father to be. Kid was the last man he had ever thought would have children or claim a woman, a very dangerous woman at that. There was no denying that his old lady, with her underworld and legitimate contacts, was a valuable asset to the club. But most importantly, she made Kid happy. He had never seen the man smile and laugh as much as he did now.
With Dizzy and Spider at his back Kid would steer the chapter in the new direction they had planned. At the same time he would get rid of the rotten apples and those who had been a dead weight for much too long. He had already started working on the dead weight and there would be forced retirements coming up very soon. Fortunately Orca and Hook were on board with every single change they had planned. Once Orca retired Kid would step up as club president with Spider as his VP, Dizzy as Secretary and Blaze as his SAA. Spider would use the time before Kid stepped up to find a suitable candidate to take over his position as Treasurer. Along with their IT guy, Fish, he was already digging around in the backgrounds and qualifications of all their members. Hopefully they had someone to promote, if not the position would be thrown open to the other chapters. Knowing Spider the way he did, he knew there was no need to worry because his brother would find the perfect man for the job.
On the other hand he hoped like hell Rider would be ready to step into Spider’s shoes when he left. The brother was young but he had a lot of potential. Plus he was in a stable relationship with his girl and their baby.
He had to make a note to remind his brother to claim her and give her his patch as soon as possible. When Rider stepped up as Treasurer he wanted him to have Penny by his side as his old lady and not his girlfriend.
Keeping his men in line was like herding cats…the bastards kept on dashing all over the place instead of going where he wanted them to go.
At least Cape Town would soon be on the path he had laid out for the club at his last meeting with all the chapter presidents. With Kid at the helm the chapter would be kept on a path that danced on the edge of darkness but stayed mostly in the light. It was what was needed.
The Iron Dogz MC would silently support Dominick Maingarde as the head of the Syndicate in Africa while he cleaned up the mess left behind by Murchison and Winifred Harrison. It would mean stepping over the line a time or two but it would be for a good cause. Their support of Dom had been voted in by every single chapter. Not everyone had been happy about the decision but the majority vote was what mattered and it had been overwhelming. Those who didn’t like it had the option of getting out of the club without repercussions. Repercussions suc
h as a beat out and blacked out tattoos. Not a single brother had taken him up on his offer.
They were damned lucky they hadn’t. Those who had been the most adamant and vocal about keeping the club out of the Dom and the Syndicate’s business were being watched by Ziggy and trusted brothers at each of the chapters. They had learned the hard way not to take anything at face value. Not anymore.
Rubbing a thumb over his bottom lip he read over the names on his short list and gave a slow nod. The brothers had been sending their nominations for the open positions to Ziggy and they now had a short list, ready for the final votes.
Sitting up and slamming his laptop shut he picked up his phone and sent out a mass text.
Mandatory church, 3.00 pm tomorrow.
Closing his phone down he left his office. He needed some strong coffee and a visit with his old lady to settle the shit running around in his head.
Friday
Their chapel was packed. There were even a few of the Nomads present. Everyone had turned up for church because they suspected the time had come to vote.
They would be voting in their new Officers and Lieutenants.
The rumble of voices filled the room and Hawk waited until everyone had found their seats before he brought the hammer down. The noise ceased almost instantly.
“You all know why we are here today. So let’s get it done.” Turning to Kahn he nodded, giving him the table.
Kahn cleared his throat, tapped the table then started the process.
“Ziggy and I have gone through all the nominations and we have prepared a short list of candidates. We’ll start with the position of Road Captain. There are two nominations, Boots and Spook.” Kahn looked around then nodded. “We’ll vote by show of hands and Spider will keep the tally. Those for Boots.”
Hands went up and Spider stood, counted then wrote it down in Kahn’s note book. He stayed standing.
“Those for Spook.”
After counting Spider wrote it down then sat back down.
“Spider, give us the results.” Hawk didn’t mind whichever of the men won the vote, they were both trusted brothers.
“Boots has it by two votes.”
Howls and whistles resounded in the room.
Hawk tapped the hammer. “Boots, my brother, congratulations, step up and take your seat at the table.”
Boots looked stunned as he turned to Spook, shook hands and shared a quick hard hug. Walking to the table he took the seat that used to belong to Sin.
Hawk knew that if they took the time to congratulate every one after every single vote they would be in there forever. Therefore he had decided the voting would come first and afterward he would congratulate them and hand out their new patches.
“Right, on to the next position.” Kahn said. “Hawk and the officers decided that since Spider is due to leave for Cape Town soon his replacement needs to step up today to give them time to do a handover of duties. There was only one nomination and it came from Spider himself, therefore there’s no need to vote. Prez, you going to take it from here?” Kahn asked with a small grin.
“Ja, no worries, brother. I’ve been conferring with your officers and we’re all in agreement. The brother who will be taking over from Spider is…Rider.”
Loud howls and a couple of whistles accompanied the announcement while Rider sat as if rooted to his spot against the wall and it was only when Scar slapped him on the back that he reacted. He shook his head, stood then nodded at everyone before he sat down again, still looking stunned. Rider didn’t come to the table because Spider was still with them and he would only take Spider’s seat once he officially stepped down. It would be coming sooner than what Rider expected.
Kahn continued as soon as the noise died down.
“With our brothers moving up into officers’ positions we now have lieutenants’ positions vacant. We received quite a few nominations and Hawk and your officers did a final selection of the men we all know would be able to step up and shadow our officers. The position as a lieutenant is a very important position, brothers. The man in that position has to be ready to protect and support his officer, and his brothers, no matter what. We haven’t promoted men to the position of lieutenant for a while and therefore today we’ll be voting in more than the two you were expecting. We need four, maybe five, men to move up. That means there will be positions available to junior patches to move up into senior positions, those aren’t voted positions but are decided by the officers. I’ll read through the names on the list and voting will be by a show of hands as before. You each have two votes, so use them well. The following brothers please stand when I read your name. Bullet, NikNak, Ratel, Bollywood, Bones and Mamba.”
Kahn looked at Hawk, he gave him a nod to go ahead and start the voting.
“Bullet.”
Spider silently counted the hands.
“NikNak.”
Again he counted.
“Ratel.”
Hawk silently counted along.
“Bollywood.”
Loud whistles and laughter erupted as the brother raised both middle fingers at them. The hands for him where overwhelming. He had patched over recently and was very popular with the brothers.
“Bones.”
Hands flew up again. Hawk was starting to wonder about the amount of hands.
“Mamba.”
Again a lot of hands were up. He was popular plus a legacy the same as Bones.
Finally it was done. If Hawk could he would promote every single man they had just voted on. But they had decided on four for now. The two who didn’t make it would be drawn in to back up the lieutenants until such time as they could be promoted.
Ice tapped the table as Spider sat down.
“I have a suggestion, Prez. We’ve been running with too few lieutenants for a while now and it’s bitten us in the ass a time or two when we were spread too thin. I suggest we promote all six as they are all worthy of the position.”
Silence fell in the room as eyes turned to Hawk. He looked around the faces looking back at him and not one looked pissed at the suggestion, instead they looked expectant.
“We have a suggestion on the table. What say you, brothers, yes or no?” Hawk threw the decision out to his brothers.
“YES!!!!” The room reverberated with the shouted agreement followed by howls.
It took Sin whistling long and loud to calm the men down.
“It seems like we have reached a decision.” He looked at the stunned men who stood in a small group to the side. “You heard your brothers, they believe in you and your ability to protect your officers, your brothers and the club. Congratulations.”
Howls and whistles broke out again and Hawk let it go for a little while before he tapped the hammer on the table for silence. It slowly descended on the room.
“As our brother Spider will be leaving our table soon I want to take this opportunity to thank him for the work he has done for the club.” Hawk looked at Spider who had his head down, staring at the table before he looked up and around the silent room. “When he finished University and started prospecting his job was to help our then Treasurer, Krokodil Schutte, to keep an eye on dues and the income from our strip clubs. Once he earned his patch and then his senior designation Krokodil asked to step down so he could spend more time with his family. Spider was voted in as Treasurer and has been the driving force behind our financial decisions since then. He made the club a lot of money in the years he has been sitting in that chair. We are all sorry to see him go, but Kid needs him in Cape Town. And apparently our brother wants to live near the fucking beach.” Hawk winked at Spider. “Why he would want all that sand in his ass only he knows.”
Laughter rang out and Spider was one of those who laughed the hardest while shaking his head.
Hawk grinned. “We all know the biggest draw for our man Spider are those bikini clad bodies on the beach, not the sand.”
Roaring with laughter the brothers catcalled and teased Spider while he jus
t shrugged, gave a broad wink and smiled.
Hawk continued when silence once again fell. “We’ll miss you brother, but we’re also wishing you well as you embark on this new journey. Keep it shiny side up, my brother.”
Picking up the hammer he brought it down on the block of steel. “We are done here. No one leaves as we’ll be handing over the new patches in the common room and then we’ll have a few beers to celebrate with our brothers and to say farewell to Spider. The old ladies and Aunt Beryl have prepared a spread for us before we party tonight. Eat, drink and celebrate with our brothers because as of Monday you will be working in your new capacities.”
Hawk stood in the common room with Ice on one side and Sin on the other as he handed out the patches to their brothers. The saddest moment was when Spider removed his Johannesburg rocker. Suzy openly cried as she watched her son slice the stitching and hand the rocker to his brother. Hawk handed him his Cape Town rocker and drew him in for a hard hug.
“Going to miss you, little brother.” He said softly as he gave him two hard pats on his back.
“Going to miss you too, brother.” Spider answered equally softly before he stepped back, his signature grin back on his face but his eyes told another story.
Unlike Kid and Dizzy he would be sewing his new rocker on immediately. With Suzy and Bulldog on either side of him Spider made his way over to the bar where Chris had needle and thread waiting.
Hawk lost sight of him when he was surrounded by brothers wishing to congratulate him and just hang out with him.
A small warm hand slipped into his and he smiled as he looked down at his old lady, drawing her close he slipped his arm around her waist while still holding on to her hand.
“He needs this, to strike out on his own without Ice and Bulldog around.” DC said quietly.
“I know, baby, that’s why I approved his request. I’m going to miss the little shit though.”
His old lady nodded as she leant her head against him. “I know, me too.”
Leaning down he kissed her forehead then dragged his nose down the side of hers until he reached her lips. “What do you say about us sneaking out of here?” He whispered against her lips.
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