by Jade Kuzma
Mia swallowed hard then nodded. She sighed a deep breath. Her words caught in her throat before she finally got them out.
“…Yes… Yes, I’ll marry you.”
Roman pushed the small diamond onto her finger then gave her a deep kiss. Seeing the couple so happy filled my heart with a giddiness that choked me up. Sebastian remained chuckling to himself.
“Another one bites the dust,” he sighed.
I elbowed him in the gut to shut him up.
“Let them have their moment,” I said. “I’m beginning to wonder why Roman did it here, in front of you, of all places.”
Sebastian put an arm around me as we looked up at the now engaged couple.
“Roman wanted to do it with the people who are special to him, in a place that’s special to him.”
“What about Hades? What about the MC?”
“There’d be no Hades… There’d be no MC… Not without all of the memories that Roman made here. Trust me, KK. Everything here is perfect.”
I couldn’t argue with him. The way Mia and Roman beamed at each other, it was like they’d finally come to the end of a long journey.
“Perfect,” I sighed. “Just perfect.”
Epilogue 2
SEBASTIAN
One week later…
Hunter was so slouched in his chair that he was about to slide out of it. He twiddled his thumbs, staring up at the ceiling while Ezra went over the details.
“Hades is always busy,” he said. “The reputation the Devils have in Ivory means everybody wants to come here. Not to mention all of the guys looking to prospect.”
“We taking prospects now?” Aden said. “I don’t know… I kinda like the crew we got here.”
“Never say never,” Roman said. “There are a lot of good men out there in Ivory. They care about this town as much as we do. We just gotta weed ‘em out.”
“I got lucky with you guys,” I said. “If there’s a man out there worthy of riding with us, we’ll find him.”
“In any case, best time to close the place is on a Monday,” Ezra said. “If you ask me though, I think you could keep the place open. With all of the renovations, there’s more than enough space for customers and Faye’s baby shower.”
“What do you think, Joker?”
Hunter sat up in his seat. The entire club was looking at him, not a single man able to hold back his smile.
“Look at us,” he said. “Sitting in the chapel, talking about a baby shower.”
“Sorry,” I said. “I’m all out of plans. Unless you’ve got some scheme cooking up in your head. Thinking about robbing Eden Casino? Planning on sticking it to Takahashi one last time?”
“No, I’m just saying…”
Hunter paused for a moment then laughed softly to himself.
“What are you saying?” I said.
“Nothing. I just… I guess this really is the end. We’ve got nothing left on our plates.”
“As long as we’re riding in Ivory, we’ll always have something on our plates. The people out there look up to us. You might hear the Reapers or the Cobras or one of those other MCs. But the Devils got a rep now. Don’t worry. There’ll always be work out there for us.”
Roman put a hand on Hunter’s shoulder.
“Just sit back, relax and enjoy the ride,” Roman said. “You’re gonna be a father. That’s not the end. It’s just the beginning. Trust me.”
I couldn’t remember the last time the mood in the chapel was so light.
“We’ll close on a Monday for the baby shower,” I said. “Give the whole place to Joker and Faye. Unless you guys wanna take a vote on it.”
Everybody shook their heads.
“All right then. Meeting adjourned.”
I headed out of the meeting room and back into the clubhouse with the MC. As soon as I stepped out, the bartender walked up to me.
“Sebastian,” he said. “There’s someone here.”
“There’s someone here?” I said with a laugh. “What does that mean?”
“Some guys at the bar. They want free drinks.”
“Free drinks?”
“They didn’t give me any ID. They didn’t even tell me what their names were.”
The bartender looked worried enough that I had to take him seriously.
“Where are they?” I said.
“Over there. Right next to the bar. Those four…”
He pointed and I immediately spotted the four men. Their backs turned to me, they all slouched against the bar like they had trouble standing up.
“I’ll handle this,” I said.
I approached the bar with the MC in tow. I stood right behind one man and cleared my throat.
“You need some help, gentlemen?” I said.
The man slowly turned around and stared at me.
He was older than I expected. Skin wrinkled and weathered. Beard gray. All of the features of his face looked like they were about to fall off. He was old. But his stare… He looked at me like he was ready to throw down right then and there. Something about the way he looked felt so familiar.
“Me and my boys just wanted to have a beer,” he said.
“Well, you don’t need any ID,” I said. “But you do need to pay for it.”
“Oh, we never paid for our beer. Not in Hades.”
“Everybody pays for their beer.”
“I bet… Seeing as how fancy this place is now. But I think you can make an exception for an old-timer like me.”
“If I made an exception for every old-timer, I’d be out of business.”
“Not just any old-timer. The old-timer.”
The old man looked over my shoulder and pointed to the side of the clubhouse. I turned around and my eyes met the picture hanging on the center of the wall.
A small portrait. Black and white. But I’d seen the picture enough that I memorized it, despite how old it was. It was the first thing Murph put up when we reopened Hades.
No. It can’t be… Can it?
I slowly turned back toward the old man and he raised his eyebrows at me.
“Sam Black. Alex Porter. Ruben Harper. Corey Woods. You’re… You’re the first Devils.”
Despite how old he was, Black had the confidence of a man less than half his age. He gave me a nod, a cocky smirk on his lips. I imagined he’d been that confident his entire life.
“We should’ve been here sooner,” he said. “After we found out what happened to Murph… It took a bit to get the boys back together.”
He looked around the newly remodeled Hades.
“The place has changed a lot from what I remember.”
“We did it for Murph,” I said. “You know how he is. He’s always gotta let everybody know that he’s got some money.”
“You know, Murph wasn’t always like that. He just a nasty, dirty Devil like the rest of us. Maybe I’ll tell you about it one day.”
Ezra stepped forward to one of the old men, his mouth agape as he tried to figure out what to say.
“Grampa? Is it really you?”
“Well I’ll be damned,” the old man replied.
“Ruben Harper…”
Harper put his hands on Ezra’s shoulders and stared at his grandson in awe.
“You look just like your mother,” Harper said. “Shit, you’re wearing the patch, too…”
“I was always meant to wear the patch,” Ezra said.
“My blood… It’s always been in you.”
Aden, Roman and Hunter engaged with the four men. The tension that was just in the bar had disappeared completely. Hades returned to the organized chaos that I was used to.
Kristen walked up to me and put an arm around my waist.
“Hey,” she said. “Is everything all right?”
“Everything is just fine,” I said. “This man… This here is Samuel Black. He’s the original president of the West Devils. All those years ago.”
“This your old lady?” Black said as he shook Kristen’s hand. “She
’s a fine piece. Presidents always get the hottest ones.”
“That’s the truth,” I replied.
I laughed at his bluntness. Kristen took it in stride, laughing as he gave her a wink.
“I’m sure you’ve got plenty of stories,” Kristen said. “If the West Devils are anything like these Devils, you probably got into a lot of trouble.”
“Enough trouble that we all had to leave,” Black said. “But not enough that it wasn’t worth it. I wouldn’t trade anything for the world.”
“Well, I don’t think Sebastian and his club are going to be getting into much trouble these days. The Devils have a rep. Nobody messes with them.”
“That’s what I like to hear.”
Black grabbed the beer the bartender poured for him and sauntered over to the portrait hanging on the side of the wall. Kristen kept her arm around me as we watched him.
“It’s amazing,” she said. “To think… Something that man started all those years ago. And now you’re in his shoes.”
“He laid the foundation for everything. The MC. Hades. Us.”
I looked down at Kristen and gave her a kiss. Looking into her eyes was another reminder of how grateful I was for everything.
“I’m gonna be with Mia,” she said. “We’re all planning Faye’s baby shower.”
“You gonna be all right?”
“I’ll be fine… I love you.”
“I love you, too.”
Seeing Kristen’s beautiful face never failed to make me sigh.
“I’m sure you’ve got a lot of catching up to do with your new friends,” she said.
“Yeah…”
“Go on. Don’t waste what time you have left.”
Kristen pushed me gently on the back toward Black. I walked up and noticed how focused he was on the picture in front of him.
“Damn,” he said, shaking his head. “It feels like yesterday…”
“What was it like? Starting an MC in Ivory. Murph always told me it was a lot more lawless back then.”
“It sure was. You could get away with shit. No surveillance cameras. No computers. No phones. The West Devils got shit done the hard way.”
“What matters is you got it done.”
He slowly looked up at me, confidence still on his face.
“I heard you pulled a job,” he said.
“Is that what you heard?”
“There are little birdies chirping all around us. Especially these days. Just because I’m older doesn’t mean I can’t hear.”
“Yeah…”
I looked back at the portrait.
“…Murph said he was proud of me after I pulled it off.”
Black’s sudden hand on my shoulder surprised me.
“We’re all proud of you,” he said.
I swallowed, slightly embarrassed that I was getting a bit choked up.
“It’s an honor,” I said. “It’s an honor to wear the patch that you wore. To lead this MC now… I’ll do whatever it takes to honor your memory.”
Black dug his index finger into the patch on my chest.
“What do we always say?” he said.
I thought about it for a few seconds before smiling.
“Life is Hell before you get to Heaven.”
“You remember that, you’ll be just fine.”
He put his arm around my shoulder and patted me on the chest.
“Come on, son. Lemme tell you about the time we got into some shit with the Picardo Cartel.”
“Cartel? Damn, you motherfuckers weren’t playing around.”
“No sir. We’re Devils. Gotta learn how to play with fire.”
Both clubs gathered around the table. The beer was flowing. The conversations were loud as the West Devils told their stories about what it was like back then. My MC talked about how they ended up where they were now. I sat back and took it all in.
Two clubs. Old and new. Young and old. Separated by a few decades but brought together by the same patch.
Hades was here, standing in the middle of Ivory. It had lived through it all. I’d never been prouder than I was now, sitting among the men who made this all possible. Amid all the chaos, these men lived through it all.
I wasn’t just some biker. I wasn’t just some guy who had a ride and a vest to his name. I wasn’t some bastard who got lucky.
Or maybe I was. The one thing I knew for sure was who and what I was.
I was a Devil. This was my MC.
Thank you!
Thank you so much for reading Venom! It was enjoyable to write the story of an MC finding their place in Ivory. Stay tuned for more!
If you enjoyed this title, check out all of my other titles on my Amazon Page, including stories featuring other members of the New Devils!
CLICK HERE FOR MY AMAZON PAGE!
http://www.amazon.com/author/jadekuzma
And for all of the latest on my upcoming titles, including a chance to read advance copies, sign-up for my mailing list! There are still plenty of stories to come!
CLICK HERE TO SIGN-UP FOR MY MAILING LIST AND GET A FREE BOOK!
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/jadekuzma
The New Devils MC
Read about the other members and how they became a part of the Devils!
PART 1: ROCK
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07FCFWXC2
PART 2: JOKER
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07G74747H
PART 3: MERCY
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07GTVRJ6D
PART 4: SOUL
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07HD4QM8G
The Black Reapers MC
PART 1: BRASH (A Bad Boy Biker Romance)
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0795MH4LB
PART 2: NEEDLE (A Bad Boy Biker Romance)
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B079QKZMBC
PART 3: SULLY (A Bad Boy Firefighter Romance)
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07B7L1D2X
PART 4: CHAR (A Bad Boy Biker Romance)
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07BP7DLB4
PART 5: GHOST (A Bad Boy Second Chance Romance)
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07C6DK73M
PART 6: REAPER (A Bad Boy Biker Romance)
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07D21T4FD
