“Does anyone else here agree?”
“I’m taking the back entrance. Wait for my signal,” Slim said under his breath before disappearing. The woods behind the bar had gone silent; even the animals were holding their breaths in anticipation.
Rock, our VP, stepped up. If anything, he was worse than Dragon. “You heard our Pres. We’re taking this ba—”
The Serpents’ Pres fired a round through his skull before he could finish his sentence. “As I was saying, is there anyone else—”
Dragon hopped off his barstool and sloppily reached for his gun. Another biker fired two rounds into his forehead, and he collapsed back against the bar.
And just like that, an opportunity had presented itself.
I was going to solve my Comedian problem without having to lift a finger.
Every member of Silent Phoenix looked to me to make the next move. “Punch line,” I whispered, and Comedian cocked his head.
“Punch line?” Realization dawned and he nodded. “You got it, boss.” He cracked his neck and made his way over to our rivals while I tried to silently communicate with our men to stand down until I gave the signal.
“Hey guys, you up for a joke?”
The rival president sat down on a nearby stool with a grin. “Now this man, he gets it. We don’t want trouble. We just want what’s ours.”
Comedian bobbed his head up and down. “Absolutely. No one else needs to lose their heads if you know what I mean.”
“He’s funny,” Viper pointed out to the others. “Alright, funny guy. Tell us a joke. I hope, for your sake, that it makes us laugh.”
“What did the three tampons say to the bartender when they walked into the bar?” Comedian fired his gun from his hip, sending a round into Viper’s chest just as there was a flash of light out front.
An explosion followed, rocking the bar and sending glass flying. I didn’t hesitate before raising my gun and shouting, “Now!”
It wasn’t our best plan, but if it was this or getting shot like fish in a goddamn barrel, I was willing to take my chances.
The bar erupted into chaos and I fell into a role that was as natural as breathing to me. The scent of blood filled the room. In six years, I’d gotten a lot better at recognizing it.
Despite the fact that we’d been outnumbered, the Serpents began retreating toward the parking lot. Depending on where Slim was, they weren’t going to get far.
Glass crunched beneath our boots as we charged our rivals. I watched with amusement as Daniel slipped out from behind the bar. Comedian caught him by the collar and ran his blade under his chin before kneeling beside Viper.
The biker’s eyes widened, and he began reaching for a weapon while fighting for his next breath.
“What’s that? You wanna know how the joke ends? Okay, I’ll tell you. They didn’t say a damn thing because they were stuck up cunts.” With that, he slit Viper’s throat, sending a spray of blood onto the front of his kutte.
Dragon lay slumped against a stool, surrounded by pieces of his own skull. A bloody line of blow was still laid out on the bar top above him.
President.
Vice-President.
Executed.
There were bodies everywhere. Some of theirs and more than a few of ours. The bar grew quiet again as the fight moved outside and I paused to see the ambush for what it truly was; another opportunity for me to correct a mistake.
There was no one to witness what I was about to do.
As far as anyone would know, Comedian had been killed by the Serpents. He began stripping Viper of his jewelry and cash, keeping his back to me.
I raised my gun, and he suddenly cocked his head to the side as if listening for something. “Grey,” he said slowly.
My name was going to be the last word on his lips.
I moved my finger off the slide just as he spun around to face me, his own weapon trained on my face. My heart hammered against my chest and I struggled to make sense of what he was doing in the nanoseconds it took him to pull the trigger.
I felt the bullet as it passed within inches of my face before embedding itself in the forehead of a Serpent who’d been seconds away from cutting my throat. The knife fell from his limp hand and clattered as it hit the wood flooring the same time his body did.
Comedian saw that my gun was still trained in his direction and he turned around, looking toward the front doors. “Who the fuck are you aiming at?”
“Me.” Slim stepped through the broken door. “It’s just me, Grey. They’re all dead. Drop the gun.”
I realized then that he knew what I’d been about to do. He knew and was still going to cover for me.
“Thank Christ, Slim. I was starting to worry that ol’ eagle eye was about to take me out.”
Chapter Seven
Grey: 1986
Slim stepped over the bodies, never once taking his eyes off of mine. “What the fuck was that?” he hissed after checking to ensure that Comedian was out of earshot.
I looked down at the dead biker near my feet and then back to him. “Comedian just saved my ass. Fuckin’ Serpent was going to cut my throat.”
I had to be in shock.
“You were about to blow his fuckin’ head off, Grey. I saw you! And again, I ask, what the fuck?”
I stumbled over to a chair and sank down onto it. “I—” I looked up at him, feeling completely helpless. “I had to do it, Slim.”
He looked toward the front again before rounding on me. “Do I like the fuckin’ jokes? No! Doesn’t mean I’m gonna blow him away to get away from it though—”
“Stop. You’re getting it twisted. The kid, Slim. I had to do it for the kid.” I forced myself to keep eye contact, silently pleading for him to understand.
He leaned over, resting his arms on the small table in front of us. “I don’t see how his kid factors into any of this, Grey. I know he roughs them up, but you can’t intervene in every single domestic issue because it reminds you of your ma. This is a part of club life, you know that.”
“We should check on the other guys,” I admitted, giving up any hopes of confession.
“Our guys are good. We searched the woods and found their bikes about a quarter mile back. They wanted to send us a message.”
I took in the bodies littering every nearby surface. “I’d say they succeeded. Took out our highest-ranking members. Club’s fuckin’ done, Slim. It was already in its death throes, thanks to a lack of leadership, but it’s fuckin’ flatlined. Everything we’ve done to free Wolverine was for nothing.”
Slim’s eyes narrowed. “So, just like that, you’re out? Wasn’t that long ago, some asshole asked me that very same thing. I told him then that I wasn’t shedding my colors until the day I died. Seems like maybe you’ve forgotten your own vows, brother.”
I gestured around the bar. “Are you fuckin’ blind? Half our goddamn chapter is gone, and the others don’t have the numbers we’d need to fight. It’s over, Slim.”
He lit up a cigarette. “Is that right, Pres?”
What the hell had he just called me?
We both turned at the sound of boots. Comedian held up his hands. “It’s just me. It’s all clear, Pres. I’ll call for backup and we’ll get this fuckin’ place cleaned up. Anything else you need?”
I stood up, knocking the chair over onto Rock’s body. “Why the fuck are you two calling me that?”
“Because the club falls to you now,” Slim said. “My old man will support you, as will the other originals. Dragon was nobody’s favorite and, let’s be honest, he fucked the club over. You told me you have ideas. Well, guess what? Now’s a good a time as any to put ‘em to work.”
“I’m behind you, Pres,” Comedian called out as he made his way across the bar and picked up the wall phone. “I’ll let the guys know that we got ourselves a real leader now.”
The man that I’d been planning to murder had just saved my life and pledged his allegiance to me. I had to be fucking dreaming.
“Yeah? And? Wolverine was that age when he started the damn thing. Maybe that’s what this club needs to get back on top. So, forget about the kid and—”
He paused and his eyebrows rose as he connected the dots. “The kid… the kid has unique eyes. In fact, they’re so unique that I’ve only seen a color like that on one other person. Tell me why that is, Grey.”
I clenched my jaw and watched as Comedian animatedly described what had happened to the person on the phone before answering Slim. “You know exactly why that is.”
“Grey, listen to me. You cannot claim that boy as yours and keep the club. Comedian saved your life and now,” he gestured behind the bar. “Everyone will fuckin’ know it. Look at me.”
I turned with a growl, “I thought I was the one in charge around here.”
He slammed a fist against the table top and Comedian paused to stare at us before resuming his conversation.
“Goddammit, Jamie! You’re in charge, but I’m trying to keep you alive. You can watch that boy from afar, but you sure as fuck can’t announce that you’re his father. Do you really think that if Angel had announced that he was the father of the baby your ma lost that things would’ve turned out better? You and I both know that your old man would’ve just killed her sooner; probably would’ve taken Angel out too.”
He was right.
As much as I wanted to argue, I was only going to fuck people over by speaking up now. Betsy had given me my chance four years ago. Now, this boy saw Sullivan as his old man. If I interfered, it was only going to screw up everything Mikey knew.
“You take this, and you bury it,” Slim continued. “You bury that shit so far down that it never sees the light of day. Sullivan is an asset and not someone you want as an enemy. Don’t ever tell anyone what you told me—if one of our enemies ever got wind of it, they wouldn’t hesitate to go after him to get to you.”
Thinking of Mikey being hurt made my chest ache, and I nodded in agreement. “I’ll keep him safe, but no one will ever know that he’s mine.”
* * *
“I thought I might find you in here.” Wolverine poked his head into the office with a grin.
I jumped up and met him halfway, realizing three steps in that I had no idea whether to hug him or just shake his hand.
“Get in here, you fucker.” He wrapped his arms around my shoulders and squeezed. “I won’t tell the guys what a softie you really are.”
“Asshole.” I pulled back to look at him. The lines on his forehead were more pronounced and his eyes held a weariness about them that hadn’t been there before.
Being locked inside a cage had aged him.
As predicted, the trial had fallen apart when their star witness skipped town and once the petition was filed, they began releasing our men one by one. It had taken a few months, but everyone was now officially free.
“You look good, Grey.”
I smirked. “Well, you look like shit. Look, I’m sorry that me and the guys missed your seventieth birthday while you were locked up.”
That one earned me the finger as he sank down on the loveseat. “Fucker, I don’t look a day over forty. How the fuck are ya?”
I sat down on the edge of the desk across from him. “I’m doing good. Glad you’re on the outside again. Were Lucy and the kids surprised?”
His face lit up at the mention of his family, making him look more like the man he’d been before. “Yeah, Luce started with the fuckin’ waterworks and apologized for not having a four-course dinner on the table. I told her I didn’t give a fuck because all I could think about was getting her naked and moaning underneath me. The kids loved that.”
I shook my head. “I bet they did. That’s an image no one needs.”
Wolverine chuckled before turning serious again. “I’ve been hearing a lot about your leadership over the last couple of months. You stepped up after Dragon met the Reaper.” He made a sign of the cross before adding, “Motherfucker almost destroyed my club, God rest his soul.”
I’d been working my ass off since the showdown with the Serpents to put the club back together. I couldn’t stomach the thought of Wolverine getting out, only to find that he had no legacy.
As the acting Pres, I couldn’t leave the clubhouse without an army of enforcers by my side, but that hadn’t stopped me from buying up real estate within the city limits.
Restaurants, tattoo parlors, small grocery stores—we were going to run it all. I’d even taken Phantom along with me and found a perfect second location for Greene’s Custom Shop.
“Our numbers are creeping back up and I think that all the chapters are finally on the same page. It’s not even close to where it was when you left, but it’s a start.”
He lit up a cigarette. “Not where it was? Son, it’s fuckin’ better than it was before. I just wanted to ride with my war buddies and be left the fuck alone. You? You’re building a goddamn empire. I love that you’re gonna be running shit right under their noses.”
The desk creaked as I shifted my weight forward. “Me? I did this for you. You’re going to be running drugs and weapons right under their noses… sir.”
Old habits died hard.
Wolverine exhaled a stream of smoke. “Grey, look at me. I started this when I was your age. I’m in my forties now, and for this kind of life, too fuckin’ old to run things. This club needs someone young.”
He was handing over the keys.
I should’ve been scared shitless, but I was being given a chance to run things my way. To rebuild this club from the ground up.
“You really think they’ll support that?”
“Fuck, son. They already do. I founded this club on my love of bikes and partying, but you’ve surpassed that. You’re running it as a business; one that will provide for years to come.”
I nodded and thought about what he was saying before cracking up. It was the goddamn name of the club. “It’s Silent Phoenix, how fuckin’ perfect is that?” At Wolverine’s narrowed eyes, I elaborated. “The club… you named the club Silent Phoenix.”
“Jesus, Grey, you hit the sauce early tonight?”
My eyes ran with tears and I clutched the edge of the desk as my laughter turned hysterical. “The club is exactly like the goddamned bird you named it after. You created it and Dragon ran the motherfucker into the ground. Now, it’s been reborn into something better and stronger. So, you see, I’m the founder now.”
“I hope you don’t throw your shoulder out yanking your own dick. You wanna consider yourself the founder, be my fuckin’ guest, but just know that you’ve got some big boots to fill.”
“I’m gonna make you proud.”
The smug expression slipped off his face and he came over to stand in front of me. “You already have, kid. Even before you ‘founded’ this. That first night I met you, I saw something in you that reminded me of myself. You’ve got drive and you’re always looking to make this club better, but there’s something else there too. You’ve got heart and all the money in the fuckin’ world can’t buy that.”
His words triggered the memory of seeing my ma and Angel together, bringing thoughts of Mikey with it. “About that night, why’d you tell me that my ma was helping Donald earn his three-piece.”
Wolverine folded his arms across his chest. “What’d you want me to say—that your straight as an arrow mother was tripping and decided to let her hair down with a man who wasn’t your old man? Fuck no, it was better you didn’t know.”
He was right. Some things were better left in the dark.
I smiled. “I can’t picture Mary Katherine doing acid.”
He shook his head. “We did a lot of shit in the sixties and seventies that I can’t imagine doing now. Maybe I’m too fuckin’ old.”
“You did just turn—”
“You finish that sentence and I’ll gut you where you stand.” His lips curled up into a sm
ile. “Now, about my membership to your fine club. I’m staying on. God knows you’re gonna need someone to mentor you. As far as the guys out there know, it’s all you.”
I stood up and matched his stance. “And what if I don’t like your advice?”
“When have you ever liked my fuckin’ advice? I’ll ride with you ’til the day I die, but as the original founder, I will offer you advice from time to time. Just do me a favor and listen.”
“Anything else?”
He placed a hand on my shoulder. “Yeah. Don’t let anyone here see you as weak. You gotta make an example out of someone, do it and move the fuck on. Keep your heart under lock and key.”
Wolverine had gone soft. Those years he spent locked up had turned him into a sentimental fool.
I would’ve laughed in his face if I didn’t think he would’ve knocked my ass out. Whatever goodness he saw in me as a kid died the same night my mother did.
If I wanted something, I took it.
And I never lost a minute of sleep feeling guilty for it.
Chapter Eight
Grey: 1989
I pulled up outside the clubhouse and wiped the road grit from my face with a grin. I should’ve been picking bugs out of my teeth as I hadn’t stopped smiling since leaving Black Hawk.
“Holy fuck, it’s good to be home,” Bear announced, stretching his arms overhead.
I agreed with him. It wasn’t just good to be home. It was good to be back on top. One of my ideas had just paid off in a big way.
Wolverine met me at the door with a beer. “Well?”
I’d planned on playing it cool, but the corners of my mouth turned up even higher. “It’s done. I didn’t expect much, but the vote was unanimous.”
“You did it. A biker syndicate. I never thought I’d live to see the day.” I didn’t miss the fact that his smile didn’t reach his eyes.
“It didn’t start out very promising, but once I reminded them that we all had only one true enemy, they came around. It’s hard to take down a fuckin’ army.”
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