“I know,” Duke said. “I love him too. Right now we just have to be safe. Figure this out. Settle everything and then go from there.”
As I stared at Duke, something suddenly switched in me. Something happened. It was like a light went off deep in my soul. Maybe Jim wasn’t so wrong with wanting to part ways with the past. It was just a house. It was just land. We had the memories. If Jim could see something that resembled the future, why couldn’t I?
I stood there and stared right at my future… right at Duke.
chapter twenty-three.
(duke)
Eden and Harlee took right to Belle. It was almost a load off my back when I saw Belle and Maggie hug each other, too. It was good that they could find a way to try and relax. The clubhouse had gone into lockdown before but it never involved someone I loved. Yeah, I fucking loved Belle. I’d always love her. I would protect her for the rest of my life.
I kept Jim outside with the prospects, making sure he was safe. Inside the clubhouse, it was anxious. Tense. Everyone sort of looking over their shoulders.
Inside the conference room, Trev, Jasper, and Cade were going over all the paperwork. Cade hovered over the table with papers spread across.
“What do we have?” I asked.
“A fucked up thing,” Cade said. “I need to get these to a lawyer we trust. The money hasn’t cleared escrow yet but there’s movement with the deal. We might be a day late and a dollar short on this.”
“So what’s the plan?” I asked. “Can’t we bust up the dummy corp?”
“Sure,” Jasper said. “Then what? We start that war with the Hell Five? Trev, tell him the rest.”
“The rest?” I asked.
“There’s bigger financial backing than we think,” Trev said. “The Russians think we’re involved? I think the Irish kicked up a little to the Hell Five to give them incentive to bulk up on their gun running. And someone down south is willing to supply a ton of drugs. Durango and Jop are trying to patch together a lot of deals at once.”
“The land is important to hide everything,” Jasper said.
“So what if we let this go?” I asked. “Let them buy the fucking land. Let them try anything on it. We’re there each and every time to bust it up.”
“Is that what you want in your girl’s backyard?” Trev asked.
“More so, if there is bigger backing,” Jasper said, “there’ll be bigger security. We have to stop this deal.”
“Jim will pull out. Take whatever hit he needs to.”
“That’s fine,” Cade said. “But it doesn’t fix everything.”
Trev stood up and pointed to the paperwork. “Cade, put all that shit away. I want a full table right now to figure this out.”
I left the room and went outside to check on Jim. I had two beers with me. I told the two prospects lingering around to go fuck themselves and leave us the hell alone.
Jim touched my ride and took the beer from me. “Think I could get on one of these?”
“You’ve never questioned yourself before in life,” I said. “Don’t start now because of a fucking leg.”
“It was my favorite leg though,” Jim said.
I laughed. “You’re a dick. Are you ready for this?”
“Whatever needs to happen, it’ll happen.”
“You won’t get those debts paid off, brother.”
“That’s okay. The bank could take whatever they want from me.”
I grabbed his shoulder. “Hey. I’ll help. I promise. Just stay put here and wait until I come get you.”
“I’ll be right here dreaming of a ride.”
I turned and saw Trev and Jasper at the clubhouse door. They both nodded to me.
“I’m on my way,” I called out.
“We’re not nodding to you,” Jasper said.
“Bring Jim to the table,” Trev said.
That was a shock to me.
A guy that wasn’t patched in being invited to the table? That was unheard of. Unless they were going to kill him.
I looked back at Jim. Ten seconds ago I promised I’d help him.
Now I was leading him to his death.
**
Jim was way out of place as he stood at the back of the room, explaining everything that went down. The entire table heard it straight from Jim’s mouth. That was a good thing. The guy was basically on fucking trial. His life hung in the balance.
“And that’s it,” Jim said.
“So we vote,” I said. “Get this shit out of the way right now.”
“No,” Jasper said. “We can’t vote this. We need outside influence.”
“Brothers from Frelen are coming up,” Trev said. “Three. They’ll be the deciding vote. We’re not going unanimous on this.”
“Jesus Christ,” I said. “Just kill the fucking deal and wipe the Hell Five the fuck out.”
I was heated. Livid. Ready to take on my brothers.
Trev pointed to the door. “Jim. Go get a beer. On the house.”
He left and looked around the table. “What the fuck did he say…”
“We had a meeting not too long ago,” Trev cut in. “We said our enemies were going to come hard. New leadership. New vision. Everyone wants to attack us. So here we are with a huge problem.”
“So let’s just start killing innocent people,” I said.
“Sends a violent message,” Cash said. “To everyone. Innocent and guilty. That’s a heavy foot to put down.”