So I wasn’t the only one concerned that Jim would get his ass tagged in this fight then.
“I put us in this,” I said. “Offer me. Blame it on me, Prez. Kill Jim and then strip my cut. Make me suffer for hurting the MC.”
“Jesus, brother, that’s harsh. What about Belle?”
“She’s gotta have a chance to be free after all of this.”
“You love her, don’t you?”
“Yes, I do.”
“You want her to be your old lady? Wear your ink? Carry your babies?”
“I’d be liar if I said the thought hadn’t crossed my mind.”
“Then we better make sure Jim doesn’t lose this fight,” Trev said. He pushed from the table.
“That’s it?”
“That’s it. Look, Duke, when the police get up there and start poking around, the land deal is dead. Jim already did what he had to do with Cade and the lawyers. So as far as I’m concerned, the Hell Five can go fuck themselves. We have to settle up with that money to Ivan. So we go out and hustle and earn like we’ve always done.”
“And just let the Hell Five slip on what they did?” I asked.
Trev grinned. “No, brother, we’ve got things in motion. Legal things. It’s a bitch to have to go the legal route of things. The biggest thing now is to make sure Jim has a chance to win that fucking fight.”
There was a few seconds of silence as Trev put all the stress on my shoulders. He then opened the door and gave a nod.
“Prez, do you have a set of keys I can borrow for one of the rides out there?” I asked.
“Yeah, sure,” he said. “Pick a prospect’s pocket.” He laughed. “What have you got planned?”
“Nothing more freeing than seeing death and watching a sunrise, right?”
Prez didn’t give me an answer to that question.
I left the conference room and walked down the hall to my room. There I found Belle sleeping. She was curled up in my blankets, head on my pillow, her body diagonal, taking up almost the entire goddamn bed.
She was fucking beautiful.
She had left the light turned on on the nightstand. I walked to the bed and crouched down. She smelled of sweet soap and sleep. She actually looked peaceful and I could only hope that she was sleeping good. I didn’t want her to bear any extra burdens than she already had to lug around every day of her life.
I slowly leaned forward and kissed her cheek. I didn’t want to wake her. Last thing I needed was to tell her where I was going and why and that I wouldn’t be back for another little while. If it was going to be a romantic sunrise thing I would have woke Belle’s ass up and dragged her outside. But that wasn’t the case here.
I left the bedroom and kept walking. We had a few extra rooms in the clubhouse, left for relievers or guys that came up from other charters to visit and crash.
The first door I opened was the room where Jim was. With Maggie wrapped up in bed with him. The sheets were down all the way to Maggie’s bare ass. They were both naked.
Good for you, Jim.
I tapped my hand against Jim’s face until his eyes popped open. His hands gripped at Maggie, protecting her.
“What the hell?” Jim asked.
“We have to go somewhere. Let’s go.”
“What time is it?”
“Doesn’t matter. We have to take a ride. Roll your girl off and let’s go.”
I stood there and watched Jim roll Maggie off him. She flopped to her back, showing off her tits. Not bad. Not bad at all.
Jim grabbed the sheets and pulled them up to Maggie’s chin. He stepped out of the bed, naked as the day he was born. He grabbed for his clothes, hobbling around on his fake leg. I crossed my arms, refusing to help him. Maybe that was part of Jim’s shit issues. People always stepping in to take care of him. The Jim I grew up with took care of himself. I remember one time he broke his wrist over summer and he didn’t miss a beat. He had to have the cast changed three times and doctors hated him for not stopping for a few weeks.
It took Jim a little while to get dressed but he managed.
I motioned for the door and we split. By that time the clubhouse was all quiet. Two prospects and two members were still there, but they were on a night watch. There was another handful of prospects around the lot and on the roof of the clubhouse. All were equipped with weapons and would be ready and willing to defend the MC.
I walked Jim outside and took him to a motorcycle. I then took a set of keys out of my back pocket and tossed them to him.
“What is this?”
“We’re going for a ride,” I said. “Remember how to ride?”
“What? With one leg?”
“You’re standing on two legs,” I said. “Stop being a fucking pussy. Man up. We’re going somewhere.”
“You’re fucking crazy, Duke. I’m not…”
“Either follow me or don’t. Remember, Jim, your ass is on the line here. You fuck my club and you’re dead.”
I didn’t give him a chance to speak again.
I went to my ride and fired it up. I sat there and watched Jim as he finally succumbed and got on the motorcycle. It took him a few tries to figure out how to swing his leg over the seat but he managed. There was only one way to learn how to do something and that was to just do it.