Shaking my head, I put my phone back in my pocket and tap the bar top, signaling for another beer. Tiny immediately hands me one. Since she’d come to me about her situation, I’ve had her working behind the bar slinging drinks rather than being a clubwhore. The girl’s life has been nothing if not rough and admitting the truth couldn’t have been easy for her.
As I lift my beer to my lips, my thoughts drift back to the shit that went down with Boss. I haven’t spoken to her and probably won’t ever speak to her again. Not unless it’s strictly business. We do have a cult to bring down, after all. The chance of us ever being friends went out the window with her hiding shit along with any resemblance of respect I might have had for her.
Fuck, the bitterness that courses through me as I think about that night has nothing on the acidity of my beer.
I don’t think I’ll ever understand her reasoning for not talking to me, considering she’d come to me for the alliance to begin with. Why would she try to jeopardize that?
Finishing my beer, I turn to face the room, blocking out all thoughts of the woman from my head. From now on, I won’t be dealing with her. I’ll let Tracker handle all communications between the Iron Vex MC and the Devil’s Riot MC. Hell, he even said some guy named Omen was the one who’d be talking to him. I’m pretty sure that’s Boss’ right-hand man up in Queens.
Glancing around the room, I find all my brothers having a good time. I can’t help but wonder why I’m sitting here sulking over something that meant nothing to begin with.
Pushing myself from the bar, I begin to head to my office. The job of being Prez is never done. We still have our own shit to deal with. One being Cougar. He’d slipped through my fingers when I’d realized he’d been the one leaking information to the Dragon’s Fire MC. He’s still out there and I intend to find the fucker and make him bleed for everything he’s done. He’d been the reason Flame found Kenny when he did, all because he was supposed to be a trusted brother.
I groan as I feel my phone going off again. Without looking at the screen, I answer it. “What?”
“Is that how you answer the phone for everyone, or am I the only one you speak this way to?” Mary snaps. Fuckin’ hell, she’s the last person I need to deal with right now.
“Guess I save it for treacherous bitches like yourself,” I growl.
“Don’t I feel special then,” she giggles.
Clenching my phone in my hand, I grind my teeth together. “What the fuck do you want now?”
“Same thing I always want.” Of course, she does. It’s all the bitch has ever been good at, trying to get money from me. But not anymore. I’m sick of fuckin’ giving her what she wants, even if it kept her away from Horse.
“Sorry, bitch, ATM is closed for good. I suggest you get that husband of yours to get off his ass and deal with your addictions,” I retort.
“You know what I’ll do if you don’t?” she snaps.
“Horse is a big boy and can handle himself. Try fuckin’ with him and see what happens. He’s not gonna put up with your shit. Don’t call me again. You do and you’ll regret it.” I don’t bother waiting for a response before I hang up.
And just like that, I’m reminded no bitch outside our family can be trusted. They are all the same— conniving, every single last one of them. Only out to get what they want and nothing more.
Chapter Ten
Boss
It’s been over a month and Halloween is only a few days away. I’m not the type of chick who typically enjoys the holidays, but my crew here at the Iron Vex always loves to make the best of any time we can all spend together. With our schedules, it’s not very often we get to all be in the same room at once, but tonight we do.
Iris, Faith, and Gold decorated the shit out of the club. Orange and black banners hang from every doorway with creepy fake cobwebs and spiders. The thing that threw me off the most is how they converted the rooftop into some crazy, creepy ass carnival shit. I’m just glad I had the common sense to sneak up here for a smoke break earlier so I wouldn’t shit myself later. It reminds me of a place that was shut down because people got murdered or something. Meanwhile, the bar looks like it was turned into a haunted house.
The party doesn’t start for another couple hours, but that hasn’t stopped Ricochet. He’s been waltzing around in an old-fashioned suit with a top hat and cane that looks like it was dipped in chalk. The smug bastard has been talking in this Eastern European accent too, which is driving me crazy.
I’m sitting at the end of the bar, staring at all the photos on the wall, looking at every memory we’ve had here over the last fifty-something years. Hell, back when I was a kid, I didn’t understand why my mom’s father wanted to take photographs so much, but now that I’m Prez, I get it. At any given moment, someone could be taken away from you and it’s better to not risk it, to spend as many moments as you can with the ones you love. Take the smiling photo with your friends and display it for everyone to see.
“Have you decided what you’re going to dress up as?” Iris, who’s now a sexy pirate, asks me. She has her hair pinned back in these pigtail-like braids, making her look like she walked off Jack Sparrow’s ship in Pirates of the Caribbean.
Shaking my head, I answer her. “No, I’m not even sure I’ll come tonight. I
