Page 13 of Falcon

Everyone else stood with me and Hawk hung his head briefly before he pushed to his feet. He clenched his jaw then pounded the table three times. “I’d be proud to lead you, brothers. Forging our own destiny.”

In unison we all said, “Destroying others.”

Once it was settled that Hawk was the new President, we got on with the voting of the VP until all the open spots were filled. Once it was all said done, we had Hawk as Prez, Eagle as Vice President, and Butch bumped up to Sergeant at Arms. Rooster was already an Enforcer, and we could add another one later if Hawk saw fit. I was perfectly happy to stay Road Captain. Red was good with the books, so I knew he was happy to stay Treasurer. Looking around, it sank in that this was our new group of officers. The next generation.

Eagle and Butch gave Hawk some spirited slaps. Before things got off track, Hawk shouted over us, “Alright, alright. My first order of business, and it’s urgent, is we need to make a run up North. We need to show Petrov this is under control.”

The mention of the run had the vision of a daisy tattoo on a perfectly round ass pop in my head, followed by those big blue eyes and juicy lips right in my face. “I’ll go, Prez.”

Hawk grinned knowingly. “Eagle, Rooster, you’ll ride up, too. Butch, Red, stay and hold it down. I have some members working on a memorial service with Penny for Pops since he wanted to be cremated. We’ll do that after we put some fires out. It’s what he’d want. Let’s get some rest. I’ll go to the club and the bar tomorrow for Ma, then we leave the day after. I need to speak with Petrov.”

My chest tightened. I was excited to try to go back and see Dixie, even though that surely was just a stage name, but I was still torn up about Raven. How could I be thinking of anything but the club right now? I never thought long about any woman, especially one I hadn’t fucked. And those I usually didn’t think of much once I realized how hard they were trying to get on the back of my bike and not just under me from time to time.

But in the midst of all the shit going on, I kept thinking of her. We usually took the run monthly, and once we went to see Petrov to explain everything and reassure him it’s business as usual, that wouldn’t change. I’d love to get that woman alone, but the runs were short, and we usually only got two rooms. We had the money to all get our own, but it was better to stick together for that shit. The bunnies didn’t mind being fucked with an audience, but if I had a chance with this lady, even if only a monthly visit, I didn’t intend to share. I couldn’t stop her from making a living, but when she was with me, she’d only be with me.

Fuck. Why am I thinking like I’ve laid claim to this woman? I needed to get my head in the game. We had club shit to handle. I needed to keep my dick under control until we knew things with Petrov were still good. But I wouldn’t be mad if Eagle wanted to stop again.

Chapter 9

Falcon

Hawk let Petrov know we were headed up for a personal visit. The likelihood of the news not traveling there was slim. It was better he heard it from us and knew we were going to address it. Organized crime was a small circle, and it was hard to keep things quiet.

But if we could keep our partnership with the Bratva, we’d be fine. Just like we ran the South, they ran the North. And groups of all varieties knew of us both.

The run was unexpected and unscheduled, so we didn’t need the truck for this. It wasn’t a pickup; it was a meeting of the minds to show we were stronger than ever and would be the last club anyone wanted to fuck with now. Vengeance was on all our minds. We had our time to mourn, now we were ready for payback.

We just needed to get this out of the way so we could all be together and start the search. Keys was working on going back through the traffic cams near the accident, hoping to get a shot of the plates but that was a lot of info to go through with so many exits and so many black Escalades in the area.

After a good night’s rest, we hit the road. We took the highway since the truck wasn’t with us and it shaved off a good bit of time.

It was a nice day, sunny and warm with a cool breeze. After the last couple weeks, it was like a balm to my soul to be out on the pavement. Nothing like the open road with your brothers to ground you.

The sun was still out when we made it to the meeting spot. This time it was at Petrov’s family restaurant instead of the warehouse. I’d only been in one other time, but the food was good and the vodka was plenty. It was pretty stout even for us. The Russians could definitely drink us under the table, so we took a couple shots and then laid off. I wasn’t sure this would be the same kind of visit.

“Hawk!” Petrov shouted as we walked inside.

Nobody batted an eye at us and even the patrons enjoying their meals didn’t seem to notice a group of huge bikers in the fancy restaurant. It was just as you’d imagine a Russian place would be. Red everything and dark wood. But the smells were rich and there was a glass case with a bunch of pastries with some kind of cream filling, pies, and cakes. I had a bit of a sweet tooth, so I lingered for a second longer than the other guys.

“You pick anything, my friend. But first, we have dinner.” Petrov was smiling as he waved me over.

Hawk glared at me, so I caught up. We followed a stuffy guy in a tux up some stairs into a room. The table was set for a formal dinner, but everyone treated us like we belonged and catered to everything we asked.

A huge man, likely in his late fifties with a bit of a gut, still probably capable of beating a man to death, walked in in a well-tailored suit. His hair was light like Petrov’s but appeared to have grey peppered in.

Petrov stood and hugged the man. This was the Pakhan. He never came to our pickups. I watched carefully as he greeted his son then walked to the table. Hawk stood, so the rest of us did as well.

I took in his actions, his movements, even his tone. None of my alarms were going off.

“Hawk, it pains me to meet on such terms.” His accent was much more prominent than his son’s. “Your father was a great man.”

He opened his arms and Hawk accepted the invitation. It wasn’t overly intimate but an assuring condolence.

“Thank you, sir. He’s already sorely missed, but only in our hearts. The club has grown stronger in the midst of this tragedy.”

The big man cupped Hawk’s shoulder. “I have no doubt, son.” He tipped his chin toward his son. “I know my boy wouldn’t rest until my death was avenged, and I know you to be cut from the same cloth.” He wasn’t wrong. But he forgot about the rest of us. He was more than just the President to all of us. He was the head of our family. Raven had an entire club gunning for his murderers.

He waved us to take a seat, so we all settled back into our chairs. I was more relaxed now that we got that out of the way, but as we recently learned, we couldn’t let our guard down. Several servers started bringing out food.

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