Page 27 of June 7

Chapter Eleven

A Grand Opening banner hung on the front of the building. Bane took down the ladder and passed it off to Link. They'd unlocked the door fifteen minutes ago.

As was required by the city of Seaglass Cove—any new business needed to have a ribbon cutting on opening day.

Considering so much of their work came from online sales, he and the others weren't expecting many people to stop by. Maybe a few curious old-timers would stroll in to see what they'd done to the former bus barn. The others would keep their distance.

Bane walked inside, leaving the overhead door up. It felt less cooped up when they could work with the place open. The smell of the salt breeze and the never-ending squawking of the seagulls, trying to get someone to throw out some food, was a more relaxing atmosphere than the one they'd had in Beaverton, where all they dealt with was traffic and political bullshit within the city limits.

Jagger stood near the counter talking with Cord. Dio sat on the stool behind them. Maverick straightened the spray cans on the rack. Last he checked, Wire led the crew behind the shop to finish Jagger's place and where the MC would hold their meetings.

"The reps from our three brands are swinging by around one o'clock. I'll have Rush put the hotdogs on the warmer as soon as we get shit done with the council members." Jagger pointed at Dio. "Go ahead and pull out the coolers and fill them with ice. We can drop some cans of pop in there. Hopefully, none of them are going to stick around. They can say their bullshit spiels and head on out."

"It'd be better if we drop some beer on the ice." Cord checked his phone. "It's a long day of waiting when we could be working on orders."

Seaglass Cove's mayor would stop by with the city council members to welcome them to the small coastal town. Jagger was required to cut the ribbon and get his picture taken for the newspaper. Bane was glad he had nothing to do with that. The fewer people he had to be around, the better.

He wasn't the kind of person who could play nicey-nice or rub elbows with those in control of the town. He preferred it when people kept to themselves and stayed out of his fucking business.

A car pulled up in front of the building. Then, another, and another.

"Let's get rolling and get these fuckers out of here before the reps come." Jagger moved forward to greet the council members and the mayor.

Bane stayed back with Dio, watching over the ceremony. He couldn't say what the purpose of cutting a ribbon was supposed to do for the business. It wasn't like some guy who owned a Harley would read the paper and decide to come in and buy a piece of chrome for his bike.

The kind of customers they catered to were hard-core riders, not some weekend trippers who rolled their bikes out of the garage several times a year.

Jagger stood with his arms crossed and his boots planted wide on the sidewalk, answering their questions. Bane shook his head. That was one of the reasons why he voted for Jagger to be the president and Bane took the vice president position.

He had no patience for bullshit.

He'd take a bullet for Jagger, just so he would never have to be the fucking president of Havlin Motorcycle Club.

As quickly as the crowd came for the ribbon cutting, they left just as fast. Jagger walked in, pulling on his beard.

"Thank fuck there was another business across town that plans to open tomorrow." Jagger lit a cigarette. "Put those damn hot dogs on. I'm hungry. Dio, pull up the online orders. I want to see what we're working with. It's been two months of nothing. It's time to work, boys."

The next two hours came with a rush of representatives from Boltrite, AllBallster, and the OEM manufacturer. Bane hung around, even without taking part in the conversations. He found the different information for each brand interesting. They were always expanding and upgrading—and he enjoyed working on his Harley besides selling the parts to others.

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