Page 24 of Big Timber

The room erupts. Declan’s temper is legendary and the fact that he’s had to spend much of tonight asking permission from men that he’s led for over a decade, it’s surprising that he has stayed as calm as he has.

“Meeting is over,” he announces, standing and exiting without another word.

I stay in my seat as the majority of the men file out. Diesel and I sit facing each other, almost waiting each other out. Wolfman re-enters, his eyes quickly scanning to see who’s left in the room before he closes the door behind him.

And that’s when I realize I have no business still being at the table. It’s not unusual for the officers to iron out the details after church, but that’s above my pay grade.

“Stay a minute,” Declan says when I stand to go.

“What’s up?” I ask, pretty certain that I already know.

“Are you sure about giving up your Royal Bastards patch?”

“They were a place for me to go when I was transitioning out of my old life. Honestly, as a Nomad, I spent the most amount of time in Ohio and Virginia. Hell, it was after I met you in Roanoke that I decided to come out this way and see what it was like,” I answer Declan after pausing for a moment. “I don’t really know the guys who run the national chapter of the Northern Grizzlies, but the men in Roanoke chapter were pretty solid guys. I’d hang out with Vector and Roman from time to time and inked a handful of those guys.

“The short answer to your question, is that I like it here and it’s an easy distance to where my sister lives. What is it you really want to know, though?” I ask him in return.

“Tonic was our Road Captain and we’d like to put you up for that spot. Besides those duties, we’d also like you to assist Diesel with differentsecurityrelated aspects,” he responds, leaning back in his chair.

“Security?”

“Surveillance and enforcement, when needed,” Diesel clarifies.

Considering his work happens in front of a monitor, I immediately know that when he says surveillance he means out in the field, and for the first time in my life I have someone else to consider.

I take my time, studying each of the men—my brothers—in turn, trying to figure out what they think is coming, and again wonder why Throttle sent Dylan to her parents’ house.

“You’re not worried about the Royal Bastards,” I hedge, fishing for more information.

“No,” Axel responds. “They’ll bluster a bit, but it’ll settle down without much fuss.”

“As long as they respect our territory,” Declan amends that statement. “They don’t know our border protocols or my contacts in Mexico, so their pipeline might suffer for a while, but they have their own in other areas.”

The grin shared among Declan, Diesel, and Axel tells me that their contacts are probably from the same place they grew up. Keeping my face passive, I have to wonder about the nuns that ran that place and if any of the former orphans in their care actually ended up on the other side of the law from where these three are sitting.

“So, you need someone out in the field?” I ask, bringing the conversation back to their expectations for me.

“From time-to-time,” Diesel responds after a nod from Declan. “And not alone. You pick someone you trust to have your back. There’s a lot I can manage from here, but sometimes an actual pair of eyes evaluating a situation is more important.”

“As you all know, my personal situation has changed,” I respond. “I can’t outright commit to this without considering how it willaffect Talia. Does that take me out of the running for Road Captain?”

From behind me, Wolfman claps me on my shoulders and lightly shakes me as he laughs. “I told you he was all-in with his firefighter.”

With his words, I look around, wondering if this was a test.

“Road Captain is yours if you want it,” Declan answers me. “We can get you the votes. And as far as the extra help we’re looking for, we’ll take situations as they come. I’m not looking to lose anyone else on my watch.”

“That being said,” Diesel pipes in as he pushes his chair away from the table and stands up. “I’m tracing a few leads on who killed Me’ansome and will need some help with that. But now, I need to get to The Office. Why don’t you follow me, and we can talk there?”

I nod without immediately following him.

“Why’d you cut his patches off? Why not just take his cut?” I ask Axel, and for the first time in weeks I see that man smile.

“For the sheer joy of knowing he’s out there on foot with a raggedy ass cut on,” he replies with a shrug. “Fucker’s too pissed off right now to think about removing it, but the next Bastard he crosses paths with—he’s going to remember seeing Tonic like that.”

“And that’s the image that’ll stick.” I nod, seeing Axel’s point before looking back to Declan. “If you’ll see to getting Talia’s cut, I’ll handle her ink.”

Chapter 8

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