Page 33 of No Mercy

I wondered briefly why Rock hadn’t mentioned the cookout. He had to have known about it. Maybe he didn’t want us there. As soon as the thought entered my head I pushed it aside. There had to be another reason he hadn’t mentioned it yet. Of course, when he was around he was silent and moody and seemed to keep to himself, except when Sam was there. He at least showed his son some attention. I guessed that was the most important thing, considering he’d uprooted us for that very reason.

I hadn’t been to the clubhouse since my return, but Rock had taken Sam a couple of times. His brothers had been anxious to meet his son. I only hoped that Sam hadn’t been around any of the girls that hung out there. Knowing what they were there for, and how they usually dressed, I couldn’t count on them being discreet. It wasn’t in their nature. At the first sign that Sam was picking up anything inappropriate, Rock and I would have a talk.

Chapter 18

Rock

You could have heard a pin drop. It was a rare occurrence for a room full of rowdy, bad-ass bikers sitting around the meeting table, eyeing each other suspiciously, as if trying to figure out who knew what and why Hawk had called church at the last minute. Usually I was in the know as VP, but when gazes finally fell on me I just shrugged. I had no fucking clue why we were there.

The fact that Hawk had called a meeting toward the end of the day set everyone’s nerves on edge, especially when we’d voted to take Covacks’ contract only a few days ago. The vote had been unanimous, and once Hawk had lowered the gavel ending church, it was set in stone. We never went back once we accepted a contract, so leaving that day we’d all been buried deep in our own thoughts. I’d been a moody bastard since then, especially when I was around Allie. I knew I’d been taking it out on her, but she was half the fucking problem.

We had to prepare for war. That meant sending our old ladies, wives, and children to Canada for an unspecified length of time. It meant getting our houses in order in case things ended badly and some of us didn’t make it back. But before we made our next move we had to hear back from Covacks. We had our own demands. He had to know that there’d be serious casualties and consequences attacking the Russians who were leaning on him, and we wanted our families protected if none of us survived. He didn’t want any of this shit coming back on him, we didn’t want it either, but he had to give us something.

Hawk leaned back in his chair. It was hard to tell from his expression what he was thinking. He wasn’t pissed, I knew that much. In fact, I got the impression that he was relieved. Had he heard back from Covacks’ already?

“Covacks withdrew the contract.”

It was the last fucking thing I’d expected to hear. There was a murmur around the table. Some were angry at losing the money. Some were disappointed because there would be no fight. Others looked as relieved as I felt. I was willing to admit that, but only to myself. My reasons were probably the same fucking reasons that Hawk looked relieved. We’d accepted the contract to stay in good with Covacks since he was our main client and we’d made a ton of money from him over the years. If we’d turned him down we could have-- and probably would have lost everything.

“Why?” Big John’s voice was thick with disappointment. He lived for a good fight. I could understand that, but this wasn’t a fight we would have won in the long run. Without an old lady, without a family, he was only thinking of himself.

Hawk’s brows arched as he looked at Big John with incredulity. “Are you fucking kidding me, brother? We should be drinking and fucking our women with relief.” I was surprised Hawk had voiced the words that I was thinking. “We voted for the right reasons, even knowing it could have ended Phantom Riders. Now, some of you don’t have families so I can understand your disappointment over not going to war, over losing out to five mill, but you can’t spend money if you’re dead. There’ll be other fights.”

“I was counting on that money to pay for my big, fancy funeral,” Painter joked.

More than one of us glared at him. “Not even funny, brother. You’re sick,” Ned scowled. Painter just shrugged it off with a grin.

I turned to Hawk. “Why did Covacks change his mind?”

He released a snort. “Bastard’s decided to get in bed with them instead. When I made it clear what we’d be sacrificing if the Russians found out that we were involved he decided it wasn’t worth it. He relies on our services as much as we rely on his money.”

“He could get another MC to do his shit,” Clay remarked.

Hawk shrugged. “Maybe he didn’t want to start over with another club, who the fuck knows? I personally don’t give a shit why he’s changed his mind. We’re still good with him.”

The news that Covacks’ had withdrawn didn’t really surprise me. After all, Covacks was Russian. It stood to reason that he and the Russian mob would have things in common, plus he’d be keeping his enemies close by working with them instead of against them. “He’s letting them muscle in on his fighting enterprise?”

Hawk shrugged again. “He didn’t go into specifics, only that they’d reached a compromise that he could live with. I don’t care as long as it leaves us in good standing with Covacks.”

“Well, I’m not afraid to admit it, but I’m glad we’re out.” Everyone looked at Fox and waited for him to explain himself. A slight grin moved across his face. “Trish and I are trying to start a family. My dick won’t reach all the way to Canada.”

“Speaking of Canada,” Hawk began once the snickers died down. “Don’t mention the safe house to anyone, not even your old ladies. I want to keep the location of that place a secret for as long as possible. It might be the one thing to save us if we ever have to use it.” Chin lifts around the room indicated the brothers would honor his order. “That’s it for now. Go home and fuck your women, celebrate.”

Hawk was right, this was cause for celebration. We were off the hook. Sure, we’d lost a lot of money, but our families were safe and we could continue the way we were. Hawk’s suggestion sounded good to me, and I got to my feet to leave. Allie might be in bed by now, but I didn’t give a shit. I was tired of keeping my distance. My balls were blue and about to burst if I didn’t get relief soon. Hawk said to go home and celebrate and I intended to.

“Brother.”

I stopped and looked back at Hawk. His chin lift told me he wanted to talk, so I returned to my chair. We waited until the room was empty and the door closed.

“What’s up?”

“You know about tomorrow night?”

I frowned. “What about it?”

“Girl’s night out.” I just stared at him. “My girl talked your girl into going with them.”

“Fuck.”

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