Page 30 of Patching Over

“Well, this is quite a pickle we’re in now, boys,” I grumble, both kittens now between my two sweatshirts, their little heads peeking out through the neck hole as they contentedly purr. “Now what do we do?”

CHAPTER

FIFTEEN

Brick

“Look to your past for the answers you seek.”

For the past two weeks, ever since the demise of the fuckers who raised Rayleigh then gave her away to that asshole, Enoch, the words Madame Laveaux spoke have been resonating in my head. Add to it what Dave said and I realize we’ve missed something. Hawg’s found no information about Rayleigh Matthews, despite constantly digging into county records. It’s as if she was never born at all and doesn’t exist, yet the majority of my brothers have met her. Hell, I’ve held her in my arms, so I know she’s not a figment of any of our imaginations.

“Fuck!” I bellow out, frustrated beyond all measure. “Who are you, Rayleigh?” I whisper, missing the tiny blonde who has managed to worm her way behind my defenses. “It ultimately doesn’t matter to me, but I know it bothers you not knowing when you were born.” I had hoped Hawg would be able to ferret out her birthday, at least, but he’s hit numerous brick walls with every single search he tries.

Sighing, I finally get out of bed, surprised when I feel the chill in the air. I can hear the noise coming from my personal generator and realize we must’ve lost power for some reason. Around here, it could be as simple as the wind blowing too much, or as serious as a bad storm rolling through. Making my way to my window, I peer outside then curse when I see the snowdrifts piled high outside. “We definitely need to bring a few prospects on,” I muse, quickly shrugging on some warm clothes before slipping my cut over my shoulders. “Gotta keep the front of the clubhouse clear at least in case we need to leave in a hurry.”

As I head downstairs, I can hear the muted voices of several brothers sitting at the bar. Figures. With no way out, they likely decided to party instead. At least Ban and Rooster are safe and sound in Texas right now. Hopefully, they’ll be back soon because I’ve had an idea simmering at the back of my brain I want to discuss with all my men once they return.

“Pres!” Kracken exclaims, holding up a beer. “Want one?” he asks.

With my brow raised, I retort, “Think I’ll start with some coffee first, Brother. Any reason none of y’all have tried to clear a path out the front door at least?”

“Rainman and Chains are working on the snowblower now, Pres,” Arrow replies, tossing back a shot. “We were all out there earlier with shovels trying to clean off the parking lot while you were still sleeping, but the shit’s coming down as fast as we move it.”

Sighing, I merely nod then head into the kitchen. Looking around, I see several of the club whores moving around the stove and oven. “What are y’all doing?” I ask, making my way to the coffee pot where I pour myself a mug of lifesaving caffeine.

“We know you’ve got a generator for the clubhouse and figured we’d make some pots of soup,” Layce says over hershoulder. “We’ve got chili, beef stew, and vegetable soup going, Brick.”

“I’m working on making bread,” Leathyr huffs out. Turning toward her, I see her vigorously kneading some dough and groan.

“You’re making your homemade bread,” I state, overlooking the fact she rolls her eyes at me pointing out the obvious. “Best I’ve ever had, Leathyr.” I watch as a flush covers her cheeks at my praise and realize she was likely the one who organized the girls into doing this for all of us.

“Since all of y’all are here, I’d like to make a few changes to how things work where y’all are concerned.” Four sets of eyes look at me in alarm, causing me to hold my hand up. “Hear me out. All of y’all are here by your own choice, and you probably realize by now if you had a secret hope of becoming an ol’ lady, it’s never gonna happen. While y’all don’t cause a lot of drama, which is good because I wouldn’t tolerate it, I’m sure one or maybe two of you are looking for more. We’re going to be adding a few younger women as soon as we get them vetted, and I’d like at least one of you to take on the role of house mom, for lack of a better word. You’d be over the other club whores as far as setting up reasonable schedules to ensure shit gets done around here. Cooking, cleaning, ensuring the other girls are being seen at the clinic regularly. Anyone interested?”

Sunshine speaks up, saying, “I think you should do it, Leathyr. We all listen to you, and you don’t take any shit from us when you tell us we’ve gotta help.”

“Yeah, Leathyr, you’d be good at it too because you’re bossy but not a total bitch,” Layce adds.

“What about the brothers?” Leathyr asks.

“If you do this, you can choose whether or not you want to be with them anymore,” I state, crossing my arms over my chest.

I watch as a look of relief crosses her face before she nods. “I’ll do it, Brick, if you think it’ll help.”

“It’ll help more than you know, especially since I suspect there will be ol’ ladies around here in the near future. They don’t need the drama.”

“We weren’t around when there were ol’ ladies, but none of us like petty, catty bitches, so no worries where we’re concerned.”

“Good to know because it won’t be tolerated as I’ve already said. Also, if one of the brothersdoesdecide to claim an ol’ lady, he’ll be off limits to y’all. It’s something my father did, and grandfather before him. I won’t have any woman who decides she wants one of my brothers disrespected.”

I head to my office to see if I can get anything done despite the party atmosphere taking over the clubhouse. These fuckers will wanna be paid regardless of whether or not we’re snowed in, so it’s time to sort through payroll, at least.

Rayleigh’s at the forefront of my mind as I input numbers then once I’m done, hit the button so checks begin printing when I hear Brew’s voice raised in anger. “Sonofabitch!” he bellows in pain.

Standing, I head to the door when it bursts open, both Brew and Phantom standing there, shooting daggers at one another. Brew has an obvious bruise forming on his jaw, which lets me know his outburst was likely due to Phantom’s fist meeting his face. The question now is why?

“What the fuck’s going on? You lose at pool or something?” I inquire.

“It’s Rayleigh, Pres,” Phantom finally spits out, jabbing his elbow into Brew’s side, causing him to grunt. “We both got a text from her earlier, but I was tied up getting shit organized for the next run we’re doing with Scorn, so I just now saw it. This fucker here has known for fuckinghoursshe has no power. Brick, we don’t have a generator on the bar, and the power went out sometime late last night. The whole fucking town is completely out, and the power company has no ETA on when it’s coming back on thanks to the snowstorm. She’s gotta be fucking frozen half to death at this point.”

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