Page 32 of Thunder

Causing pain was never a palatable experience. Necessary, but not enjoyed. He’d told his brothers from the day he accepted the patch and responsibility, naming him the Desert Phantoms’ Enforcer to put him down if he ever didn’t hate the job.

The Phantoms’ tendency wasn’t automatic violence. It was reserved as retaliation, retribution, protection, or a fucking last resort.

Earlier it was protection. They needed information to protect their turf and the people in it. Granite cared about this little slice of Vegas they’d carved out. Hell, they all did. A great deal of their charity work stayed local, and they protected what they felt was theirs. That meant keeping poison away from kids. As long as Rainbow Bob stayed on the Strip, the Phantoms left him alone. Now with this new chick pulling his strings, his ass moved in and was targeting kids. The ones who got hooked were great customers, but even better dealers. Not to mention, if the connection to the Demon Sidewinders was confirmed, they’d have to answer for trespassing into Phantoms territory.

Selling to kids was the business model under the watchful eye of this Tracey Fordham, aka, Petty, and that wouldn’t fly. Thunder had gotten that much out of Bob after breaking a few bones.

Pound voted to take him straight down to Hotel California, but Granite opted for The Rage Cage. The cage meant he lived and got turned back out on the street. Hotel California was called that because, like the song says, you can never leave.

Her legal name was enough to put Trip and Whiskey on it. She had a record of small-time shit, but nothing big ever stuck. There was suspicion she killed her brother, but no proof. They knew where she was staying and who she was running with locally, but they hadn’t confirmed where she got her product from. That was the information they needed, the info that got Bob back out on the streets. Spying for them.

As soon as they found out if it was the Demon Sidewinders or an imposter, they could plan accordingly.

As a full MC’s worth of sleds pulled into their reserved parking at Tails, the reverberation of the rumble off the block building was therapeutic to Thunder’s troubled soul.

Now that Bob was dealt with and they were in a holding pattern, that meant his mind was back to obsessing about other things. He shook his hair out as he removed his custom painted Warthog helmet.

Tonight he was going to blank his mind and enjoy their monthly ritual of amateur hour at Soft Tails. It was his favorite night of the month. And not because of tits and ass, although the scenery helped. It was the comradery that did it for him. All the brothers let go of their problems and came together on a more equal footing. Although Granite was always in charge, on amateur night no one was called Prez, Veep, or any title other than brother. Road names only.

Thunder was convinced it was one of the many reasons their club was different. It also gave Granite a chance to lay down the burden of running shit and just be a brother, if only for a few hours. There was no disrespect, but there was honesty, sometimes harsh, but that was needed to keep them bonded.

Amateur night was by invitation only for the first run of all the fresh talent. They used it as a way to check out potential new hires. At eleven, Granite went back to being Prez, and the doors opened to the public. They stayed and partied, but they reverted to customs.

The Phantoms filed in the door, making a bee-line for their seats. The waitress had their beers and whiskey waiting. She lingered for a few minutes for any special requests; then moved on when Buzz joined them.

“How’s the fresh flesh looking tonight, Buzz?”

“Premium. I think you’ll see a couple new hires tonight for sure.” He whistled low, asked if they were good, and then scurried back to his office.

Thunder’s eyes rolled back in his head with a groan when he noticed Lexi sauntering their way. He nudged Trip with the back of his hand and pointed. Both of them had their asses chewed down to the bone. He felt bad for Trip, because he hadn’t done anything other than be with him when Lexi lost her shit.

Thunder really should apologize to her and make shit right, but Granite ordered him not to. His exact words were more like, “Keep your dick in your pants and your mouth shut while I clean up your mess.”

It was more than just pussy trouble or personal shit bleeding into the club. They stood to lose their liquor license. Tits were nice, but tits without beer didn’t make bank. Not to mention they were trying to launch an escort service and, Lexi convinced them a male club too. She made a hell of an argument. But that wasn’t the worst part of it. It was going into Lexi’s name, so the club was disconnected from male strippers. Granite was progressive, but an MC running a male club sent a message they had no desire to send.

As much as Thunder wanted to do the right thing, his hands were tied.

“Lexi, you’re looking stunning as always.” Granite winked at her, fucking winked.

Thunder almost choked on his beer. The man was pouring on the charm.

“Sit.” He patted the space next to him instead of his lap. Slick.

Lexi’s response was saccharine sweet, but she did actually blush. “Thank you, Granite. How have you been?”

Like she hadn’t been at the club just a few weeks ago.

“I’m good, would be better if I wasn’t losing such valuable p… such a valuable person in our lives. What can I do to convince you to not hold the action of two stupid fuckers against us all? How about a piece of Tails? You deserve it. You almost single-handedly made this place what it is. Not to mention your new ideas.”

Thunder did choke on his beer then. Not only did Granite almost call her valuable pussy, he offered up a share of their most profitable business. Not that he was out of line offering it or anything. They’d voted on him doing what he felt necessary to keep Lexi. But damn, Thunder thought, he’d try to save as much as possible. Start low.

Then Thunder looked into Lexi’s green eyes. She was shrewd and knew her worth to them. Granite maybe should’ve started higher. She answered Granite but never broke eye contact with Thunder.

“That’s very generous, but I couldn’t possibly answer tonight. I’ll need a day or two to decide if I want to be associated with all the Phantoms.” She stood, still looking at Thunder. “It may take me a day or two for a yes, but I might have a no for you in the morning.”

Her half-sneer, half-grin as she strode off scared the hell out of him. Lexi was definitely psycho pussy. Not the regular, run for the fucking hills kind that you go into WITSEC to avoid her after you fuck her. Nope, she was the kind that the crazy was worth the ride for the right man.

“I say this with love, brother, but you need to stop chasing that tail. It’s not for you. She would shred you to bits and laugh while tossing them in the air.”

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