Page 82 of Apex of the Curve

Chapter Twenty

Fenris…

We were waiting outside the gates at the Monroe prison complex, waiting on our boy Mace to get out. We’d had the prospect, Sauley, ride Mace’s bike out here as was tradition. Maverick stood by with Mace’s colors, waiting to restore them to their rightful owner.

We chatted, joked, and to some extent, even though he’d only been locked up a couple of years from arrest to release, we worried for our brother. Adjusting to life outside could be a royal pain in the ass, especially if you were on probation or parole, which he would be for at least another year.

He had to keep himself clean on paper, and off The Man’s radar until he was completely free and clear. That meant he damn sure wouldn’t be going on any runs with us, especially if it meant crossing borders or state lines. One, he was a felon, Canada wouldn’t let him cross legally, not that we did much of that, anyway. Two, he technically had to get permission from his P.O. or Parole Officer to cross state lines.

We would do what we could to find him employment, which was always a good first step to get The Man outta your ass, but tonight we cut loose, celebrated, and welcomed our boy back into the fold.

I was both excited and nervous. My girl and I had spent yesterday at her mom’s and made a damn good dent in the crazy amount of shit that stuffed the house to bursting. There’d been more laughter than tears, which was a good thing, and by the end she was feeling a little stronger, a little better.

I tell you what, though. Leaving her to sleep there by herself last night was one of the hardest things I’d ever done. She had a whole mess to sort through when it came to not just the house, but her divorce, and fighting off her husband who was literally going after everything she held dear as though she were somehow the asshole in this situation.

I wanted to hurt him physically as much as he’d devastated her emotionally, but that wasn’t my little leaf’s way. She was tossed and pulled in every which direction, almost seemingly along for the ride in a lot of ways, but through it all and just like a little leaf on the wind, cast adrift, she drifted in elegance. So damn graceful, pretty to look at, and I couldn’t wait to see where she settled on certain things.

“Your little lady is in for a rude awakening tonight,” Tic-Tac declared and chuckled.

“Don’t be a dick,” Dump Truck warned him.

“Or did you forget who the fuck you’re talking to?” I demanded and glared at Tic. He was like the angry little cocksucker brother that nobody could really fucking stand sometimes. Like we all just let him fuckin’ hang because we all knew he ain’t got no place else to go. He could be a real asshole for no reason sometimes, though and I wasn’t about to let him start in on Aspen.

She was too fuckin’ pure. Too good. He’d better watch himself around her. I would kick his ass.

“Shit, she’s got you wrapped around her little finger, don’t she?” Tic-Tac grinned like my love for my woman was something to be ashamed of. A weakness. He really didn’t have a fuckin’ clue.

“Sorta like Dahlia has your dick in knots?” Major asked, laughing. That shut Tic down real hard, his brow dropping into a deep scowl. He didn’t say anything after that.

“Tic, ain’t no one ever told you not to yank an angry dog’s chain?” Maverick asked, laughing. “Since you wanna sit here trying to start shit, you can be the one to give Sauly a ride back to the club.”

“Aw, fuck no, man! I don’t do none of that nut to butt shit!” Tic cried.

“Too fuckin’ bad! Prospect, you’re sittin’ bitch with Tic for the ride home.”

“Whatever you want, P.” Sauly didn’t look happy when he said it, but he was a team player and knew how this shit went.

“Oh! Here he comes!” Deacon called and we turned as the grating buzz of the gate sounded out over the parking lot.

It got rowdy really quick; Mace, a little thinner than he’d gone in, come waltzing out in the clothes we brought him. Making strides in our direction and pressing on through the gauntlet of us hugging and pounding on his back to where Maverick stood, holding open his colors. Mace grinned at our president, turned around and shrugged into his cut over his jacket, Mav grabbing his shoulders and gripping them hard, shaking our boy back and forth.

“Welcome home, Mace.”

“Ain’t home yet,” he declared. “I need a cold beer and a warm pussy. I say goddamn, it’s good to be free!”

We all cheered, and Mav gave the order, “Mount up! Let’s get the fuck out of here and get our boy a decent fucking meal!”

Another burst of rowdy cheers and Mace was guided on up to his bike, at a place of honor in our pack at Glass Jaw’s usual position – Mav’s right hand.

Mav had an exchange with Mace up at the front. He turned around after a minute and called down the line, “The man want’s a steak!”

Whoops went up, and we started up the bikes as soon as Mav started his, revving engines and peeling out, getting our boy far the fuck away from this forsaken fucking box of concrete and steel.

We rode back to the club. There wasn’t any point in going out for a steak when the club had the outdoor grill in the back on 15th and we had some gourmet ass motherfuckers in our ranks, myself included when it came to meat and fire. Still, I left that shit to Blackjack. He knew his way around steaks, specifically, like nobody’s fuckin’ business even if he was being a princess over having to cook with gas over the charcoal grill that he fuckin’ preferred.

There was a Sarr’s one block over on 16th, but while the meat was cheap and plentiful and pretty much butchered on site, this wasn’t an ‘it’ll do in a pinch’ situation. This was a time for some serious celebration. That meant we took our asses further up Ambaum out of White Center and into Burien for B&E Meats. An actual fuckin’ butcher shop worth something.

I preferred Green Valley Meats out in my neck of the woods. Quality was better and the prices more reasonable, but right now the club was sittin’ flush again. We’d replenished the coffers since Little Bird and business at the boneyard was good. Our side hustle, sadly, was booming too, but we didn’t take more than we needed to keep the supply run going. People needed those meds, and the fastest way to get busted was to get fuckin’ greedy.

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