Page 8 of The Loves We Lost
“I call this meeting to order,” Clutch says. Our VP is looking gnarlier these days. His hair is longer, wilder.
King rubs his president patch for a second. “As some of you know, the Righteous Brotherhood have been both on the periphery and central to much of what has gone on in this club over the last year. From the way they kidnapped Iris and Briar, to wrecking business at the docks, to attacks on various Iron Outlaw clubhouses. I’ve long been an advocate of crushing them when they swell up, but not pursuing a war with them. But they aren’t going away, and they are growing. So we need to take more permanent action. I’ve asked some of you individually to consider various parts of the puzzle, but it’s time to bring it together and vote.”
“I’m in,” Niro says as I sip my coffee.
“Me too,” Spark says, which isn’t a surprise given what they did to his old lady, Iris.
“Steady,” Clutch says, raising his hands. “We’ve all got skin in the game.”
Saint, a former agent from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives undercover as a preacher, curses. “Some more than others. You didn’t see Briar the night Spark and I rescued her.”
“Order,” King says. “We don’t need to fight over who is most in agreement. But we do need to know if everyone isinagreement. War costs a lot of money. That’s money not going into our pockets. Bates, why don’t you walk us through it?”
Not gonna lie, it’s a good fucking feeling to be asked for my expertise as enforcer and have the club listen. “Breaking it down, we have three things we need to do as a countrywide club if you exclude protecting our mother charter, which Spark can talk about. The first is to protect the assets the Brotherhood seem to want most. For us here in New Jersey, it seems to be the docks. The second is to hunt down all the Brotherhood cells in our territories and take them out. This needs to be irreversible. We need to remove financial sources, decimate supplies, and eliminate members. The third is to then coordinate to take out cells in areas where we don’t have club coverage. There won’t be much left over from half a million dollars when we’re done.”
I see brothers wince.
“It’s a lot of money,” I continue. “But we have to put it in perspective of what they’ve already cost us and how much we are willing to keep losing to them if we concede.”
Spark lays out what it’s going to cost to fortify the clubhouse further, to prepare us for lockdowns with more people. He recommends turning one of the less-used garages into a block of four showers and toilets. Only the senior brothers with key roles have bathrooms in their rooms, and I thank God I’m one of the lucky ones because some prospects are disgusting fuckers. Spark wants a hundred thousand for the job.
King looks to Vex. “Welcome back, brother.”
Vex runs his hand over his du-rag. “Thanks. And thanks for all the shit you guys did while I was down. I’m grateful.”
Switch grips his shoulder and shakes him. “We nearly lost you. It’s good to see you in the clubhouse again.”
I’d never seen so much blood leave a man’s body and him surviving. “Hadn’t noticed you’d been gone,” I say to lighten the mood.
Vex gives us a tech rundown and explains where he can help in the objectives. He adds another two hundred thousand to the bill.
“So, it’s gonna be about eight hundred grand over the next three months,” King summarizes. “But they already cost us two hundred. Three more attacks on our shipments and we’ll lose the funds either way.”
“What about other allies?” Saint asks. “Does this all need to fall on the Iron Outlaws? Other MCs must be affected too. The enemy of mine enemy is my friend. Can’t we put out some olive branches to other clubs? Take the Brotherhood out together.”
Halo nods. “It’s a good idea.”
“Agreed,” King says. “I’ll make some calls. And Bates, maybe you and Halo should link up with some men who answer to everyone’s favorite Irish mobster down on the docks.” He’s referring to Cillian O’Ceallaigh, Spark’s future substitute uncle-in-law.
“I should go,” Spark says. “He’s allegedly family.”
I smirk at the use ofallegedly.
“It’s because he’s allegedly family that you shouldn’t. Objectivity is critical while we work this out, and I wouldn’t put it past him to try to play on the fact you’re gonna be related.”
“Let’s vote then,” Clutch says. “Show of hands for yes.”
King looks around the room at every single raised hand. “Guess we’re going to war. Spark, Bates, Niro, and Vex, build out the plan in the morning. Meeting adjourned.”
I take my phone to my room at the clubhouse. A copy of Vi’s book,Fortune’s Loss, sits beneath the pillow on my bed. I’ve been reading it, slowly, because reading books is so not my thing. Wasn’t particularly good at it in school. Lost all interestin reading once I left. I ordered it to be delivered to my house. Didn’t want the guys knowing about it.
While I hate to admit it, she’s got a lot of the motorcycle club details correct. I scroll through her author social media, and it bothers me that there’s nothing about her personal life in any of her posts. Okay, maybe there are a few. She likes walking ten thousand steps every day and has a mug collection that would apparently fill my garage. She loves tacos and talking up her author friends when they release books. But there is nothing about having a man in her life. And fuck knows I’ve looked.
The only hint of someone special I could find was a footnote in her acknowledgements.
To A - for showing me what love really is.
I think back to the Bethlehem chapter but can’t come up with a brother whose real name or road name started with anA. I hate the idea that she’s out there cozying up to some biker in the name of research or true love.
