Page 127 of The Deals We Make
Calista will be here soon.
Her New York office in the Financial District has opened this week. A few of her staff opted to transfer from the West Coast office to build some experience out here and to get everything rolling. Alessio, thankful I helped discover who was hacking into their systems, was able to push the permit process through with the assistance of some council officials he knew. And Switch and I oversaw some of the renovation.
Then the club has been away on our first meaningful run of the year.
I offered to stay behind, but Cal said it was a good thing. She could just stay by her work and focus on a successful launch, and I could go focus on some trouble the Outlaws in Detroit were having with some local gangs. Was fun to get out and cause some mayhem.
And, I finally have time off, thanks to the prospects I hired to take on security. I still took my laptop with me when I rode out with the club. But it helped everyone, knowing there were two teams monitoring everyone’s property, women and kids included, while we were away, sleeping and drunk.
My liver may still be suffering from the amount of alcohol I consumed, but the rest of me missed my woman something fierce.
“Never been readier. I want to start the rest of our lives.”
King spins his wedding ring on his finger. It’s a black and titanium band, but beneath is a simple tattoo bearing Rae’s name. “Best thing I ever did was marry my woman.”
Clutch laughs. “That was quite the day. Hope this proposal goes more smoothly.”
“That’s an understatement,” Switch says as the rest of us laugh. The wedding that almost didn’t happen is the stuff Outlaws’ stories are made of. Nothing says I love you like a band of Outlaws arriving at the wedding slightly beaten and bruised.
Switch and I have been working hard to renovate the condo Calista and I bought and intend to use on the nights she plans to stay over for long days and early starts. It needs some work, and, in the meantime, we’ve rented a short-term place for her to use. It’s a short walk from the office and has secure parking for my bike.
And we can relax now that Walt Timberlake has been arrested and charged for way more than what he did to Calista. The Los Angeles chapter of the Outlaws had something on a judge out there. Didn’t ask what, don’t want to know. But for a small shipment of weapons, they applied some pressure on our behalf to get a warrant to search his home. There, they found a burner phone and a complex set-up to make sure the text messages were untraceable.
And the evidence revealed Calista was not his only victim.
I wanted to kill Walt, thought about the way I could wrap wire around his throat and listen to him gurgle as he died.
Motherfucker.
Calista asked me not to.
The case brought another wave of other women who’d been harassed by Walt to the surface. Ones who didn’t appear on the phone he’d set up. The allegations had gotten worse, especially for three women who ran companies he’d invested in.
Their stories inevitably became the headlines.
Walt is ruined. And that’s enough for Calista.
Rumor has it, he’s going to be given the maximum sentence, and my girl gets to move on with her life, which…
I grab the box from the table and flip it open. The simple three-carat oval diamond in a gold band sparkles under the lights in the clubhouse.
“Pretty,” Saint says. “Bet she’ll love it.”
I don’t want to admit I’m nervous she won’t. But she has such classic, simple taste, that I knew she wouldn’t want anything bigger or more ornate.
“She’s going to say yes either way,” I say, but even I can’t ignore the hint of uncertainty.
“You tellingusthat or reassuring yourself?” Clutch asks.
I glance up at my VP. “Probably both.”
Laughter erupts around us.
Archer cries, and Avery runs over to us. “Is he okay, Uncle Spark?”
Spark moves Archer from his shoulder into his arms so that Avery can see his little face. “He’s fine. Just needs to go to bed soon, Cupcake.”
It’s become her road name and replaced Avery on the front of her cut. Everyone calls her Cupcake. Her current plan is to open a girls-only motorcycle club she currently calls the Ruby Outlaws. But it’s also been called diamond, gold, or, weirdly, candy-floss outlaws.
