Page 6 of Brew
Then there’s the nightmares. They don’t go away.
Ever since we got out of the compound, I’ve barely looked at another man since.
Well, not sincehim.
Brew Dawson.
He’s also my boss. Well, one of my bosses, the other being his brother, Haze, who is just as intimidating, albeit the friendly one. ‘The Nomad Brothers’ as they’re known around the MC and most of the city.
The brothers are feared, and it’s not hard to see why. They not only look menacing, theyaremenacing.Yet, they’ve both been good to me when I needed a job, and since I’m paying Tag and Luna back for bailing me out; the club’s Sergeant at Arms and his ol’ lady, I’ll be in this job for the rest of my natural life. And then some.
That’s what the NOLA Rebels do; they stick together. They are a brotherhood. Not like the religious sect I was convinced to join because I married into it.
The church I was a part of knows nothing about what it means to be family. I’ve seen the highs and lows with the NOLA Rebels, but they all have each other’s backs. They don’t run when things get too hard. They’re a real family. While I may not be part of the MC like Amber is, who’s now with her biker boyfriend, Bronco, I skirt around the edges. And I’m fine with that.
I’m good at my job; I run the reception at the boys’ security business. I don’t cause waves. I keep out of everyone’s way.
Out ofhisway. Not that he’s awful to me, he isn’t, but the man never smiles. He barely holds a conversation, and when he does, it’s a mixture of grunts and grumbles.
Like life truly did him a disservice.
His past is shady, I don’t know much about it, but I know through the grapevine there was a woman, and I also know she was trafficked and murdered. Some of the girls mentioned it in passing, but the details are sketchy.
“We’ll discuss the phone another time, honey, but the immediate answer is still no. Give me one more year of your innocence.” I don’t want to bethatMom, but it isn’t how I was raised. Kids spend way too much time on their phones, and it doesn’t always end well. If children today aren’t being bullied online, they’re being targeted by predators and god knows who. I may have escaped a cult, but I still don’t believe in children being stuck indoors playing video games and rotting their brains with the internet. I want Olive to experience the kind of happy childhood I had. My parents live in Ohio, and while they weren’t happy about me marrying Stephen, they never knew the extent of what went on in the church. I hid all of it because that’s what good wives did. And I was a very good wife to that man.
It’s been an adjustment being in the real world again, but I did a computer course and refreshed my skills. The MC helped me with the job, and for that I’m forever grateful. I have a nice little house, Olive is doing well in school, and life is pretty sweet.
“Mom!”
I pull her into a hug and she relents. I kiss her on the head. “Just let me keep you innocent for as long as I can. You know I don’t like the internet and all the horrible things people do on there. You have internet for school and that’s enough for now.” I also have a strict parent lock on there because, frankly, I don’t trust other kids, or predators online.
“Ugh, Mom, not everything is bad on the internet.”
“I know that, honey, but not everything is good, either.”
After I drop Olive at school, I make my way to the office. I’m usually the first one there because the brothers are not the earliest of risers, especially on a Monday.
I have a daily ritual. I begin by making coffee, turning all the lights on, and enjoying at least the first half an hour without any noise.
The reception area is small but functional, and the brothers have their own offices, along with several others where they have surveillance, and a large storage area where they keep all the inventory. It’s my job to make sure the stock levels are where they should be, and tell everyone off when they don’t keep the register up to date.
I work with a bunch of men, and I’m fine with it. Back when I was with the church, I was surrounded by women, and that can certainly be trying.
While I’m waiting for the coffee to brew, I switch the monitors on. If I didn’t vacuum the night before, which would’ve been Friday because I have weekends off, then I’ll run it over the main area, and my desk. Being a neat freak is a habit I haven’t been able to break.
I then clean out the fridge from the previous week; we have a system. Anything not dated and labeled goes in the trash. That system was made by me because I was sick and tired of seeing leftover containers and moldy food in the fridge every week.
Men can be so disgusting.
My first duty when I’m ready to start the day, before the doors open, is checking the emails that have come in over the weekend. Usually, it’s people wanting quotes for jobs, and I forward those emails to Haze, he’s the whizz with numbers. We also have a meeting every Monday morning with the staff, going through our focus that week and what jobs we have going on. I make sure the boys have their schedules and calendars up todate, but I basically have to remind Brew of every little thing. He simply doesn’t retain information. Whether that’s because he doesn’t care to, or he’s just forgetful, I haven’t quite worked out yet.
The business isn’t crazy with customers, most of them call, email or arrange to have an appointment.
The things I like are how the brothers let me get on with my job without hovering. I don’t see much of Logan because he’s busy running the bar, but I do know the business has grown rapidly. Everyone knows that if you want top-notch security, you run to the Nomad Brothers.
Things start to get moving around nine. I’ve already been at my computer for almost forty-five minutes when I hear noise at the back door. Brew, Haze and Sawyer always come through the back. Sawyer is fairly new around these parts, and only just reunited with his long-lost brother, Pipes, another Rebel, whose ol’ lady, Casey, is a paramedic. We also work together at the Soup Kitchen, run by Priest and Bella, also from the club. Priest got his name because he’s the spiritual advisor for the club; it has nothing to do with him being Catholic. You could say this MC has some wild cards.
Haze is the first to greet me with a, “Mornin’, Erica.”
