Page 7 of Smoke the Enemy

Soren

After a couple of hours trapped in the car with my brother, Lee, and their favorite little scab Succo, I’m ready to drink…or hurt somebody. I was silent for the ride, no surprise there, but the other three were good little soldiers. They discussed strategy, where can they take the club from here, blah, blah, blah. It’s like none of them could just be. Worse, Steffan wouldn’t let me smoke in his car. I’m not a big smoker, but after that trip, Ineeda fucking cigarette.

My door is open before the wheels even come to complete stop. I’m lighting my cigarette when Lee comes up to my side. He leans toward me with his hands braced on his hips. “If you hate Illicit Brotherhood work so much, why didn’t you fucking stay gone?”

I take a deep inhale and then blow the smoke in his pretty face. “Not sure. There’s a lot of things I haven’t figured out yet. Tell me, is it weird for you to see my face when you suck my brother’s dick?”

Lee raises his fist, but I duck. Steffan, of course, comes up and grabs Lee by the arms, locking them behind his back. I chuckle and take a step into Lee’s space, egging him on further. “Is this your ultimate fantasy? To be in a Carmichael brother sandwich?”

“I can’t fucking stand you, Soren. You’re a piece of shit and nothing but trouble.”

“Ah. But you can’t deny having Steffan on your back is getting you hard. So you’re welcome for that.” I take another deep drag and then discard my ashes on his shoulder. “Watch yourself, Conrad. You might be Steffan’s little bitch and trained dog–”

“I’m the vice president,” Lee informs me.

“Onlybecause I don’t want that position. Because at the end of the day, no matter how hard you suck his dick, I’m still his brother. I am a Carmichael.”

I walk away as my twin whispers soothing words to his pet. I’m pleased with how pissed off all of them look now when they catch up to me. That made it all worth the trip here.

We enter the compound as a unit, of course. I mean, I might fuck with these assholes, but I won’t let anyone else. I am still loyal to The Brotherhood… somewhat, anyway.

I recognize the Fallen MC President Zeus immediately. He has a face I won’t ever forget. He’s older now, but before he was president of this powerful and profitable motorcycle gang, he worked for none other than Rhett Carmichael. He was a bodyguard, and one of our father’s most trusted men. He was also there when we’d have to execute and dispose of bodies to Allison. That man got a lot of laughs out of watching me squirm. What I wouldn’t give to make him squirm a little.

The six-foot-tall beast of a man walks toward us. His black boots heavy, footfalls echoing off the concrete walls. “Steffan.” His voice is deep and rough. Dark eyes cut to me, and a cruel smile creeps its way onto his face. “The other twin has returned. Heard you tried to feed a Van Doren to the alligator…alive.”

I shrug. I don’t give a fuck what he heard. Steffan stiffens, but his tone leaves no room for argument. “We’re here about setting up a drop-off. Not to gossip.”

“Let’s go into my office. My VP already has your money ready.” As we follow him back, he asks over his shoulder, “Wanna beer?”

“Sure.” Steffan accepts. I decline and keep a watchful eye on every member as we pass by. Some are organizing drugs. Some are cleaning guns. A few are drinking and playing pool. I hear moans off in the distance, so I can guess what they’re doing.

A door slams and I spin around. Alex Dupree walks through like he fucking owns the place. “Sorry I’m late.”

“What the fuck is he doing here?” I snarl.

Zeus laughs and comes up to pat me on the shoulder. “He’s here for the meeting. Didn’t they tell you?”

I stare daggers at Steffan. “No.”

Steffan appears to be as shocked as I am, but he does a better job of hiding it. “Alex. Good of you to join.”

“Of course. Your father said it would be good for me to shadow you, Steffan. So here I am.” After a pause he extends his hand to Zeus. “Seems these boys have forgotten their manners. I’m Alex Dupree.”

Zeus raises his eyebrows and tilts his head. “Dupree, eh? I thought there weren’t any more Duprees around. My-my.” As he shakes his hand, his eyes turn to me. “Well, this just got a lot more interesting.”

“What does that mean?” Steffan asks.

“Well. I’ve already had a Van Doren pop up, wanting to strike up a new deal, and now here’s a Dupree. Almost makes me wonder what other skeletons are going to appear.”

“Bryce Van Doren? When was he here?” I go to stand next to my brother.

Zeus looks around, and smirks. “Let’s discuss over a beer. Sounds like you boys need a drink.”

Through the entire meeting I was seething. Van Doren is trying to do business behind our backs. Dupree is weaseling his way in. As soon as we were back on the road, I laid into Steffan. “What the fuck was Dupree doing there?”

Turns out, my brother is just as pissed. “I don’t know. I’m going to find out, that’s for damn sure. Why in the hell would father send him?”

“You gonna mention Van Doren?” I roll an unlit cigarette between my lips.

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