Page 14 of A New Era

“Luca got one too.”

“I bet he’s gonna wanna meet her just to take her out, after what she did to that kid, Ford,” Myles chimes in.

“He agreed to meet her with me and to hear her out,” I tell them all.

“Luca? Your brother? He’s going to sit across from her and not put a bullet in between her eyes?” Dex asks, his brow arched.

“Yes, I’m talking about my brother. She wouldn’t put herself at risk without covering herself. We shoot first, there probably won’t be anyone walking out.”

“What have you and Luca got planned?” Zach asks, leaning forward and resting his forearms on the table.

“Jay, Mason, and Myles will ride out with me to the diner in Roseville.”

“You can’t believe her word means shit?” Slade spits out.

Scoffing, I grunt, “You don’t believe I’m able to keep myself alive? Have I not been shot and stabbed and yet I still breathe?”

“I don’t doubt you, Leo, but you’re not invincible.”

“I agree, but you’re failing to see this is the fourth time she’s reached out for us to hear her offer? To me, she doesn’t want us, she needs us in some way and my curiosity is now peeked. I’ll hear what she has to say, and we’ll go from there.”

Meeting Dad’s eye, I wait for him to disagree, but it doesn’t come. He nods once and I wonder if the club politics bore him now. He sure acts like it does.

“Does anyone else have anything to add?”

Sparky leans forward in his seat and says, “We should plan to surround the place and take her out after you and Luca are out. This is the chance we’ve been waiting well over a year for.”

“In this case, I don’t need the club behind me, not that I take her at her word, but there’s something she needs from us, and I want to find out what. If we rock up as one, she’ll attack while we’re not here and since we all live here, it’ll be our families who will be in the firing line.”

Ricky looks at my dad and asks, “Cas, you can’t think this is wise?”

I watch the unlit cigarette roll between Dad’s fingers as he sets his gaze on Rick.

“When you voted for Leo as your president, you said you trusted him, so you trust him now. If he thinks this meeting with Effie is the way to go, then that’s what will happen.”

“But what do you think?” Dex asks him.

Dad smirks. “I think my son can walk through fire and come out unscathed. He can certainly walk into a diner and walk out with his life and that of his brother’s intact.”

Smirking, I watch on and wait for anyone else to run to my dad wanting to see if his opinion differs from mine.

“However,” he adds, looking at me. “Anything happens to you, to Luca, the entire club goes to war. Two chapters and the rest. The moves you make have to count for everything to them.”

I hear him loud and clear. “My gut is telling me this counts. This is our next move.”

Myles scoffs and slams his hand on the table. “I’m starting to feel insulted.”

Sighing, I dare to ask, “How?”

“These fuckers think me and my brother aren’t up to protecting you from a little bitty thing of a woman.”

Pope barks out a laugh and the tension in the room lifts. By the end of the day, there won’t be one brother who will hold a spec of doubt in the future decisions I make.

“No one’s doubting your or Mase’s capabilities, Myles.” I snort. “We leave in an hour.”

I slam the gavel down and the brothers file out, except for Mason. He tips his chin and I remain in my chair.

“What’s on your mind?” I ask him.

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