Page 88 of Ruthless Reign

“The war with the Caputis is over,” I announced to the club when we’d gathered at the clubhouse for church. “Today marks the beginning of a new reign. A tentative stalemate, but peace nonetheless.”

I ran my hand over Julia’s spine and curled my palm around the back of her neck, massaging her tense muscles. She’d been nervous to face the brothers after everything that had happened. Understandably so. We’d lost good men because of Gabriella Caputi, but their sacrifice had not been wasted. We were stronger for it, ushering in a new era of trade with people we’d once considered enemies. As our closest neighbors, it made more sense for us to be allies, especially now that I knew how much we had in common.

“What about the Kings of Carnage and the Hell’s Knights?” Wheels asked, rubbing his hand over his head.

“They’re still a threat,” KC said, crossing his arms. “We’re monitoring them closely.”

“They live far enough away that we’ll have ample time to prepare if they decide to come on our territory again,” Thor added.

“They sided with Gabriella,” one of our brothers said. “They deserve our wrath.”

“Definitely,” I added. “But we just buried our fallen brothers. We need to let the dust settle and regroup before we do anything reckless.”

The mostly positive mumbling echoed through the crowd.

“Anyone have anything to say to that?” I barked. “Speak now or hold your fucking tongue.”

No one said anything else.

“Good,” I said.

“We’ve heard from Berkshire,” KC added. “The case against Aris and Crow isn’t good. The DA is pushing for maximum sentencing, upward of ten years in prison.”

More grumbling came from the club, and I heard words like “Get them out,” or “We need to rectify that shit.” I didn’t disagree.

“My family has a few very talented lawyers,” Julia added. “I can ask them to take a look, if you’d like.”

KC pursed his lips and Hollywood smiled.

“That would be wonderful, wife,” I said, kissing her cheek. “The more help we have, the better.”

She nodded and retrieved her phone, no doubt sending out commands to the lawyers in question to get involved.

“The IRA is sniffing around,” Hollywood said, explaining how our Irish friends had been upset about the supply disruption while we fought off Gabriella. “If we don’t straighten it out soon, they’ll come do it themselves.”

“I’ll call their boss and get it sorted,” Thor said.

“Perfect,” I said. “What about the upcoming run?”

Lore filled us in on what had happened out in Montana. The Royal Bastards were all too willing to keep our business, which was good because we needed to find other customers to buy the arms we got from the cartel.

“They want me to be their exclusive liaison,” Lore said. “I’m happy to do it if you think it’s a good idea.”

I agreed, and the conversation moved on. We had three upcoming runs in the next few weeks, and my time had come up in the rotation. I’d take the ride to New England and back. It wasn’t my usual trip, but I didn’t have a problem with that. Maybe I’d even get Julia on a bike by then and take her with me.

After all the business had been sorted, most of the club got up to leave, except for my officers. KC stayed in the spot on my right and Hollywood on my left. Wheels, Doc, and Thor leaned on the table to glance up at the head where I still sat with Julia on my lap.

“How’s the alliance coming along?” Thor asked, glancing at Julia. “Is everyone in the Caputi family playing nice?”

She shifted. “We might have a problem, but nothing my brother can’t handle.”

“Good,” Thor said as he crossed his arms. “Because the Hell’s Knights aren’t gonna stop coming for us. We owe them for what they did to Alba and Julia.”

“When we took out their prez earlier this year, it set a precedent,” KC added. “They’re pissed. It may have started because of some shit Crow did to the prez’s brother, but now it’s about the whole thing.”

“We killed more of them on our turf. It may have created another war.” Doc stabbed out his cigarette and looked at me. “The men are right. We should mount an attack now before we find ourselves on the wrong end of a Knights’ invasion.”

“They’ll have to regroup first,” I said, clearing my throat to get rid of the lump that had suddenly formed in my gut. I hated the thought of more bloodshed so soon after we’d just ended it on our home turf, but I wouldn’t let the Hell’s Knights disrespect us any more than they already had. My father wouldn’t have stood for it, and nor would I. They were a national club as big, ifnot bigger, than the Roses. If they wanted to start shit, we could finish it. “Enough. The night is young, and most of you have old ladies to keep happy.” I nodded toward the door. “Go.”

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