Page 30 of Hendrix

Silence.

“Do you fucking get me?”Blade roared, bouncing to his feet and smacking his palms flat to the table.

A chorus of ‘Yes Sirs’ sounded.

“Do not test me on this,” he snarled, dropping his ass back into his seat. “No more gossiping. You should all know fucking better.”

“Veep’s right,” I added. “We shouldn’t have to pull you up on shit like this. I mean, what the fuck’s goin’ on? You know our position’s precarious. Ace and his boys are tryin’ to fuck us up the ass every time we turn our backs. It only takes one hangaround to overhear your convos, and we may as well take out an ad in the local newsrag about what our next plans are. It’s our most sacred bylaw: club business stays between brothers. End of.”

Every man at this table knew my brother-in-arms betrayed me by leaving the club, taking the few clients we had, and opening his own firm. Aces Security Professionals, or ASP, were now our rivals. We went after the same jobs and developed a huge tug-of-war that had spilled over into the field on occasion. Things had gotten better since we won the government contract, and Colt came on board and brought the FBI’s support with him. Now, when clients learned we were government approved, they tended to want to work with us over ASP, something my ex-buddy, Ace, didn’t like whatso-fucking-ever, as evidenced by the bullshit him and his boys threw at us.

Diablo tipped his head back and heaved a sigh before aiming his stare at me. “We’re gettin’ complacent. You’re right to call us out on it. We need to keep our shit tighter than we have been.”

Blade sat back in his chair and folded his arms across his chest. “Prez has said his piece, and so have I. Draw a line under it and do better goin’ forward. Copy?”

Mutters of “Yes Sir” went up.

Blade’s gaze flicked to me. “Any other business?”

Silence fell over the room.

Picking up the gavel, I smashed it into the soundblock. “Church dismissed. You can all go. Diablo, Iceman, Colt, and Blade, stay behind.”

The other men stood and filed out of the room, throwing us chin lifts as they walked past us.

I waited for the door to click shut before I turned back to the table. “Ciara told me it was Fletch who was mouthin’ off about us taking Arena from Larry. Not sayin’ he did it for nefarious reasons, but I think we should keep a close eye on him.”

“Want me to get eyes in his room?” Colt asked.

I stroked my beard, contemplating my next move. “He hasn’t done anything to warrant that. I wanna trust my men, and I need them to trust me. If I start spying on a whim, it’ll cause issues.”

“You’re right,” Diablo muttered. “We’re aware, so we’ll keep a closer eye on him for now.”

I dipped my chin in agreement. “I need something more concrete to go on than what could just have been a slip of the tongue.”

“We’ve all been sloppy,” Blade pointed out. “We can’t single out one man. Tonight while you’re gone, I’ll call a members meeting in the bar and tell everyone they need to tighten their shit up.”

“Tell ’em about Fender, too,” I ordered.

“He’s definitely coming?” Colt asked me.

“Yeah. Carina’s gonna set up the cottage for him and the kids.”

“We’ll get him on track,” Ice assured me.

“Hope so,” I muttered. “He’s been to hell and back.”

Iceman hit me with a sad smile.

We both knew and liked Fender’s wife, Ashley. She was a cool lady and always had a kind word for us when we saw her.

“Fingers crossed that Fletch takes this meeting to heart,” Diablo said quietly. “He’s drinking too much.”

“Agreed,” Ice interjected. “Beating the shit out of him was too easy last night. I could smell the liquor fumes on him. He downs JD like his life depends on it.”

“You think he’s suffering?” I asked.

Iceman shrugged. “Maybe. Or it could just be guilt. He’s constantly all over the whores, and it must play on his subconscious. He needs to give his head a shake ‘cause Frankie and the boys come around the club, and I’m not covering his ass if she shows up and he’s balls deep inside a club girl.”

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