Page 45 of Property of Shotgun

His jaw goes tight, and his eyes narrow into tiny slits as he pierces me with a glare. “Is that what you do when you dip out on us? Gossip with the girls?”

“It came up in conversation,” I say, ignoring his dig. “Jade says she’s really into this one. Just thought I’d throw it out there.”

“Maybe instead of worrying about who Bella is fucking these days, Jade should take a long look in the mirror, and realize she’s wasting years she can’t get back.”

I don’t know if he’s trying to goad me or what, but I don’t take kind to the tone of his voice, and I sure as fuck don’t like him talking about Jade.

“Keep Jade’s name out of your mouth.”

“Sure, when you keep Bella’s name out of yours.”

“Bella isn’t an ‘ol lady,” I snap, my patience thinning.

“And Jade isn’t yours,” he returns.

“Jade is off limits,” Biggie interjects. “No reason to bring her name into anything. Shotgun wasn’t telling you about Bella out of disrespect, and if your head wasn’t so far up your ass, you’d realize that.”

Guido’s eyes cut to Biggie. “I don’t need my VP informing me who Bella is dating. I’m fucking aware.” He glances back at me. “Did she happen to tell Jade that he’s a cop?”

I blanch at that. Jade wouldn’t have kept that quiet, even with our conversation taking the turn that it did.

“Yeah, I didn’t think so,” Guido growls. “Bet she left out the fact that he’s married too.”

The room goes silent, and he drops his hands from behind his head. Gripping the edge of the table, he pushes out his chair. The legs scrape against the floor as he rises to his feet. His gaze turns back to Biggie. “If we’re done discussing business, I’m going to take off.”

“We’re not, but I think it’s best if you do. One of us will catch you up to speed when you’ve had a chance to cool off.”

Guido wastes no time grabbing his cell from the box by the door before he storms out of the chapel. When he’s gone, I turn my attention back to Biggie.

“Bella definitely didn’t share all that with Jade.”

“I don’t reckon she did,” he says, leaning his elbows on top of the table. “Could be a problem for us.”

He isn’t wrong. Bella knows a lot of our secrets. Too many if I’m being honest. But until now she’s held every one of those secrets tight to her chest.

“I gather Guido knows that much, and that’s why he acted the way he did,” Biggie continues, strumming his beard, thoughtfully. “If the pig is married, there’s a good chance this doesn’t go anywhere.” He sighs. “I can’t believe I’m even fucking talking about this.” He looks across the table at Stacks. “I really wanted to open up the books and discuss our cross-country trip. June will be here before we know it, and I want to make sure we’re set.

Every year in June the mother chapter of the Kings Of Anarchy hosts a rally. Big Daddy, the current president, goes all out. Chapters from all over the country travel to attend the two-week event. With our club being in New York, it’s quite the project to get us all to Southern California. Lots of moving parts. And with our current businesses expanding, and the high demand of gun contracts, we can’t all go. So we rotate the roster every year. However, I’ve skipped the last two years. After Irish died, and Jade went into premature labor, we all agreed that my place was to stay close to home. Then last year, we put it for a vote, and again, it was decided that I stay home to help Jade and oversee the expansion of Lipstick & Lace.

Don’t know that Biggie will let me pass for a third year. It doesn’t look good if his VP doesn’t show up by side.

Irish never missed a year. He would fly Jade and the boys out to California, put them up in some five-star hotel, and while the rest of us partied our asses off, he snuck away to spend time with his family. I think he and Jade even took the boys to Disney Land one year.

I’d love to do that. Killian would fucking love it.

“We’re going to leave a week ahead of time. I arranged for us to stop at some of the other chapters along the way. They’re happy to put us up for a night, that way we’re not a bunch of fucking zombies on the road,” Stacks reveals, opening his ledger. “Kneecap, Joker, Monsignor, Cook, and Bed-Stuy are gonna stay here, and run all our daily operations.”

“The plan was for Guido to follow us with the cage,” Biggie reveals. “Not sure how that is going to pan out, but we got time to rearrange things if need be.”

“Worst case scenario, I’ll drive the cage, and hook a trailer to the hitch,” Jersey offers. That way when we’re there I can ride.”

Biggie turns his attention to me. “Do we need to make arrangements for someone to help Jade while you’re gone?”

I scratch at the scruff lining my jaw. “I uh… haven’t discussed it with her.”

Biggie narrows his eyes. “Well, it ain’t something new to her.”

“No,” I caution, trying to decide how I want to approach this. I can’t tell him I don’t want to leave her because she and I are making a go of it and I’m fucking addicted to her, and me suggesting she travel by plane like she used to do with Irish would raise the eyebrows of every man sitting at this table. “It isn’t new, but for that doesn’t mean it’s at the forefront of her mind. The last two years I skipped the trip. Never even brought it up to her. And the year before that, she flew out with Irish.”

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