Page 68 of Red's Peril: Part 1

“Fuckin’ ace, Brother.”

As the shouts ring out, Brick uses his foot to kick out the chair at his side, and grins widely in my direction.

Cobra, moving behind me, pulls out my seat so fucking hard, if my reactions hadn’t been fast, I’d have ended up on my ass.

In a state of total bemusement, I stand, cuff Cobra around the head, then walk the couple of steps needed. I pause for a moment, feeling it’s all wrong taking the chair that Rainman sat in last, then, at another prompting from Prez, sit my ass down, still shaking my head.

I’d left Vermont hoping to find a future. I never expected to end up in an outlaw motorcycle club, let alone be appointed to an officer role. It blows me away that all my brothers think I’m right for this club.

Can I do it? For a moment, I think about all the problems I was going to lay in the new VP’s lap and realise now they’ll be my responsibility. I frown, then slowly, my face relaxes.

Fuck yes. This is my chance. If I see something wrong, I’m now in a position where I can do something about it.

I’m the VP, one step down from the prez.

It’s going to take more than a moment to get my head around it.

Chapter Twenty-Five

When the extraordinary meeting is over, I want to talk to Brick, if for nothing more than to talk about how our new partnership is going to work. But when a brand-new VP patch is passed over, and the gavel finally comes down, I’m yanked out of my chair by at least two sets of arms.

“Party!” Keys shouts.

I try to pull away, my eyes meeting Brick’s. “Prez—”

Brick’s eyes sparkle as he waves his hand. “Go. Enjoy yourself. We’ve plenty of time to catch up later.”

“First duty as VP,” Joker yells. “Join us in getting drunk.”

I open my mouth to protest but shut it when I remember every one of these assholes just voted me in as VP. Every. Fucking. One. How the fuck did I deserve that? And how am I going to live up to it?

I could be coy, could say I’ve done nothing to warrant such support, but that would be deceitful. I’m confident I’m the man for the job. I just hadn’t expected anyone to recognise it, nor held out any hope that I’d ever be able to contribute from anything other than a lowly member’s seat. I won’t let power go to my head, but it’s a heady rush to know I’ve now got a chance of stopping useless deaths like Rainman’s in the future. When I have my say, my new role means I’ll be listened to, even by the prez.

As Cuff drags me out by the arm and Rope’s somehow got his hand on my back steering me toward the bar, I feel overwhelmed by just how much faith this club has in me. It’s not until I have a beer in my hand that Drummer’s words of last night come back.I’ve got faith in you.

The wily mother chapter prez had known what was going to go down, he had to. He’d been ensconced with Brick yesterday. Maybe it had been his plan. But how had they got one hundred percent of the members on board in such little time? There’d been no closed-door meeting that I’d been told about.

It’s a question I ask Fox later, as I’ve got what must be the fifth beer in my hand. “How did Brick persuade you?”

“Persuade us about what?” Fox sways, reaches out his hand to hold the bar for balance, misses, stumbles and would have crashed to the floor if not for my somewhat quick thinking, automatically blocking his fall with my arm.

Once he’s righted himself, I elaborate, “Persuade you to vote for me.”

Fox’s glazed eyes clear, and he gives a vehement shake of his head, after which he takes a moment to get steady again. “He didn’t. Well, not to me. As far as I’m aware, we all made up our own minds.”

He’s lying, isn’t he?But one look at the confusion on his face assures me he’s not.

“Look… look…Bro…ther.” He’s starting to slur. His finger comes out and digs into my chest as he punctuates his next words. “You’ve sorted our businesses, got us on the right track. Pulled this fuckin’ club together by just believing in us. Your advice about Rainman’s last ride should have been heeded, but it wasn’t. We love you, Brother, and we need you.”

Well, doesn’t that just give a person a fuzzy warm feeling inside? One that’s amplified when Rosa walks up, reverently carrying my cut she’d offered to sew the VP patch onto. For a moment when I take it, I just hold it, trying to focus my eyes. My lips curve as I read over and over,Vice Presidentand underneath that, my name,Red.

“Stop admiring it and fuckin’ wear it,” Titch, coming up behind me, growls.

Chuckling, I do as he says, realising even this old man had lent his support to me.

Titch orders another round, this time with chasers. Well, I’ll be fucked if I remember much more after that.

My back is slapped until I fear I’ll be bruised later, and my head spins with the amount I’ve drunk. When I can barely stand any longer, I’m escorted to the stairs. Cuff steps up alongside me and takes my arm. I shake him off.

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