Page 102 of Salvation

“Exactly,” I nodded, flicking my cigarette in the ashtray. “If she loses Rachel again… I don’t think there would be any coming back from that. And Axel would be fucking lost without his mother, she’s all he’s ever known. I know we’ve all had our differences with Rachel, but there’s no denying she’s the best fucking mother those kids could ask for.”

“So, what are you saying? Just so we’re all clear,” Tools asked.

“We need someone to take her place. You would need to admit to whatever charges Bradley has on her. Right now, it’s the murder of that woman in Scotland. And in order to make it fair, I’m going to rule out those with old ladies and families. And Hacksaw and Chris,” I said, nodding my head in theirdirection out of respect for their relationship. Their relationship was equally as important as anyone else’s here, and I needed to make sure everyone remembered that. “I can’t ask people to give up their relationship whilst mine thrives. And—”

“I’ll do it,” Bambi interrupted, stunning the room into silence.

“You realise what you’re agreeing to, don’t you?” Vienna warned.

“Yep,” he nodded. “And for many reasons, I think I’d be the perfect guy. First of all, I have no old lady, or even a girlfriend. I have no family to miss me. You guys are my family. I can make a clean cut from the outside world. Second of all, I’m new. The police can trace my record, but they have no familiarity with me. They don’t know what I’m capable of and what crimes I’ve committed under the radar. I could easily have murdered that woman. Third, I was in Scotland. I was spying on Rachel for weeks. You could even tell them I lost my fingers because you caught me getting too close to the dead lass. And fourth, Rachel scares the fucking shit out of me, and I think I’d be safer behind bars than any of you cunts in her company,” he finished with a grin, making us all laugh.

What he said made sense, but I couldn’t help the flutter of guilt I felt. I caught Vienna’s eyes, and he gave me a discreet shrug.

“I won’t make this decision alone. If you’re sure about this, and it’s what you want to do, we’ll put it to a vote. I can go round the table one by one or we can do a show of hands of those in favour…” my words trailed off as every man immediately raised their hand.

“I guess it's settled,” Bambi nodded, swallowing heavily.

“Sorry, brother,” Sunshine shrugged. “But… it’s Rachel.”

“I get it. I wouldn’t have offered if I wasn’t comfortable with it.”

“She’s our old lady,” Shark said. “We can’t let her go to prison. Especially when this is actually a crime she’s not responsible for.”

“Which is pretty funny considering she’s brutally murdered more men than some of the members around this table, and yet the one murder she didn’t commit gets her locked up. What?” Vienna muttered when we all glared at him. “I didn’t say it was ‘haha’ funny, but it is pretty funny.”

I tutted and shook my head, ignoring him again. “Bambi, if you’re comfortable with this, then I can promise you will be fully protected. No one will come within a metre of you without being swarmed by your protection team. Waltzer will take care of you. And as a thank you, if the rest of my brothers agree, you will be going into prison a fully patched member, graduating right now. Brothers?” I asked, looking around the table.

One by one, each of the members gave their confirmation.

“I guess it’s settled then. If no one has any objections, it looks like we’re throwing a going away party.”

I paused for a second, locking eyes with Bambi in case he wanted to change his mind.

And then banged down the gavel before he could.

Sunshine was right. It was Rachel. I’d happily see all the prospects go down for her.

Chapter 43

Rachel

“I'm Henry the Eighth I am. I'm Henry the Eighth I am, I am.”

“I'm begging you to make her stop,” the guard said, burying his face in his hands and ripping at his hair. The phone was cradled between his chin and his shoulder, and I could hear the faintest murmur of a response.

I grinned before continuing, “I got married to the widow next door. She's been married seven times before.”

“She's been singing the same song for three fucking hours!”

“And everyone was an Henry. She wouldn't have a Willy or a Sam. I'm her eighth old man, I'm Henry. I'm Henry the Eighth I am.”

“I will give you a hundred quid right now to tape her mouth shut,” the guard snapped into his phone. “I don't care what he says, she's fucking annoying.”

Rude

“Second verse, same as the first,” I sang, tapping my hands on the desk to the beat of the song. “I'm Henry the Eighth I am. I'm Henry the Eighth I am, I am.”

“She won't fucking tire eventually. I've even taken her water off her and she's still going on!”

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