Page 41 of Embracing the Consequences

“Thanks, brother.” She nodded, a watery smile in place.

“Let’s celebrate! Shots!” Dagger shouted with a smile.

Kara laughed and turned back to Johnny. She pressed a kiss to his lips. “I’m gonna head in,” she murmured against his lips.

“Alright, Princess,” he murmured, pulling her tight against him. “Don’t wait up for us,” he said gruffly.

She nodded and pressed another kiss to his lips. “I love you.”

“Love you too, Princess.”

Johnny pulled away from Kara so she could kiss Kevin and Derrick. Johnny made sure she was inside the house before he turned back to the party around him. With Kara safely in the house, his brothers and the Devil’s Psychos moved in and patted him on the back, offering him congratulations.

As the night progressed, the fire in the pit grew to the size of a raging bonfire. Old pallets were thrown on top along with other shit brought home from jobsites.

“Alright, alright!” Johnny shouted over the boisterous crowd sometime later.

He’d already spoken to most of the members of his club privately after dinner, so he was confident that when he called to attention the group of men before him, there wouldn’t be any surprise votes.

“I wanna thank all you assholes for coming out tonight.” Johnny started his speech once he had everyone’s attention. He smirked as middle fingers were raised and boos were shouted from both clubs. “On a serious note, though,” Johnny slowed his speech and paused slightly, gearing up for the more serious talk he needed to give, “we’ve gone through some shit the last several weeks. Tensions have been high, and a war was started.” He paused again to take in the men around him. He appraised the mood and assessed tempers as men shifted in their boots. “An unfounded war to line the pockets of the already filthy rich. Vince Carmichael used the Devil’s Psychos as he used King Taylor, as just another pawn in a rich man’s game.” Again, Johnny paused. He looked around the group of men before him and felt it in his soul: this was his family, all of them. “While Larry Buckley and Vince Carmichael might have started this war, blood was still spilled, and Ravager Knights were killed.” Johnny took in the eyes on him. Men stood still as they gave himtheir undivided attention. “For there to be peace, there needs to be retribution.”

Murmurs rippled around the bonfire, and men grumbled their agreement. An edge of violence crept into the crowd.

Marcos stepped forward and looked around at the men gathered there. He made eye contact with his brothers before he finally turned to Johnny. “I wanna thank you,” he started, speaking clearly and slowly for all those watching, “for inviting the Devil’s Psychos into your home. You showed great trust when you invited us here, and I appreciate that. My brothers appreciate that.” Marcos paused and scratched his eyebrow with a middle finger. “Most people don’t know this,” he chuckled faintly, “but my sister Kara called me several months ago. She wanted to tell me about the new relationship she was in and the guys she had met.” Marcos laughed again. “You can imagine my surprise when she told me there were three of them.”

The group of men laughed, well acquainted with Kara’s relationship with Johnny, Kevin, and Derrick.

“After I got over my initial shock,” Marcos smiled, “she told me about how her own father, a man who’s been a thorn in my side for the last nine years, was framing King Taylor for a laundry list of shit he didn’t do. Then she told me she was going to help represent King Taylor in court against her own father because King was innocent.”

Mutters rang out around the fire; men grumbled and shifted. “We all know Vince Carmichael was using the Devil’s Psychos to start a war to kill Mac Taylor,” Marcos continued. “Buckley was not only working with Vince Carmichael behind the backs of the Devil’s Psychos, he was working with Las Serpientes as well. Our own sworn enemy.”

Growls and grumbles were spat around the fire from both clubs.

“As vice president of the Devil’s Psychos and acting president until further notice, I offer the Ravager Knights our president, Larry ‘The Butcher’ Buckley, as payment and retribution for the war that was wrongfully fired up between our clubs. I offer him up as a first step of alliance between our clubs.” Marcos finished and turned to look at Johnny with a nod, stretching his hand out to the Ravager Knights president and waiting.

Johnny nodded slowly and turned to his own club. “I ask you, my brothers,” making eye contact with each one of them, “to vote for a truce, vote now for peace and to end this war, vote for a united front against the fucking serpents and their dirty deals. Vote so our families can thrive together. What do you say?”

He’d barely finished speaking before theayesrang out loud and clear. Mammoth and Vagabond, Hotrod and Welder, Lemmy, Darrel, and Bandit. They all voted yes.

A vengeful grin pulled at Johnny’s lips as he turned to Marcos and his still-outstretched hand. “You hand over Buckley, and you have yourself an alliance and a truce,” Johnny said.

“You have my word.” Marcos nodded once.

Johnny slapped his hand into Marcos’s and shook it tightly. “It’s a deal.”

Cheers went up around the fire, and Marcos stepped in, slipping their hands from a formal shake to a brotherly half hug. He slapped Johnny on the back and muttered so only he could hear. “I want Carmichael though,” Marcos declared, his eyes fierce in the firelight.

Johnny ground his teeth and nodded once.

At the end of the day, he didn’t care who took out Vince Carmichael as long as he went down the same way his father had: murdered in cold blood.

Kara was woken inthe early morning to loud cheering and yelling from the backyard through an open window in the master bedroom. She knew what that cheer meant: the alliance between the clubs had been formed.

A sense of calm washed over her knowing her brother and boyfriends would be safe and no longer in danger of killing one another. It was a weight lifted off her shoulders.

Kara drifted off to sleep for another hour before she heard the rumbles of bikes starting up. A lot of bikes, all of the bikes.

She groaned and rolled over. She rubbed a hand over her face, knowing what piece of retribution had been on the table for this truce and alliance to go through.

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