Page 17 of Marx

Blanche makes her way to the swing pulling Sage from me and taking my place on the seat.

I move to leave them in peace but Blanche stops me with a hand on my wrist. “You’re a good Pres, Marx. Whatever you decide, I’ll stand by your decision.”

I tip my chin as she releases my wrist and I can’t help but rub my chest. Having Blanche at my back means a lot. I’ve seen the woman in action. If people think Chewy is scary, she has nothing on Blanche’s pure unadulterated rage. I stood by her as she brought down a cult full of men, the same that Lovely escaped from. I know for a fact if I were to command it, she would lead the DRMC women in an all out assault. Scrap that, Chewy and Remy would lead them from behind their screens, Blanche would lead the rest on the ground. I freeze in place, realizing that without knowing it the DRMC women work as one, much like a special ops team. Fucking hell, our enemies won’t know what hit them if we let the women loose.

Shaking my head I follow the veranda around the house, stepping over Chomper, who is sunning himself on the back porch. Laney is sitting next to him wearing denim overalls and rain boots on the wrong feet, with Mad Dog on the steps below her.

“Should we be worried about how much my granddaughter loves that gator?” he asks me, eyes never moving from the pair.

“If Rhodie married a waitress in town, then yeah, we should be worried. Instead he has Chewy as his Ol Lady so I think this is normal.”

Mad Dog lets out a snort, bending a little to ruffle Laney’s hair. She looks up at him and gives him a huge smile. I watch the old man melt and I wonder what he would be like with Bee and the rest of my kids, when I have them. I’m pretty sure mine won’t be obsessed with alligators. Hopefully.

“What’s the consensus so far?”

“The single brothers want to wait to hear what the brothers with families say. But the ones I’ve spoken to are all in favor of clapping back.”

“And the women?” Mad Dog raises a brow, in the exact same way I know Rhodie and myself do.

“The women want blood. Their babies were put at risk. Chewy has some ideas for payback, Blanche, Nat and Vi want to storm their homes and Mira is in it for the storyline. Remy and Ana are happy to go along with what the others are proposing.” I give my father a look and we both chuckle.

“Best thing that ever happened to us was when the women joined.” Mad Dog shakes his head, a smile on his face.

“Kinda like the old days, huh?”

He grins at me before turning as the sound of crunching gravel gains our attention. A slick, black saloon car makes its way down the drive toward the house. I stand to my full height, arms crossed over my chest as Rhodie and Gus make their way to the bottom of the steps, each of them flanking Mad Dog as he stands.

The car slows to a stop, the engine dying before Sasha exits the drivers side. The large blonde makes his way to the back passenger side, eyes scanning our surroundings, as if determining whether it’s safe or not.

“Don’t you ever get sick of opening his door for him?” Rhodie smarts, a smirk on his face.

“Do you ever get sick of making sure Chewy is safe and sound?”

Rhodie lets out a huff, “Touché Sasha.”

Sasha steps back from the open door, allowing Roman to emerge.

“My friends, it’s good to see you all in one piece. I’m sure you all remember Dima?” I nod at the other large blonde man. His piercing blue eyes cut straight to me, before looking past me atthe house. I stand my ground, not taking my eyes off him until Roman interrupts. “Let’s chat, shall we?” he says in such a jovial manner that it irritates me.

I grunt in response then turn to the door. Everyone knows this meeting is happening so they’ve all made themselves scarce. Vic Landry waits just inside the dining room for us, greeting Dima in a much friendlier manner than I did. I guess they’re used to seeing all sorts of weird shit in Louisiana.

“So, what do you know?”

Pops

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Ana asks, looking sceptical.

I don’t bother to answer. Of course it’s a good idea. They’re all in my dining room learning important shit, and I don’t know about everyone else, but I’m a nosy fucker.

“You know that Marx will just tell us what happens next anyway,” Nat says in a bored tone.

“If he doesn’t then I’ll just get it out of Gus and then tell you all,” Ana shrugs.

“Yeah because we can’t rely on Chewy,” Mira adds.

“Wait, why can’t you rely on me?” Dayz asks, affronted that Mira would even suggest she was unreliable.

“You-” Mira jabs a finger in her direction, “are an unreliable witness. You can be in the same room as the men and still have no idea about any of the juicy stuff.”

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