Page 46 of Marx

“So, we’re in agreement?” I raise my brow, looking around the table at my MC.

The women have sat this Church out, preferring to get together for a movie. It seems after dealing with the men in Pops’ Office, they’re quite happy to leave the cartel up to us. I was surprised, and any other time I’d be suspicious of their motives, but at this point they haven’t given me any reason to doubt whatthey’re up to. Still, I’ll have Mad Dog keep an eye on them. And Pops as well, seeing as he’s with the women somewhere.

My men and the Landrys nod. Roman sits smirking in the corner but I’m choosing to ignore him. He’s offered to help provide backup and all clean up services, so as long as he keeps his word and doesn’t get in the way, then I’ll leave him to it. The quicker we can get this business over and done with, the better as far as I’m concerned.

“Our second piece of business I wanted to discuss involves the Landrys. They’ve come to us to ask to start a chapter of the DRMC in Louisiana.” My men all trade glances. Some are nodding, others like Rider and Flack have smiles on their faces.

“What about prospecting?” Dex asks, “Those of us who patched over from Death Riders never prospected. The Landrys, as with the Tombs, have had our back through a lot of shit.”

Everyone makes noises in agreement, only stopping when I thump the wall. “I don’t disagree. However, prospecting is an integral part of joining an MC.”

“What about an expedited prospect phase? Instead of a full year, they do, say six months for the Landrys, less for the Tombs. They’ve been here since before the Death Riders,” Tank offers.

Brothers are nodding, chatting amongst themselves and I’m feeling a little overwhelmed. My club is about to grow by six if we all vote to have the Landrys and the two Tombs who aren’t already members. On one hand it’s fucking great, having that sheer number of men all wanting to band together to keep people safe. On the other hand, that’s another six men for me to worry about. The pros outweigh the cons and I’m sure with Lovely by my side I can handle fucking anything life throws at me, including an almost 20 strong club.

“All those in favor?” The vote amongst patched members is unanimous and like they stated to me, the Landrys make itknown that Chris and Dom will prospect here first, then they’ll swap out for Vic once patched.

I close Church and take a seat on the porch swing outside, my boot pushing off the wooden deck, rocking me gently.

“Fucking hell brother, who would have thought when dad and his cronies set up the DRMC it’d grow this big? A Louisiana chapter? Fucking wild,” Rhodie snorts, shaking his head as he leans against the railing, facing me.

“Fuck I know brother. I mean, who would have thought we’d also be torturing fucking cartel members in our spare time as well?”

Rhodie barks out a laugh. “If it makes you feel better,wedon’t do any torturing.”

“You’re right. We leave that up to your woman and her elderly grandfather,” I snort.

“No two better people to do it,” he grins, his teeth white in the dimming light. “You feeling OK about what we’re about to do?”

“As usual Chewy’s plan is foolproof. Fuck, why am I even the Pres? We should just give it to Chewy and be done with it.”

My brother chuckles at the thought. “Look, Chewy is fucking good at all sorts of shit, but you’re the Pres because it’s more than just leading us into shit. Or getting us out of shit. Don’t think I don’t see how much you counsel the brothers. How many nights you’ve spent helping us sort through our bullshit. Fuck, half the men here were broken when they joined. You’re the one that gave them something to aim for. Can you fucking imagine Chewy having to talk through someone’s feelings?”

“Shit, Rhodie, I’d pay to see that,” I laugh. It feels good to laugh, to blow away the fucking doom and gloom of what we’re about to do.

“So, brother,” Rhodie pauses.

“Yes, brother?”

“You know that in two days’ time we could be riding to our fucking deaths, right? We may not all make it back in one piece.”

I scrub a hand down my face, “Yeah.”

“Have you thought about what that would do to Lovely?”

My jaw ticks, because I have thought about it. I’ve thought a fucking lot about it. On one hand I should leave her alone until all of this is done. On the other hand, for selfish reasons, I want to spend an evening with her just being together. We don’t even need to kiss or touch, I just want to be in her orbit, soaking up the goodness one last time, just in case.

“Word from the wise?”

“Is that you?” I joke, trying to lighten the mood.

“Don’t wait, brother. If you want to take her on a date or something like that, then do it. Nothing in this life is guaranteed. You have to grab the sweet moments whenever you can, cos you never know when it’ll turn sour.”

With that he slaps me on the shoulder, giving it a squeeze before sauntering off. He’s right, I know he is. There’s also some part of me that thinks if I take all I can with Lovely before I go, then I’ll fight harder to come home to her and Bee.

“So, we putting together a date?”

“Where the fuck did you come from?”

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