Page 43 of Unveiled Wishes

Sabre

I sat at the head of the table, waiting for the rest of the brothers to appear. This was going to be our last church until after the new year, and I wanted to make sure that we had let nothing slip through the cracks. It was also a good time to check in with them to make sure that no one was struggling.

Grizz was the first one to walk in. Setting his coffee cup on the table, he took his seat to my right. “Bitch has to go. If you don’t take him out, you’re going to find him buried in the back for Santa.”

I tilted my head back in my chair and laughed. “What did fuckface say now?” I didn’t have to ask who had pissed in Grizz’s coffee. Gerry had been going around stirring as much shit as he could. Miraculously, he made sure that Grace and I never heard him.

“He cornered Meredith first thing this morning in the kitchen.” Raising the pitch of his voice, Grizz launched into a tirade. “Don’t you speak anymore? You should be glad you’renot stuck with his kid. What happened to the rest of your clothes?”

I couldn’t believe he’d been that stupid to let Grizz overhear him. No one truly understood why Grizz stayed with Meredith, but no one wanted to go against him, either. Me included. At least the bickering had simmered down for a while. “That was shitty of him, but she wears the same thing every day.”

“It’s her emotional support hoodie.” Grizz’s eyebrows raised over the edge of his coffee cup as he took a healthy swig.

“It’s yours. How does that help her?” I was trying not to get involved, but I didn’t know how much longer the club could handle them. I’d have to step in, and neither one of them would be happy.

“I wash it each night and wear it for an hour so that it smells like me when she goes to bed. If Meredith didn’t need me, she wouldn’t have such a strong attachment to it. It’s her way of being close without having to take part. When she joins the living, she takes the hoodie off.”

I didn’t realize Grizz had been paying that close attention to Meredith’s habits. It made sense, but I was afraid he was going to lose himself in her turmoil. “If How’s sister gets voted in today as an Old Lady, you going to be okay?”

“Yeah, I figured it was going to come quick. I am good, and I’ll vote with the group. Meredith isn’t ready for a club vote, but I am warning you. I am not leaving her, so it’s the vote or my patch.”

“Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.” I was serious, but the thought had crossed my mind that I might have to put down my best friend one day.

The door opened, cutting off our conversation.

“Prez, he has to go,” Thunder exploded, storming down the left side of the table towards his chair. “That fucker threw his arm around Liz and squeezed her bad side until she whimpered. Hewasn’t even paying attention and scared the living shit out of her. I had to threaten to cut off his hand before he removed it.”

“Now, you understand what I was talking about. All you motherfuckers told me he wasn’t that bad and to suck it up.” Twig sat down. “The man needs to go permanently.”

“You dig the plot, and I’ll make sure he shows up.” Grizz took another sip of his coffee. If I didn’t put a stop to this, Gerry was going to die in his sleep tonight. Merry Christmas.

“No one’s killing Gerry,” I stepped in.

“If we bury him alive, we won’t be killing him,” Thunder said under his breath. “I’ll help.”

The prospect closed the door precisely at nine. It was time to get this show on the road.

“Alright, rein it in. We all know Gerry’s a fucking piece of shit, but he’ll be gone soon. You all can survive until then.” I stared down each brother until I got an acknowledgement that they were going to follow my orders.

I didn’t believe that Gerry wouldn’t run back to the cartel or find himself in some other fucked up situation. It was only a matter of time. However, no one should be alone for Christmas, and his family was under the clubhouse’s roof.

“Do any of the managers have concerns over the club businesses? They should be alright since we shut them down last week.” I moved church along. I didn’t need the brothers focused on Gerry.

There were a few murmurs, but no one spoke up.

“I didn’t think so. Count and I finished up the year-end books, and everything looked good. Count?”

“We make a shit ton of money, and I am going to have to get creative. The end.” His blue spikes bounced as he raised his mug to his lips.

“Is there anything else you would like to say?” I prompted him. Count was brilliant, but sometimes he lacked common sense.He’d asked me if I thought Emily would take over the club’s legal business if she stayed. I’d told him to bring it up at church because I had wanted him to see this through.

“Oh, yeah.” He nodded, the spikes still moving. “Hey, Zook, what’s going on with your woman?”

I wouldn’t have phrased it like that, but Count got away with stupid shit because he was our treasurer. Zook had a way of making you forget how dangerous he could be. He was quiet, which people assumed made him weak. He wasn’t.

“What are you talking about?” he asked Count, shifting towards the front of his seat. If Count said anything bad about Emily, Zook was going to launch himself across the table and strangle the brother. That was assuming How didn’t move quicker.

“Is she staying?” Count tried again, not reading the room.

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