Page 17 of Fate
I stared at him then shook my head. “I suppose I can see that happening. Glory is not the least bit shy is she? Actually, your entire family is something else. All brave, in your face kind of characters, really.”
“Yeah,” Fate said. “I know. And I have an inside joke about that. We are the Triple A’s.”
I tilted my head at him and said, “Well, this ought to be good.”
He grinned at me and explained it, “We are abrasive, annoying assholes. So honestly, we don't really fit in anywhere. Except for our club.”
I had to laugh as I went over and grabbed up the soap bucket to set it close to the hood of the SUV. “Club?” I asked. “You mean motorcycle club?”
He nodded and came over to grab a large sponge from the soapy water bucket at my feet. “There’s my brothers, two uncles,several cousins and about twenty other bikers. But they're technically brothers too.” Fate slapped the sponge onto the hood and started to soap the exterior of the SUV.
Looking down, I saw a second sponge in the bucket, so I raised it up and set it onto the hood then moved to the opposite side.
We both spent the next ten minutes or so working the different sides of the Silver SUV. Then when we got close to each other again, I asked, “So what do ya’ll do there. In this club, I mean??”
“We have lots of different jobs. My dad has businesses he opened while he had the club going and we all work in them. They actually belong to the Requiem.”
I looked over at him and dipped the sponge back into the bucket then asked, “What’s a Requiem?”
Fate smiled and replied, “The Requiem MC. That’s the name of our club. We own a gym, a couple of convenient stores, and a construction company. We have a storage business where we also have a rental yard that has tractors and large equipment that we lease out. We all take turns working at the various businesses. Then we also do turns working at Justice’s law offices.”
Pausing, I raised my head to stare at him. “Is that what most MCs do?” This whole subject had me really curious as I’d never been in close proximity with bikers before.
Fate shook his head. “No, not really. I mean there are a few in Houston and lots of clubs in Dallas that own strip clubs and bars. Or maybe like professional garages. But no, we aren’t the norm. It was because of my dad though. He built it up that way. He wanted legit businesses. Then he fully vets any new members. No drugs, no trouble makers. We are really bikers though, despite the jobs and sometimes wearing a tie. We weretrained in many types of combat, so we could still be badasses.” He winked at me. “Even while wearing a suit.”
I stared at him. The cute wink, the smile, the well muscled bod. And damn, he had charm to spare. Plus, he and his family were as well off as I had guessed. Gazing back down at the bucket, I again felt inadequate. Out of my realm. Not in this man’s league at all. This was why I really did not take him seriously.
A shout and laughter rose in the air, so we both looked up.
Belle was running toward me as a soaking wet Liberty chased her with the water hose in his hand.
Before either of us could react, Fate and I were both caught in the water spray. Then all heck broke loose when Fate went and grabbed a second hose.
We all played water war and we definitely all lost the battle. We ended up soaked to the skin, laughing and panting for air.
Suddenly, a loud whistle went off and we all looked up.
Talon stood there with a red face. “Are you children?” he asked in disgust.
Fate and Liberty looked like they might just get angry at his snide look and bossy attitude.
Before the guys could open their mouths, I grabbed a hose and hit Talon with water spray. Then shouted, “Children!! We Are children.”
Talon backed up as he raised his hands to try and deflect the water but it did him no good. He had to keep backing away until he was far enough that my hose spray could not reach him anymore. He looked super pissed but he decided to leave us be.
For now, I bet. This guy ran the place I know, but wow, he really acted like a sergeant in the military. Connor House was full of family, not army recruits. I mean I get it, the Walkersreally were a well-oiled machine. Talon and Liv were in charge of it all. I noticed that there were lots of men here. Liberty told me and Belle that the combined MC members totaled out to about fifty or so men. Some stayed in the extra cabins out in the back area and some stayed in the house itself. There seemed to be plenty of room since the MC guys doubled up and the families had the larger rooms.
The surprising news was that they all moved here after Deacon used it as one of his hideaways. This was where he had held Glory after he kidnapped her. Now, it looked like he might have discovered where the Walkers were. And whaddayaknow? They were in the last place he would have thought of. I admit that was very clever on their part.
Turning around, I stepped back over to where our group was.
Fate stared at me with an expression of awe on his face after I just soaked Talon down with the hose. “Damn!”
I shrugged. I saw there might possibly be a fight of some kind over this between the guys and this was the best solution I could come up with. Not that I didn’t enjoy it. Talon reminded me of my Gym coach in high school. Just the way he acted and bossed everyone around. I chuckled and said, “The guy needed to cool off anyways. I just did him a favor, really.”
They all laughed.
Shaking her head as she smiled, Belle came over and draped her towel over me.
