Page 15 of Master's Rise
Chapter Three
Two days
Cort
Saturdays I work out early and ride with the Officers that are free for breakfast. Usually everyone shows, but Falcon is collecting cuts for tomorrow’s Church and Jinx is control at Ops. That means Brinks is his Enforcer Lead. In the city, they weren’t Officers, but they rode with us almost every week. We had the Brothers to keep our schedules clear for it. Tomorrow they’ll get Officer’s cuts and we’ll work harder to keep the Saturday morning schedule clear for them. I’m glad more Brothers will get cuts too, my Officers can start sliding into their normal jobs. Doing everything has got to be wearing them down.
Looking around I smile, it’s a good ride reminding me of the Brotherhood I need to show and promote. Officers need to be close. I need to keep that in my head so I’m not fucking it up when it gets hard. Raid keeps telling me to drop it, but knowing I let them down when it mattered will never go away. The ride we took to see Billy solidified that. He went down the day I walked. I thought my Brothers left me out there, but they were covering him when he needed it. Something I can’t claim.
“Get out of your head, Cort. I can feel those wheels spinning.” Hade has a sixth sense about shit like that. I shake my head, put it all aside and ride.
At the restaurant, Raid and Amos are spouting words of the day, some that aren’t used right, making me and Hade laugh at the waitress’ confused look.
When our food shows, everyone gets quiet and I know something is up.
Raid lets us get a few bites in before he talks. “Cort, you’re carrying around guilt that isn’t yours. Since you aren’t talking details, I will.” I put my fork down and listen. I can’t remember half the shit that happened alone and maybe this will help us all.
“You were hopped up on pain killers coming out of the hospital and don’t know all that went down. While you were laid up, we were trying to figure out what all Deacon was doing. He already had Six-Guns working the Brothers to vote for his ideas. When Hade got the heads up, I beat the shit out of the pussy for bringing a rival Club in. He had the hit put on you thinking he’d take over, but we didn’t find that out until later. Courtney was pushing the women angle with the Brothers and helped Deacon with your whereabouts and Club business she’d overheard.”
I got some of that from her, she said I was a moron with more ideas than cents because of a charity run we made. The saying ismore dollars than sense, but she was with me because she was playboy built, always up for fucking and she stayed out of my way - never questioning what I had going on. She had no clue that I had money. It was never important enough to mention. My focus was the Club and the Brothers.
“She figured you’d listen to Billy so she put moves on him and he lost it. Deacon was egging it on when you walked in. Billy had us swear to hold off telling you so he could figure out the angle. He didn’t think you'd believe us without proof. You know what we did, but that was the second time we held it.”
Web leans forward to catch my eye. “Courtney knew where the cameras were and made sure we didn’t get that proof easily.”
I nod and look back at Raid. I’m fucking pissed and controlling my breathing and body so I don’t react withoutallthe information I missed.
“They tried for all of us, but we were in so deep and knew we fucked up so we didn’t say. They got you and we tried to get in, but you wouldn’t see us. We were going to come clean, even Billy agreed by then. We don’t blame you for not trusting us. From our side, it felt like we were doing right, but time and distance shows that different. We never expected Deacon to challenge you the day you were released. Billy never left the hospital while you were there, Brother. When you were released, he let Falcon take over covering you, but we got the call that Billy was shot and we didn’t know who to trust. We all showed for him thinking Rex took you home. When Rex called me saying you handed Deacon the challenge, I didn’t know what to do. He asked us to give you time.” He shakes his head knowing it wasn’t right.
“Every one of us was wrong and we own it. You feeling like it’s on you makes owning it harder. We did this not believing you’d walk from Courtney without proof. Falcon told us of Deacon and the Six-Guns, but Billy wanted proof on that too. You owe us nothing, Cort. Earning trust and respect is on our side. Let us do it without the extra guilt of you blaming yourself for our actions. Seeing you work at earning our trust, whenwe’re the ones thatbroke it,feels like shit. Billy told us you’d see it different because we hid it and we needed to make it right. This is that moment, too fucking long in delivery, but this is it. We won’t bring it up again but need you to have it all to see it clear. Yourbig-picture viewshit is skewed by not wanting to talk about the details.”
I nod feeling shock, disbelief, anger and hurt. Taking a deep breath, I close my eyes and try for calm. Thinking about why they think I was so happy with Courtney jumps forward. “I never claimed Courtney for a reason. The same reason I didn’t claim Seren. I didn’t know or feel enough at the time. With Jules, I knew within a week and claimed her.” I look at my Brothers seeing surprise. “I was happy because I was buying Rex out. You know I wanted to expand and we’d finally have the businesses to support it. Building it from the ground up, away from our home base, is too fucking hard and Rex was handing me the solution. I planned on telling you at Church but never made it.”
“Jesus fucking Christ. We fucked shit up bad. You want our cuts?” Web asks.
Air comes out of my nose as I hold a laugh in while looking at my plate. It’s not funny, but so bad it hurts. The laugh would be a sarcastic response. At the very least, I should take their cuts. Billy’s only living by a machine, the Club is being taken over by a rival, I was shot, businesses are failing and all our work is down the drain. The impact on the community will be devastating once Six-Guns fully move in. Everything that happened could have been avoided if I knew from the start. Deacon would have been dead on the spot if I knew he was in with Six-Guns.
Not being sure what to do here has my head spinning, then I settle remembering Crow. The Brotherhood was his life, his family. Crow raised us in Badass. The core belief;vision, discipline and logic are meant to better ourselves, our Brothers and community. Through them, like the Masons, we can impact more and change our world. Lead, teach, enforce were the lessons handed down to me as a leader that is meant to guide the Brotherhood. I’ll never be Crow and know I need to learn something here too. Applying shit is never as easy as thinking it. Fuck.
I let them all see my anger before I speak. “This is your lesson.” I give them a few seconds to get that. “I know I’m a young President. The job came unexpectedly and was a shock to everyone including me. I work hard to promote Brotherhood above all in everything I do, but missed something somewhere.” Seeing them ready to react, I hold up my hand to stop it. “I don’t want your cuts but want you earning trust back by promoting what I failed at. Maybe I’ll learn how to do that better from you. I’m not hungry and need to clear my head. I’ll see you before Church.”
I walk away to silence.
I’m not five minutes on the slab and hear the bikes but they stay back. They’re showing me Brotherhood by having my back, even when they’re giving me space. My thoughts are on how to fix it in the city. Badass is not going down without a fight. I was set to expand in the city. A new direction shows and I get lost in planning.
Jinx hits me a few minutes later. “Boss, pizza place has an alert from surveillance. I’m waiting on details and Brinks is on his way. We got a Brother closer and heading over there, but he’s not an Enforcer.”
“On my way.” I speed up to a hundred and my Brothers fall in beside me. “Brotherhood feels fucking good right now.”
No one answers but I hear a lot of air hitting mics. We warned the little shit that was stalking her, so the alert has me nervous. Seren doesn’t need more men on her threat list.
We take the exit and fly by the lake making town in three minutes. I’m glad we went north to eat, it’s a hell of a lot faster than from the southern exit.
“Boss, hit the back! Brinks is pulling in the front. Pussy is coming out from the side of the dumpster.”
“Roger.” I see Brinks turn the corner and take the right that puts me in the alleyway.
Stopping short, I’m gaping at the stalker. He grabs Seren by the back of her head, pulling her out of the back door. Before I’m even off my bike, she spins straightening her knees, then hitting up with the heel of her hand breaking his nose on contact. She used her motion as fuel. Fucking smart. She had to have heard the bikes but never looks our way. I take a step when the pussy reaches for her and she spins like a little Tasmanian devil. I suck in a breath when her knee comes up as she pulls him forward using his weight and momentum this time. Fuck.
