Page 17 of Emily's Essence

“There are two businesses in town that are for sale. We talked about buying them, but we already have enough on our plate.”

“What are they?” Brick asked.

“One’s a tire store, and the other is a trucking company. They’re both lucrative businesses. The owners have to sell for different reasons. They’ve been around for years, so they’re established. They have all the personnel already working.”

“How would the employees and customers like the fact an MC owns the business?” Hawk asked.

Feral cleared his throat. “The business owners have talked to their employees and are okay with it. They just want to keep working. They know we have the best interests of the town and not breaking the law.”

Hawk glanced at Brick. “What do you think?”

“It sounds good to me. We’ll have to talk to the guys, and I’d like to look at the house and businesses before we decide. I’m guessing the guys are going to say yes.”

Hawk nodded. The men have been talking about settling somewhere for the better part of a year. The main reason was sitting on a bike for ten hours a day or having to crash on the ground because they were not near a motel.

“Let’s go look at the house,” Hawk said and stood when Striker did.

The small group walked through the kitchen. Hawk could hear Emily’s voice and caught one glimpse of her but otherwise ignored her.

He didn’t know what his problem was. She’d done nothing to piss him off. It was just the way she made him feel. Emotions he’d heard about but never felt, and he wasn’t sure he liked. He had a lot on his plate for the moment, so he decided to try to put her out of his mind for the time being.

The other house was about a fourth of a mile from the main one. The outside needed a fresh coat of paint, but it had a large yard where he could imagine putting a firepit.

Striker had removed the fences between the houses and added the new land to the main one, which made their compound bigger.

They walked up the back steps, into an enclosed porch, through another door, and into a kitchen. It was on the small side but could be fixed. The wall between that and the dining room could come down because they didn’t need it. The other wall in the dining room would come down, too, if it weren’t load-bearing. It would make most of the first floor open.

There were two other decent-sized rooms on the main floor with a full bathroom. He thought his guys would appreciate having a slut or two in the house, and he’d use one room for them. The other could be used for a bedroom or office, depending on their needs.

The place was bigger than he expected. They walked up the stairs and found five bedrooms and two bathrooms. There weren’t enough bedrooms for them, so they’d have to add on.

“A few of your guys can crash at the main building until this is added onto,” Striker said, reading his mind.

“Let’s get our guys over here to have a meeting and look at the place. We all have to agree on this,” Hawk said. “How would we deal with the two clubs?”

“That’s something we’ll have to think about,” Feral said. “Striker and I have had a conversation about it. You could add your club to ours.”

“We’d have the Viper’s Crew name?” Brick asked.

“If that’s what you guys choose,” Striker said. “Or keep them separate for the most part, but we’ll all be known as one group with two names.”

“We’d be a subsidiary or branch of yours?” Hawk asked.

Striker nodded. “Yeah. That’s a good way to say it.”

“Would we work together with two prez’s because I can’t see myself taking orders at this stage of my life?”

“If we make a branch for the club, I think you will need to stay the prez. We’ll just all make decisions together. Feral and I already do that with a few of the guys,” Striker said.

Hawk nodded and walked to one of the front windows. The compound’s fence enclosed them but had an opening for vehicles. They’d have to get a gate for security. He remembered seeing a large garage in the back of the house, but it was old and looked like it needed to be torn down, and another one was put up.

“Can we buy the land around the house?”

“You won’t need to since you’ll be part of the club.”

It all sounded good to him, but he’d have to put it out for a vote.

“It’s about dinnertime. Let’s go eat, and then you guys can have your meeting,” Striker said.

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