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Ze laughed and nodded. “It is what he does.”

Zin smiled. “I like him for you. The two of you make a great couple.”

Ze cocked an eyebrow. “Oh, so does that mean you trust him now?”

“I trusted him after I heard about his Hell Week test. He kicked ass, I heard, and it was all because he wasn’t going to let the Lords tell him he couldn’t be with you,” Zindel said.

“Yes, he was amazing. The fight was so intense, everyone gathered around to watch,” Ze said.

“I heard. And he knocked Bruiser out! No one knocks him out.”

Ze laughed. “Out cold. He didn’t wake up for an hour.”

“Well, I’m happy for you,” Zin said and hugged his brother.

“Thanks.”

The two hung out there for a while before he drove back home to attend the meeting his president called. He took his seat and waited for the meeting to start.

“So, they jumped us. Do we attack back is the question,” Hound Dog asked. “And if so, how?”

“I say we hit their fucking clubhouse,” Bruiser suggested.

“Hit one of their businesses and take their cuts. Force their president to come to the table,” Raven said.

“I agree,” Wolf said. “In fact, that was my suggestion. We hit three of their businesses, like their barbershop, taco stand, and their tattoo shop, and take a cut from each one. It’ll be a shame to their club and force their president to come to us to get the cuts back. That’s probably what they were trying to do when they jumped you earlier.”

“It could open communication between our clubs if they’re willing to talk, but we need to be prepared for them to take action if they aren’t in the talking mood,” Jimmy said. “If they are, we’ll have to set more boundaries about our territory.”

“I say we kill them all. Fuck them. We already did this negotiation with them and they’ve been pushing that boundary all the time. Today, they crossed it,” Ze said.

“Sure, we can go to war, but it won’t be without loss of life on our end,” Wolf said.

“I’m not afraid of war,” Ze said.

“None of us are, but being afraid and being smart are two different things, boy,” Jimmy snapped. “You’ve got to know when to pick your battles and when to negotiate. We have chapters, they have chapters. Sure, we can call in reinforcements, but they can do the same. A war brings the police into our business and that, we don’t want. Cops are a problem enough as it is, but if they feel like we’re making too much noise, they’ll really start spying on us and trying to catch us committing crimes. Now, I don’t know about you, but I’m not trying to have a bunch of our brothers in jail over this shit.”

This time, Ze kept his mouth shut.

“I get it, I know some of you are ready to throw down and that’s what the Lords do. But only when we have to. Being a member of this club is about brotherhood first and foremost. And together we grow, we live by our own rules, and we take on enemies if we have to. We try this approach first. We all know the Devil’s Regrets have a new president and maybe he’s feeling himself and decided he didn’t want to honor the old deal. We need to prove to him that it’d be better for his health and the wellbeing of his club if he reconsiders his approach,” Wolf said. “So, we take their cuts to prove that we can. Putting some of his boys in the hospital is a must. Break limbs when you do it.”

“Aww yeah, I like that,” Ze said, smiling.

Wolf winked. “I figured you would. He’ll have to come to the table and negotiate. If he agrees, we end talks peacefully, let him leave, but keep our guards up. If he wants to throw down, then we go to war.”

“Sounds like a plan to me,” Jimmy agreed.

“I’m good with it,” HD added.

“So, we vote. Peace first, yay?”

All of the brothers voted.

“It’s unanimous. We bring it to the table,” Jimmy said, then banged the gavel.

All the men left and Ze went to Tiger’s home for dinner and one hell of a fuck.

* * *