Page 6

BULL

Leaning back in my chair at the head of the table in the conference room we were using as a temporary meeting room for Church while our new clubhouse was being built farther back on the property. Moving to Zambia and starting a new club had been a steep learning curve for all of us, and I’d had to lean hard on Reaper for those first few months. Noni had unfailing faith in me, and I didn’t want to let her down. Added in the fact that she’d been pregnant, which hadn’t been planned, had sent me into a tailspin at the thought of losing her like I’d lost Gwen.

We’d had to clean house those first few months, and it had been hard, especially learning the laws of a new country and what was acceptable. Luckily, we already had contacts who were born and brought up here. Dex Macgregor and his brothers, as well as Noni’s ex-bosses Ava and Marie and their husbands, had been happy to help with anything we needed, along with Dragon’s best friend, Cassie, who was also related to Dragon’s Old Lady. It had almost felt too easy, the way everything slotted into place. It was good to have allies in a strange country, even if sometimes the hair on the back of my neck stood up in their presence.

There was something about them, but I couldn’t put my finger on what it was that always had me slightly on edge in their presence, even though they were the nicest people I’d met. Their families worked similarly to the way the MC worked, with Dex being in charge on the whole and most big decisions going through him, although they all worked together to run their businesses.

From what I understood, they all met once a month to go over their companies and to make decisions that benefited them all. I also had a feeling that they weren’t scared of getting their hands dirty if needed—not when it came to protecting their families and those that relied on them.

Although Noni had told me in no uncertain terms that we were never visiting them because there was something in their water—she was sure of it—that made them all have multiple births. I’d laughed but agreed that we’d stay on our side of the country.

As soon as Bond had called me yesterday, I’d put a call in to Dex to see if he knew anything about the Black Mambas. When he’d wanted to know why, I’d explained about Bond and Rochelle.

My thoughts turned to Bond; he’d always been quiet, and I’d known him for a very long time. He’d grown up on the same estate as Skinny and me. He’d been best friends with Skinny for years, and I thought of him as another younger brother. He’d got the name Bond when he joined the military alongside Skinny for the same reasons we did: to get off the estate we lived on. Although I think he’d had it even worse in his house than we did, he never said anything. But when a person preferred staying in our warzone over going home to his place, then you knew whatever he lived in wasn’t good.

That he hated dirt and untidiness, even on himself, spoke volumes. I’d often wondered if we should get him assessed for OCD, but Noni had said to leave him be; it wasn’t affecting him or the way he lived. That didn’t mean I didn’t worry about him, especially over the last year. It had taken some time, but I’d finally figured out that he’d met someone on one of his trips to the city and that she wasn’t free to be with him. He’d withdrawn so much from everything that I was beginning to wonder if we should send him back to the UK for a bit, but something had held me back. We’d all kept an eye on him to make sure he didn’t fall too far.

I’d been surprised when he’d said he’d do the trip into the city yesterday. With the use of the plane we now had, there was no need for us to drive the three hours in and out, and we’d found a different supplier.

When he’d called, I’d been hard-pressed not to get on my bike and head towards the city to escort them back. I’d said so while I’d been on the call with Dex, but he’d told me to hang on and he’d have some of his guys who were already in the city follow them instead. Not that Bond had been aware of that. Dex had assured me that his people would only make themselves known if there was a threat.

None of us had been able to settle until we’d heard his vehicle park behind the hotel. Noni and Julia had held me and Rogue back, instead insisting that his closest brothers go and meet them along with Josie so it wouldn’t overwhelm them.

I could already see the difference in him last night when we’d checked in. Rogue had drawn the straw for this morning’s meet at breakfast to see what she was like. It didn’t surprise me in the slightest at how protective we all were over him, and the need to make sure that Rochelle was good enough for him had been eating at me, even though Rogue, Blaze, Skinny, and Cairo had all assured me that she was perfect for him. Added in the fact that he’d taken to her daughter like a duck to water helped settle me some.

Watching the two of them interact at lunch had me realising that they were completely in sync with each other after only a night.

Deep down, I knew I wouldn’t relax until we got rid of Rochelle’s brother-in-law because we’d have to if we wanted to protect her and keep her and Daisy safe. I knew deep in my heart that if something happened to either of them, we’d lose him.

The door of the conference room opened, and Noni came in smiling, her wild red hair hanging loose today, green eyes sparkling and her face clear of worries. “Hello, handsome,” she says, bending to kiss me. Threading my hand through her hair, I deepened our kiss when she went to pull away. “Fuck, Noni, you get more beautiful every day,” I mutter against her lips when I let her up for air. She laughed softly, pressing another kiss to my lips and replying with a soft, “Thank you,” before sitting down on my right. Rogue would sit on my left when he arrived, with Julia next to him and so on. I’d made sure there was an extra chair brought in for Rochelle earlier.

“What do you think?” I question.

“I like her; she’s had a hard time, but she hasn’t let it break her. I think she’s perfect for him, and he’s already bonded with her little one, who is gorgeous and so frigging tiny,” Noni answers, knowing exactly what I wanted to know.

“No!” I state unequivocally.

“Just one more,” she teases. And I knew she was teasing because we’d both agreed that the four children we had were more than enough. I don’t think my blood pressure could take it if we had to go through another pregnancy.

“You’ll have to make do with any babies the brothers give us if they ever find the right woman. Plus, you only just had Sam,” I tell her.

“Fine,” Noni sighs and pouts playfully, then laughs, patting my hand. “I’m just teasing, honey. The four we have are more than enough, trust me.”

“So, you think she’s a good match for him,” I worry, going back to my original question.

Noni smirks at me, “Yeah, honey, I do. Stop worrying. If you’re like this about your brothers, what are you going to be like when our kids start bringing partners home?”

“I still have years to worry about that. I just want my brothers to have what we have,” I tell her.

Noni grips my hand to get my attention, “My thoughts are she’s tough because she’s had to be; she’s loyal because she put up with years of shit to save her dad, and even though her heart is breaking because she said goodbye to the man who raised her just yesterday, knowing she’s probably never going to see him again, she hasn’t let it break her.

“She got up this morning, took care of her baby, and started working. That’s not to say she won’t break later when she’s not running on adrenaline, but if she does, we’ll be there to help her. Once she knows she can trust us, she’ll be just as loyal to us. That’s what I think.” Noni’s gaze didn’t leave mine as she laid it all out for me.

“Okay,” I say, just as the door opened and Rogue came through, stopping in the doorway before the rest could follow in after him.

“We good in here?” he wants to know when he took in how Noni and I were sitting.

Relaxing, I wave him in. “It’s all good, brother. Come in and let’s get this meeting started.”

Rogue let go of the door and walked over to Julia’s chair, pulling it out for her as the rest of the club slowly started filtering in, with Bond and Rochelle coming in last with Daisy. It amused me a little to see her because I had a feeling we were one of the few MCs that allowed our women in Church, never mind a baby. It made me wonder what other MCs would think. Not that it bothered me because I liked that our women knew what was going on and how to protect themselves, even those like Julia who didn’t like violence.

Once everyone was settled, I slammed the gavel on the table, calling the start of the meeting.

“First, I’d like to welcome Bond’s Old Lady to the club,” I state, turning my gaze to Rochelle’s nervous one. “Welcome to the Crowthorne Chapter of the Crow MC, Rochelle. We’ll have a celebration and get your cut made as soon as possible.” With the welcome out of the way, I didn’t waste any time in getting to the reason for this meeting. Rogue already knew most of what I had to say, but the rest needed updating.

“I put a call into Dex yesterday to find out what he knew about the Black Mambas,” I start, and note the wince that Rochelle made at their name. “It seems that once upon a time they were a massive gang. When the current leader’s father and uncle were in charge, they were a force to be reckoned with. Most left them alone because not only were they violent, they had a lot of government and police officials on their payroll.

“However, it seems that the new leader, Jason, who is your deceased husband’s older brother. Rochelle am I correct?”

Rochelle nods, replying, “Yes, that’s correct.”

“It seems that Jason doesn’t have as much of a grip on the gang as he’d like people to think. The older generation have been calling for an heir, which neither he nor his brother seemed inclined to give them until you had Daisy,” I say to Rochelle.

“Now it seems that Jason is losing grip even more ever since his brother and his brother’s best friend were killed in different gang-related shootouts. And it seems he’s partial to sampling his own product.

“There’ve been rumblings of a takeover, but we don’t have any confirmation yet. It’s probably just as well you got out when you did,” I inform Rochelle. “Dex had heard through the grapevine that Jason was going to take over where his brother left off and make you his wife.”

Bond muttered something under his breath at my words as Rochelle gasped, gripping the table until her fingers turned white. Her lightly tanned skin paled, and the light dusting of freckles stood out against the whiteness of her cheeks.

“No,” she whispers brokenly. “I can’t go back, and definitely not to him. Jared was bad enough, but Jason,” she hesitates before continuing, “he’s evil; women don’t always leave his place alive.”

She looked ready to bolt, and I think that if Bond hadn’t had a good grip on her hand, she’d have been out the door.

“Rochelle,” I boom loudly to get her attention. When I am sure I have it, only then do I continue, “darling, you don’t have to worry about him. He won’t get anywhere near you,” I reassure her. “I promise we know what we’re doing. This gang is not the first gang we’ve been up against.”

“But,” she whispers as tears fill her eyes, “I don’t want any of you to get hurt because of me, and he’ll come for me, especially as I’ve had Daisy. She’ll be useful to him as she gets older; he’ll trade her like he’s done to his sisters.”

“Fuck that,” Bond curses, making Daisy jump and let out a cry. Blaze reaches over and plucks Daisy from Rochelle’s hold, stands up, and starts to pace, patting her back until she is calm.

Bond continues furiously, “He’s not getting anywhere near you or Daisy, Roch. I can promise you that. He doesn’t know what he’s up against. Not only are we all trained, but our women are no slouches either.”

“He’s right,” Noni assures Rochelle. “We’ll leave the men shortly to the planning, as that’s what they’re good at, and I’ll take you to the shooting range. I’m guessing you can shoot, having grown up here.”

Rochelle nods, wiping at the tears on her cheeks. “Yes, I can shoot,” she replies. “I can also use a slingshot, and I’m pretty good with knives. My dad insisted that I learn to protect myself.”

“Well, God bless the man,” Julia says kindly, reaching across the table and patting Rochelle’s hand. “He obviously raised a strong woman. Trust me, this will all get sorted.”

“Plus,” Rogue tells her, “we’re not alone; we have allies we can call in if we need to, but I doubt very much we will.”

“Okay,” Rochelle answers shakily, but at least the colour is returning to her cheeks, and Bond no longer looks like he is coming out of his skin. Daisy has settled back down, and Blaze has handed her back to her mother now that Rochelle is a little calmer. “Thank you, none of you had to do this. I’m very appreciative.”

Noni smiles at Rochelle, “You’re a Crow now, Rochelle, and protection comes along with being an Old Lady. Now how about us ladies leave so the men can make a plan, and we’ll touch base with them later?” Pushing back from the table, Noni stands, Julia and Josie following suit. Slowly, Rochelle stands up, still looking shaky and uncertain. Josie, not letting her think too much, wraps her arm around Rochelle’s, pulling her towards the door, saying, “Come on, let’s go shoot some shit up.”

Laughter flows around the table, and Rochelle relaxes slightly as she looked over her shoulder at Bond, who nods to let her know it is okay. As soon as they are gone, he turns to me, “What’s the plan, Pres?”

I look around the table at my brothers and shake my head at the excitement that lights their eyes at the thought of creating some mayhem, especially as it would mean protecting someone we cared about.

Leaning forward, I outline my thoughts and then wait for them to come up with their own strategies; between us, we’ll come up with a plan to ensure that Rochelle is safe. In the distance, the sound of shooting takes over, and I thank the Lord that we have women who aren’t afraid to get their hands a little dirty when necessary. Once we’ve finalised our plans, I’ll call Church again so we can fill them in so that they know what we’ll be doing to keep everyone safe.