Page 5 of Coal (QUEENS WRAITHS MC #2)

COAL

The total disbelief on my face matches the expression on every single one of my brothers’ faces.

I stare at the phone as if somehow waiting for the idiot on the other end to tell me he’s joking.

I’d called Church and filled everyone in on what Cahir had said.

They’d all been on board about the paintball opportunity, as I’d known they would be, and like Nickel had pointed out, most of what he’d told us we’d expected.

But what I hadn’t expected was the demands from the guy we were supposed to be buying guns from.

“What the fuck? Are you high?” I growl.

“No, I’m not fecking high,” the man blusters.

We could all hear he was an educated man and knew from the background check Sterling had done that he was as corrupt as fuck and regularly took backhanders as a judge.

It made my blood boil, as we had a brother in prison in the States, and it made me wonder if they’d had judges who had looked the other way.

I wasn’t na?ve; I knew it happened, but this guy—and it looked like his son—were pieces of work. Although Sterling hadn’t found much on the son, basically, the family were high-born thugs, and I wasn’t keen on doing business with him, never mind marrying one of his daughters like he was demanding.

“So let me get this straight. You want me or one of my brothers to marry one of your daughters before you’ll do business with us?”

We can hear from the change in the tone of his voice that he thinks he has us over a barrel when he replies, “That’s correct. I don’t know you, but I’ve done my research, and you seem on the up and up. I think we could have a mutually beneficial arrangement if we were part of the same family.”

He could think what he wanted, but I had news for him. We didn’t bow to anyone.

What I wasn’t liking was hearing he was willing to basically sell off his daughters to further his gain, and I could see by the looks on my brothers’ faces that they thought the same.

While none of us wanted to get married, I was more worried about the girls.

I knew from the check Sterling had done that one was the same age as Opal and the other was a few years older.

I couldn’t imagine my sister being what equated to being sold to further a business deal.

“Which daughter?” I ask, pretending to be curious. Cross went to say something, but I held up a hand for him to wait.

“I have two. One is eighteen and the other is fifteen, if you happen to like them young. They’re both virgins, so you’d be getting good quality.”

My anger grew as we listened to him. For fuck’s sake. The way he spoke about his children as if they were a commodity.

“I need to speak to my brothers. We’ll call you back in an hour.” Abruptly, I end the call.

“Jesus, Coal, they’re babies,” Cross groans, looking ill.

“I know, brother, but this is just the beginning. You know it’s going to get worse than this. Fuck!!!” I growl out. If I could hit something, I would.

“What do you want to do?” Copper asks.

Scowling, I grunt, “You mean other than obliterate the fucker? ”

Chuckles rise around the table at my words. “Unfortunately, the man has our firepower,” Brass grumbles.

“Yeah, sadly he does,” I mutter, rubbing a hand tiredly over my face. “What do you guys suggest? I will say I’m not comfortable leaving those girls there.”

All the brothers nod their agreement.

Making a decision, I turn to Sterling. “Find out as much information as you can about Kelly and his family. Use your counterpart, Hard-Drive, if you have to, but I want all that information by the weekend.

“In the meantime, I’m going to agree to a meet, but I’m not agreeing to shit. I want my eyes on those girls so I can see what condition they’re in. We can decide after that.

“Tinman, I’m leaving you here with Sterling, but the rest of us are riding. Are we all good with that?”

There’s a resounding “Aye, Pres.”

Picking up the phone, I dial out and wait for the dickhead to pick up. When he does, I waste no time in telling him, “We’ll be there on Monday. Have the girls ready for us. ”

Kelly chuckles, and I can hear that he thinks he’s won. “I’ll have a marriage licence ready for Monday afternoon. I look forward to doing business with you.”

Ending the call, I look at my brothers. “We’ll make a plan once we get more information. Do any of you have anything to add?”

When they all shake their heads, I slam the gavel down on the table, dismissing church. I push my chair back, stating, “I need a fucking drink to wash this bad taste from my mouth.”

“Same,” Copper agrees, opening the door.

We file out into the main common room, and I head straight to the bar where Blue must read the look on my face because, by the time I get there, he’s poured a glass of whisky and hands it to me as soon as I reach him.

Throwing it back, I tap it on the bar to be filled up, saying, “Line them up, Blue. I think everyone is going to want a glass.”

“You got it, Pres,” he replies, lining up glasses and filling them up. They are immediately picked up and emptied by all the brothers.

“Jesus, it must be bad,” Blue rumbles, filling them up again.

“You’ve got no idea. Pour yourself one and follow me to the office, and I’ll fill you in. We’ll need you for this.”

“You got it, Pres.”

Turning on my heel, I walk out of the main room to my office, where I throw myself on my chair and slump against the headrest to wait on Blue.

***

None of us are impressed with the information we’ve found out, and we leave for Ireland earlier than we expected, as I want to get the lay of the land before we even think of meeting this fuckhead and his family.

Not much could be found out about the son, and there was almost nothing about his daughters.

While we may not be looking forward to the upcoming meeting, we were enjoying the long ride.

It had been months since we’d been out on the road like this, and if I’d missed it, then I’m sure that my brothers had.

Maybe in the summer, we’d look at doing a poker run with the Crows.

That is, if they even did something like that here.

If not, we’d start one. It was a great way to raise money, and it would be good for the community to get to know us. Something to think about.

It was late when we arrived at the place we’d be staying at. Before we’d left England, I’d reached out to Adam and asked if he knew of anywhere discreet to stay. He’d put me in touch with his uncle, who was happy to have us stay in one of their rental properties.

It took us ages to get through all the Dublin traffic, and it took everything in me to keep hold of my temper as cars pulled in front of us, forcing us to pull up. Motioning to my brothers to pull in closer so that we moved as one unit, stopping that shit in its tracks.

We eventually made it through and got to the address we’d been given.

It was on the outskirts. We drove down a quiet road that only had four houses on it, with green fields and trees surrounding it.

It was like a completely different world to the noise and chaos of the main city we’d just left behind, and immediately I relaxed, not realising how tense I’d been.

As we rode closer to the houses, an older man stepped away from a door and walked towards the road.

My attention may have been focused on him, but I didn’t miss a shadow standing in the door of the house at the corner.

Stopping my sled just short of the older gent, now that I was closer, I could see the resemblance to the O’Sheas of Fitheach.

Dismounting, I took my helmet off and held out my hand towards him, stating, “ You must be Sean O’Shea? ”

“That I am, lad, and you must be the new bikers that have set up shop in Southampton. Welcome to Ireland,” he smiles as he introduces himself to each of my brothers before turning toward the house over the road and lifting his hand.

We watched as a dark-haired, bearded dude prowled over with a huge-ass fucking dog following at his heels.

I’m not sure what breed it was, but it looked about the size of a horse.

It was ugly as fuck, and I wouldn’t like to meet it on a dark night.

Saying that, I wouldn’t like to meet this guy either, I thought as he came closer.

I could tell straightaway he was related to Sean by his looks, but that was about it.

Whereas Sean had an open, friendly demeanour, this guy was hard-faced, muscular, and had the coldest dark eyes I’d ever seen. Definitely not someone you fucked around with.

“This is my nephew, Butcher; he owns the houses on this road and rents this one out.”

Holding out my hand to Butcher, I wait as he studies it before wrapping a hand around mine in a quick, hard shake before letting it go. He just nods at the rest of my brothers.

Sticking his hand in his pocket, he pulls out a ring with keys on it and proceeds to remove one.

Handing it to me, he tells me, “I’ve stocked the house with basics to keep you going for the two days you’re here.

And the merchandise you asked for is on the dining table broken down, so you should be able to fit it in your saddlebags. ”

“Thanks,” I say, surprised because he didn’t seem like the guy who’d think of that. “What do we owe you?”

“Nothing,” he mutters, then continues as if talking pains him, “if you need anything else, knock on my door,” he motions to the house over the road. “There’s no-one renting next to you at the moment, so you won’t have to worry about noise.”

Just then, a car drives up the road and pulls into the driveway next to Butcher’s.

His entire body stiffens when a blonde, curly-haired woman steps out of the car; her head comes up when she notices us, and she waves, smiling a wide, friendly smile before opening the back door and helping a little girl with the same curly blonde curls as her mother out.