Page 16 of Duchess (Royal Harlots MC: National New York Chapter #1)

Duchess

T he tension was rising in the Royal Harlots.

There was still no word from Jinx, and the girls were scared.

I was worried that they’d find us. I’d sent out a few prospects to ask around, but I told them to watch their backs.

You just didn’t know who was watching, and if it was the Turks, then they were hot on my trail.

The phone rang, and when I saw my brother’s name, my gut tightened. He had fucked me over once already, but I needed to know what he wanted now.

“What do you want?” I answered tartly.

“Jameson wants to see you." He replied.

"What?!" I leapt out of my chair as my brother sprang the news on me.

"Why, Colt?”

"He's been making his rounds and talking to the Presidents of the chapters. He’s getting a feel for everyone. He knows you’re not a threat, but he still wants to speak with you."

“Does Dad know about this? About me building the Harlots?”

“Not yet. I asked Jameson to keep the family out of it.”

"Shit, Colt! I don't know if I want to see him."

"You can’t avoid him. Not Jameson. I told you there were going to be consequences for being a Harlot. I'm surprised you were able to avoid Rancid for so long."

"That's because I beat the shit out of one of his men after he nearly killed one of my girls. I think I made it pretty clear they couldn't fuck with me."

I heard his smirk, and I narrowed my eyes. "Don't test me, Colt."

"He'll be in Los Angeles tonight, and I’m going with him. Don't defy him, Sis. He's different. He's got a plan laid out; I just can't figure it out just yet."

"Do you have any idea how many men followed, Rancid. Including yourself. He's probably taking out the trash.” I couldn't blame Jameson. He deserved all the vengeance he could get.

"Even if it means your brother gets the brunt of it."

"Fuck, you’re the first one on my shit list, why not his?"

“Nice,” he grunted.

I paused for a second, taking it all in. Either way I looked at it, it didn’t hurt hearing him out, and besides, having a Bastard for an ally might not be such a bad idea.

“Fine, if he wants to see me, we can meet at the Den. It’s Death Row Shooters' Territory. I’ll put your names on the list. I’ll text you the location.”

"I'll text you the meeting time. Don't be late."

I mimicked him as soon as the phone went dead. He always brought out the little sister in me. But as soon as I set the phone down, this feeling of dread came over me.

Rhea strode in as I hung up the phone. Seeing the distressed look on my face, the look on hers immediately fell. “They found her?”

I shook my head, knowing she could see the concern in my eyes. “Elrik Jameson, the President of the Royal Bastards MC, wants to see us.”

“Fuck. What for?”

“Colt opened his big mouth and let him know about what we have going on here. I’m assuming that he wants to know that I’m loyal to the patch. And I presume he also wants to know what in the hell I’m doing with an all-female MC.”

“Is that a good thing or a bad thing?”

“I’m not sure yet. It depends on how much respect he has for me and what I’ve built. I’ll be meeting with him tonight, and you, my love, are coming with me.”

“What?!”

“For eye candy,” I teased.

“Don’t fuck with me, Duchess.”

“Exactly. I need you, as the Harlots VP, to make sure they know that.”

She smirked and shook her head. “Just let me know when to be ready.”

I had a good relationship with some of the chapters in the RBMC.

Colt made sure of that when I initially started all this.

But Jameson was another storm altogether.

I didn't know what to expect of this meeting.

All I knew was that I needed to get my shit together because Elrik Jameson wasn't about issuing forgiveness at the moment.

I had to be on my game in order to get what I wanted.

The young man I once knew was now gone. In his place was a tattooed, blue-eyed hunk of a man with a deadly stare and true vengeance in his eye.

"Duchess," he greeted me as Colt walked in behind him. My brother also looked much older. He’d grown out his blonde hair, gotten a lot more muscles than I remembered, and his hazel eyes stared back at me expectantly.

I wanted to greet him properly, but there were too many witnesses, so I simply cocked my head at him, and he did the same.

“Jameson,” I reached to take his hand, but instead he came over to me and wrapped his arms around me.

"You've grown up, Stephanie Winters."

I tugged on his leather jacket, "You got old, Elrik Jameson."

It was as if time had never stopped. We were back at being young teenagers trying to manage living in a clubhouse.

When we were younger, we’d get bullied a lot in school.

People liked to judge us, others shunned us for the life our parents lived.

So all we had was each other, especially in high school.

We were inseparable back then. It was good to see he hadn’t forgotten that.

"Shit happens to a man when he gets exiled."

"So I've heard. Never believed a word of it. Glad you made it out alive.”

He grunted. “After hearing what you’ve been through, glad you did too.”

“Barely,” I whispered.

I turned and introduced Rhea, who seemed shocked at our interaction.

“Nick’s granddaughter?” He asked, reaching out to her for a handshake.

“That’s right,” she squared her shoulders, standing at her full five-foot-seven stature.

“He was a good man. He used to ride with my dad. Had him visit a couple times.”

Rhea glanced at me as her shoulders slowly eased. We weren’t expecting an empathetic President.

Colt came around and placed a hand on my shoulder, squeezing it lightly. “See, I told you it wasn’t so bad,” he whispered.

“We’ll see,” I whispered back.

“How you doin’ Reaper? Seems like the Den has gotten some work done since the last time I was here.” Jameson placed a hand on his shoulder before taking a seat near him at the end of the conference table.

We were in Reaper’s back offices, hidden from eyes and ears, in a completely soundproof room.

Reaper chuckled. “Let’s just say business has been good.

“Good to hear.”

Rhea and I took our seats across from them and quietly waited for Jameson to say something. I still didn’t know what to do here, because I didn’t know what he wanted.

He leaned forward, elbows on the table, and stared at me. "The Royal Harlots MC. Tell me about it."

“What do you want to know?”

“Everything. But first… tell me, Duchess. How’d you come across all the money to build it?”

"We've got several entities including the Rouge Roulette here in L.A."

He nodded as I spoke about the profit and about how I'd gotten to where I was. In turn, I told him about Caleb Killic and the Turkish Mafia.

“And you think you can handle them?”

I nodded. “For now,” I uttered. Not telling him how close they were to finding me.

"How have you been able to hide this long?"

"There's a friend who's been able to keep us under the radar. Let’s just say Stephanie Winters no longer exists. She hasn't existed for a long time."

"I'm about to put an offer on the table which could benefit us both. I won't penalize you if you don't agree to it, but I think it's in your best interest to at least consider it."

"This isn't part of your vengeance plan, is it? cause I'm not really in the mood to be used as a pawn in your plans. I had shit to do with whatever happened to you."

He smirked. "I see you've been well informed."

I shrugged. "I'm not stupid, Elrik. I know why you came back. I’m rooting for you and hell, I’ll help you take those fuckers out, but don't ever for one second think I'm gonna let you or anyone ruin what I've built."

He raised his hands. "I'm asking for a partnership. I help you; you help me."

"Okay. Let's hear it."

"We've got a new business we're looking into, and money is coming in. More money than we thought we could handle. I was looking at several investments and your Royal Harlots came up."

"Oh? And what sort of business?"

"I'll let you in on that when you've gained my trust. For now, I just need your word that you agree on spending a little extra money on your clubs and sending some my way when you can."

I narrowed my eyes on him, realizing what he was asking. "You want to use our businesses to launder your profits."

"And you get a percentage, including access to anything you want from the Royal Bastards MC."

I paused. "Anything?"

He nodded. "Anything, Stephanie."

"Back up?"

He nodded, and my wheels started to spin. "For the entire Chapter?"

He chuckled. "Within reason, but yes."

"And full affiliation,” I asked.

"Now you're reaching."

"You're the one who came to me, remember."

Sighing, he knew I had him. I held my breath until he propped his hands on his hips and hung his head in defeat. “You drive a hard bargain, but okay."

I looked at Rhea, who simply shrugged. Leaning in, she whispered into my ear. “It’s not a bad deal. He’s pretty much offering protection, and we need it right now. Don’t be stupid, Stephanie.”

I looked at Colt who nodded at me, but I was still unsure. I’d built the Harlots with my own sweat and tears, just to have it taken away by some President of another club. It didn’t matter if it was the Royal Bastards, nor that one of them was family, I didn’t trust any fucking man.

“I’m not taking your club, if that’s what you think, Duchess.” He assured me.

I looked up at him, shocked that he’d read my mind. “Then what are you doing?”

“I’m simply making a partnership deal.”

“Partners?”

He nodded and I sighed. “Do I have time to think about it?”

Both Colt and Stephanie shook their heads, but Jameson smiled. “If you didn’t, I’d question it.”

“Good, then I’ll let you know in the next couple days.”

As I shook his hand on it, he gave it a tight squeeze and a slight tug, pulling me in to whisper in my ear.

“Don’t be stupid, Duchess. This is a good deal.

And the way things look for you, girls going missing and all, you won’t be able to handle things alone for much longer.

No matter who you have as backup. I know who runs the Turks, and he’s a fucking monster. He’ll stop at nothing, Duchess.”

He released me and I stepped away, staring back at him in shock. I quickly realized he knew a lot more than he had said. I followed all of them out of the Den and when we were finally outside, Colt came over to me, dragging me away from Rhea so we could talk privately.

“Are you insane?”

“Why didn’t you tell me that he knew about Caleb and my girls?”

“Because I didn’t know. Besides, Jameson has men everywhere. I’m sure he checked you out before he came out here. If he’s trusting, you enough to make a business deal, then I suggest you take it.”

“I don’t need to make business deals with anyone, Colt. Your sister can fucking handle herself.”

“Don’t be stubborn!”

“Don’t be a fucking mat!”

“You know absolutely nothing about what I’ve been through in that club for Jameson, for Dad. So you shut your mouth, and you listen to me for a second. You cannot handle the Turks alone.”

I glared at him for a few seconds, feeling my blood start to boil. “Jameson came to me with a business deal. Now I will think about it. Period.”

I walked away, leaving him standing there as I grabbed Rhea and we headed to our motorcycles, which were parked down the street.

“Are you sure about this?” she asked.

“He wants to use our businesses, Rhea. Are you willing to give up Rouge Roulette?”

“Of course not.”

“Then let me think about it.”

She glanced at me before putting on her pink helmet, and we both revved our engines and took off. We both knew things were about to change, and not entirely to what we expected.