Page 27

Dante

I went into church with nothing but Rachel on my mind – which really pissed me off, as I should have been thinking about Macbeth and his whereabouts, but all I could focus on was that woman who drove me to distraction.

It was clear to anyone with eyes she was annoyed that I had cut our day short, but she hadn’t thrown her usual bitch fit…

that alone had me nervous. Rachel was an expert at hiding her feelings and emotions behind that godforsaken blank look.

However, ever since I had broken the lock, she seemed to have no control when it came to me and flew off the handle at the slightest bit of provocation.

The fact that she had remained silent, not once, but twice in the space of a day, had me on fucking edge.

What the fuck was wrong with me that I was nervous about the way that tiny woman would react?

And yet I was. She was a vicious little bitch when she wanted to be, and she could cut glass with her tongue.

Maybe she’s making an effort, I thought to myself as I took my seat next to Crash’s chair and pulled out my cigarettes.

Yeah, and maybe I’m about to bend over this table and let the club all have a turn riding my ass. One of those was much more likely than the other, and I didn’t fancy the likes of Sunshine pounding me into oblivion.

“Everyone with us?” Crash asked as I flicked the lid to my lighter and sparked up.

Here we fucking go.

This was the first church meeting without Macbeth – apart from the quick emergency one that night.

How had it only been a day since that had happened?

If it wasn’t for the relentless throbbing in my head and the pain from my stitches, I might genuinely have believed it was all a crazy, fucked up fever dream.

I had gone from throwing Rachel out, to being kidnapped, to escaping, and then fucking Rachel’s brains out in one night. Then I had repeated it the next morning, drove her angry mother home, had a day out with my old lady and kid, and now I was sitting in church.

But that was the way club life worked. It was a fast-paced atmosphere, and if you blinked too often, it would feel like entire years had passed.

We lived like we rode. Fast, dangerous, and utterly head-spinning.

“Looks like it, boss,” Zach replied to Crash, pulling me out of my thoughts. I looked at the empty seat next to Zach and expelled an angry puff of smoke.

The stupid fucking bastard.

I’d find that cunt if it was the last thing I ever did, and God help him when that happened.

“Right. We’ll address the elephant in the room. Trent,” he snapped, looking at Zach’s eldest. Trent sat up straighter, looking from his dad to the president, and back again. “You wanna be the treasurer?”

He blinked a few times, his mouth falling open slightly in surprise before he regained his composure. “I—Sure, boss.”

“Move up,” Crash said, nodding his head at the empty seat.

“Nice one, Trenty boy,” Vienna smirked at him. “Does that mean Imogen will finally get the fuck out of the garage and stop pestering us all about the way the books are being run? Which was fucking Macbeth’s job anyway, might I add, so harassing the innocent men in the garage achieved nothing.”

“I’ve got a feeling you’ve fucked it, Ven. They’ll both be in the office now,” I laughed back at him, taking a draw of my cigarette. “Imagine it. Imogen and Trent, both lecturing you for your expenditure.”

“Then I quit. I’ve no business being in the garage, anyway. I’m the rat whisperer. I have nothing to do with money.”

“Didn’t you want petty change the other day because Mama said you couldn’t run your tab up any higher?” Monster frowned .

“You,” Vienna hissed, throwing his pen at him. “Are a nasty little snitch. I knew you were fucking eavesdropping.”

“It’s hardly snitching. We all know about your tab, Vienna,” Crash laughed.

“And it was hardly eavesdropping, either! Not when Mama was screaming for all to hear!” Monster said, throwing the pen back at Vienna. He ducked, and my hand shot out, catching it before it connected with the side of my face.

“If that had hit me—”

“I was aiming for Vienna!”

“Don’t fucking interrupt me,” I flicked my wrist, sending the pen back at him, hitting him straight between the eyes.

“Why are you laughing, Vienna?” Monster grinned, rubbing the spot where the pen had smacked him. “Aren’t you supposed to be the peacemaker?”

“I didn’t see anything. I was too busy recovering from the unjust attack inflicted on my character by your fine self. You’re on your own with this one.”

“Oi, Trent, put some of those fountain pens in the budget,” Monster said, drumming the table with his index finger. “Let’s see how those two fuckers feel having those thrown at them.”

“Really? A fountain pen? Dante,” Vienna gasped, gripping my arm. “Tell him no! Not the fountain pens!”

“Are we finished?” Crash asked, his elbows on the table, his chin resting on his linked hands as he looked at us with amusement.

Ordinarily, he would have shut this conversation down a while ago. But it was nice to see the club interacting with each other and having fun. It was nice to see the poison that was Macbeth hadn’t spread to distrust amongst the other members.

“Dante was stabbed with a self-defence keyring,” Chicken popped up. “Put one of those in the budget! He’ll be running for his life!”

I laughed, flicking my cigarette into the ashtray. “If Rachel’s the one wielding it, aye, I fucking will, and I’ve no shame in admitting it.”

“Pussy,” Chicken and Rooster said in unison.

“What the fuck is this? The poultry Shining twins?” Vienna scoffed, getting to his feet. “Hello, Dante,” he said in a high-pitched voice, dancing around my chair. “Come and play with us… Come and play with us, Dante… forever… and ever… and ever…”

“We really need to get you an old lady,” I laughed back, grabbing hold of his cut and hauling him back into his seat.

“No old lady could fix what’s wrong with him,” Crash muttered with disgust.

“But it might get him out of our hair once in a while.”

“He’s your friend, Dante. You brought him here.”

“Don’t blame me for that. You were friends with his dad!”

“I’m right here, guys. My feelings are only getting hurt, but don’t mind about that. You keep on slicing me with your words.”

“Cheers, pal.”

“Right.” Crash shook his head as Vienna rolled his sleeves up. “Before Dante and Vienna start wrestling on the floor like old times, let’s get things moving. Meeting begins. Shawn, James, the floor is yours.”

“You got so lucky,” Vienna hissed down my ear. “Daddy just saved your ass.”

I shook my head with a laugh, not bothering to reply.

“So, we were delivering the coke this morning,” Shawn began.

“And we’re approached by this guy. He asks where Macbeth is, and we just said that Macbeth wouldn’t be doing the deals anymore.

He said that was a shame, as Mac had always given him a bit extra on the top.

That’s when James asked him what the extra was for.

The guy shook his head and tried walking away.

Long story short, James cut his finger off and he told us that he was hanging around the Riders, waiting for an offer to join up, and he gave information to Mac in return for extra. ”

“Hang on,” Vienna chuckled. “I know you said long story short, but I feel like we’re missing several fucking steps here. James just casually goes around cutting people’s fingers off, does he?”

We all looked at James, but he just sat there with his arms folded, giving nothing away.

“Damn,” Vienna nodded his approval. “Ant, it looks like you may have competition for resident psycho.”

“He chops fingers off. I’d have chopped his dick off. This is why I don’t compete with prospects. They don’t compare.”

Silence filled the air as we let Ant’s words sink in .

And Rachel had the nerve to call me a fucking psycho!

“Anyway… Back to the bloke with the missing finger. He’s an official hang-around?” I asked, taking a draw of my smoke.

“Says so,” Shawn nodded, his face slightly paler than it had been a minute ago.

Something tells me he wasn’t quite up to the biker life now that reality was setting in.

He only had a few months left of his year as a prospect.

The odds weren’t in his favour for passing the graduation vote.

“He says the Riders aren’t looking for prospects right now, but he’s hanging around, just in case.

Been there a few years, by all accounts. ”

“So, what did he tell you about Mac?” Zach asked, his eyes briefly flicking to his president and lifelong best friend as he said Mac’s name.

“He said Macbeth turned up there last night asking for protection.”

“Did he say what time?” came from Crash.

“Nope. Looked pretty spooked, though, according to this guy.”

“More than likely, he went straight from Ben’s club to the Riders,” I said, turning to face my dad.

“Fuck,” Crash said, rubbing a hand over his face.

“Alright, listen. Now is not the time to pussyfoot around. If Macbeth has been under the Rider’s protection for almost a day, that means they’ll have got all the information out of him.

They’ll know about Dante’s escape, they’ll know we have Callum, and they know damn well Dante will have told us everything about what they were up to.

Macbeth was there for Callum’s confession?

” He said, directing his question at me. I simply nodded my head in response.

“Right. Then that settles it. We attack tonight. As soon as this meeting ends, the club is put on lockdown. And I mean full fucking lockdown. I don’t want anyone leaving church.

Do I make that clear? Tell Mama she can serve up meals in here and tell the rest of the old ladies to get as many blankets, water bottles, and games for the kids as their hands can carry. No one leaves until we return.”

“It’s already dropping dark, boss,” Zach said. “When are we leaving?”

“In an hour. Sooner if possible. Monster, Chicken, Rooster and prospects, I want you to stay here and guard the women. There're cameras set up in the back there,” he said, pointing to the office only he and I used. “Anyone comes in, it’s shoot on sight. We’re taking no risks.

I don’t care if it’s a civilian, a delivery driver or the damn cops.

You shoot, and you shoot to kill. Understood? ”

“Understood,” Monster said, whilst the rest of the guys nodded.

“Everyone else, go and say goodbye to your loved ones and get the plan in motion. We attack before we’re attacked. We leave in an hour,” he slammed the gavel down, ending the meeting, and we all got up without a word.

“What the fuck are you doing?” I snapped at Vienna as he got up and wrapped his arms around himself.

“Saying goodbye to the one I love the most,” he replied, looking at me as though I was stupid. He brought his hand to his mouth and started kissing the palm. “We’ve been through some good times together, you and I.”

“You,” I snapped, grabbing his wrist to still his movements. “Need fucking help.”

“Tell us something we don’t know,” Monster called over his shoulder.