Page 2 of Scythe’s Salvation (Imperial Knights MC: Roanoke, VA #2)
CHAPTER
ONE
Scythe
I open another box of supplies and then take a second to stretch out my knotted neck and back.
About a month ago, after Cuda and I decided we were going to open up Imperial Ink, both presidents came to us and said the club was fronting the money to help bring more money into the club’s coffers.
With the brothers from Cedar Creek still here in Roanoke, there are a lot of extra bodies and mouths to feed, not to mention the cost of putting small cabins and modular homes on our property to fit everyone.
Dragon runs his guys from Cedar Creek, while Brick oversees us, but they’ve come up with a few businesses that can expand should the situation change and they opt to relocate elsewhere, such as the tattoo and piercing parlor.
I’m just happy to have a new place to lay ink since the location I was working at is two towns over.
It’s far easier to roll out of bed, grab a shower and what-not, then hit my girl and ride for ten minutes, than to have almost an hour commute.
Not that I mind riding that long, it’s more because of the traffic, which is generally at a standstill.
That doesn’t make my girl all that happy since she needs to move to stay cooled down.
“Getting too old for this shit,” I mutter as my shoulder seizes up.
Last week, I fell off the fucking ladder while helping install the shelves we need in our storage room.
Since both of us have worked in different places in the past, once we got the go-ahead from Brick and Dragon, we sat down and decided everything we liked about the shops we were in and designed ours accordingly.
One of our must-haves included a stockroom where everything had a place.
There’s nothing worse than going into the supply room to grab some new needles only to find that the boxes are empty.
It’s happened to both of us from time to time.
But since I fell, my shoulder, neck, and back have been giving me fits, which pisses me off.
I’ve never had issues with muscle spasms, not even when I played football during high school.
Those two-a-day practices in the Virginia heat and humidity were no joke, and a lot of my teammates experienced muscle cramps from being dehydrated.
“You ever think about maybe getting checked out for those aches and pains, brother?” Cuda asks as he walks into the room and catches me with my balled-up fist against my lower back.
“As if,” I scoff. “When is there time?”
We’re on a tight deadline since some of my customers from the old place found out that we’re setting up shop in Roanoke.
In fact, we’ve both already got a full book for the first three months once we open the door, for fuck’s sake, since Cuda has his own following.
We still need to hire a receptionist who will be responsible for making sure we get all the legal documents copied, plus he or she is going to oversee our inventory to make sure we always have sufficient supplies on hand.
“May wanna make time. Saber’s old lady swears by a massage therapist she found, maybe that would help? You gotta get straightened out before you start having to bend over a client with your gun,” he says.
A massage? Hmm, thoughts of soft hands working my muscles has me thinking of happy endings.
It’s been too long since I got my dick wet, but with all the extra brothers around, they’re keeping our club girls busy, and I guess with age comes maturity, because I no longer want to fuck someone every one of my brothers has touched.
As busy as we are these days, there’s no time to head into town to try and find a willing woman, either.
So, it’s been me and Rosy Palmer, along with lube, for far too long.
“Did Hawg check into that software program we found?” Cuda questions, grabbing the next piece of shelving and setting it in place.
He quickly adds a few screws to ensure it’s not going anywhere, then continues putting the boards up.
I had been installing the L-brackets after I measured everything twice, so it’s an easy job.
Picking up my drill, I start going behind him to add the extra hardware so that the shelves stay put.
“Yeah, he says it should work the way we want it to,” I reply, gritting my teeth at the pain still shooting through my body. Hell, I don’t think I hurt this bad the time I laid my bike down, which destroyed my leathers and gave me a few road rash scars.
It just adds character, my mind whispers, making me snicker. Sometimes, my inner monologues crack me up. I may be the club’s Enforcer, but life experience has given me a warped sense of humor, that’s for fucking sure.
“Good,” Cuda says. “Fuck, it’s really coming together, isn’t it?” he asks after standing back to admire the finished look.
“Yeah, now we just need our furniture to get here, and we’ll be ready to start slapping down some ink,” I state. “Need to check and see what the fuck the hold-up is on it because it should’ve been here.”
Hawg helped get us all the legal shit we have to have to be legit, including the forms that each client has to fill out before we even touch them. The inks, needles, and shit are set to arrive in the next few days, and we’ll probably see if we can get one of the old ladies to come in and give us a
hand to make sure everything is structured just right. The brothers already helped us organize the break room, which has a full-size refrigerator, a huge microwave, some comfortable couches, a table and chairs, as well as two well-appointed bathrooms.
We have a restroom for clients, but the breakroom is our sanctuary.
Since we anticipate hiring at least one female, we decided two bathrooms was needed.
We also have a cleaning crew hired, even though we’ll clean and disinfect our work areas after each client.
They’ll do a nightly clean, but once a month, we’ll have them do a deep dive to ensure all the nooks and crannies stay spotless.
Ryleigh, Rory, and Belle came in and decorated, keeping with our retro theme.
Our goal is to become so well-sought after that we get bikers coming in, but also the general public.
Which reminds me… “Heard anything back on the ad we placed?” We’re looking for another artist, as well as someone who can pierce.
Both of us are able to do that, but I don’t want to be piercing nipples or dicks if I can help it.
Still, it was another way to bring in the green, so I don’t regret taking the classes or getting the certifications.
“Got a few candidates we need to interview,” he says.
“Chicks or dicks?” I question, making him snicker.
“Both, actually. One is newer to the industry but wants to apprentice, if possible, they might be a good fit for the front desk position. We can work with them on walk-ins so they can get their hours in, what do you think?” he asks.
“Then we have one of each who are licensed to pierce, and two artists who strictly tat.”
I sigh because I hate doing interviews. They’re so damn time consuming and I have other things that need doing. “Think we should have Dragon and Brick talk to them? Suss them out?”
“Might not be a bad idea,” he muses. “I mean, we’re not gonna be talking about club business around citizens, but we are a club-owned business so they should have input to ensure that none of our new hires is a potential problem for the club.”
I agree, especially since we’ve basically rebranded ourselves.
We’ve come a long way from being Raiders, I think.
But the past has prepared us for the present.
We’ve had so many changes, some good, some bad, and I feel a sense of pride that as a club, we’ve come away mostly whole.
I mean, sometimes, I wish I had what my brothers who have old ladies do; someone to confide in and trust implicitly the way I do with my club, but it hasn’t happened yet and with me being in my mid-thirties, I’m losing hope it ever will.
Shoving that thought deep inside, I look at Cuda and say, “I think we’ve done as much as we can today, brother. Let’s hit the clubhouse and get some chow and a few beers.”
“You’re speaking my language,” he jeers, quickly grabbing the trash and placing it in the bin.
One of the things I like about Cuda is the fact that he’s like me in many ways.
We both clean up after ourselves, which makes life easier in the long run.
We walk alongside each other and check each room, turning off lights once we’re satisfied things are good, then after checking the front door to make sure it’s locked, we head out the back where our bikes are waiting, shining in the sun.
“Saber, Cuda was telling me your old lady found a massage therapist,” I say, setting my full plate on the table before sitting down next to him. “Can you get me that information?”
“I’ll do you one better,” Saber replies. Turning, he spies his old lady at the bar, cackling with Selah, Ryleigh, and Rory, and hollers, “Babe, need you!”
Roxy turns, glares at him, then slides off her chair and stomps over to where we’re sitting. “Do you realize that most of y’all call your women ‘babe’?” she asks.
“You should recognize who’s being summoned by our voice,” he rebuts, smacking her ass.
“Summoned? Really, Saber?” she retorts, her hand now on her hip and her eyebrow arched. She looks at me and smiles, saying, “Hey, Scythe. How’s it going down at the shop?”
“We’re getting there. If our chairs and shit arrive, we might do a soft opening in a week or so,” I reply.
“Now that you’re here, I understand you found a good massage therapist. Can you give me that information?
I uh… well, when that ladder tried to kill me last week, I banged myself up.
Gotta be able to use my gun, as well as stay hunched over a client without spasms.”
She beams and replies, “Oh, my God, you’ll love Tamara! She’s got all sorts of extra certifications and shit, but I don’t care about that, you know? My long hours at the hospital had me aching something fierce, and her hands are now my miracle workers.”
“She’s that good?” I question. I mean, I’ve had massages a time or two, but none that I would call spectacular enough that I returned to the therapist over and over again.
“Better, actually. I’ve had a residual knot toward the middle of my back forever and within two sessions, she was able to bust it up and then get to the actual area that was causing the issue to begin with,” she replies.
Then, looking at Saber, she smirks and says, “I know this one appreciates how she’s managed to fix me. ”
Saber chuckles as he pulls Roxy onto his lap, kissing her temple.
“Gotta say, I was a bit skeptical at first, but not gonna lie, Scythe, there was a place right about here,” he states, rubbing lightly around Roxy’s bra strap area, “that I could feel the knot. The whole area was swollen and painful to Roxy whenever I touched it. The first visit, it was smaller, and after the second one, it was completely gone. She’s got more flexibility now, which I appreciate. ”
I snicker when Roxy smacks his shoulder, glaring at him.
I know what he’s referencing, of course, and the pink tinge to her cheeks says she’s embarrassed at him pointing it out to a brother.
She should know by now, however, that as a biker’s old lady, she’s liable to see or hear just about anything.
“Yeah, yeah, we’ll see how inflexible I’m going to be tonight,” Roxy says.
Saber suddenly reaches over and touches my shoulder and I immediately feel warmth spread throughout my body.
I’m still a bit on the fence about the abilities many of the Cedar Creek brothers have, but right now, as the pain in my body eases, I’m leaning more toward belief than anything.
“That should help until you get an appointment with Tamara,” he says, removing his hand.
“Appreciate it, brother,” I reply. Maybe I’ll get some decent rest tonight, once I grab my shower, that is.
“Never a problem, Scythe.”
Brick comes over and says, “Dragon and I wanna do the interviews for the people who’ve responded to the ad.”
“Cuda and I were going to ask y’all to do that,” I reply. “Do you want us there as well?”
“Couldn’t hurt. Y’all have the technical knowledge and can ask questions about that, while Dragon and I watch to get a feel for them as a person.”
“Appreciate it, Brick. We don’t wanna bring anyone in that won’t be a good fit who might cause the club issues,” I reply.
“Then we’ll get them set up and let y’all know when you’ll be needed,” he says, striding toward the bar and his old lady, a gleam in his eye. I roll mine, knowing the club is going to continue to grow the way the taken brothers are with their women.