Page 50 of Seduction

“Yes, baby, heknowsa lot of stuff.”

There’s another pause, and then Mikey asks for his music. It was a brief exchange, but I believe I just got the kid’s approval to date his mom. That’s one weight lifted from my shoulders.

Now I just need to work on the mom.

Ellen steals glances at me on our drive back home. Neither of us has said a word. With Mikey falling asleep shortly after we left the zoo, the car’s been quiet, only the low buzz of the radio punctuating the silence.

“You’ll have to drop me off at the clubhouse,” I say after checking my watch. “You can wait for me, or I’ll just pick up my bike later.”

“Okay. I’m pretty sure Daddy’s cooking, so we’ll stay for dinner.”

I nod, going back to the silence.

At the clubhouse, I lift Mikey into my arms, taking him indoors with Ellen by my side. The boy wakes up, looking around the room in confusion. We have church tonight, so there are no Hounds or outsiders around. The place is pretty quiet. All the brothers greet Ellen and Mikey as I hand him off to her.

“I’ll find you when we’re done,” I tell her.

“Okay.”

I jerk my head to the chapel, listening to the booted footsteps of my brothers following me. It’s a little weird for me being at the head of the table. I’ve only stepped in for Gage a few times, and each time I’ve felt like a usurper. This time is no different.

“Okay, boys. Let’s get this done,” I say as a way to call the meeting to order. “First thing—the last protection run.Jefewas very happy. You all did an excellent job.”

Venom moves to the safe, removing the envelopes with everyone’s payout. As he passes them out, there’s laughter and excited chatter. Gage was extremely generous with the percentages for this one. He’s always fair, though; that’s one of the reasons he’s a great leader, and my best friend.

“Don’t spend it all in one place,” I joke, tucking my envelope into the hidden pocket in my cut. “Now, I stopped by the Kitty and Patch to check on things. Quarterly earnings will be available by the December monthly meeting, along with dividends from our deal with the Snakes.”

A couple months ago, we had a run-in with the Black Snakes. Instead of killing them all like he wanted to, Gage brokered a deal between them and our charter in Jacksonville. They would be a distributor for Mission’s pain meds, and we get a cut from the Snakes’ end for a while.

I scan the room and my brothers’ faces. “Any new business?”

“VP?”

“Yeah.” I turn to Tek.

“Not really business, but I’d like to upgrade our security systems.”

“What aspects?”

“Basically everything. We need new cameras, equipment, software….”

“I’ll run it by Gage, but if you’re recommending it, I’m pretty sure he’ll say yes. Get with Venom and work out some figures.”

“Got it.”

“Anything else?”

There’s a resounding “no,” so I adjourn the meeting, watching a very happy group of men leave the room. Chopper remains in his seat, so I do, too.

“How’d it go?” he asks once we have the chapel to ourselves.

“Good. I took them to the zoo. We had fun.”

“And Mikey?”

“He was great. He seems… okay with the situation, although we haven’t said anything to him.”

“I see.”