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I shut it down. No one was moving in or out of the clubhouse. Security at our other businesses had to be increased and maintained around the clock. Breeze decided to put the prospects to work, and it was time they showed the fuck up. We couldn’t bitch up. Money had to be made. We had families to provide for, and the community relied on us. The sooner we could get back to that, the better, but I couldn’t risk any tragedies happening.

I sat quietly, wondering the next move to make. Although I’d hate to admit it, Beast would know. I remember watching him when I was younger. He was rarely annoyed, listened, and would wait to hear all the information whenever he had to deal with a pressing issue. He’d leaned forward, then he’d tap whatever was in front of him like the desk or the bar counter and nod his head. That was his way of thinking whatever he needed to think through something. That method of his stuck with me which made how he ended up in prison a mystery. That wasn’t like Beast but egregious or not, his track record before that day told me I needed his input.

“I need to take a ride to see Beast,” I announced.

No one was there but me and Breeze. Brick would rub that shit in. He said I didn’t respect what Beast brought to the Saint Riderz. I did more than he would ever imagine. I just wanted better for us, and better wasn’t being at war with other clubs, or worse, someone close to us dying like our mother did.

I’d never be the same, and that hit on Gen, according to the arson report we received, confirmed a bomb of some sort had been planted when they ruled out faulty wiring. Who the fuck around us had bombs? I didn’t trust Chief King who took bribes and shit from people, so I couldn’t trust that report at all or him.

“By yourself?” Breeze asked. He knew how tense shit had been between me and Beast long before the explosion.

“The fuck will he do to me in a prison?”

“Truth, man. I’m just saying… Shit is off. First, the explosion. Now, bikers trying to gun you down. If Beast?—”

My hand went around his throat before he swiped it down and punched me in the jaw. I stumbled and laughed, tasting the saltiness of blood. He moved to the left, and I tackled him. Both of us fell to the floor. He hit me with a right hook, forcing us to roll over. He pressed his elbow against my neck. My chest heaved a rough, laborious breath. He had me fucked up. I pretended I gave up the fight, and when he eased up, I flipped to my side and forced him into a headlock.

“If you ever fucking compare me to him, remember I don’t go down fast or easily. I have more than me to think of. I have my entire brotherhood—blood included. Beast not being here is his fucking fault!” I seethed.

Breeze’s teeth pressed against his bottom lip. He wouldn’t give up, and I didn’t expect him to. With an elbow to my stomach, he knocked the wind out of me. I rolled up, taking deep and slow breaths. He stood up with hands on both knees, trying to catch his breath. Sweat trickled down his face before he rose and swiped the blood from his nose.

“Are you two finished or what? I should beat both of your asses.” Aunt Myanne threatened us. She stood there with a look of disgust on her face. “Since when does fighting each other solve anything?”

“It won’t.” I groaned then staggered as I tried to stand.

He didn’t let me struggle. He never would. I pinched my lips when he shoved his hand in my face, motioning for me to take it.

“Take his hand, Truth. Damn fool,” Auntie Myanne muttered. “When I come back, I expect you two to find your words instead of your hands.”

She looked at the table we knocked over along with a few pictures that were scattered across the floor.

“And clean this mess up.”

“It’s on me, Auntie.” Breeze fessed up, trying to catch his breath. “I said something I?—”

“Whatever it was, don’t let it divide you.” She halted him with her hand in the air. “Now, you called me over here to tend to your guest. If you think I have time to clean up your little bruises and scrapes, you’re wrong.”

Off she went, leaving us alone.

“One day, you’ll have to forgive him,” Breeze spoke. “The fuck knows what happened.”

“That means he did something that requires forgiveness or naw?”

Breeze nodded then took his shirt and pinched his nose.

“You got that.” He sniffed before he grinned and rolled his neck around. “Your ass snuck me. Have that same energy when we’re on that gravel.”

Yeah, the annual race fundraiser was still on. At least that was my vote, but the brothers had a say in it too.

Fuck! I was unraveling. I’d taken that shit out on the wrong person. I wasn’t Beast, and I didn’t want to be. That didn’t mean I didn’t question if I was cut out for this. We had OGs like Jake, Logan, Marco, even Paul that still were down for the Saint Riderz that could have been chosen. They accepted I was next in line, but that didn’t mean their loyalty wasn’t to Beast. They played in the background, mentored the prospects and shit. I rarely asked them to kill a motherfucker but I knew they would if it came down to it. Still, they ran and told shit to Beast whether they were aware I knew it or not. However, when I spoke, they fell in line. That’s all that mattered.

“What’s your move after we meet?” I probed and he shrugged.

I knew he was in a fucked-up headspace. Genny was still at the hospital. She had complications right before her discharge. She had a faint spell. Doctors weren’t sure if her anemia was the cause. They administered a few blood transfusions, but within a week or so, she’d be released.

“Who’s at the hospital with her?”

“Logan… Harlem... Gave Rowdy Red some time off. Gen’s been cursing that nigga out.” Breeze laughed, but it faded quickly when he sat down and rubbed his eyes. He looked tired. Hell, we all were tired.

“Nigga, you still my best friend. That means I know when you’re hiding shit. What’s up?”

“Nothing I can’t handle.” He sat up and glanced around. “It’s you I need to ask what’s going on.”

He punched my arm and I frowned, feeling the tenderness in my back from fighting his big ass.

“Ole girl upstairs. That’s Germ’s sister, right?”

“And?”

Once I brought her here, I called Aunt Myanne over. She was a retired nurse and whatever else we needed. She checked her out, gave her something for the pain, then set her up for the night in one of my guest bedrooms.

My house sat on the outskirts surrounded by a few acres of land. Breeze liked being in the mix, uptown in Rockside. Gen did too. Alix and I stayed here, but he’d been spending more time at his girl’s place or wherever the fuck he was. Once he wasn’t invited to Chancellor University for an appointment after he missed the first one, I was pissed. He had no clue what an accomplishment it was to attend a prestigious school, and now, he’d probably never know.

Fucking kids. So the fuck what he was twenty? Age didn’t qualify you for being a responsible adult. Maturity did, and he was dumb as fuck, thinking with his dick along with instant gratification. He was a techy, loved to game, and made a shitload of money doing it. That wasn’t a career, though. I had bigger dreams for his ass. But Alix wanted to be common, a motherfucking Saint Rider. I’d never water down what we brought to the community, but I won’t lie—I wanted more for him. He was just too stubborn to see it.

“Hey.” Breeze lifted both hands and stood.

He grunted when his cell phone rang back-to-back like he was running from a gang of bill collectors. He looked at it and grimaced before sliding it back into his pocket. Lately, he had been doing that more and more. I was worried, but he’d talk when he was ready. For now, I had a woman under my roof who irked my damn nerves but made my dick hard as fuck.

“Let me make this call. When the brothers get here and you’re ready to start, text me. I’ll be out by the river.” He was like Genny. They both loved to sit out there by the river, sitting on the pier and taking in nature. That’s why I was shocked when they both wanted to live uptown.

We slapped hands but pushed each other away, looking at our hands. Fucking blood.

“Nigga, wipe the side of your mouth. Look like you ate some bloody pussy,” I teased him.

“Fuck you.”

Just like that, shit was good between us. We had to save our energy for the enemy. Shit wasn’t making sense, but it would as soon as I had Alix investigate a few things. His tech game was strong which included hacking, but I mostly discouraged that shit. It didn’t matter, though. He was still fucking off, being stubborn. Ordinarily, that shit wouldn’t bother me, but things were falling apart, which made me realize that I did need to speak with Beast. Like it or not, he had experience with shit and Alix idolized him.

In the meantime, I had to tell my dick to calm the fuck down. The entire bike ride, her nails dug in my skin, her face was against my back, and the smell of lavender wafted like a sweet smell called life underneath my nose. She was everything good in this world, even if she had a fucked up way of how she talked to people. I got it. She wanted more for Germ. Hell, I did too.

Instead of turning him away and seeking another club to call home, I took him under my wing. I had my reasons for how I operated, how I selected those that were worthy to become a Saint Rider. Life had hit him like it had hit me, but I felt that shit twice as hard—once for Gen, and now his sister when he told me how she died. I caught him in the tattoo shop with that same look on his face.

He mentioned her anniversary death was coming. Damn, I had no clue, which meant I needed to spend more time with my prospects and not because I wanted to fuck his sister but because shit like that was important to know. It didn’t hurt that I actually liked his sister. She was like a tiny, cute chihuahua but with small, perky breasts and hips and ass that made me want to suck the lining out that pussy before I took her down. It was more than that though. I had to admit it, and that was the part that scared me. I wanted her for her, even though I knew deep down inside she wished Germ had never met me. He had, and her ass was stuck with me... for now.