“Oh, come on. I know this kind of woman. Maddie is a good girl, Bull. She is the kind of girl who has to bring the nice boy home to mommy.”
“Then clearly you don’t know everything about Maddie, do you?”
“What?”
“Her parents are dead. Have been for some time now. She’s all alone. There’s no parent for her to idolize.”
“Shit, man, that don’t change anything.”
“I’m done with this conversation with you. When you’re here and Maddie is here, you’ll treat her with respect, am I understood?” Bull asked.
“You can do so much better than her.”
“Am I understood?” He had no choice but to raise his voice as he repeated his question. He hated saying the same thing twice, and it would only ever be Grant who got away with it.
“Fine. I will be nice to her, but don’t go holding your breath that she’s going to look at you like you’re a fucking god.”
Grant stormed out of the reception area.
The boys had already started to leave, but as usual, Pat stayed behind and entered the reception desk. “You know you’re going through a lot of changes for this woman, Bull.”
“Has Grant got you all questioning my motives?”
“Not questioning them, man, just making sure you know what you’re doing. The matters of the heart interfere with the head more often than people realize.”
“I know what I’m doing.” If they became too comfortable with having the shipment in the same place, cops figured it out.
The gun runs were an extension of the deal he made in order to keep Chaos and Carnage out of debt. His and Grant’s old man had nearly run the club into the ground. There was no telling what would have happened to it if he hadn’t taken over when he had. The club wouldn’t have lasted.
His father had been reckless with the club, with the men’s lives. He had them into drugs, women, and everything that earned a quick buck, but could also send them all away for the rest of their lives. Just knowing what their father had done for money sickened Bull.
Grant didn’t know the full extent of it either. Not many of the guys did. They knew some of it, and some had an idea, but again, they were happy to be ignorant of the truth.
He rubbed at his temples. He didn’t have the first clue what he was doing with Maddie.
Seeing her at the diner with the pancakes that had become a signature for Carl after Valentine’s Day, he knew he had to help her.
It made no sense. They weren’t together. They had spoken more in the past week than before he offered her the job. She wasn’t his responsibility and yet, he’d been unable to walk away from her.
“I’m heading back to the clubhouse,” Pat said. “My not sleep won’t happen by itself.”
Bull burst out laughing.
Pat never slept well. The guy tried to, but he’d long given up the notion of sleeping well, so his new normal was bad sleep.
Closing up the reception office and the shop, he then made his way toward the main gate and locked it up.
Tomorrow was Sunday. He didn’t get a chance to see Maddie on a Sunday, and he didn’t like how fucking alone that made him feel.
He climbed onto his bike, turned over the ignition, and began riding. He drove out of Carnage, taking the road that was clear of most cars. Needing the open road to clear his mind, he kept on going. The guns were a big problem. They were the least of two evils. The never-ending debt that kept his men alive.
All his life, he’d been able to fight his battles. From a young age, he’d defended himself, fought for what he believed in, took on every single challenge he faced, and came out the victor. It went against his nature to give in, to submit.
The only reason they ran guns was to keep the club alive.
He took a deep breath and brought his bike to a stop.
“You know, son, you are going to be a big strapping boy like me.”
“I want to be like you when I grow up, Daddy.”
“You will, son. You will.”
The memory of riding a small bike outside of the clubhouse filled Bull’s head. It was such a long time ago. He’d gotten the title Bull long before he became a fully patched-in member of the Chaos and Carnage.
From the women who used to look after them, to the teachers who tried to tame him, and then of course his father attempting to mold him, they had all said he was stubborn as a bull. He was unmovable, but the moment anyone messed with him, all bets were off.
The beast hadn’t come out of the cage in a long time.
Bull turned the bike around and headed back to town. He didn’t bother with the clubhouse, and instead went to the only other place he called home.
He turned the ignition off the bike as Thomas’s front door opened. Bull smiled as he heard the childish squeal and out came two young children. Henry and Mary. Thomas’s wife, Rebecca, had a thing about Tudor England.
Bull picked up both kids. Mary was the youngest at only three years old. Henry was seven and growing way too fast.
“What are you heathens doing being up so late?” he asked.
“Uncle Bull, I lost a tooth, look,” Henry said, smiling.
“Wow, look at that big gap. I can see right down to your stomach. You had something healthy for dinner, didn’t you?”
Mary chuckled, cupping her face as she did.
“I know that chuckle. Tell me your mom didn’t feed you crap.”
Thomas chuckled, but Rebecca came to the door laughing. “Enough, Bull. You will corrupt them. You know I don’t mind feeding them pizza on a Saturday night.”
“You want some, Uncle Bull?” Mary asked.
“I would love some.”
“Come on, kids. Go and finish your movie and give Uncle Bull some space,” Rebecca said.
He carried them back to the house, putting them down on the floor. After kissing Rebecca’s cheek, he shook Thomas’s hand.
Thomas patted him on the back. “Come on, let’s feed you.”
He closed the door and followed his friend into the kitchen. “You were expecting me?” Bull asked, taking a seat at the table.
“You can call it divine intuition, or some of the locals were talking about your new receptionist at the garage.”
“It’s a mechanic shop, dude,” Bull said.
Thomas pulled the pizza out of the oven, slid a few slices onto a plate, and handed it to him.
“It’s a garage. No matter what fancy term you want to dress it up by.”
Bull wasn’t going to argue. He took a bite and closed his eyes. “Good pizza.”
“Roy’s place is, and you know it. So are you going to tell me why you got the French girl to work for you?”
“She needed a job.”
“Yeah, and Elizabeth had a whole lot to say about you being pissed that her date had left her high and dry,” Thomas said.
“Yeah, I was going to ask you about that. How many times has that happened?” Bull asked.
“Ah, so you haven’t come here for thrilling conversation,” Thomas said. He took a seat, looking way too smug.
“Don’t do that,” Bull said.
“Do what?”
“Look like you know more about something than I do.” He pointed between them. “That’s not what is going on here.”