“Hey, Prez.” That caught Chelsea’s attention. She leaned forward on the table and began rubbing at her temples, knowing what I was about to do was more than likely going to have Optimus on her back.
I shot her a quick apologetic look. “I’m really sorry to bother you while the brothers are there, Optimus, but I’m out with Chelsea, and there’s some rich dude in a suit who won’t leave her alone.”
“Give the motherfucker the phone.” I heard a door slam, and the background noise seemed to minimize a little.
I stood and reached over the table, tapping the man on the shoulder.
He turned to me with a frown. “You need to learn your place. Stay out of my business.”
I held out the phone, a sickly sweet smile on my lips. “This call is for you.”
He studied the phone in my hand before reaching out to take it and holding it to his ear. “Yes.” His narrowed stare never left me. I couldn’t hear what Optimus was saying to him, but the look on his face changed rapidly. A snarl formed on his lips, and I swear I saw his eyes darken to a malicious shade of black. “Not a problem,” he gritted, and with one swift movement, he slammed my phone face down on the table.
Chelsea and I both jolted at the loud crash. I knew for sure the screen of my phone was shattered. I opened my mouth to rip at him, threats and foul words tickling the end of my tongue. But before I could inform the man of what I thought of him, the remnants of my phone were thrown against the café wall, barely missing an employee who had to jump out of the way, spilling some poor person’s coffee order in the process. I sat, semi-stunned at the ridiculous outburst.
“You girls need some lessons in behavior,” his voice, now eerily calm, sent shivers through my core. I pulled Chelsea out of her seat, placing her behind me protectively and moving out of his space. Finally taking notice of the attention he was getting from the staff and patrons of the small café, his body relaxed, and he straightened his cufflinks casually. “Your lessons will come. And it will be my pleasure to conduct them personally.” With that, he was gone, his shoes squeaking on the linoleum floor.
The quick encounter had been so fast and incredibly strange that I was lost for words.
Chelsea was not so silent, expressing her primary concern. “Optimus is going to be on my ass about this.”
I laughed and squeezed her hand. “That’s all that you can think about right now?”
She looked at me with a ‘duh’ look. “That man can make a mountain outta a molehill.”
I stopped to pick up the part of my shattered phone that contained my sim card. It had all my numbers on it, and that was the only thing I cared about. The rest was replaceable.
“Best we find something fucking sexy for you to wear tonight then. He can’t complain if he’s too busy tearing your clothes off.”
She smiled. “Oh, trust me, he’ll try.”
Chapter Four
KIT
The trip up to visit my longtime friend wasn’t huge, three to four hours at most. I didn’t know why I hadn’t taken the time to visit more often. I kept in touch with Optimus often through phone calls. He’d even come to see us a couple of times since his father was killed, but I hadn’t been up to Athens to visit him in nearly four years.
We’d left early, knowing there would be plenty of family coming into the clubhouse to celebrate my new status. A lot of the old-timers and their old ladies had known me since I was a kid, my father being a huge figure in the world of the Brothers by Blood. I was looking forward to seeing them all again, proud to show off my freshly sewed president’s patch.
My father, Oz, had been the national President of the Brothers by Blood in Australia until he met a pretty American girl and decided to follow her to the States. That pretty girl soon became my mother. Everyone called her Bright Eyes due to her constant smile and strange greeny-yellow irises.
I’d brought a handful of brothers with me, including my best friend and Sergeant-at-Arms, Tally. We’d both grown up in the club and had tortured our parents with our antics since before we could walk. Tally’s dad, Loose, was my Vice President as he had been for my dad. He was a good man, one who I respected and was honored to have stand beside me. I’d left him behind to take care of shit for the next few days. I knew things would run smoothly with him at the helm.
Optimus and his men were there to greet us as we pulled into the compound. I couldn’t help but smirk at the sight of the men lined up behind their president. All their legs spread to shoulder width and arms folded across their chests. It was a massive show of welcome and respect. My boys and I pulled our bikes in, lining them up with our other brothers.
I climbed off and walked straight toward Optimus. I was only six feet away from him before his scowl finally broke into a smile—a rare occurrence for my serious, straight-faced Brother.
“Congratu-fucking-lations, fuck head,” he beamed, followed by resounding calls of ‘Ya-hoos’ and ‘Fuck yeahs’ from the brothers standing behind him.
I laughed and embraced my Brother. We both gripped the other's wrist and pulled in for a few slaps on the back with the other hand. “Thanks, bro.”
The brothers from both chapters had all greeted each other in much the same way before we headed inside. Optimus, his VP, Blizzard, Tally, and I found a group of chairs and sat down to catch up.
“How’s it feel?” Blizzard asked.
I ran my fingers through my hair slick with sweat from my helmet. “Fucking strange,” I answered honestly.
Optimus scoffed. “What the fuck you talking about? You’ve been ordering people around since you were fucking knee-high. Only difference is now they gotta listen.”
Tally laughed. “He’s still scared none of us are gonna do what his dumb-ass says.”
I reached over and smacked him around the back of the head. “Shut up, asshole.”
Tally rubbed at the back of his head, but unfortunately, I hadn’t hit him hard enough to smack the stupid smile off his face.
I watched as a few of the old ladies bustled in and out, chasing children and carrying food. Some of them I recognized and others I didn’t.
“So, any of these old ladies yours?” I shot at Optimus. Optimus often kept to himself when it came to women because of shit that had happened in the past. He hated to get attached, and I understood why. I knew he had a girl here somewhere, but that there were a few problems. I didn’t know much more than that. Girly feeling talks made my cock want to shrivel up and hide.
Optimus glared at me. “No.”
End of conversation!
The day was incredible. The Old Ladies fussed over their men. Most coming over to offer me their congratulations with a kiss on the cheek, much to their men’s disgust.
“Let’s make this shit interesting,” I offered as a group of us strolled toward the back section of the compound where there was a shooting range set up.
Optimus looked a little smug at the challenge, but little did he know I had a secret weapon. “My best shooter against yours. One shot each.”
I’d anticipated his suggestion knowing one of his boys, Kev, was an ex-police officer turned outlaw. Kevlar was his full road name, but it wasn’t given to him due to the fact a Kevlar vest was what policemen wore. He received it after he’d been shot six times in the stomach and chest during the same war in which Optimus’ father was killed. And then the motherfucker lived to tell about it. I knew he was a good shot, but I had someone who I knew was better.