Bama’s in the room, which is unusual, but the kid’s getting rammed by Zane right now. “I’m so sorry, Prez. It won’t happen again. It shouldn’t have happened. I’m so fucking sorry.”
“You’re damn right you should be! You know where we found Donnie this morning?!” Zane’s voice grows louder and louder. Hell, he’s probably makin’ Bama shit himself right about now.
“No, Prez. I don’t.”
“Shot in the back of the head, execution-style in downtown Billings. We only got a little bit of information from him and now we can’t get anything else. Fuck. Now we’re nowhere!” Zane slams his hand down on the table. His face is turning red and I’m sure if he doesn’t take a second to breathe, he’s going to stroke out.
“I’m so sorry. What can I do? What can I do to repay this?” Bama asks like any decent person would.
Zane looks to Bama and glares with all his might. “You can get the fuck out of this room before I wrap my hands around your scrawny chicken neck.”
Bama does as Zane orders and rushes out of the room, lucky he even left with his life.
“We all know the General’s dead. No way this is the same guy,” Bull speaks up first, making his thoughts known.
“Bull is right. This has got to be some sort of copycat,” Tex is the next one speaking.
Zane nods, listening to both of the brothers. “I know. It has to be some sort of copycat. There’s no one else it could be.”
Now, I’ve never gone up against Zane, but I don’t agree with what he’s just said and I’m not going to shy away from it. “Prez, the logo was exactly the same. No one was trying to copy him, trust me. Do you see the small imperfection in the logo across the middle? That was on the General’s supply before, and it’s on it now, which means it’s the same stamp . . . and you know what that means.”
We all heard rumors the General was never in charge, but it was the Commander. The one calling the shots on the streets was the General, but there was a man above him. That’s who I believe is behind this shit. Who else would be going around using the same stamp? Donnie had been dealin’ in Billings for years now and he always dealt the General’s shit, so why the fuck would he deal for a copycat? Easy. He wasn’t.
“I get what you’re suggesting, but we don’t have proof. I don’t do shit unless we have facts, not assumptions,” Zane states.
“I know you don’t, so why don’t I go and find some hard proof this is legit?” One of the perks of knowing Zane this long is knowing how the guy operates. I can usually avoid getting into confrontations with him because of it.
“Fine, but Razor’s gonna help you. He has a bit to prove to me if he wants to end up bein’ the VP down at Amara’s charter.
I nod, perfectly fine with what Zane’s said. “Sounds good. I’ll get started on some stuff later.”
“Good. Now that this is out of the way, Zorro, I want you to come down to the barn with me in a bit. Need to figure out what Gears knows,” Zorro smiles devilishly at Zane’s order. The man is as fucked up as us all, but he loves him some fresh blood.
Zane ends church and we all go our separate ways, but before I head out with Razor, I need to go off with Oakleigh to the small lab in town. I got us an appointment in forty-five minutes to see if she’s my daughter. I’m sure the results won’t be instantaneous, but at least it’s one step in the right direction.
The fact of the matter is this young woman could very well be my daughter, and with everything going on with my dad right now . . . I don’t think discovering we have more family could be a bad thing. This could be a huge blessing in disguise, and Shi helped me realize that last night. I ended up taking her back to my bedroom, but we didn’t do jack shit. I just fuckin’ held her against my body until I fell asleep. I know one thing for sure—my bed will never be the same again.
Chapter Eight
Strength doesn’t come from what you can do, it comes from overcoming the things you once thought you couldn’t.
~ Nikki Rogers
Shiloh
Ashley came home from the hospital yesterday and Rory looks just like Blackjack. She has the darkest hair like it was plucked straight from a raven. She even has her father’s eyes, and while Fist and Noelle are obviously her siblings, too, I think Blackjack’s features are all over this little one.
Ashley has her bassinet in the club next to the booth while we drink some coffee and catch up. Since yesterday her Aunt Roxy and cousins have been down her throat. I wouldn’t say they’ve been bothering her, but they’re definitely making sure they catch up. I can’t blame her Aunt Roxy, though. She’s the last piece of Ashley’s dad that’s still alive, besides Fist, since she named him after her deceased dad.
All the Vixens wanted to chat with her and see the baby, so I waited patiently and finally, everyone is getting used to Rory being here. We all love babies, even some of the guys. If anyone puts a baby near Zorro, his eyes light up like a damn Christmas tree and Bull too.
“So, I’ve been meaning to ask you a favor if that’s okay?” Ashley looks at me with pleading eyes.
“Sure, what’s up?”
“Dex is graduating in two weeks and I desperately need help throwing a party together for him. Being pregnant threw me off track and I’m just . . . I’m slacking. I need help,” Ashley says.
“You need help with what? I can pitch in. My classes are super easy right now.” Sydney, or Syd, as we call her, halts as she walks past where we’re sitting.
“Dex’s graduation party, but I don’t want your dad reeling into me. When are your finals?” Ashley goes into mom mode with her niece.
“End of the month, but don’t worry about them. I have straight A’s right now and we all know I’m great when it comes to taking tests,” Sydney tells us, eyes not wavering from Ashley.
Ashley doesn’t seem convinced, though. “I don’t want Zane getting mad at me.”
“He’s my dad. I can handle him.” At Sydney’s words, both Ashley and I break out with a huge smile. Sydney started calling Zane her dad not too long ago, but every time I hear her refer to him as her father, my heart swells to triple the size. Everyone knows Sydney’s story is a complicated one, and while she’s never had a normal life, one thing I can say is she’s always had so much love surrounding her.
I would’ve killed to grow up in a situation like hers. I’m sure some people would call me a monster for wishing for it, but until they’ve been in my shoes, they don’t have any right to judge.
“Fine, but if he comes after me, I’m throwing you under the bus,” Ashley laughs, motioning with her hand for Sydney to join us. Sydney slides in beside me and looks in awe at Rory.
“God, she’s so beautiful.”
“She is, but don’t think I’m not pissed. I basically gave birth to a female replica of Blackjack. I mean, she couldn’t even have my eyes? All the work I did and nothing!” I bust out into laughter at Ashley’s words and even Sydney cracks a few laughs, but thankfully neither of us stir the sleeping baby.