“How the hell are you going to take care of it?” King asked. “We asked you to take care of it already, and now, we’re in a bigger pile of shit than we were before.”
“Because I may have fucked up, but I clean up my messes,” I vowed.
Zig chuckled. “Well, it’s a royal mess, yeah?”
King closed his eyes. “Just one fucking time, dumbass. One damn meeting without one of you cracking some lame joke.”
“That was a pretty lame joke,” Zag scoffed. “That was dad-joke material, brother.”
“Some things never change,” Apollo murmured. “This is the whole reason why Leo loves the motorcycle clubs so much. Bunch of smartasses.”
“Shut the hell up,” King thundered. “Swear to God, I’m gonna fucking step down from being prez just to get away from you idiots,” he threatened.
Hero perked up and rested his elbows on the table. “Someone else tell a dad joke,” he egged on. You could tell the thought of King stepping down would make Hero’s year.
“This shit right here is what Leo loves,” Apollo laughed. He pulled out his phone and pressed a few buttons.
“Do not call Uncle Leo,” I growled.
“Not calling,” Apollo smirked. “Just texting him. He’ll get a huge kick out of this shit.”
Just what I needed. “Put your damn phone away,” I ordered. Apollo was Leo’s cousin, and also my uncle, though I was going to be the one taking over the family business. As Leo’s right hand man, Apollo was now with me to help along the way.
He shoved his phone in his pocket. “You’re right, kid. He’ll want to hear this on the phone, not in a text message.”
I rolled my eyes.
“So, tell us what the hell you are going to do to fix this mess?” King asked me.
I laid my hands flat on the table. “First off, I’m taking Royal with me.”
Frost raised his hand. “Uh, I think you might have to take that up with the rest of the women. They’ve all become attached to her.” He nodded to King. “Meg included.”
“If Biff is coming for Royal, I’m not going to keep her here. That puts the club in danger when they don’t need to be.” I balled my hands into fists. “Not to mention the fact you guys have a psycho on the loose who is trying to kill people associated with the club and the cops are sniffing around.”
“If the cops would do their damn job and find
the psycho, then they wouldn’t be sniffing around.” Pie folded his arms over his chest.
“Your logic knows no bounds,” Snapper drawled dryly.
“I’m taking Royal with me. She’ll be safer with me, and I can tell you right now, I don’t take orders from your women.” Sure Meg and the older ol’ ladies were like family to me, but this was business. Business I was in charge of, and I was going to do what I thought was best. “As soon as Royal wakes up, we’re leaving.”
“Where the hell are you going?” King asked. “We’re here to help you, Marco. You don’t need to run away.”
I wasn’t running. At least, not like King thought. “We’ll still be in town, but I don’t want to keep Royal under this roof.” The Knights had an amazing clubhouse, but it wasn’t mine. I didn’t know it like the back of my hand. It had been at least fifteen years since I had spent any significant amount of time here.
“You’ll be safer here,” King growled.
I shook my head. I had already made up my mind. Royal and I would have already been gone if it hadn’t been for the fact that she had fallen asleep in her room. “I’ll be safer in the house on Miller.”
Slider scoffed. “How is that any different than being here?” he asked. “You know your mom isn’t going to like you being in town but not being with her.”
“I’m not in town to be with my mom and hang out with my friends. I’m trying to keep Royal safe and to get rid of the annoyance of the Meeks.”
“Annoyance?” King laughed. “Man, you really are taking after your uncle. He would also say this is an annoyance and something easily to be taken care of.”
“If it was so easy to get rid of, we wouldn’t be sitting here right now,” Gambler grumbled.