Family Ties (Ashby Crime Family)

Chapter One

Charlie

“It’s no secret that I’m getting too old for this shit.”

Did I just hear Superman say he was retiring? Superheroes didn’t retire. They went out with guns blazing. Right?

The room broke out into rolls of laughter like Cross was the star act at a comedy club.

Cross had been the head of the Reckless Bastards MC for longer than I’d been alive. Hell, he’d always been like a superhero to me, as much as my own dad.

We waited for one of Stitch’s funny one-liners. We could always count on him to break up the tension “Time to roll out the silver carpet!” he howled and we all joined in. No moment in my life had ever been more gratifying or tense than this one.

Cross flipped him off and held up his black mug of beer with a big grin on the grizzled face I loved like he was blood. “Like I said, I’m gettin’ too old for this shit. It’s time to pass the torch and give this kid the chance to take the Reckless Bastards to the next level.”

Dozens of hands pounded on the impressively carved Mayhem table that sat as the main centerpiece inside the club’s inner sanctum. They raised their glasses to me. The kid Cross had just mentioned.

“We got new threats coming in every fucking day.” Stitch again, as if anyone needed a reminder.

“Fuck those fuckin’ Jacks!” My Uncle Tate made no secret of his hate for the newest gang of punks who thought they could come into town and take what our MC had spent decades building. Shit was bad lately, plenty of sabotage and kidnappings, public shootouts and even a few deaths, all because of the fucking BJ’s.

The dark look Cross wore brightened as he turned his attention back to the reason we were all gathered here today. “We will fuck them, long and hard ‘cause we’re the biggest dicks around!”

Max, my dad and MC treasurer shouted, “Being led by the biggest cock of them all!” He glowed with a proud smile because this time, right now, inside these walls, was where we could be more than badass bikers, more than tough sons of bitches who fought to the death. Here, we could also be family.

“Damn straight,” Cross agreed. “And that’s why it is my absolute fucking pleasure to hand this patch over to the new Prez of the finest MC God and man has ever colluded to create. Charlie, get your ass up here.”

I stood on shaky legs, knowing this moment was bigger than just me, but still feeling strangely sure it was entirely about me at the same time. Somehow, I stuffed my nerves down deep and made my way to the head of the table. My spot at the table. As of to-fucking-day.

The roar my brothers made to welcome me to my new post was deafening. I couldn’t help but smile at the happiness, the pride that wove through us all. This wasn’t just about me, but for our club. It was a thread that would never be broken. Ever.

Savior’s big blue eyes were wide, bright and proud when he calmed everyone down. “Let the new Prez speak!” he shouted. As the sergeant at arms, he had taught me everything I needed to know about guns and ammo. Savior was an old-timer, but the man knew his shit. His blue eyes looked even bluer with a head and beard full of gray against his skin, tanned as fuck from too much time spent in the desert.

A chorus of, “We’re listening,” answered his call.

I heard “Speak!” come from the middle of the crowd. That was easier said than done. I wasn’t a talkative fucker like Cross or my brother, Jameson, but I was the leader now. The lives of these men, every last one of them, were now my responsibility. My duty. They needed to hear that I was prepared to carry the same weight Cross had, as we moved forward and fought bigger, badder, and much bolder enemies.

I cleared my throat and looked out at these men. My brothers. My soldiers. “Shit,” I said. The honor Cross just handed me hit me like a wrecking ball, and I was overcome with humility.

“I don’t really know what to say except I’ve been around this MC since I was a baby. I learned what it means to be a man by watching the men at this table. Learned to shave, to fight, and even to fuck the pretty ladies good and hard from listening to you guys. The rest of you, we became men together. We’ve gone from boys who didn’t know a damn thing to men who know it means to fight for something bigger than us. To protect what the previous generation worked hard to build up.”