The boss said it was a-okay, after all.
Malcolm - 1 year
"Everyone is chattering like high-school girls when there is a hot new transfer in school," Dezi said, having come in late from, well, who the fuck knew. The man just disappeared and showed back up randomly. He was about to get his patch because he always managed to show up just when you needed him most, and not only knew what needed to be done, but carried through with it without needing to be told to. Like he had the night I'd beat that guy in the diner parking lot. "What'd I miss?" he asked, swiping a bottle of whiskey off the bar Rowe, Brooks, Cary, and I were leaning against.
To that, I jerked my chin across the room toward where Reign, Cash, my dad, and Fallon were talking to someone.
"New prospect?" Dezi asked, brightening up. "So when I get my patch, I can force the same labor on him that was inflicted upon me?"
"And by on you," Rowe said, giving him a smirk, "you mean Cary and me?"
"Hey, I don't make the rules," Dezi said, smirking as he took a swig of the whiskey.
"It's not a new guy," Brooks said. "Not technically anyway."
"What's that mean?"
"It means we've only seen them act this way once before," I supplied. "When Reign brought in Huck to open a new chapter down in Florida," I told him.
Sure, we all knew it was an idea that had been bouncing around for a long time, but it seemed like the Golden Glades chapter had just been started. I think we all figured other sister chapters were further down the road.
"Is he as handsome as I am?" Dezi asked, getting a snort from Brooks. "Hey, don't laugh. I practically have a four-pack now," Dezi declared, smiling. "Thanks to Zaddy here," he said, slapping a hand on Cary's shoulder.
"I'm not taking credit for it. You never fucking listened to me," he said. "He had donut holes in his pockets when we went to the gym."
"I get peckish when I sweat," Dezi said, smirking. "Besides, I was supporting a small business. So, what's his deal anyway? Who is he? Where's he from?"
"Shady Valley," Brooks supplied. "It's in California," he added.
"His name is Slash," Rowe added.
"By birth or... oh," Dezi trailed off as the group across from us parted, revealing the man in question.
And there he was.
A tall man with dark brown hair, a cultivated beard, and a fit, yet lean body. He also had unexpected and unique gray eyes. And he was covered in ink—over his hands, up his arms, across his neck.
But you didn't notice any of that when you first looked at him.
Because he hadn't gotten his name by birth, but by whatever circumstance had left him so horribly scarred.
The longest of the scars started at his right temple, went between his brows, over his nose, just barely missing his eye, then continuing down his opposite cheek and jaw before trailing off. It wasn't a small scar, either. It was big and deep and angry-looking. There were another couple of them. One split his left brow. Another cut across his lips at an angle.
I had no fucking idea what had happened to him, but he looked lucky to have made it out alive. And not blinded by whatever knife had carved out pieces of him.
"So, maybe he has a sparkling personality," Dezi suggested, getting an uncomfortable laugh out of Brooks. "Besides, we can't all be devilishly handsome. And being scary is probably a good thing for biker presidents," he added.
Another rush of the OG bikers surrounded Slash as Fallon made his way toward us, eyes a bit wide. He let out a whistle as he reached behind Dezi to grab a beer.
"What's the verdict?"
To that, Fallon let out something between a snort and a sigh. "I think my old man is getting fucked in the head," he declared before taking a long swig of his drink. "That is one twisted motherfucker. And his crew doesn't sound much better."
"What are they into?" I asked. The Golden Glades chapter had been an established chop shop organization when Reign found them, something he found appealing because he knew how important brotherhood and loyalty were, especially to new clubs. He liked that there was an established bond between the men, so he had less to worry about as the chapter got on their feet.
"They're enforcers," Fallon said.
"Well, that is usually a crazy group of fuckers," Cary said, shrugging.
"Also explains the, you know, work accident," he said, waving at his face.
"Yeah, don't mention the scars," Fallon warned. "Pagan did, and I swear the man turned to ice."
"What's the next step now?" I asked.
"I guess now we have to meet the rest of the psychos," Fallon said, shrugging. "Should be interesting," he added.