Illusive (Storm MC 5)

“Highly likely,” I mused, “but I wouldn’t have been good for the party; not in the mood I’m in at the moment.”

His brows pulled together. “You got something going on that you need help with?”

Guilt flashed through me. Jesus, where the hell was all this guilt coming from? Not an emotion I was used to, I shoved it away. “No, I’ve got this. A week, two at the most, and I’ll be done with it.” I shifted in my chair to try and find a more comfortable position. “Where are we at today?”

He leant back in his chair and scrubbed his face. I’d been watching Scott for weeks now and the stress the club had been under was written all over him. Dark circles sat under his eyes, his clothes hung a little looser on him from the weight he’d lost, worry lines creased his face, and he’d taken to not shaving which was something he’d never done in all the time I’d known him. “Ricky wants to meet today. Just you and me.”

“Why? We’ve already met with him and come to an agreement.” After Marcus’s death, we’d agreed not to deal drugs in Ricky’s territory and he’d appeared happy with that arrangement. Of course, while we intended not to deal drugs, we’d been working towards ridding the world of that scum; we just needed a little more time to get the club ready for any blowback. Trust in Scott still sat low for a lot of members so he was building that back up, but it was a slow process. It felt like we were walking a tightrope of keeping Ricky at bay while repairing club ties. We were aware of Ricky’s playbook, and figured it was only a matter of time before he came for us.

“I’ve got no fucking idea, but I’m guessing we’re gonna need to reassess where we’re at after it because I’m damn sure he wouldn’t be meeting just to have a catch up. The meet is at ten this morning so can you round up J and Nash for this afternoon to go over it all? I’ve got shit to deal with all morning and then I’ve gotta head over to Indigo and go through some things with Cody at about one so make it for after that. If it needs urgent attention, we’ll drop everything, so have them ready for that outcome too.”

I stood. “Will do.” As I turned to leave the office, something struck me. Looking back at him, I said, “You don’t seem as on edge as you have been. What’s different?”

He blew out a long breath. “I finally got Harlow to talk to me.”

“Thank Christ for that,” I murmured. “She okay?”

“Yeah, she will be. She just needs some time, but at least now I’m not wandering the fuck around bashing my head against the wall, getting nowhere, you know?”

I nodded. “I know, and it’s good news, man.”

Stepping out of the office, I closed the door behind me and headed into the kitchen to grab a coffee.

Wilder stood at the counter with his back to me as I entered the room. Twisting to face me, he jerked his chin. “Morning, VP.”

I’d hated being called that when I’d taken the title from Scott through deceit, but now that I’d earned it, I didn’t mind so much. “Morning.” I took in his disheveled appearance. “Did you have a late night?”

He grinned. “Yeah. Madison sure knows how to throw a party.”

“That your first one since you were patched?” We’d patched Wilder a couple of weeks ago.

He nodded as he drank some of his coffee.

“What time did she kick your sorry ass out?”

His grin grew and he chuckled. “She didn’t; it was J who threw us out at about three this morning. Pretty sure the poor fucker’s balls had turned blue and needed taking care of.”

“I’m pretty sure you’re right,” Nash contributed as he joined us. “It’s a beautiful thing to watch - Madison stringing him out like that.”

Stirring sugar into my coffee, I couldn’t stop the smile forming on my lips. “He’s nothing if not predictable when it comes to that woman.”

Nash grinned at

me and nodded. “Very true, brother,” he said, acknowledging me in a way he hadn’t for weeks. Both Nash and J had been pissed off they weren’t clued in on the plan for me to take the Vice Presidency role from Scott, and had been vocal in that. I’d sensed a thawing in their attitudes toward me last week and it looked like we were making progress. Finally. That was a damn good thing – we needed everyone on board to make Storm strong again, and not to have the full support of our Sergeant-at-Arms and Road Captain hadn’t made this an easy task.

Grabbing my coffee, I said to Nash, “You got a minute?”

“I’ll grab a coffee and meet you in the bar,” he said.

I nodded and then turned my gaze to Wilder. “I need you to do a security check on all of our businesses today. Make sure all the surveillance is working perfectly, ensure all the buildings are locked down tight, and also make sure the managers are reminded that shit could go down at any time. You good with that?”

“Yep, I’m on it.” I liked the way Wilder never argued with a directive and the way he carried that directive out perfectly. He was also a stickler for attention to detail and I respected the hell out of that trait.

I left them and found a table in the corner of the bar. My mind drifted to my family while I waited for Nash. However, instead of my thoughts centring on my parents and brother, today they focused on my cousin. I’d half expected him to show up at my place last night, but he hadn’t. In fact, I hadn’t heard from him since our phone call. I hoped that meant he would take care of what I’d told him to, because I really didn’t want to have to carry out my threat against him if he didn’t. I would, though, and I wouldn’t hesitate. I refused to allow anyone to jeopardise my life or my membership of Storm.

Nash pulled up a seat across from me. “What’s up, Griff? And where the hell were you last night?”

I watched him for a moment while I drank some coffee. “I had something to take care of, but I heard I missed a good time.”