Inside, only a few brothers are around. Rooster and Blink join us in the dining room. All the noise and chatter from the kids doesn’t seem to faze them.
Trinity’s not impressed with the state of the kitchen or the clubhouse. “What the hell are these girls doing down here?” she asks me when I step into the kitchen. “I know there were plenty of them here last night partying, so where are they today to help out?”
“I don’t know.”
“Tawny’s been MIA, hasn’t she? No wonder this place is a pigsty. She may be a lot of things, but she knows how to run a clubhouse.”
“Hey.”
“Not the club, Z.” She gestures to the overflowing sink. “The housekeeping details. She’s good at motivating—”
“You mean terrorizing?” Hope asks.
“Well, yeah, that too.”
“Don’t look at me.” Lilly holds her hands up. “I can barely take care of my own house.”
“You don’t have to do it,” Trinity explains. “Just find the smartest bunny and help her organize the others to get it done. You’re the president’s old lady, though. So, you need to be the one to make it clear that if they want to freeload off the club, they need to give back. Take some pride in the place. Help out or get out.”
Lilly’s gaze slides to Hope who also holds her hands up. “Don’t look at me. Trinity had all that under control long before I showed up.”
Trinity glances at me. “Is Cookie still with Steer?”
“I don’t think so.”
“Bummer, she could be useful when she wasn’t running her mouth.”
“Serena and some girl named LaLa were handling the bar,” Lilly says.
Trinity’s mouth twists at Serena’s name. Her gaze darts around the kitchen, but it’s only the four of us in here at the moment. “She throw any attitude at Heidi?”
Lilly shakes her head. “Not at all.”
“See if you can get her to help out then, but you’ll have to push her. She’s a little mousy.” Trinity zeroes in on me again. “If the girls give Lilly pushback, you have to be the one to lay down the law.”
My lips curl into a smirk. “What do you think I do at CB all day long?”
Lilly and Hope go off in search of Serena. Trinity stops me before I leave the kitchen with a hand on my arm. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to overstep, Z.”
“You’re not. I appreciate the help, honestly. None of that occurred to me. We always had you, so I never gave the running of the clubhouse a lot of thought.”
“Well, Rock always backed me up which helped. That’s why a lot of clubs don’t want to vote in a prez with no ol’ lady.”
I snort, because that’s probably true.
“You guys also aren’t helpless slobs who can’t fend for themselves.” She casts another look around the kitchen. “I have a feeling that’s not the case for Sway’s crew. This place has really gone to shit without Tawny around.”
The kitchen door slams open and Wrath stomps in, leveling a glare my way. “Don’t even think of asking my wife to clean up this place.”
I roll my eyes.
Trinity pats my shoulder. “Just giving him some pointers.” She glances at the stove. “Although, this mess is making me twitch.”
“That’s enough.” Wrath grabs her hand and drags her back into the dining room.
Lilly rounds up two girls—LaLa and Bonnie—neither I even recognize, which tells you just how much I’m under Lilly’s spell.
The girls are willing enough to get to work. Bonnie mentions that she needs a place to stay and I assure her that as long as she helps out around here, we’ll find a room for her.
On my way to the office, I run into Heidi. “Where’s your man?”
“Outside with the kids.”
“Can I talk to you for a sec?”
“Sure.”
“Everything go okay this weekend? Were you comfortable here?”
She eyes me warily. “Yes, why? Murphy’s only here temporarily, right?”
“You okay with that?”
Again, she stares at me before answering. Yeah, it’s unusual to ask an ol’ lady her opinion on club stuff, but I have my reasons. And Heidi’s more than an ol’ lady to me. She’s the closest I have to a little sister.
“I’m not thrilled, obviously.” She looks around and lowers her voice. “But I’m glad he’s here for you, Uncle Z. I imagine taking over might be…tricky and you know you can trust Murphy and my brother to have your back no matter what.”
Young or not, Heidi’s the perfect ol’ lady.
“Appreciate that, hon.” I rub my hand over my cheek, not quite sure how to approach my next question. This is awkward as fuck. “No one gave you any trouble this weekend, right?”
“Nope.” She grins and pats her vest. “All your guys respect the property patch.”
“They better.” Murphy and Teller might have to get in line if I ever caught one of these motherfuckers touching Heidi. “That’s not what I meant though. None of the girls gave you trouble, right?”
She sighs. “I hope you’re really only asking about one girl in particular.”
Shit, as she says it, I realize how bad that sounded. “Yeah. Serena. She didn’t—”
“No, she was fine, Z. Honest. Don’t worry about it.”
“All right. I just want to make sure you’re comfortable coming down. Having you visit’s gonna be important to Murphy.”
She grins. “The house he and Marcel found is really great. It even has a pool.”
“There’s a pool here.”
She wrinkles her nose. “Have you taken a look at it lately?”
“I guess I need to put that on the list, huh?”
“Seriously, it’s gross.”
“Hey,” Murphy calls out. He opens the front door wider and strolls in. “Thought you were coming with us?”
“I am. Z needed me for a sec.”
Murphy lifts his chin. “All good, bro?”
“Yup.”
Heidi reaches up and gives me a quick hug. “Congratulations, Z. I’m happy for you, even if it does suck not having you around at home.”
Way too soon, it’s time for Lilly and Chance to go home. “I’m gonna look for a place this week,” I promise her.
“Let me know. I’ll come down and look at whatever you need me to.”
I squeeze her to me tighter. “Thank you. I know this was a lot, but I appreciate you being here.”
“I was happy to, Z. I wish I could help more.”
“Nothing you can do right now. Just go home and pack up whatever you want to move down here.”
“So bossy and you don’t even have a place yet.” Her husky laughter rushes over me and I wish she was staying.
“Let’s go!” Wrath shouts.
Shaking my head, I give Chance another kiss before closing the door. “You’re staying at the clubhouse tonight?” I ask Lilly.
“Yup. I’ll head up to my house tomorrow.”
“All right.”
Lilly rides with Hope and the kids. Alexa’s already asleep, so Heidi hops in the truck with Trinity, Charlotte, and Carter.
Rock and Wrath take the lead. The girls pull out next. Ravage and Birch follow behind.
As I watch the vehicles pull out, I can’t help feeling like everything that matters most just drove away.
Forty
Z
We receive the call that Sway’s awake in the middle of the week.
“Thank fuck,” Rock says as soon as I call him to give him the news.
“Miss me?”
“You know it.”
“Everything all right up there?”
Rock and Wrath are still riding down every couple days to help me out and visit Sway. We’ve been doing our own, private search for Tawny. From what I’ve discovered, she’s spent a lot of time down in western Pennsylvania lately. Unfriendly territory to the Lost Kings. Something Tawny should know.
Since I’m not sure what we’re dealing with ye
t, and Sway hasn’t been awake to give me his opinion, I only share that information with Rock for now.
We’re not able to see Sway until a few days later.
At last we get the okay from one of his doctors to talk to Sway for a few minutes. It might have been the pressure of three overbearing bikers staring down at the white coat that finally did the trick.