Wizard—my one time sponsor when I became an enforcer—is waiting for me, leaning up against a black SUV. He pushes away from the vehicle, and we meet in the middle to exchange a hug. He clamps me on my back. “Good to have you out, brother. You’ve been missed
.”
“Good to be out.” We pull from the hug, and I head to the passenger side, eager to be as far away from my living hell as possible. I climb up, close the door behind me, and lean back into the comfortable seats. “You going to fill me in?” I ask.
“Just the basics. Most of that important shit will happen in Church. Bolton wanted to come with me, but he knows the drill. He and Blue are waiting at the clubhouse for you.”
I can feel his eyes on me, but I remain silent.
“You going to finally make your move on that?”
I spin my head to look at him. “Say what?”
“Come on, you’ve been eye-fucking her for years. Now, you’re going to be under the same roof, and Cal is locked up and can’t cock block you.”
My throat goes dry. “Does anyone else know?” I ask.
“Nah. I knew what to look for. Don’t know why you decided to go for Calla that night though. I wanted to deck you every time I saw how sad it made Blue. You do it right this time, or not at all.” His voice is devoid of warmth, and his words are flat.
“It wasn’t a choice, Wiz. She slipped into my room in the middle of the night, pretended to be Blue, and told me to keep the lights off because she was shy. It was the biggest mistake of my life. I should’ve called her on it when I had the chance, but then she was pregnant and I didn’t want that hanging over my kid.”
His eyes narrow and he nods his head as if he suspected something like that. “Fucking bitch.”
“You don’t know the half of it, brother. There’s a hole inside of her she keeps trying to fill up. I spent two years trying to help her and make it work. She’s too lost in her crazy. I think she feeds off drama ’cause she needs that shit like water.”
“I don’t know where they went wrong with that one,” Wizard mutters.
I shrug. “Beats me, man. But I’m done with her. She’s in for three, and Bolton will be eighteen in two more years.”
“He’s going to patch. He’s got Kings in his blood.”
Pride fills my chest. “Yeah. I think so. He’s a good kid. I know he’s been giving Blue some trouble, but his relationship with Calla has always been rocky and tough to deal with.”
“You did good with him, considering,” Wizard replies.
His praise meant a lot. “Thanks, man. I hear you’re a daddio now. How’s that going?”
“Man, she showed me that as smart as I thought I was, I don’t know shit.”
I laugh. “Sounds about right. They don’t come with instructions, do they?”
“Fuck no. My Old Lady is crazy over her though.” Wizard chuckles. “Never thought I’d see the day I’d be married and someone’s father.”
“Things change.”
“That they do. You got out during a good time. Shit’s quiet. Internal and external drama is at an all time low. After Fuse and his hang-around whore turned on us, we banded together and came back stronger.”
“That whole thing was fucked up, Wiz. Glad to see you up and about.”
“It’ll take more than a dance with the ground to keep me down permanently.”
I silently agree. Wizard is a legend. KOC wouldn’t be the same without him. “Is the club cleaned up now?” I ask, wondering if they are still flushing out rats.
“We think so. We’ve been easing back into things bit by bit. Got an account transfer coming up soon, but we’re focusing on growth and expansion of new money.”
Clean money.
He spoke in code as a precaution. We’d gotten paranoid after a few of the bigger clubs were toppled by Feds and undercover agents, then tightened up our operating procedures. I only went down on arms because I’d stayed behind to see a wounded brother off after the shit hit the fan, and he took three to the chest.