ke I’d like your respect as your uncle, your flesh and blood, and your president.” He grabs my shoulder, his sad eyes searching mine. “I forgive you, Zane. Can you forgive me?”
I grab him into a hug, slapping his back. “Fuck yes.”
“I need to talk to everyone. They need to see that we are good, so that the club is whole again. Your aunt ripped my heart out and that shit is going to take time, but it’s personal. The club is my main focus and I want everyone to know that.”
“Whenever you’re ready, we’ll head to Souls. They are all there anyway,” I say.
He takes a quick shower and I text Harper letting her know how things went. I also tell her I’m going to Souls. I call Kace next to tell him to make sure everyone is ready to be around the table when we get there. Brooks has enough heartache to deal with. He needs our love and support more than ever.
Once he’s ready, we head to the club. For the first time in years, we walk in together. It definitely gets everyone’s attention. I tilt my head, silently telling them all to follow us to the table. Without hesitation they all do.
We sit down and I light a cigarette. Everyone is asking Brooks how he is, but he tells them all to sit. He clears his throat and looks at me. I nod, letting him know he’s got this.
“I appreciate everyone’s concern. What happened with Gloria will haunt me the rest of my life. She betrayed me and all of you. So, when you ask how I am, I’m fucked up. But, that’s my personal life. As far as this club, I’m here. This is my focus and making sure we are whole again. Zane and I talked this morning. We have forgiven each other, and we’d like you all to forgive us too. We both did what we thought was right at the time, not realizing the destruction we were causing. We talked it out and we are good. I’m sorry if I made you question my leadership as your president, but that was because of Gloria. She did some fucked up shit and because I loved her, I believed it all.” He lights a cigarette and continues, “In order for us to move on, we need trust. So, I need to know, as a club, do we all trust each other?”
“Fuck yes,” Kace says.
“Without a fucking doubt,” Riley replies.
Porter, Alex, Finn, and Enzo all say the same. I can feel it in the air. The tension is gone. The anger is gone. The hate is gone. We are whole again.
“Great, because we need to focus all our attention on Souls Two. Which I’m going to let Zane talk about,” Brooks says.
I laugh and pull out my phone. “This is gonna sound like I’m pussy whipped but let me call Harper.” Everyone laughs and begins to talk while I wait for her to answer.
“Hello?”
“Hey babe. How fast can you be at Souls?”
She laughs and I hear Ivy in the background. “What do you need?”
“We need to talk about Souls Two. Can you get here and meet us at the table?”
She laughs again and I can’t help but smile. She is so much happier, which makes me happy. The door opens and she walks in. “I’m here.”
“Damn, is that what it’s like to be dick whipped?” Riley jokes.
I laugh, throwing my lighter at him. “Shut the fuck up.”
Harper sits down and begins to tell us about her plans. She’s so damn smart and creative. I love watching her control the room. It’s hot as hell. She goes through every detail and I’m sold. It all sounds amazing.
“There’s one more thing,” she says, glancing at Riley. My brows dip, but she continues, “I’d like to hire Ivy to work for me. Help me with the construction and when it’s done help with paperwork.”
We all look around but turn to Brooks for the final say. He rests his hands behind his head, leaning back in the chair. “Your plans are perfection and I have no problem with you hiring Ivy, as long as everyone else is good with it.”
Of course, no one has a problem with it, so Brooks gives her the phone numbers of contractors and she is busy taking notes.
“Thank you all for giving me this opportunity. I will not disappoint you,” she says.
No, she won’t, that I am positive of.
It has been the busiest, craziest, most wonderful six months. Tonight, is the grand opening of Souls Two. Harper has busted her ass and it shows. The shitty warehouse is now unrecognizable. It looks like it was always this high-end looking strip club. It fits so perfectly in this area. She’s been doing a lot of advertising and the crowd outside proves it.
“Fuck,” she says.
I turn around seeing her fumble with napkins. I laugh, walking toward her. “You know you’ve hired people to do that for you.”
“I know, but handing over control isn’t easy for me,” she says.