Tonight we were deciding what to do with the Hell Raisers. Things had been unsettled for a while now. Our former rival club was crumbling around the edges. Shane was still the club Prez, but he had little interest in it now. He was more of an Untouchable than anything. In fact, he was family.
Even though we were a different club, we were the ones pulling the strings. They needed a strong leader. Doc had been Shane’s second in command, so he was the logical choice. But Doc was more like Preacher, a friend to all and welcome in any clubhouse on the West Coast.
He’s footloose and fancy free, I grumbled to myself. Doc’s only responsibility was stitching up drunk assholes. And the bastard liked it that way. I had a feeling he was going to put up a fight.
I rolled into the clubhouse and into the meeting room. Cain was at the head of the table, looking grim. Vice and Trace were there, too, as well as Mason, Shane, and Connor. I raised an eyebrow at Con and he shook his head. Doc was nowhere to be found.
“I’ll be stepping out for a drink during the vote,” Con said, holding up a glass of bourbon. He grinned at me, clearly glad to be let off the hook.
“Just initiate the bastard already,” I ground out. Con might be the law, but he was one of us too. He just liked to keep his hands clean . . . for the most part, anyway.
“I keep trying,” Cain said calmly. Cain said everything calmly. That’s why he was the best damned leader I’d ever known. He was also Connor’s brother-in-law. The two butted heads, but they respected each other. I was pretty sure they even liked each other, but they kept that hidden.
Con just smirked and toasted his brother-in-law. Mason shook his head and Shane was smiling, too. We’d been through hell and back together. Even though we hadn’t all started out as Untouchables, we were family now.
Finally, Doc rambled in with a bottle of tequila clutched in his fist. Like Preacher, he liked to get paid in booze. He must have snipped off a mole or some shit while we were waiting.
“See you stopped by the bar first,” Cain said with a raised brow.
“Couple of guys needed to get stitched up. Been here an hour,” Doc said with a lopsided grin. Bastard was already tipsy. I groaned.
“Now all we need is for Preacher to walk in,” I grumbled. Everyone else groaned.
“Do not say his name again,” Shane said with a shudder. “You might conjure him up.”
“Like Candyman.” Doc cackled.
“Or Beetlejuice,” I concurred.
“All right, let’s get down to it. Con, you can stay,” Cain said when the big man stood. But Connor shook his head.
“Need a refill, anyway,” he said before ambling out of the room. I rolled my eyes and Mason laughed. They were both as happy as two pigs in shit. Lucky fucks, I grumbled to myself, thinking of how lucky they were to have the old ladies they had. Michelle and Kelly were amazing, beautiful women. I loved them like sisters. Casey, too. Even Preacher was paired off. In fact, Doc and I were the only single guys in the room.
Not that I’d ever wanted to get tied down. But all the guys had done really well for themselves. Cain, Mason, Con, Shane, and Preacher were with remarkable ladies who I considered blood and were growing families with kids who were like little nieces and nephews. For the first time in my life, I could see the appeal.
Of course, I didn’t exactly meet a lot of nice girls around the clubhouse.
“First order of business. The Raisers need a leader,” Cain said. Nobody argued with that.
“I’m out. I’m not even on the West Coast half the time,” Shane said needlessly. We all knew that. He’d never been the crazy badass he pretended to be. He was a total fucking badass, it turned out, but in an entirely different way.
The man had finally found peace and he deserved to enjoy it.
“I nominate Doc,” I said.
“I nominate you,” Doc said with a grin.
“Fuck that,” I growled. The guy might have patched my ass up a lot of times, but I wasn’t taking over his fucking club. The Raisers were a massive pain the butt.
“It’s not a bad idea,” Cain said. I just shook my head.
“I’m an Untouchable. There is no way they will accept me.”
“But they do respect you,” he countered.
As much as I hated to argue with the club Prez, I was not having it.
“Find someone else,” I growled and stood up. Fuck the rest of the meeting. I didn’t fucking care at this point.
I wandered off to the bar to drown out the swirling thoughts going through my head. I couldn’t bitch about club business to anyone. I didn’t have a trusted old lady waiting at home. This was one hundred percent on me. I was number two, so I really couldn’t bitch to anyone. Not even Vice. For the first time since joining the club, I felt totally fucking alone.
I slid onto the bar seat next to Connor.
“So, that went well,” he said, sipping his drink. I ordered from Three Boots and he brought a whole bottle. I took a big slug and shrugged.
“They want you to do it, right?”
“No fucking way in hell that is happening.”
“Heavy is the head that wears the crown,” Connor intoned, sounding like a fucking English professor or some shit. I glared at him.
“Not this head,” I vowed.
“We shall see,” he said in that phony ass voice again. And then he laughed at me.
“I will kick your ass,” I warned him. His grin only got wider.
“Ooh, I should bring your ass in for that.”
“You aren’t on the clock, motherfucker.”
“True,” he said, sliding a wad across the bar. Connor drank for free, but he tipped well. We all did. “Speaking of which, I need to get home.”
I didn’t blame him. He had a fine looking woman. We’d all watched her grow up, so I didn’t look at Cass like that, but she was a beauty, no doubt. I felt jealousy churn inside my gut. I could use a pretty lady to curl up with, especially on a night like tonight.
Con left, and there I was, completely alone, waiting while someone else decided my fate.
Chapter Two
Claire
“Are you sure you need to go?”
I shrugged and gave Ashley a tepid smile. I knew she didn’t really care if I left. She was just worried about my share of the rent, never mind the fact that I was the only roommate who bothered to clean up the place. I’d made sure to get the word out for a subletter and even set up appointments for her to show the place later today.
But I did have to go. And not just because the living conditions were awful. My grandmother needed me. And school was over. It was time.
I had no desire to stay cramped up with nursing students when I was no longer a student. Once I passed my exam, I could work anywhere. Hopefully somewhere near Gran’s house. But it didn’t matter. Family was family, and she was all I had left.
More importantly, I was the only one she had left.
She was getting older. It wasn’t safe for her there all by herself. I knew how badly she wanted to stay in her home, and having someone there with her would make that possible. I missed her, too. The commute from one side of LA to the other was too far for me to come over all that often. Not with a full course load.