“It’s like a fucking house moving down the road. Swear to God, Meg and Cyn rented the biggest one they could find.” Gambler laughed and shook his head.
“Right,” King drawled. “I’ve got the credit card bill to fucking prove it.”
It was fucking huge. I had been one of the guys to help guide it into Demon’s driveway two days ago. It would be a miracle if they could actually drive it from Wisconsin to Arizona.
Gravel and Ethel had moved to Apache Junction in Arizona over a year ago. Meg and King had gone out to visit them a few times, but tomorrow, Demon, Gambler, Rigid, Slider, King, their old ladies, and two other friends were all heading there in basically a yacht on wheels.
“Good thing we planned on the drive out there taking a couple of days.” Slider kicked back in his chair.
“Try more than seven days,” King laughed. “We leave tomorrow, and we don’t get to Apache Junction until Wednesday.”
“Today is fucking Monday,” Gambler grunted. “What the hell are we going to do for seven days in a damn RV?”
“A whole hell of a lot. Cyn has a three-page list of places we’re stopping.” Rigid smirked. “I’m pretty sure one day we only drive about eighty miles before we stop again for the night.”
“All right, let’s get shit squared away,” King grunted. “Shit needs to keep running while we’re gone. That’s where you assholes come into play.”
King looked at me and then moved around the rest of the table— Zig, Zag, Pie, Frost, and Easy. Snapper was out in the common room since he was still just a prospect. We were basically the kids of the other guys sitting around the table.
Frost, Zig, and Zag were Demon’s kids. Easy and his sister Greta, who hung around the club, belonged to Gambler. Pie’s dad wasn’t technically a part of the club, but he was always around seeing as he was best friends with King’s ol’ lady. Snapper’s dad, Turtle, had been part of the club, but he had died in a drunk driving accident along with Snapper’s mom when Snapper was only three, so King and his ol’ lady had raised him.
We were the second generation of the Devil’s Knights who were one day going to take over, but each one of our dads were dragging their feet getting away from the damn club. We knew they would be Devil’s Knights until they died, but giving up a little responsibility to us would be nice.
“Which one of you thinks they can take care of the club while I’m gone?”
I was the only one to raise my hand.
Everyone at the table knew I had been dreaming of the day when I would be the president of the Devil’s Knights.
I was born to be president.
From the time I came out kicking and screaming, I was in the clubhouse. Watching how things worked. Seeing the brotherhood between everyone.
It was amazing, and I wanted to be in charge of that. I wanted to be the person who wouldn’t let the Devil’s Knights die.
“You think you’re up for making sure all of the parts of the club keep moving?” King asked me.
I nodded. “Yes, sir.” I may have been twenty-eight, but King still managed to pull huge respect from me. He was the man who had made the Devil’s Knights what it was. He had built this brotherhood.
“Luna is managing Sultry Knights. She should be fine over there, but one of you should still keep an eye on things.” King pointed to Pie. “Keep an eye on your sister.” In true King fashion, he first said it was up to us, and then, he went ahead and made the decision.
Pie grunted his annoyance but nodded. “Will do.”
I was going to hear about this later when we were done with church.
“Since Meg is going to be gone, too, someone is going to have to take over all the shit she does.”
Frost raised his hand. “Meg went over everything with me the other day. The paperwork and office shit seems pretty easy.”
King nodded. “Good. Try not to fuck up her shit too much while she’s gone.”
Frost smirked. “I’ll try.”
We all knew by the time Meg came back from vacation that Frost was going to have everything fucked up.
King tipped his head to the side, and his eyes connected with mine. “Guess you’ll get your wish of pretending to be president.”
I didn’t want to pretend. I wanted it to be true. “No one is pretending around here.”
Dad chuckled. “Such a cocky kid.”
“Wonder where he got that from?” King muttered.
Rigid ran his fingers through his blue mohawk. “No clue. Must be his mom.”
I rolled my eyes. Dad was one of the cockiest sitting around this table, but he was also one of the most loyal people you would ever meet. Every guy sitting around this table was loyal to a fault.
King leaned forward and grabbed the gavel. “You’re getting your wish, Hero. The club is in your hands while we’re all gone. If you manage to not burn down the clubhouse while we’re away, maybe I’ll be able to take a few more vacations before I get too old to enjoy them.” He slammed the gavel on the table. “Meeting over. Let’s go on vacation, assholes.”
The older members of the club filed out, laughing and talking about loading up the RV.
“This shit really happening?” Pie asked.
We all stared at the empty chairs on the opposite end of the table.
Frost shifted next to me and pinched my arm.
“What the fuck, brah?” I grumbled.
“Just seeing if we were dreaming.” He shrugged and sat back in his chair.
“Next time, pinch yourself, dumbass.” I growled. I rubbed my arm and resisted the urge to punch Frost in the face.
“How long are they gone for?” Zag asked.
“Six weeks for sure. Maybe longer.”
I whistled low. Holy fuck. “You know what they say, right?” A smile spread across my lips. “When the cats are away, the mice will play.”
King and all the older members were going to be gone. It was time for the next generation of Knights to take over.
At least for six weeks.
*
Chapter Three
Reva
“What in the heck is going on? I couldn’t even get in the driveway.”
I looked up from the Aussie I was bathing. “Uh, what?” I had been in the grooming zone and hadn’t even noticed Pam walk in with Mikey on his leash.
“Honey, there is a huge monstrosity blocking the whole damn road!” Pam exclaimed.
What the hell is she talking about? I tethered Oscar to the wash tub and hung up the sprayer. “I’ll be right back, big man.” Thankfully, Oscar actually liked his bath time and just sat down. “Good boy,” I muttered.
I wiped my hands on the towel on the counter and moved around the front desk to where Pam had her nose pressed to the glass of the front door. I squeezed in next to her, and my jaw dropped.
Sure as shit, there was a huge RV blocking the whole road. “What in the hell?”
Pam clicked her tongue. “I done told you, sugar.”
She had told me, but it was hard to believe without actually seeing it.
“Whoever it is has the motorcycle club helping them out, thankfully.”
I squinted and tried to catch a glimpse of the guys with the club cuts on. “Are you sure it isn’t the motorcycle club in the RV?”