“Dad, stop it.”
“No, I won’t stop. I’m sick and tired of having to listen to the shit that goes down. I’m doing what that fuck-face should do to take care of you,” Ned said, growling each word out.
Alex took a deep breath and rounded the corner to enter the club house. Eva clocked him first, and she shook her head. This is what he’d been doing his whole life, talking with Tiny. He was the one who’d brought Ned into his life through the drug runs. All of them knew other people that knew other people that kept them in contact with others. It was an insane scheme of things but one that worked.
“What’s going on?” Alex asked.
Eva shook her head, turning to walk away.
“You’re not going anywhere, Eva. I want to see those grandbabies that have been kept from me.”
“For fuck’s sake, Dad, you’re not being fair. Shit went down, but that’s no need to leave men here to take care of me.”
“No one hurts my girl, Eva. You’ve got to understand that. I for one am not happy with what went down with this fucker, Gonzalez.”
The three fighters were standing there, not making a sound. Alex stared at each one, recognizing them. They were fierce bastards, hard as rock. He’d put money on them winning and earned a killing back for it. One was known as Jimmy, who could take a man down with one punch. The other, Pat, no one gave him shit about his name as he was a mean motherfucker who wasn’t afraid to use his teeth. The last one was Black. No one knew his real name. His eyes were that dark they appeared almost black. He didn’t speak to anyone. Just glancing over at him gave Alex the chills.
“What’s with the fighters?” Alex moved behind the bar pouring himself a generous shot of whiskey. After the meeting with Cheryl, he needed something strong.
“They’re here to protect my girl.”
“You think a bunch of fighters would have stopped Gonzalez?”
“It would have stopped my girl getting hurt.”
Alex pointed across the room toward Baker. “He’s the one who stopped Eva getting hurt. We’ve got the protection covered.”
“You need to step down, Tiny. You’ve not got what it takes to take on the world.”
“Dad!”
“What about you, old man? You’ve got a few years on me. Are you going to be stepping down from your fighters?”
“My boys don’t get into trouble. You, however, can’t keep anyone in fucking check.”
Tiny stepped closer, about to raise his fist.
“Stop!” Eva screamed the word. The high pitch made Alex cover his ears. “Daddy, I thought this visit was to see me and the kids. Not to bring men here to leave. This is not how it works. You know this. I don’t want men I don’t know hanging around my house. It’s bad enough getting a life as it is. I don’t want your men here.” She circled her arm through Tiny’s. “He takes care of me. He loves me, Dad.”
“No, he almost got you killed.”
“I’m still here. I’m still alive to tell all kinds of tales. Please, don’t do this.”
Alex didn’t know why he bothered coming. The only person who could talk Ned down was his little girl.
“This isn’t over,” Ned said, pointing a finger at Tiny.
“Stop with your fucking threats. They get old real fucking fast.”
Alex watched as Eva rolled her eyes. “You can’t do it, can you?” She released Tiny’s arm. “You’re my husband, and you’re my dad. I love you both. For once can you just try and get along?”
She turned and walked away, leaving two men looking a little sheepish.
“That was your fault.”
“We need to talk about Butch,” Alex said, interrupting their talk. He wasn’t interested in listening to them bicker about whose fault it was or not. There were far more interesting things going on in the world than that. He couldn’t let anything happen to his son. If supporting Butch back into the club was what kept his son close to him, he’d do it.
“What?” Tiny asked, turning back to face him.
“Butch made a mistake. You can’t risk losing him. He was loyal to the club for so long. I can’t agree with the decision to lose him.”
“Since when have you been about team Butch?” Lash asked.
“We’ll lose Whizz in the process. Both of them are great members, loyal members.” He’d not really thought about what to say in defense of Whizz.
“We’re going to take a vote on it when Whizz gets back. The fucker took off because this bastard had come to town.” Tiny glared at Ned. “I can’t believe you brought your fighters with you. Fucking prick.”
“Go ahead, Tiny, make your threats. I may be old, but I can still shoot a fucking gun.”
The threats went on but neither man acting on them. Eva had them both gripped by the balls.
Chapter Twelve
Whizz parked up outside of the clubhouse late the following afternoon. He didn’t want his time with Lacey to end, but from the three men he didn’t recognize standing outside, it was a good time to be back.
Lacey climbed off the back of the bike, handing him the helmet he’d given her to wear.
“They’re probably Ned’s fighters. He’s got a thing where he doesn’t like Eva to be put in danger.”
“It’s a bit late with her dating a biker.”
“Ned was never normal.”
He pocketed his keys, grabbing Lacey’s hand and making his way toward the noise. Eva was screaming at Tiny and Ned as they fought in the center of the room.
“Why are Ned’s fighters outside?” Lacey asked.
Even he didn’t know why the fighters were outside. He saw Nash and Lash standing at the bar looking pissed off.
“What’s going on?” Whizz asked, putting Lacey in front of him in the seat. He stood behind her so that she’d be protected from the mess.
“They’re fighting to prove they’re not old. Ned sent his fighters out as Tiny challenged him. They’re being fucking ridiculous,” Lash said.
“You were acting like an immature bastard not long ago because you don’t want to be taking over. Now you’re complaining about them acting like it.”
“It’s fucking different. Tiny should know better. This is not solving problems like Butch.”
Whizz tensed. “What about Butch?” He massaged Lacey’s shoulders feeling her tense up in front of him.