Page 17 of Spook’s Honor

Her smile broke through like sunshine on a rainy day. She nodded, seemingly satisfied with my answer, and went back to eating, chatting, and helping me with the boys.

An hour later, they left in a flurry of laughter, jackets, hats, and gloves pulled on, to combat the cold front that had arrived. I had a feeling we’d have snow for Thanksgiving.

With Honor and the boys gone, the house was empty, and too quiet.

Taking out my phone, I messaged Maverick.

Me: Want to go for a ride before we have to park the bikes for winter?

Mav: Fuck yeah. Club or just us?

It didn’t take me long to think about it. There was nothing better than riding with our brothers.

Me: Club. We can ride to Lala’s and have lunch. I’ll let her know to expect us.

Mav: I’ll send out a message to the brothers. Ten minutes?

Me: Good with me.

Not a minute later, my phone buzzed in the group chat we had for all the brothers, letting everyone know we were riding.

I called Lala, who was thrilled to feed us, as I’d known she’d be. She was closest to Axle and Roman, but after Axle had met Angel, she’d somehow become part of the club, and most tended to treat her as a beloved grandmother. She lapped it up.

I knew Axle wished she lived closer. We’d have to think of a way to make that happen.

It was a little longer than ten minutes, but almost all of the brothers turned up, like I expected they would. Most of our businesses had managers, and good ones. We paid them well to ensure that, should anything happen to us, nothing would change when it came to earnings. The club came first, always, and that meant our brothers and their families, needed to be taken care of.

BB, as our Road Captain, led us out the gate with Maverick next, then me, then the rest of the brothers falling naturally into formation positions, with Stout taking up the rear, as our Tailgunner.

BB took us on a two-hour ride.

With every mile, the tension eased, carried off on the wind. For those two hours, I didn’t think or worry about anything as the miles passed.

My boys were covered and being cared for by Honor, and she was safe at the garden centre, with Angel and her family. Jake and Fern were still here, and for once, nothing was pressing in on me.

It felt good to be with my brothers and remember why I chose this life.

When we stopped outside Lala’s, I had to laugh at the groans, as the brothers got off their bikes. You’d think we were in our eighties.

“You brothers need more gym time,” Carnage said, looking at us and shaking his head in disgust. “Seriously, anyone would think you never ride, and we’ve still got an hour's ride home. What the fuck?”

He wasn’t wrong. While most of us were in shape, some of the brothers could do with adding an exercise regime to their days.

“Fuck, I hate the gym in town,” Roman grumbled. “It’s filthy, and the machines are crap.”

“You’re not wrong,” I agreed, taking off my helmet. “You know you can use the one at Hit It.”

“Yeah, but it’s your workplace, brother, and it’s for your employees. You know we try to keep our shit separate,” he reminded me.

Fuck, he was right.

My eyes met Maverick’s, and he nodded. We were on the same page. It helped that we’d been friends for so long. We could read each other without saying a word.

“Carnage.”

Our Sergeant at Arms looked at me. “VP?”

“Find out if the gym in town is for sale, and if it is, how much they want for it. If the price is reasonable, we’ll buy it. It’s a good investment. If it’s not, Stout or Beard can decide how much one will cost to build, and we’ll find a place on the property for one. I’d rather make money though.”