Taking It All: A Hellfire Riders MC Romance (The Motorcycle Clubs Book 6) Read Free

and he signals to Gunner. The sergeant at arms is tasked with keeping order during meetings. Now he calls out that everyone has exactly one minute to get their asses into their seats.
    Once they’re there, I get started. The rule is, everyone keeps their mouths shut while the prez speaks, so I lay out the deal without interruptions. We’ll take on the property and clubhouse on Red Erickson’s ranch. Any Titans who want to come over to the Riders will receive a patch and a place within our ranks. They’ve only got fifteen men, but that will put our own numbers at around fifty bikers. We’re already the strongest club in the region. Adding the Titans will only make us stronger and we’ll be able to expand our territory, pushing out the Eighty-Eight. I don’t try to soften it up. This move means a lot of shit will be coming our way in the next months—or over the next few years, depending on how hard the Henchmen fight back. But the Riders never back down from trouble. We ought to be running toward it.
    I can see that most of them are convinced even before I open up the floor for questions, but a few are holding back. When Gunner nods to Spiral, giving him the go-ahead to speak, I already know what’s coming.
    “So you’re gonna let the three brothers who walked after we let Zoomie join us come back?” he asks. “You’re gonna give them another patch?”
    “I am,” I tell him—though it sticks in my throat to even say it. Five years ago, when Zoomie made her bid for a patch, some of the brothers couldn’t tolerate the thought of someone with a pair of tits riding with us. But the club’s Constitution says that anyone who served in the armed services can’t be rejected without good reason. Tits aren’t a good reason.
    I could have changed the Constitution so that anyone who served became any man who served . From the day he founded the club Lucifer held onto as much power as he could, and all the rules he wrote into the Constitution are still there. As the president now, I’m the only one who can rewrite the bylaws—and unlike some clubs that vote in their presidents annually, I’m in for life or until the executive board unanimously votes me out.
    But I didn’t change the laws, Zoomie was voted in, and three of the Riders turned in their colors and joined the Titans.
    I hold up my hand, quieting the disgruntled rumble that started in response to my answer. “It’ll be with conditions,” I continue. “Because I’ll tell you true—it pisses me off that they turned their back on the Riders just because pussy walked in. That’s not loyalty.”
    That pisses them off, too. Some, because they’re agreeing with me—and some, because they’re friends of those former Riders, and I’ve just insulted those men by calling them disloyal.
    Zoomie’s more pissed than any of them. Her cheeks are pale with anger and her voice tight as she calls out, “Hey, boss, it might have escaped your fucking notice, but I’m not just pussy .”
    “That’s the point,” I say to her over the noise, then sweep my gaze over the rest and that’s enough to shut them all up. “I’m willing to let them back because they thought Zoomie would bring the club down. I didn’t believe it then and I don’t believe it now. But I know some of you did. You came to me then and you told me I was making a mistake, but you stayed. And now we’ve had years— years —that she’s been with us. So I want a show of hands if you think the Riders are weaker now that Zoomie’s riding with us. It’s no secret that some of you used to think so, so nut up and be honest now, too.”
    Utter quiet. And not one damn hand. Not even from Beaver or Burnout or Knucklehead, who were the most vocal about it at the time.
    All right, then. “So I’m willing to accept that they walked because of loyalty to the club and they couldn’t stand to see it weakened. Now they’ll see we’re stronger than ever—but if they can’t see that, they can just