Page 47 of Healed

“See that, Riley?” I said, clapping Ant on the back. “This is a man who is comfortable with his anatomy. Aren’t you, Antony?”

“Fuck off,” he grumbled, slapping the pen back in my hand.

“Hang on a minute,” I said, finally dawning on me what Riley had said. “What do you mean, ‘more cock decorations’? Do we have an abundance of cock about the place?”

“Well... no. But you knew what I meant?” he protested, his cheeks flaming slightly.

“I most certainly did not. Dante, did you know what he meant?”

“I never know what the fuck most of you are talking about. It’s got to the point where I just nod along and hope for the best.”

“See what you’ve done?” I said, backhanding Riley on his arm. “You’ve got our president relying on hope. This place is a fucking shambles.”

“I brought some anaesthetic,” Doc said. “Just say the word and one jab in his ass and he’s out for the entire meeting.”

“Wo-ow,” I breathed. “Sympathy doesn’t last long here, does it?”

I took my seat at Dante’s side and glared at my brothers.

“Can this meeting get underway?” Dante sighed.

“Why does Vienna look constipated?” Chicken asked.

“I’m not constipated. I’m glaring. Intimidating.”

“You look like my nephew when I told him he couldn’t have an extra hour on his curfew,” Ant joined in.

“He has a point,” Dante said. “You look a bit like Axel when Rachel tries to get him on the potty.”

“Rough time,” Sunshine said, the sides of his mouth turning down in sympathy.

“You don’t even have fucking kids!” I protested. “What do you know about potty training? And, more importantly, why are you taking his side?”

“Felt like it,” he shrugged back.

“I don’t think you look constipated, Vienna,” Divorce said, entering the room with a tray of beers.

“Cheers, pal. I knew you were a good ’en. Would you like to join my beard club?”

“Err... well,” he said, placing the beers on the desk and rubbing the back of his neck. “This is slightly awkward as I was going to say you look like a teenage girl dealing with her first period cramps.”

“The audacity,” I gasped as the rest of the room exploded into laughter.

One by one, they reached for their beers and continued to mock me.

“Right, lads,” Dante finally said, banging down his gavel. “Let’s get this underway.”

He reached into the pocket of his cut and pulled out a packet of smokes. Taking one for himself, he extended the next one out of the packet and placed it in the middle of the table, as was customary for these meetings.

“I won’t waste time rehashing the details. We’ve all got our old ladies out there, and they’re clearly in a menacing mood. Let’s share what we know and get the fuck out of here before I’m rebuilding another clubhouse.”

“I’ll go first,” Riley said as Dante lit up his smoke. “Nico was last seen near Barnsley. Seems he fled the clubhouse and is currently shacked up with a woman he has there on one of the estates. I’ve got some of our lesser-known hang-arounds scoping it out and trying to narrow down his location. Told them the first to give us some concrete evidence can have his prospect status rushed through.”

“Good call,” Dante nodded. “I don’t mind prospecting a couple of them if they prove their worth. Do we know who’s on it?”

“I put Michael and Carl in charge. I think we can all agree they’re the best hang-arounds we have. If anything is found, I can say it’s thanks to their planning and push them through.”

“Perfect. Let me know as soon as you hear anything.”