“Cole, how are you crazy motherfuckers going up there?”

I relaxed back into my chair and put my feet up on the desk. The office of the clubhouse was quiet at ten in the morning with a lot of our guys still sleeping after working security for us at night at our various businesses. “We’ve got a situation up here with a new asshole in town. Julio Rivera; you know him?”

“Never heard of him. What’s he done?” I imagined King leaning forward in his chair the way he did when something intrigued or excited him. ‘Situations’ excited King and his insane side; he loved nothing more than to get involved if he sensed he could help fuck some shit up.

“Came to town a few months ago from Adelaide and flew under the radar while establishing his drug connections. He wants the big boys out of the way so he can run this State, and in the process, he used Storm to take out some of his competition.”

“How the fuck did he do that?”

“That restaurant fire of ours? He organised that and set Ricky up to take the fall. We got rid of Ricky and solved his problem.” Anger burned through me just thinking about this asshole. The need to end his agenda consumed me.

“I’ll see what the boys know and get back to you.”

“Thanks, brother.”

“Heard you lost some men. Also heard Griff isn’t who we thought he was.” I couldn’t figure out his tone, but that was King’s signature move; he held his cards close to his chest and often left people wondering what he was really thinking.

“The club took a vote and majority ruled on Griff. We’re better off without those guys who chose to leave. I stand by the decision to let them walk.”

King remained silent for a moment. “A few of them came round here, looking to join.”

“And?” I’d suspected that would happen.

“Fuck that shit, brother. I don’t want men in my club who can’t stand by a majority ruling. I told Hyde to show them the door.” He paused before adding, “I’ll be completely honest with you, Cole – I’ve always liked Griff and always suspected there was something more to him. I never saw his truth coming, though, but I couldn’t give a fuck about it. His loyalty speaks for itself. You made the right call.”

King had a way of surprising the hell out of me. “Yeah.” I was thankful for his support, but it wouldn’t have bothered me if he hadn’t given it. King and I had disagreed in the past, and I’d learnt that he never let a disagreement get between you. So long as you stayed on his good side, you were okay; it was only when he felt wronged that you needed to start getting your affairs in order.

“I’ll be in touch,” he said and then ended the call.

“You got hold of King?”

I looked up to find Griff in the doorway. Standing, I said, “Yeah, he doesn’t know Julio, but he’s putting out the feelers.”

Griff nodded and then jerked his head in the direction of the bar. “Rogue’s here.”

“Good. I’m hoping Colt will arrive later today, too.”

“You want me to fill Rogue in about what’s going on?”

“No, he came over to my place last night and I talked to him already.

We headed out to the bar where Rogue had started drinking for the day already.

Fuck.

“Not much changes with some people,” Griff muttered.

“My thoughts exactly,” I agreed with him. Rogue had gone nomad just over a year ago after he’d had a falling out with Marcus over his drinking and partying. He’d often let the club down due to the benders he went on, and Marcus had given him an ultimatum to either clean up or clear out.

Rogue eyed me with a grin as I headed his way. “How’s that little firecracker of yours today? Still pissed at me?”

“Trust me, you were the last thing on her mind this morning,” I muttered. Harlow had been annoyed with him last night and had refused to have anything to do with Rogue after I’d found her on the back deck with him. However, she hadn’t even mentioned his name this morning.

“We should have a club get-together tonight, celebrate me and Colt coming home, and you could bring her. She and I should get to know each other better, especially if I’m gonna come back to Brisbane for good.”

I raised my brows. “You’re thinking of coming back for good?”

“I figure it’s time. Now that Marcus isn’t around to bust my balls.”

Griff grunted next to me as I started to say, “We need to get one thing - ” My phone cut me off as I began talking and I ignored it until I realised it was my mother calling; she’d just keep ringing until I answered, so I cut the conversation short to speak with her.

“Hi,” I answered the call as I turned away from Rogue.

“Scott,” she started and then paused for a moment. Our relationship still hadn’t fully recovered after we’d had an almost falling out over Dad before his death. We’d been working on it since, but at times we were still a little hesitant with each other. “I just wanted to check on how Harlow is.”

“You know you could call her and ask her yourself.”

“I didn’t want to harass the poor girl when I know she’s still getting over her loss.”

I paced on the spot. “Mum, has it ever occurred to you that this could have been the perfect opportunity for you and Harlow to establish a bond?” When Harlow and I had gotten together, my relationship with Mum had been strained, and as a consequence, Mum and Harlow had never had the chance to really get to know each other.

“You’re right.” Her voice was soft and I heard the thought going on in her head. “I’ll call her myself. Might even try to organise some girl time with her. Do you think she’d be interested in that?”

The sight of Colt entering the bar momentarily distracted me and I returned his chin jerk. “I’ve gotta go, Mum, but yeah, call her and organise that because I’m pretty sure she’d be interested.” Hell, I was interested in that because it could mean the end of my mother phoning me every second day or so to check on my woman.

I ended the call and made my way to Colt. We greeted each other with a slap on the back. “Long time, no see, motherfucker,” he said with a shit-eating grin on his face.

Returning his grin, I said, “About time you came home, brother.” Colt had left two years ago and we’d seen him only once since. He had no family left in Brisbane and I figured the memories he did have kept him away. Couldn’t blame the guy; if I’d survived what he had, I wouldn’t want to come back either.

He surveyed the bar. “Things have changed around here.”

I frowned. “Hardly.” No changes had occurred that I was aware of.

His gaze came back to mine, and his face turned serious. “I don’t mean the fucking furniture, Scott. I’m talking about the fact Marcus isn’t around any longer, and the fact seven of our men have left, which in my opinion was probably the best thing to happen to the club at this point.”

“The best thing because?” I needed to know where he stood on this because if I was going to assemble a team of guys ready to support me at any turn, I had to make sure I selected the right ones.

His gaze turned sure, and when he spoke, the truth in his words rang out loud and clear. “If I’m gonna come back here and even think about taking your back, I wanna know that the men by my side support you one hundred fucking percent. When we’re out there at war with these assholes and they’ve got us by the dick, I wanna know I’m standing next to a man who would rather have his dick cut off than give up our club.”

“Sounds about right,” Griff said as he joined us and caught the last part of the conversation.

Colt turned to Griff. “I hope to fuck I never have to have my dick cut off, but my loyalty runs that deep. Those members that left didn’t share the same sense of loyalty as far as I’m concerned or else they’d still be here.”

“I’m with you on that,” I said.

Colt’s seriousness vanished and his grin returned. “You boys up for a ride? Been too long since we’ve all been out. Thought we could blow off some steam before we get down to business.”