Page 48 of Rhett Redeemed

Chapter Eighteen

Rhett

Over the next week, I can tell something is brewing. Arrow has been spending a lot of time with me talking out various parts of our businesses. I’ve been focused and undistracted. While they have slowly been showing me the ropes for some time now, they are definitely amping it up.

I spend the day being shown all the MC accounts, how it all works and where the money comes from and where it goes. Arrow and I discuss all our business ventures, and I know it’s up to me to maintain all this money coming in, and to make good choices to ensure all the members get paid enough. As of now, we are all doing really well financially, and I know that’s because of how Sin and Arrow have set up the business side for our club. Right now I get more money than I ever would in a nine-to-five job, and I’d like to keep it that way.

“Not all fun, is it?” Arrow comments, amusement dancing in his eyes. “That’s what we have a treasurer for, though, so you can get them to handle most of this shit. You just have to know what’s happening, and make sure you’re on top of it all.”

“It might not be fun, but money is fun, so I’m okay with it.” I grin, sitting down at the big wooden table where we hold all of our meetings, eyeing the president’s chair at the head. “I actually like learning about all of this, and how we make our income. It’s like the best of both worlds—I get to be a biker, but also start and maintain businesses, juggle stocks and investments. Maybe I should wear a suit to the clubhouse sometimes.”

Arrow smirks. “You were born for this, you know that? When Nate was born I thought maybe he would take over one day, but early on I knew he didn’t want to. This wasn’t the life for him; he wanted to stretch his wings and follow his own path. We all had our eyes on you, but didn’t want to put any pressure on you.”

“This is where I’m meant to be.” I nod.

And now I have nothing holding me back. Cara was right. In the long run us breaking up was the right choice, and she deserves a life that she wants. The moment of realization is a good one. I now get to be who I want to be, lead the MC and put the Wind Dragons first, no matter what. She still falls under that jurisdiction, and I will always be here to protect her and all the MC families. Clover, Con...everyone.

Con.

I had a dream about her last night and woke up hard as a rock. I took care of it myself, which also isn’t usually like me; I’d generally have someone look after that. But since we’ve been... I don’t even know what we’re doing.

She’s under my skin and I can’t seem to shake her. She asks nothing of me and never questions anything. She isn’t clingy or making demands. She must be playing mind tricks ’cause it’s making me want her even more. I might block her from my thoughts during the day, but now she’s finding me at night when I’m vulnerable and have no control over my thoughts. I’ve decided to give us some space. I need to really focus on the MC and get that situated before I pay any attention to my social life.

I both love it and hate it.

“Do you still have your eyes on Marko?” I ask Arrow, sitting down at the table.

“I called them off. Why?” he asks, frowning.

“Just asking. I thought I saw someone following me the other day, which led me to a woman’s house. I thought maybe it had something to do with Marko, because I can’t think of any other reason someone would be following me.”

Arrow barks out a deep laugh and slaps me on the shoulder. “It could be Marko, but it could be anyone. Always assume you have a target on you, Rhett. Trust no one. We have that dirt on Marko, and if he pulls any shit we will be using it. Then the FC won’t want him as their leader anymore. I knew we should have killed that bastard.”

He’s talking about the fact that Marko is a confidential informant for the FBI. When the fight ended and Decker won, we had one last card to play. We told Marko that if he messed with any one of us, or the Knights of Fury MC, who helped us get this information, we’d tell his men all about his extracurriculars with the Feds. He’s been in line ever since.

“Yeah, but none of us want to do time,” I reply in a dry tone, tilting my head and looking up at him. “Unless we really have to.”

It’s likely at some stage in my life I will have to spend time behind bars. I know it, Arrow knows it. We all know it. That wall of mug shots didn’t come about as a coincidence.

And I’ll do what I need to do to protect those that I love.

“Well, it’s the only reason he’s still standing, but if we need to take care of him, we will. There are a few buyers interested in the Toxic strip clubs. What do you think about selling them?”

“How much are they making us right now?” I ask. We have three different Toxic locations, but I don’t know the exact amount these venues are bringing in for us. After all, the strippers keep their own money, so what we get comes from the bar and entrance fees.

He slides me a folder, and when I open it, my jaw drops. “Uh, yeah. I think we will be keeping them. Damn, horny men must have bottomless wallets.”

Arrow nods. “It’s good for the women, too. They know we will keep them safe, and we don’t charge them anything to dance, whereas other places do. No one messes with them, because the customers know we own the joint.”

I never thought of it that way, but he’s right. The women there do have it pretty good, and we would never let anyone harm or disrespect them. They are all walked to their cars at nighttime, and we do anything we can to ensure their safety. Basically, we aren’t assholes to them.

“All right, Toxic stays,” I murmur.

It’s good business for the club. The MC got out of dealing drugs a while back, and that’s something I’m going to stick to. The members are probably wondering where I’m going to lead the club, but it’s not going to be backward. Since Sin took the reins, before Arrow, we’ve tried to stay on the right side of the law when it comes to our businesses. Sure, we have weapons and guns at the clubhouse that may not have permits, but that’s as far outside the law Arrow has let it get, except in extreme cases when we are protecting ourselves. If we go to jail, it’s not going to be for something stupid like drugs or illegal business deals.

“You’ve made this job easy for me,” I say, grinning. “You know that? The businesses are running, the money is coming in, the men are all good men and everyone is happy.”

Arrow’s lip twitches. “When you’re the one everyone runs to when something goes wrong? You’ll realize it’s not easy. Men betray you, even members. Business deals fall through and people double-cross you. You’ll be the one making all the final decisions and keeping everyone together. When you fail, everyone does. When you win, everyone does. It’s a lot of pressure.”