Savage Love (Back Down Devil MC #7)(27)

“His death will be avenged,” Miller said. “We all knew Griffin and we all knew he was a patient and anal man.”

“I love anal,” Blaine said.

“Christ,” Jace said.

“Taking it?” Gaige asked with a smile.

“Hey,” Blaine said pointing two fingers holding a cigarette at Gaige. “I tried something a few times, okay? Each time was with a woman and she was the one…”

“Goddammit,” Miller said. “I don’t want to hear any of this.” He sighed. “What I’m explaining is that Griffin was a patient and understanding man. A lot of us are hot heads and would have pulled the trigger already. I don’t know what happens after the reaper gets us and our bodies are thrown into the ground. Maybe Griffin is floating around above us. Maybe he’s watching us.”

“Jesus, I hope not,” Blaine said. “If he saw what I just did to some reliever in the bathroom…”

“We wait,” Miller bellowed over Blaine. “We f*cking wait. Jerry is trying to be mentally strong. We’re stronger. The second he is officially broken, that’s when we strike.”

Silence moved through the entire room. Miller could see it in their eyes. They all f*cking knew about Ella and Beck being in the clubhouse. They were probably all gossiping about it like a bunch of teenage girls.

“Yeah, I took in his wife and kid,” Miller said. “Anyone have a problem with that?”

Gaige waved his hand. Landon and Erik did the same.

“Sorry,” Erik said. “It’s just…”

“I appreciate the honesty. I won’t punish you for being true. But nobody here understands the situation. And I’m asking you as my brothers and commanding you as the President of this MC that you all respect her and make sure she’s safe. Jerry is an unstable man. And he’ll kill her. And the kid. I don’t need that shit on my conscience. Bad enough I’ve had to bury a brother.”

Landon lowered his hand. “Any chance she knows something we don’t?”

“No,” Miller said. “Jerry had met with Coast Road in his house a few times. And the judge had been there. But not lately.”

Everyone had a good chuckle.

“We need to play this carefully,” Miller said. “And I think it’s time we talk about the seat.”

“Griffin’s” Gaige asked.

Miller nodded. “I know, it’s too goddamn early for that. I get it. Respectfully, for Griffin, that seat should stay empty for a while. But look at what we’re dealing with. The table has to be whole. We need eyes, arms, bodies, muscle. We need to be ready for everything that can go right and everything that will go wrong. That chair needs to be filled.”

Slowly, Miller walked around the table to the empty chair. He put his hands to it and pulled it away from the table. No way in hell he’d sit there though. Neither would any of the other guys. Just a little dumb superstition. Hell, to get someone to sit there would be a chore in itself.

“I can’t allow anyone to object,” Miller said.

“He’s right,” Gaige said. The VP stood tall. “Leaving that seat empty is a reminder. And Jerry knows that. Coast Road knows that. That’s our weak spot. We fill that chair with a nasty motherf*cker, the game will change.”

“So we vote in someone new,” Blaine said. “Take a ballot?”

Everyone started to nod.

“No,” Miller said, shutting the table up.

The normal way to do this would be for everyone to sit and think. For everyone to write down a name or two. Then they’d put it into a hat or box or something. Miller would then take out the names and read them. The table would vote whether they liked it or not. Then they’d see how many times a name was repeated. Sometimes it could take weeks to figure it out. Bringing someone to table was a big deal. There were a lot of guys wearing the Back Down Devil MC cut out there that had never seen the conference room and never would. This place was sacred. This place commanded a level of respect that only a handful of people could understand and handle.

“No,” Miller said again. He pushed the chair in. “I’m going to make the call on this one.”

The room was silent again. The tension in the room grew by the second, by the breath.

“Can we ask why?” Shay asked. “That’s a heavy burden to bear.”

“No burden,” Miller said. “I have the name already.”

“Jesus H. Christ,” Shay said. “What’d you do? Look at Griffin bleeding out and pick the next guy?”

Miller looked right at Shay and curled his lip. “What if I said that’s exactly what I did?”

“Aye,” Shay said. “That’s not right.”

“That’s not what I did,” Miller said. “But I’m telling you right now, I’ve made the decision. We don’t have time to waste. There’s only one right choice for this seat. And it won’t be permanent.”

“Holy shit,” Blaine said. “You want to do a fill in?”

“Yeah,” Miller said.

“That’s crazy,” Gaige said. “Bring someone in on this shit? Give them a cut with a patch and then send them packing when the smoke clears?”

“There’s no other way to do it,” Miller said.