I sat down across from Honest and stared at Pardon. Every time I saw him in that new chair, all I could think about was Swing and it made me angry. But I always held it in because it was never the right time. Especially not now that we were going to have a Havoc vote.
“Who pissed you off this time, Pardon?” I asked, leaning back in my chair.
“You’re starting to get awfully mouthy like your friend,” he shot back.
“All I’m asking is who we’re having a vote on. Someone here must’ve pissed you off, because the only other time you allowed a Havoc vote was for that biker chick,” I replied with a shrug.
Pardon gave me a sinister smile as he leaned back in his chair to mimic the way I was sitting. I started to get a really bad feeling about this, but I wasn’t going to show him. I loved my father, but sometimes he jumped the gun on shit he didn’t need too.
“You all heard the boy,” he said condescendingly, “let’s have our vote.”
“On who?” Honest asked curiously.
“It’s been brought to my attention that we have a little problem here in the motorcycle club. Something of a coup,” he started, keeping his eyes on me. “I won’t stand for this shit. Regardless of who you are in this club, I won’t fucking stand for it. We’re gonna go around this table and we’re gonna do this right.”
I raised an eyebrow curiously waiting for him to finally spit out who we were having the vote on. Unless it was someone that I really thou
ght deserved it, I was going to vote no.
“Now we know the rules. The person who’s going to be voted on can’t be in the room when it happens,” he said dragging it out. “That being said, I need you to step out of the room.”
We all looked around at each other when Pardon looked down at his hands for a moment. No one knew who he was talking about, and no one wanted to ask, so I stepped up.
“Who are you talking about?” I asked curiously.
“I’m talking about you. Dallas Quinn, step out of the room. We need to have a vote,” he said, his voice a little softer as he glanced up to meet my eyes.
The stunned silence in the room was the most deafening thing in the world. The only thing I could hear was my heart beating erratically at the thought that my own father was putting me up for a Havoc vote.
“I know what you’ve been doing behind my back, boy. I don’t know who you’ve been doing it with, but I’ll find out soon enough. Now get out of here while we vote.”
I pushed my chair back and got to my feet. I put a hand on the table and glanced over at him feeling angry and betrayed.
“I wanna say something first,” I said, in a shaky voice.
“Go ahead,” he agreed, with a nod.
“Whatever you found out? I did it alone. I wouldn’t put anyone else here in danger, so if you decide on Havoc, keep that in mind. There’s no one else. Just me.”
I turned and left the room. I decided to go outside and have a smoke while I waited to find out what the verdict was. And even in that moment, I knew that if Pardon didn’t get his way on the vote, he’d find a way to get it done regardless. The worst part was that I knew that the only way I’d let Swing kill him was if I was dead.
Looks like you might have your way after all, I thought as I kept my eyes trained on the door waiting to find out what my fate would be.
The Vote
Tidals & Anchors Meeting Room
Epilogue
Pardon
Half of the room, my half, was looking at me with appreciation in their eyes. I understood it; I was willing to show them that I wasn’t the kind of President that Leon was. To sugar coat shit to save their kid.
The other half of the room, Dallas’ half, was staring at me in stunned silence. It was easy to figure out who was working with him; it was the same ones that were always missing when he was, but I wanted the ones that were doing the work with him. I wanted the ones who knew where Nero was, then I would deal with them after.
“What’s going on, Pardon?” Honest asked. He was the first one in the room to speak up since my boy walked out.
I scoffed and shook my head. Did I want my own son dead? No, of course not, what father would want that? But at the same time, what kind of President would I be if I didn’t take down the uprising before it started.