CHAPTER 3

Reaper

The three of us finally made it to the turnoff for our home. I drove through the open gates and made a mental note that they needed to be closed and security upgraded.

We drove through the avenue of trees and caught glimpses of the house through the trees to the left of us. We could have gone straight to the front of the house. There was a big circular drive leading up to the front door. However, that was where we sent guests. The family had parking spots around the back of the house.

If we had driven to the front of the house, we would have seen a beautiful Georgian Manor House in a soft brown stone with ivy and jasmine climbing up the walls and around the windows. The windows are tall and surrounded by white window frames. The front door was wide, as was fitting for a manor house. I had been told that the doors, both the external and internal doors, had all been wide so that the skirts of ball gowns from bygone eras would fit through them. Whether it was true or not, I had no idea. I knew the front door had been replaced and was now a beautiful sage green, but dad had kept the original knocker and door handle and had them reinstated in the new door.

Instead of turning right to the front of the house, I carried on straight and took the road to take us to the family parking and the garages. Mum and Maggie had asked for the open-sided roofed garage, so they didn't have to scrape the ice and snow off their cars in the winter.

Each family member had a bay for their car and another that housed their bike. For years, it held just the original four MC bikes. Then, as the family expanded, we added spaces as we each passed our tests, including the girls. I parked Noni's van in our parking bay and saw Gunny pull up behind us with Rogue, Draco, Dragon Onyx, and my bikes strapped to the trailers.

Getting out, the girls greeted Gunny as I walked over to the trailer to help offload our bikes.

I hugged Gunny and got a hard clap on the shoulder in return, "Kane, any change in your dad?"

Gunny was Dragon's father and had been in the service with my dad and was around the same age, at fifty-five. He was six feet tall, muscular and fit, his grey hair brushed back from his face and navy blue eyes.

I shook my head at my uncle while unbuckling the trailer's loading straps.

"No change, Gunny. But the girls and I have been busy this afternoon," I said, looking at him with my eyebrows raised.

He chuckled, "They spoke to you about resurrecting the MC, then?"

"Yep, it seems the women in this family have more balls than the men."

Gunny laughed so hard I thought he was going to choke.

"Son, women have always had bigger balls than us, they just carry them on their chest, and their balls don't affect their thinking."

He grinned at me.

I grinned back at him as we started rolling the bikes down the ramp until they were parked next to Noni's purple and Avy's blue Sportster. All the bikes in a row were quite a sight to see.

"Where are your bikes?" I queried.

"We moved them into our parking bays. We figured you might need the space if you agreed to reinstate the MC. Also, we were hoping that you might have some recruits from your time in the military."

"I'm going to speak to the boys tonight. I'll tell them what is going on and what the girls and I decided at the hospital. They had better not give me any shit about bringing the girls into this. And anyone who doesn't like that we will have women at the table needs not apply."

"Son, you know that isn't how it's usually done in MCs."

"Gunny, I don't care how it's done in other MCs. This is how it will be done in mine. Our women run all our businesses except the garage. We need them in the meetings. Not just so they know what is going on but also what to look out for. They will be safer if they know what to expect. I don't understand where this idea of keeping women in the dark comes from. They can make better decisions if they have all the facts.

"And as per the conversation we've just had, the women in our family are not shrinking violets. We have taught them how to fight and look after themselves. They have already decided they would only be involved in the first half of the meeting that deals with the businesses, security and finances. Anything that needs doing to sort out this drug problem we have they don't want to know about so that if we get caught, they are still able to run our businesses.

"We have been away for fourteen years, and now suddenly, because we are back, they have no say in what happens with the business they run and their safety? Not in my MC," I declared, breathing heavily and glaring at my uncle.

A round of applause broke out, making me jerk my head in surprise. I looked up to see Avy, Noni, Bella, Aunt Maggie, Dog and Thor listening to us.

"Spoken like a true President. I'm so proud of you, Kane," Maggie said, kissing and hugging me. "Gunny, stop hassling the boy. You knew he wouldn't leave the girls out."

I rolled my eyes at being called a boy. Avy was sniggering at my look of annoyance.

I'd been had, but at least my sister, Noni and Bella knew how I felt about them joining the MC.

I brought up checking out the barn behind the cottages to use as a meeting room and clubhouse. There would be single guys, and I wanted somewhere they could kick back and relax but not feel uncomfortable like they may have if we used the big house with all the families and couples living there.

"That's a good idea, Kane. It's a massive space, but it's where we store everything we haven't used over the last ten years. It'll need the wiring redone for starters, but let's go look," Thor added.

We all traipsed through the grass to the barn. From the outside, it looked good, but I wondered what the roof and the inside were like. Pushing the doors open, we walked inside.

Gunny found the light switch and flicked it on. The main part of the barn was massive, but it wasn't in bad shape. I think it had been used to hold hay originally. We used to come and camp out here as kids. It seemed bigger then than it did now.

Walking further in, I looked for damp but couldn't see anything. The lights kept flickering. Pushing open the door to the left of the barn, it looked like this would be a bathroom of some sort. Further back, there was a single and then a double door. Pushing the double doors open, I stepped into a large room with nothing in it. I thought that would serve as a meeting room. The last door was just a small storage room.

I walked back to where everyone was standing in the middle of the main room of the barn.

"I think this can work as Church and Clubhouse," I stated.

I got nods of agreement from everyone.

Noni took out her pen and pad and made notes on what was needed.

"First, we need to get the electricity sorted. I will call Abby and see if she can come out to have a look," Noni said.

"Who is Abby," I asked.

"Abby Wright, her dad, owned Bright Spark Electricity. When he died a couple of years ago, she took over the company. She now has three others that work for her. They're good, don't worry."

"I'm not worried. I was just wondering if she would know a good plumber. There is what looks like it is going to be a bathroom. I'm sure we'll want a bathroom here rather than going back to the house."

"Hmm, good point. I can ask her," Noni nodded her head at me. "I will want a bathroom."

Everyone else left except Noni, Avy and me. We go around making notes and taking measurements. I'm not sure if the original church table will fit through the doors of the room I want to use for meetings.

The three of us would meet tomorrow evening again to see what the costs would be and make up a budget. I had quite a bit put away in savings, and I knew Dragon, Onyx, Draco, and Rogue would add money.

We finally called it a night, as Noni had to be up at four to get to the bakery.

She said that Gunny was going with her, so she didn't have to go alone when I questioned her about leaving in the dark.

We each grabbed something to eat before heading to our rooms.

I had to see if I could contact the others, fill them in on what was happening, and get their thoughts on restarting the MC.