Axel: Chapter 2

Walking into Church, I see everyone has arrived already, and I sit at the head of the table. Picking up the gavel, I give it a couple of hard knocks. ‘Okay, let’s not fuck around. We need to cover as much as possible as quickly as possible.’ Turning to TwoCents, I give him the nod.

‘First order of business is the nightclub. Both myself and PT have a serious question regarding the orders. Fox, you’ve been working at the club lately. Who’s been doing the stock and issuing the stock orders?’ TwoCents looks over at Fox, ‘Not pointing any fingers Fox, we just need to find out what’s happenin’.’

Fox sits forward in his seat, ‘Jewel has been managing the place mainly. We have been rotating which brother will be managing as we are available, but it’s not ideal. Silver and Rock have done a week recently too. But this last week, I felt we need one of us to step up and manage the place, just a feelin’ I have that all’s not what it seems.’

‘I felt that the week I was in, Jewel and a guy named Steve were pretty tight, and I had to speak to her about giving him free drinks.’ Silver informs us, which has our interest sparking.

I tap on the table, ‘Okay, if we’re gonna be managing the place ourselves from now on, it will need two of you to step up and manage together. That way you can do so many nights each. We can have brothers working during the day too, to make sure we cover all the hours it’s open,’ I state, giving everyone a look that is telling them to man up.

Hammer sits upright, and as he opens his mouth, I point at him, ‘Not you, Hammer, I have something else in mind for you.’

Knuckles speaks up, ‘I’ll do afternoons and some evenings on the door, Pres. Not a problem for me. The place is busier these days, so to have some muscle would be a good thing.’ I give him a nod. I’m happy with that.

‘I’ll co-manage Pres and can make sure everything is covered manpower-wise.’ Silver says, then he turns to Fox, ‘Come on Fox, offer up man, you know we are the ones that have the most experience with the place.’

Fox shakes his head, ‘Fuckin’ hell, okay, I’ll co-manage.’

Tapping my knuckles on the table, ‘Okay, Silver and Fox will run the nightclub and call you guys in as needed.’

‘Check the orders and the stock, as something’s not adding up. The orders have increased, but sales have not. That doesn’t add up with anyone’s math.’ TwoCents passes the figures and copy of the orders to Silver, who reads then passes to Fox.

Fox growls under his breath, ‘We’ll look into this first thing, Pres. Something’s not right, and Specs, if you can do some extra background checks on the staff, that may help.’

Specs, as always, has his laptop with him and nods to Fox while he’s tapping on the keyboard. We never ask what the fuck he’s doing because when he spouts off his computer shit, no one understands it anyway.

‘Three days and we’ll hold Church again, find out what you can in that time, we can decide then depending on what you find.’ I give Drag the nod so he can bring up the next item.

‘Earlier today, Pres, Mia, and I went to see the sandwich shop on West Street. Checked it all out, and Mia gave us the nod that it would be an excellent place to refurbish and turn over. It’s not too big a place, but we could easily turn it into something that could earn money.’ Drag has everyone’s attention, ‘Pres put an offer on the place to Joan who wants to retire, she’s worked hard all her life and is ready to take it easy, she accepted the offer so it’s in the hands of the appropriate people and we think it will be a quick settlement.’

‘Okay, let’s get the place in our name, then Mia and Hammer, yes you Hammer, are going to remodel the place, make it a viable business, and then we can decide what we’re gonna do with it.’ I grin as Hammer is looking shocked as shit, and then he smiles and nods.

‘Great Pres, it’s years since I did this sort of thing. I get along great with Mia now that she forgives me for being her jailor as she calls me,’ grinning Hammer shakes his head, ‘I understand how she felt at the time, we’re building a better relationship now, so it’ll be good to work with her.’

‘Yeah, you remember she’s my ol’ lady.’ I snarl, giving him an evil glare.

‘When do you think the purchase will go through?’ Hammer asks, looking over at TwoCents.

‘Won’t be long, Hammer, as we’re paying cash. It’ll be an easy transfer of ownership. With that in mind, make sure you get together with Mia and make plans. Be ready, don’t get caught off guard.’ I state, ‘Anything else anyone wants or needs to cover?’

Everyone is shaking their heads no. I slam the gavel down. ‘We’ll meet again in a few days, now fuck off.’

Standing, I turn to TwoCents and PT, ‘You two get on top of the club shit, someone is stealing by the looks of it, and we need it nipped in the bud fast.’

MIA Sitting in the common room, I’m searching the internet on my laptop for coffee shops of any description, jotting down ideas on a notepad. The equipment cost adds up, but I’m also taking notes of the prices charged for a black coffee, baked potato, or a sandwich.

I can hear Brandy and Bubbles talking in the background, but I’m not taking any notice of what they are saying.

Abbie walks out of the kitchen and walks over to my table. ‘Mia, do you want a drink or anything? You’ve been busy here for nearly three hours.’

Abbie is a short-haired blonde, a pretty young woman, about five foot four, busty, but natural, not like the other women here, all plastic.

‘No thanks, Abbie. I’m packing this away in a minute. I need to go have a shower and an early night.’ Responding, I smile. I like Abbie. She’s the one club woman I’ll give the time of day to. Why she’s a club woman is beyond me, as she could easily find herself a good man away from this life.

Before we can say or do anything else, Brandy walks over and grabs Abbie by her hair, dragging her backward.

‘I’ve told you bitch to stay away from this skank.’ Brandy snarls at Abbie, and that is it for me. I’ve had enough of this bitch.

Standing, I calmly walk up to Brandy and take hold of two large chunks of her hair and pull as hard as I can. She screams and lets go of Abbie to grab my wrists to stop me from pulling anymore.

I let go with my right hand and take the knife I have tucked in the sheath attached to my belt. I slide the knife over to her neck and press just enough to get her attention. Brandy stills immediately, and I press my mouth next to her ear, ‘You know what they called me in jail Brandy, hm, they called me Blade, and yes, it was because I could use it and use it well.’ Everyone in the common room has taken a breath and waiting for what I’m going to do next. I take a breath, then continue, ‘If you so much as look sideways at Abbie or me, I’ll slice your neck from ear to ear. Do you fucking understand?’ I say all this quietly, but my eyes are scanning the room for anyone that may decide to come and help this bitch.

Brandy’s crying and wailing. She has snot running down her face, mingling with the tears, but I don’t give a shit. I’ve had enough of her since I got here weeks ago.

Target walks over and gently speaks to me. ‘It’s okay, Mia. Let her go now. You’ve made your point.’

I look him in the eye, and he gives me a slight nod of encouragement to let her go. Before I can do anything, Hammer walks over to me, pats me on the shoulder, drags Brandy away, and winks at me over his shoulder.

Target steps toward me, ‘She earned that, Mia, don’t worry about it.’

I give him a nod, re-sheath my knife, and pack up my laptop and notes. Abbie walks over and throws herself at me, hugging me and whispering thank you in my ear.

Beer shouts to me from the bar area, ‘Come over here, Mia. I’ve got you a glass ready.’

Beer got his name as a prospect because he was so good behind the bar at serving quickly, that whenever anyone shouted beer, he was serving before anyone else. He is the best barman you could ask for, and he has a fantastic sense of humor.

Beer is six-foot, shoulder-length, sandy hair, with almond-colored eyes. He trains regularly, so he’s pretty fit too. Easy on the eyes, as the saying goes.

Taking my laptop and notes with me, I walk over to the bar and perch on a barstool. I lay my things down, and Beer hands me a glass of red wine that he has recommended previously, and I enjoyed it.

‘That bitch will be kicked out soon if she keeps it up, Mia, so don’t feel bad, she’s a nasty piece, and I’m not sure why any of the brothers even go to her anymore,’ Beer states, pours himself a drink then leans on the bar towards me. ‘What have you been so busy doing on your laptop?’

‘I’ve been looking at ideas for the sandwich shop, prices, etc.,’ and I hand over my notes for Beer to read.

His eyebrows rise to nearly his hairline. ‘Wow, Mia, you’ve got some damn good ideas here. I like the hot snacks and an area for seating, so you don’t have to have the place as strictly a takeout.’

We discuss some ideas until I feel a pair of arms wrap around my waist, and I just stop myself from jumping away when I realize it’s Axel.

‘Are you okay, babe?’ Axel asks into my neck, his warm breath causing goosebumps to climb.

‘Yeah, I’m just going to finish my drink, then I’m heading up,’ I say, but lean back into Axel’s chest, showing I’m not in any rush at this point.

Beer passes a drink to Axel, and then he sits next to me on a barstool. We spend a few minutes talking to Beer when Hammer walks over to us.

Hammer throws himself onto a bar stool on the other side of Axel. To everyone’s surprise, snarls, ‘Time that fuckin’ bitch was kicked to the curb.’

‘What bitch?’ Axel asks.

‘Brandy. She’s a rotten piece, not a nice thing about her. I’m gonna bring it up in Church that we dump her ass,’ Hammer says with a genuine look of disgust on his face, and that something we don’t rarely see.

‘What’s brought this on, Hammer?’ Axel says, looking surprised at what Hammer had said.

‘She had a go at Abbie, dragged her by her hair because she was speaking to Mia. Brandy has a genuine hatred for Mia, and every time Abbie is nice to Mia, Brandy threatens her.’ Hammer informs us all. Now I’m surprised as I hadn’t realized that. ‘That bitch got some payback tonight, though, hey Mia, and you sure told that fucker this time.’

I give a slight shrug as I’m embarrassed that this is coming to Axel’s attention, and I wouldn’t have done it if my temper hadn’t gotten the better of me.

Beer chuckles, ‘Pres, you’d a been proud. She dragged that bitch by her hair, then put a blade to her neck. Not sure what she whispered in Brandy’s ear, but boy did she turn white, it was fuckin’ magical.’

Axel turns and looks at me with an eyebrow lift, and I shrug, place my glass down, pick up my laptop and notes, kiss Axel’s cheek, ‘Night all,’ and I quickly escape upstairs to my room.