Fallon (Henchmen MC Next Generation #3) - Jessica Gadziala Page 0,2

and definitely not any with tears. And not even the hot and fiery sort with angry words either. See, women didn't get to be emotional without being called hysterical.

So I did the only thing I could do that solidified my power.

I got colder than them.

I was the first and last to strike out with sharp teeth and lethal venom.

That was how you got to come out on top.

That was how you got a group of men to fall in line.

See, they didn't know what to do with you when they couldn't get a rise out of you. I made it my goal in life never to let them see that happen.

"Not enjoying Shanny's new tit piercings?" I asked, dropping down at a table with Grandpa. Who wasn't my grandfather, of course. It was his road name. Mostly because his son, Pops, was in the club. As was his grandson, Junior.

Grandpa was a silver fox if I'd ever seen one. Tall, fit, inked, with sexy salt and pepper hair, and the mystery and wisdom that came with his fifty-five years.

There was a family resemblance with his son, Pops, who, at thirty-six, was a black-haired version of his father. And Junior, at just barely eighteen was a somewhat scrawnier version of both of them with far less ink. But he was working on that.

When I'd finally earned the right to open my chapter, Grandpa had been my first choice to bring with me. He probably would have been more at home in the mother chapter with more men his age around, but we'd always had a bond, which I'd exploited to bring him with me. And with Grandpa came Pops and Junior. Which I wasn't mad about either.

See, Grandpa had been a sort of father or uncle figure to me as a kid. He'd been the one to remember when I had field trips or needed money for the book fair. He was the one patching me up when I fell off my bike. And fetching me from parties where I'd gotten shit-faced. He was the closest thing to an actual friend I had, since I knew his love and respect for me wasn't conditional.

"They're nice tits," Grandpa said, shrugging. "But you get to be my age, you've seen a fuckuva lot of nice tits. I'd be more impressed if they came along with an interesting personality. No offense to Shanny, but..."

Grandpa was always the tactful sort.

Me, not so much.

"Has a head full of cotton?" I supplied.

"She's a nice girl," he said. "But she's like a magpie if you try to talk to her. Always getting distracted by shiny things."

"That's... not an unfair assessment," I agreed since I'd once been talking to her about whether she could bring her girlfriend over or not and she'd literally squealed and run off to pick up some random piece of crappy jewelry someone had lost on the sidewalk.

"How're things?" he asked me, pinning me with his light brown eyes. "You look like you haven't been sleeping again."

Grandpa hadn't wanted to sign on with any official title. Save that for the young and hungry guys was what he'd told me. But he liked to act as a sort of advisor or sounding board, having been around much longer than me, and been through the best and worst that being a one-percent biker had to offer. Including a stint in jail just after he'd knocked up Pops's mother—a local clubwhore that had raised him until Grandpa got out of jail, then dropped him right back on his doorstep to be raised in the club.

"Things are okay," I told him, nodding for emphasis when he raised a brow at me. "We stole our business from the Henchmen. They doubled down on what we hadn't gotten our fingers on yet, so there isn't a lot of upward mobility at the moment. But we have good contacts bringing us in-demand guns. Which should help us get our name out a little more in the area, get us more business. As it stands now, though, we are good. Salaries are being met and bills are paid."

"What about you?" Grandpa asked, giving me a long look. "Are you getting paid? Don't think I didn't notice all that cheap ramen spiced up with hot sauce you were eating for months."

"Hey, don't forget the ninety-nine-cent freezer pizzas," I said, shooting him a smirk. "No, I'm getting paid again now too. And I'm even socking some money away for a rainy day. We're doing alright.