“Seed inventory,” came from Winter, and Natasha and Bliss switched papers.

Nobody wanted seed inventory.

“Mine seems the easiest.”

Shade almost felt sorry for Winter. If he wasn’t such a bastard, he would offer to switch with her. However, he was, so he held onto his own punishment.

“Dinner’s ready,” Evie called.

Shade got in line behind Evie and Stori.

“I’m surprised Viper made her pull a punishment after she found out from her aunt that Sam’s baby isn’t Gavin’s,” Stori remarked.

“Viper plays fair.” Evie shrugged.

“Have they been able to find any trace of the baby yet?” she asked.

“No. Viper said the sheriff is working to find out, and he ordered the brothers to help run down the clues,” Evie answered.

The line moved fairly quickly with Shade and Rider last in line.

“You want to go over today’s orders?” Shade asked Rider.

“Yeah, give me a minute,” he said, going to the table Winter was sitting at.

“What punishment did you get?” Rider asked Winter.

“What did you get?” she asked first. Winter was a fast learner.

“Cooking, two weeks,” Rider answered. Winter looked at Shade.

“Cleaning the stove, fridge, and pantry,” Shade answered, despite having already made up his mind. He wasn’t switching punishments with her.

“I got seed inventory.”

Shade turned away when Rider did.

Chapter 21

Shade and the original members stood outside, waiting for the brothers to eat their dinners. Many had started riding from Ohio right after work on Viper’s orders.

“You better be right about this, Shade, or we’ll be walking into a trap in the morning,” Viper warned.

“I’ve checked out The Blue Horsemen’s president. Stud keeps the club clean of drugs, but he does run a chop shop which is lucrative. His brother Calder is the wild card; he has a bad habit which Stud is trying to help him break. I don’t think he’s going to succeed, but it’s his brother, and he’s not the type of man to turn him out in the cold.

“Like he told you this morning, those assholes belonged to The Blue Horsemen until they robbed a grocery store in West Virginia. Then they were cut loose, but they didn’t return their colors and kept bragging about belonging to the club. That club may be a lot of things, but they don’t condone their men attacking women.”

“We’ll stick with the plan, then.” Viper paused before he continued. “There’s another piece of business we need to discuss before we go inside.”

“What?” Cash asked.

“Joy.” Shade waited impatiently for Viper to get to the point, and then understanding came when he and Razer exchanged looks.

“The votes?” Shade asked intuitively.

Viper nodded his head. “She has Rider’s, Knox’s, and Cash’s. She needs three more to become a member.”

Shade leaned his hip against the picnic table. Joy required six votes from the original eight members to become a full fledged member of The Last Riders. She needed three more from either Shade, Train, Lucky, Razer, or Viper.

“Razer told me he wants to relinquish his voting rights.”

“That’s not a problem. That still leaves enough men for the women to get six votes,” Train reminded Viper. Train didn’t get what Viper was beating around the bush about instead of coming out and saying it.

“I want to relinquish mine also, and since Lucky won’t vote while he’s committed to his job, right now that leaves us one short of voting in new members.”

“Fuck,” Knox growled.

Rider didn’t look any happier. The men both enjoyed breaking in the new members.

“You could always give them your markers,” Shade suggested.

“I don’t like giving out my markers for new recruits. We came up with this idea so we would know the women were loyal to the club, not just a few brothers they fucked. It’s about building trust and loyalty.”

“Then give them your votes.” Shade shrugged. “I don’t see the problem.”

“I won’t betray Beth,” Razer snarled, taking a step toward Shade.

“I won’t betray Winter,” Viper said grimly.

“Settle down. There are two ways to give them your vote; do I need to remind you? You could both fix it that you’re near with your women when another member is giving their vote. From what I hear, both Beth and Winter like to watch.” Shade could tell Rider, Knox, and Train liked that suggestion. Those three were the biggest show-offs in the club. Cash didn’t look like he gave a shit.

Razer and Viper relaxed.

“That might work,” Razer agreed reluctantly. “But what if it doesn’t? I’m not going to jeopardize my relationship with Beth to watch Joy get fucked.”

“Then one of you needs to give their marker or pass your voting rights to another member. Crash would be a good choice. He’s been in the club since the beginning. The only reason he wasn’t an original member is because he was the last to get out of the service.” Shade’s booted foot swung back and forth as he talked.

“I’ll give him my voting rights until Lucky is willing to resume his,” Viper agreed. “With Crash being able to vote, Knox, Rider, Cash, Shade, and Train make six.”

“Thank fuck that’s settled. I’m hungry.” Cash left with the others following behind.

Viper and Razer were also about to leave as Shade straightened.

“Remember, a marker can count as a vote. That’s how Beth was made a member,” Shade reminded them.

Viper and Razer both turned back to face him.

“Why’s it so important to you?” Viper snapped.

“When I own something, I like to know what it’s worth,” Shade stated. He had worked hard to earn Viper’s marker, and if it couldn’t be used the way he planned, it was useless to him.

“You want it for Lily, don’t you?” Razer asked, stepping closer to him.

“I don’t see her fucking six members to get their votes, do you?” Shade asked, not backing down.

“I don’t see her in the club at all.” Razer’s hands clenched by his sides.

“I do.” As soon as the words were out of his mouth, Razer swung at him.

Shade caught his fist mid-swing, and then Viper pushed them apart, placing his body between them.

“It’s okay for Beth to become a member, but not Lily?” Shade snarled.

“There’s a fucking difference!” Razer yelled back.

“You think I’m stupid? I know there is. You wanna tell me why? What happened to Lily to screw her up so badly?”

Razer’s shoulders slumped in defeat as he began shaking his head. “I honestly don’t know, brother.”

“Then shut the fuck up.”

“She doesn’t even know you exist.”

As Shade closed down, turning his back to the two men, Razer’s harsh breathing gradually slowed down.

“I’m sorry, brother, but it’s the truth.”

“Don’t call me brother.” Shade walked to the door.