Exquisite Redemption (Iron Horse MC Book 3) (20 page)

“You’re Jewish?”

“What?” She arched her carefully plucked brows. “You don’t think Jews can be bikers?”

“What? No…”

Laughing, Birdie winked at me. “Just giving you a hard time, doll. Venom, my husband, is Christian, I’m Jewish, and one of our daughters is Buddhist while the other is agnostic. My son followed in his dad’s footsteps and is a chaplain in the Army.”

“Wow…that’s really cool.”

Birdie tilted her head to the side, a soft smile curving her lips. “It is, isn’t it? Now, word is goin’ around your Beach’s old lady. Is it true?”

Uncomfortable beneath her sharp gaze, I looked away and took a sip of my wine. “Something like that.”

“Something like that?” Birdie laughed softly and waved the knife in my direction, her diamond tennis bracelet sparkling. “There is no something about it. He’s publically claimed you, not as his house mouse, or his sweet butt, or even a girlfriend, but as his old lady. That’s a big deal and a huge privilege.”

I tried to hold back my irritation. “Look, no man can claim me. I’m a person, not some old washing machine that’s been abandoned on the side of the road.”

Birdie let out a hoot that echoed through the large open space. “Girl, you know anything about the MC life?”

I thought about bullshitting her—never show weakness—but she seemed like the kind of woman who could sniff out a lie. In a way she reminded me of a cruder, older, blonde version of Mimi. So far she’d been nothing but nice to me, if a little crazy, so I decided to be honest.

“Not really. Before I landed the biker cover in,” I cleared my throat, not wanting to have her turn judgmental on me for posing nude, “a magazine, I really hadn’t ever thought about the biker culture. I know a little bit from Scarlet but that’s about it.”

“You talking about when you were in
Playboy
?”

Look, I’m not ashamed of being nude in a magazine, but this woman was old enough to be my grandmother and it didn’t feel right talking about anything sexual with her. Different generations had different standards and I’m sure back in her day, any woman posing in a nudie magazine was instantly labeled a bad person.

Flushing bright red, I took another sip of my wine and mumbled, “Yes. How did you know?”

“Do you really think Miss March getting kidnapped with the Prez, saving his life, then getting claimed as his old lady wouldn’t be news?”

“News? You mean I’m on the news? Oh shit, my parents are going to freak.”

“No, no, what happened to you is club business and we keep club business locked down tight, but the brothers do gossip amongst themselves. No doubt Beach has airtight alibis for both of you. ’Sides, who is going to believe a pretty little thing like yourself would be capable of what you survived?”

This was true, most people saw the size of my breasts with my blonde hair and instantly put me into the “slutty bimbo” mental category and didn’t count me as a threat. “Good point.”

She tapped her long, hot-pink and sparkly red nails on the granite countertop. “Most important thing you need to know is what your role in the club will be.”

I had to admit I was curious as to how Iron Horse worked. “What role?”

“Slick, you’re the National President’s old lady.” I must have looked as confused as I felt. “That means you got a role to play, but one thing you need to realize right off is that to a lot of the old bastards who are patched-in members, you’re a woman, which means you don’t have any say. It’s complete and utter horse crap, but it’s the way of the MC world, or at least it has been. Iron Horse isn’t as bad as some other clubs, but it’ll take you some getting used to. Now, the younger guys aren’t as bad, but you’ll have to get used to being a second-class citizen.”

“Sounds fun,” I lied. “So my role would be what? Arm candy? A pretty bit of fluff who’s supposed to flutter my lashes while the men run the world? Or wait, Beach will want me at home, barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen.”

“Not quite that bad.” She smiled and shook her head. “And like I said, the world, even the world of the MC, is changing. The dinosaurs may not like it, but that doesn’t mean their kind isn’t almost extinct. Now, your relationship and how you live it is between you and Beach, not my place to tell him how to run things, but I’m more than happy to give you my take on things. I’ve been with the club since before computers were invented and I’ve seen two of the former old ladies of the National President in action, the first being Beach’s maternal grandmother, Gracie.”

“Wait, Beach’s grandpa was also a National President?”

“Let me give you a little bit of Iron Horse’s history, make things easier to understand. Peg, Beach’s grandfather, was a good man, and Beach’s great-grandfather was one of the founding members. Boy’s third-generation Iron Horse and about as tough as they come.” She bent over, briefly disappearing before popping back up with a giant black Crock-Pot. “Gracie passed away first of breast cancer, God rest her sweet soul, and Peg not long after of a heart attack. After much debate, a man named Red was elected President.”

“Why wasn’t Beach elected?”

“Beach was only eighteen at the time, had just gotten patched into the MC. Just ’cause a man is born into the life doesn’t mean anyone owes him shit. Respect is earned in our world, regardless of who your daddy is. So while Beach had already begun to prove that he had a good head on his shoulders, ain’t no one trustin’ a kid with runnin’ Iron Horse.”

“Makes sense. So did like Red retire and then Beach took over?”

“Hardly. Red had it out for Beach. Made the boy’s life rough, giving him the shittiest assignments, runs that lasted months so he was away from the MC and Red as much as possible. Man knew Beach was his greatest threat and kept Beach on the road for years. Not only was Beach third-generation Iron Horse, he was also a natural born leader. Known that boy since the day he was born and even when he was a kid, he was always the one leading the children around.” She almost patted her hair, then realized she was holding a knife in that hand. “Idiot couldn’t have set it up better for Beach to take over as National President.”

“What do you mean?”

“Think about it, Beach is
National
President, as in, he’s the man all of our chapters look to. The man who took Red’s place as National President wouldn’t just be responsible for the Austin chapter, but all of them. The Chapter Presidents have control over their own chapters, but the National President runs them all.”

“How many chapters do you have?”

“Twelve chapters in nine states at the moment.”

“Wow, that’s a lot.”

“When you figure you got anywhere from 200 to 500 brothers in each club, plus the Prospects, it adds up.”

“And all of them wanted equal representation from someone they felt knew them,” I mused out loud. “Someone who’d spent time with them, someone they’d respect. Can’t have respect without facetime.”

“Smart girl.” Birdie beamed at me, her eyes all but disappearing in the folds of her face.

I grinned at her. “Obviously at some point, Red went away and Beach came into power. What happened?”

Birdie paused mid-chop as she sliced a peeled apple. “Bad times. Red got the club into some things they didn’t normally do, evil things, and there was a rift in Iron Horse. Rumors were flying around and I swear you could feel death creepin’ up in the air like frost. See, Red picked weak brothers to do his dirty work, men susceptible to doing anything for a buck. Greedy fools. Every patched member of Iron Horse gets a cut of the club’s financial holdings, and it’s more than enough for any family to live comfortably on.”

“Financial holdings?”

“Come on now, you really think a man like Beach, who has jets and helicopters at his disposal, isn’t loaded? Your old man has his own wealth, which isn’t anything to sneeze at, but the MC has assets worth tens of millions of dollars. Every patched-in member, or their widow and children, get a portion of the club’s profits each year. How much you get depends on your rank, and the officers make hundreds of thousands a year.”

“Wow.”

“We got everything from real estate to investments in various business start-ups. Hell, back in the day, Iron Horse gave the seed money to my husband to get our ranch going. On the outside it may just look like bikers and danger and wildness, but don’t fool yourself, behind all those tattoos and scars are some very smart and wealthy men who will do whatever they need in order to protect the brotherhood. So when people noticed problems with the club’s bottom line, they started looking into it and found out Red and his old lady, Fancy, had been stealing from the club.”

“No shit.” I sat forward, fascinated by this biker drama that could give any of my favorite soap operas a run for their money.

“Yep. Not going into details, but it almost caused a war within Iron Horse before Beach…took care of Red and his crew. That was seven years ago, and I’m proud to say Beach has been one of the best National Presidents Iron Horse has ever had. He’s a smart man who surrounds himself with smart people and has a real knack for seeing the value in someone.” Birdie gave me a shrewd look while pouring a measuring cup full of what I thought was sugar into the Crock-Pot. “That’s why when he told me he found his old lady, I knew you would be a good woman, and I’m glad I was right.”

I flushed at the compliment. “Birdie, you have to agree that this is all moving a little fast. I mean Beach and I hardly know each other at all. We’re practically strangers.”

“You got the rest of your lives to learn about each other, child.”

I made a feeble protest, not wanting to admit how nice that sounded, I said, “You don’t understand. I have a life, plans, things I’ve worked hard for and sacrificed for that I don’t want to give up.”

“No one’s asking you to give up your plans.” She calmly stirred the contents of the Crock-Pot with a wooden spoon. “Five years down the road, where do you want to be?”

I’ve been dreaming about this for so long I spoke up right away. “I want to either be working in an establish interior design firm, or starting one of my own.”

“You going to school for that?”

“I’ve been taking courses online in interior design, but now that I have more than enough money set aside to live on, I want to get a degree then hopefully start to work with a design firm. I’m not sure which one yet, but I do know that being someone’s old lady isn’t part of that plan.”

“Why not?”

I frowned at her. “Because all the schools I’ve applied for are out in California, where I plan on moving. I don’t know about you, but I’m pretty sure Beach doesn’t strike me as the kind of guy who would do a long-distance relationship.”

“No, he definitely isn’t the kind of man to want that.” Birdie was silent for a few moments. “Do you enjoy his company?”

“Who, Beach?”

“Yes.”

I picked at my cuticles rather than look at her. “He’s all right.”

“Just all right?”

Her teasing tone made me smile, then sigh. “Okay, so he’s the hottest thing I’ve ever seen, super smart and brave and awesome. And so far he’s been really nice to me, but a lot of guys can be really nice at first then they turn out to be demons in human form who will do everything they can to destroy you.”

“You had a lot of experience with men like that?”

I drained the last of my second glass of wine. “You could say that.”

The only sounds that filled the air for a little bit were from Birdie moving around the kitchen while I stared at the fire and mentally flipped through all the men I’d seen use and abuse my mom and vice versa.

Stifling a yawn, I stood and stretched, then winced as my sore body protested the movement. “I’m going to head to bed. Thanks so much for all your hospitality and making me feel so at home.”

Birdie gave me a small smile. “You’re welcome, doll. Pancakes good with you in the morning? If not, I’ll make whatever you like.”

“Oh, you don’t have to—”

She waved her hand at me while wearing a sour look that pulled her wrinkles together. “It ain’t no bother. I’ve gotta eat too and there are always brothers dropping by with their bottomless-pit stomachs. Hasn’t been a week gone by in the last thirty years where I haven’t had a group of brothers at my table, not to mention hungry ranch hands, so I always make a hearty breakfast.”

“In that case, pancakes would be wonderful. Thank you, but you’ll have to let me do the dishes. I don’t feel right with people waiting hand and foot on me and I hate sitting around. Let me know what you need help with and I’ll gladly do it. I know you have the men who work here to take care of the ranch, but I have experience cleaning stalls and stuff. If you can find me some clothes you don’t mind getting dirty, I’d be more than happy to help take care of the animals. Or anything else you need. My parents have a small farm of sorts—goats, chickens, and a llama, so I have experience taking care of animals.”

Laughing, Birdie came around the countertop separating the kitchen and the living room. She stopped before me and held my shoulders, peering into my face so intently I was fighting the urge to squirm. “You just worry ’bout getting better and we’ll deal with the rest tomorrow. Okay?”

I wanted to argue, but I had a feeling I wouldn’t get anywhere with her so I nodded. “Okay.”