“Everything’s fine,” I assured her and helped her into the passenger seat.
Once we were on the road, I reached over and clasped her hand in mine. “I’m going to drop you off at the house and then meet Phoenix at the clubhouse. I shouldn’t be gone too long. Then, we can spend the rest of the day however you want.”
She eyed me curiously, and I knew she wanted to know why I needed to meet with Phoenix, but she didn’t ask. Instead, she asked, “Can you drop me off at Annabelle’s instead of taking me home? We still have a lot of catching up to do.”
Hearing her refer to my place as home had a smile taking over my face. “Yeah, I can do that.”
Phoenix arrived at the clubhouse about twenty minutes after I dropped Macy off with Annabelle. He jerked his head toward Church. “Let’s have this chat in there.” Then, he mumbled, “Learned my lesson with nosy ass club whores listening to shit they weren’t supposed to.”
I clapped my hand on his shoulder and gave him a little shake. “It all worked out in the end, brother.”
Duke, Shaker, and Byte followed us into Church. “How do we want to go about handling Macy’s ex-husband?” Phoenix asked.
“I want to beat his ass,” I blurted.
When the laughter died down, Shaker asked, “What’s the end goal with the company? Does she want to keep her half or sell it back to him? Or would she want to acquire his half?”
“I don’t think she has the means to buy him out of his half right now,” I admitted.
Byte smirked, “She could.”
“What are you little shits thinking?” Phoenix asked.
“If she wants the company, I can transfer the money from one of Robert’s offshore accounts to a fake account for Macy. He signs over the company, and she pays him with his own money that he won’t realize was taken from him until it’s too late. Best part, he won’t be able to trace it back to Macy or the club.”
“Yeah, but she knows she doesn’t have the money to buy him out. How will I explain that?”
“Don’t tell her anything. If her father managed to put half the company in her name without her knowing about it, what makes you think we can’t do the same? The real question is, does she want it?” Byte said.
“If she doesn’t, she can sell it off to someone else, and have legit money in her pockets,” Duke added.
Phoenix grinned. “Sounds like we have a plan, boys. Let’s get this shit done.”
“Hang on, Prez. I need some time to get into his accounts and set up the transfer,” Byte said.
Phoenix chuckled, “Sorry, brother. How long do you need?”
Byte shrugged. “Maybe an hour or so.”
Phoenix nodded. “All right, let us know when you’re ready.”
With that, everyone went about their business while Phoenix and I took a seat at the bar. “How’d you get to the clubhouse before the rest of us?”
“Because I dropped Macy off at your house so she could spend some time with Annabelle.”
Phoenix nodded and rubbed his chin with his thumb and forefinger. “You asked her to marry you yet?”
I had just taken a sip of my drink and promptly choked on it, spewing and sputtering shit everywhere. Phoenix threw his head back and laughed. “Damn, I was just fucking with you.”
11
Annabelle and I spent several hours reminiscing and talking. It felt like we picked up right where we left off, like we hadn’t spent the last two decades apart.
“I just can’t believe your dad was the one who broke you and Aaron up. I mean, why would he let you date Aaron for a year before interfering in your relationship?” Annabelle asked.
I shrugged. “I wondered the same thing, but I didn’t get a chance to ask him before things started to get out of hand; not that I think he would’ve given me an honest answer anyway.”
Annabelle’s forehead wrinkled, and I could almost see the wheels turning in her head. “When did you say you met your ex-husband?”