Page 31 of Emergence: Prequel
‘I imagine that it must have been,’I thought with sympathy.
“The new DNA testing is making it easier to keep track of everyone. While the two clubs won’t be strictly blood from the four founding members, it will be close, and we are mixing ours in with yours.”
“It seems history really does have a way of repeating itself,” he mused. “You need to stay here because there’s always been an Ivor at the helm. Tin was Ivor’s second; it seems fitting that his legacy will be leading a new chapter. Don’t you think?” Silas questioned.
“Fuck,” I responded hoarsely, wiping my hands down my face. “Honestly, I have no idea what to think. What you’ve told me doesn’t seem real, but I can tell you’re speaking the truth.”
Turning slightly, I looked out the window as I mulled everything over in my head until I could make sense of it all. I was happy that they waited patiently for me to work through it, even Cash, although I could see he had questions.
When I thought I had it all straight, I turned back to them, “Okay, how is this going to work? I can’t just expect them to up and move. You must have a plan in place for this to work.”
Cahir nodded, “There is, and it seems the stars aligned this many years ago. Tinman was your brother’s best friend, and I think you all know he’s not been handling your brother’s passing well. Now that you know the history between the two families, you can understand why.
“However, Tinman doesn’t want to lead, and that is fine because his son Coal is the embodiment of his ancestor. He’d make agood president. Plus, not only does he carry the Tin bloodline, he also carries Cai’s through Maggie, his mother.”
My gaze met the bright piercing green of the silent Cai, who nodded at me. I turned my attention back to Cahir as he continued.
“Maggie already has ties and property in the UK close to a town called Southampton. This is where you will set up. You will need to set up businesses as covers that can be used for information. We’ve given you a list of what we think will be suitable, as well as property. We have a couple of warehouses in the area that we’ve been renting out, and there should be money in the account to get started. This has to look as natural as possible to our enemies, so Coal will have to build the MC just like any other chapter is built.”
“Fair enough,” I agreed. “They’ll appreciate it more that way anyway. Tell me about the prospects on this list. Who are they and why them?”
“The prospects are from Cai’s lineage and from my lineage,” Ramzi answers this time. “Cai’s lineage seems to have an affinity for weapons and being snipers and mine seems to have an affinity with computers, which that club will need, as most of our leads come from the dark web.”
Tapping a finger on the table, I looked over the list again. I could see why they’d been chosen, and it wasn’t just because of their last names.
“Okay, when do you foresee this happening?” I looked at Silas because I knew it was because of what he’d seen that our lives would be changing dramatically over the next year or so.
“Soon,” Silas replied. “Circumstances are already in play; Tinman will be coming to talk to you soon.”
“What about this club?” Cash asks.
It was Silas who replied again, “This club won’t have any major changes for a little while, other than losing those eight men on the list. You’ll continue to build and strengthen until your children are ready to take over. They’ve already started from what we understand. Which brings me to the next thing and because of your stance on women in the club.”
I held up my hand, already knowing where this was going, “Let me guess—Rowena. Who does she belong to?”
Ramzi laughed out loud at my question. “Fuck,” I groaned. “I should have seen it. She’s one of yours.”
He nodded, “Yes, she is, and it pains me how much the past has changed her. Unfortunately, that is life. Sadly, she’s now got a darkness in her that, unless channelled, will have her escalating. It would be good if you could have her work with your technical man, Hard-Drive. You won’t regret bringing her on, and as your stepson said, women are vicious in certain circumstances. They also bring another perspective to dealing with situations.”
“Son,” I interrupted.
“What?” Ramzi looked confused.
“He’s my son, not my stepson, same as Rosie and Poppy are my daughters. Ford might be my nephew by blood, but he’s my son. And if I have to, I’ll take Rowena too; she seems to have bonded with my woman. Blood means nothing to me; they’re mine and Stacey’s children.”
It was the one thing that I was adamant about—those kids had had a rough start in life; that’s not the way the second half of their lives were going to go if I had anything to say about it.
“You’re a good man,” Cai spoke in a raspy voice. “You are right; there is more to family than blood. We are brothers,” he wavedto the other three, “but we share no blood. Just as Ivor, Tin, Fin, and Roald were brothers but shared no blood. It’s good to remember that.”
Giving him a nod, “How do we help Rowena?”
“Have her around your family as much as possible. Her father isn’t a good man, and her mother died when she and her sister were eight. She’s alone now, with her sister gone. Here,” Ramzi handed me a cheque, “I want you to buy the scrapyard; it will come in useful, and it will get rid of her father. I’m happy to give you money to build a room onto your house for her.”
“No need,” Cash said. “We have room, she’ll be welcome with us. Roman and I live next door to each other, so she’ll still have access to Stacey. Lizzie will enjoy having another girl in the house. RJ will moan but the girls won’t mind.”
“Before we end this, one more question because you all seem to know a lot about everything. Can we trust Blake and his children?”
“Yes,” Cahir answered instantly. “He’s a good man, and his children will be assets to you. Although the boy needs to start some sort of training because he’s angry, and he needs a way to get that out. In fact, you need to start training all your children. Speak to the Crows and have Carly send you a training regimen. They need to be able to protect themselves better. Both the boys and girls. You never know when they’re going to need it. We see a lot, but not everything; sometimes it’s too late, as in the case of Rowena’s twin.”