Page 85 of Under Kid’s Protection

Kid sat up straighter, ready to beeline it to his bedroom. Carrie should be home by now.

Home. He grinned internally. He’d come to think of the clubhouse as her residence as well. This was their shared domain. Her apartment had always been her space. He hadn’t felt like he belonged there—more like a guest passing through—but his room, in this building? This was their space.

“The Russians,” Frog began, once again pulling Kid away from his distractions.

“What about them?” Torch asked. “We’ve never had a problem with them before.”

While the Roughneck Riders never had dealings with them, friendly or otherwise, that didn’t mean that the previous Oklahoma chapter of the Royal Bastards didn’t have history. Some things, they’d learn when it was too late.

“I only came back here because of my son getting involved with them,” Frog reiterated on a heavy sigh.

“What does that mean? Are you ready to tell us?” Kevlar asked. “Involved how?”

Frog shook his head.

Kid’s Spidey senses tingled. The former nomad had always come off as though he were hiding something. He didn’t outright deceive them, but Kid never got the idea he was totally truthful either. He tended to be vague—so would that be a lie of omission?

“His mom won’t give me details,” Frog said as surveyed the table, wearing a strained expression.

That was the look of a man carrying far too much regret.

“All I know is that he’s in trouble, and she asked me to fix it.”

“How?” Kid asked the obvious.

Frog shrugged. “Kayden ain’t full Russian. So I imagine he isn’t too involved in their syndicate, but he’s got some blood from my side. Which means they’ll use him but never promote him.”

“Do you want us to kidnap him or something?” Torch asked. “How old is he?”

“Twenty,” Frog said quickly.

Maybe he wasn’t that absent of a father after all. Kid’s own dad never could tell anyone how old Kid and his siblings were.

“That’s grown,” Pooter commented. “He’s able to decide things even if they aren’t the choices you or his mom would want him to make.”

Frog nodded pensively. “I fear he’s strayed from the path.”

What the hell did that mean?

“And he may believe he’s more essential to their syndicate than they do. He can never be important to them. Maybe a soldier or fodder for war, but he isn’t full Russian. They wouldn’t take him seriously.”

“So what are you asking us to do?” Kevlar asked.

“I want to go in and check on him with the support of the club. So, if shit goes down, you all have my back. I’m bringing it to the table because I want you to know I’m going to do it. I’m not asking for permission to see my kid, but I am asking my brothers to help me if it goes sideways.”

Kevlar ran a hand over his freshly shaven chin.

The weight of the request thickened the air. Essentially, Frog wanted this new club, with only five members, to possibly go against the Russian Mafia. Couldn’t they go one day without contemplating a bloody battle between syndicates?

“I’m not sure we can answer today,” Kid offered honestly. “We need more information.”

Frog peered at him coldly.

“That’s a good point,” Kevlar said. “Get more details on what kind of trouble he’s in. Is it as simple as yanking him out and keeping him away from some Russian pussy?”

Frog snorted and shook his head. “I wish my kid was that easy. If my boy is being enticed like that, it ain’t by cunt,” he muttered before bringing his beer to his lips.

Kevlar brought the gavel down with a loud clack. “So, then that’s that. We’ll discuss it at our next meeting, and we’ll put it to a vote.”