Raging Barons MC – Book Three – Silver

-:- FOX -:-

Rushing through breakfast, I meet with Mia in the front parking lot of the compound. She’s pretty excited about looking at locations we can purchase or rent for the Bespoke business. I have to admit I’m nervous as all hell as this was supposed to be a hobby, something that I just enjoyed doing. Now I’m in it for the long haul and orders are piling up.

“Are you ready Fox?” Mia asks as she opens the truck door and jumps into the passenger seat.

Climbing in, I give her a slight smile and reply, “Yeah, as ready as I’ll ever be.”

On the drive to the first location Mia talks all the way, getting more animated the closer we get, she’s talking about business cards, letterheads, registration, a business sign, and honestly, I cannot even keep up with her anymore.

Parking in front of this building it looks like an old repair shop, it’s been empty a long time by the looks of it. The realtor steps out of the door and gives us both an enormous smile, sticking her hand out for us to shake, “Hi, I’m Amelia and I’ll show you around the property.”

Following her inside, the first room has an old counter that crosses from nearly one side to the other. Stepping behind the counter you can see it has been well used, the shelving is scratched and chipped, it even has a crack here and there, so this I don’t even want to think about saving it.

Mia is keeping a running conversation going with Amelia and I keep my eyes open for what would need to be removed, replaced or renovated.

The second room is larger than I expected and totally empty, which surprised me as you expect some sort of equipment would have been left behind. As if Amelia could read my mind she says, “The current owner of the property sold all the equipment from the place. He was thinking of knocking it down and selling the land, but his finances are not good, so that became a non-starter.”

I give her a nod as I walk through the next door to see an enormous room; it would be ideal and if this was going to work, the room we just left could be the showroom, especially if we made the reception and that room into one.

Passing through a door on the side, there’s a staircase and at the top are three rooms that are shelved out from top to bottom. Ideal as storage for smaller pieces but not ideal for anything else, it would be another case of turning two of the rooms into one to open it up for storage space, or even a kitchen because so far, I’ve not seen a kitchen or rest room.

Going back down Amelia leads us through the last door, which I had thought was the back door, but walking through I see it is a large kitchen with a door leading off to the side with a toilet and sink.

So, we wouldn’t have to make a kitchen upstairs, that’s a plus and I have to admit I like the feel of this place. Mia is giving me a side-eye look, which I think means she wants my opinion.

Amelia gets the vibe and gives us both a smile. “Just let me show you the back of the property and then I’ll wait for you out the front.”

When she opens the last door there is a vast parking area, all fenced, giving security and privacy. She points to a small building and informs us it’s a shed which is part of the property, but it’s empty and will need the roof fixed if we are thinking of using it.

Walking around the side of the building, I take note the driveway is large enough for a large delivery truck to pass through to the back. Which would make life easier if we had any large orders.

Re-entering the building Amelia leaves us to talk and I turn to Mia. “What do you think Mia?” I ask, because I’ve never done any kind of property purchase before.

“I like it. I think if you make the front and this large room into a reception, slash, showroom, it would get the attention of anyone entering. The large room at the back, would it be big enough for you to do your work?” Mia’s tapping her chin with her index finger and has this frown, which shows she’s taking this seriously.

“That’s what I was thinking, too. The back room is plenty large enough. I’m just not happy you have to go through the kitchen to get into this room.” Because for me this is an immense problem, unless we use part of the kitchen on one side making a hallway or corridor of some sort.

“Okay, I can see that Fox.” Mia walks through to the reception, giving it one last look, then exits the front door, with me close on her heels.

“We are going to look at the next property and then let you know what we decide, Amelia.” Mia states and I can see the slight droop on Amelia’s shoulders, but she recovers herself and tells us she’s happy to take us to the next one for us to look at.

The next property I don’t like at all, it doesn’t give me a good vibe and I wouldn’t want to spend my days in the building. With that said, I quietly tell Mia this one is a no-go and can we get the other one for a killing?

Nodding, Mia points at me to go to the truck and then she stands talking with Amelia. They must be a good fifteen minutes before Mia comes back to the truck.

“Go back to the first property, Fox. I want you to have one more look before I give her our last offer. I think we can knock twenty percent off the asking price, but I’m going to try for thirty to start with.” She gives a little giggle. “I’d push for more if I thought it would work.”

After looking over the first property once more, Mia puts in the offer and gives her the offer she wants her to work with but that we may offer more if we really needed to, but it was unlikely.

Heading back to the compound, we talk about the property and how Mia sees it set up. Which is very similar to how I envision it. The only drawback is the kitchen, but we can put in a hallway which would make the kitchen smaller but that won’t matter as it’s not a family kitchen, it’ll just be a working kitchen, where we’ll eat small meals and make a hot drink.

As we are parking in the compound, Mia’s cellphone rings, and I follow her inside the clubhouse where she’s talking animatedly to Amelia about the offer.

“Listen Amelia, you got the offer. If the owner doesn’t want it, then we’ll look elsewhere, tell him that’s all he’s getting. Bye.” The curt way she’s spoken has me looking at her sharply. “Fucking asshole wants to add ten percent on the actual asking price, not a drop, well he can shove it up his ass for all I care. We’ll find something better if we need to.”

Axel walks over and wraps his arms around Mia, gives me a smirk, then murmurs, “What did they do to you, babe?”

That sets Mia off at a tangent, calling the owner all sorts of a cockeyed idiot who obviously was dropped on his head when he was a babe. His cock was up his own ass and she bets he didn’t have a woman as no decent woman would want a fucked-up idiot like him.

Meat is standing in the kitchen doorway to the common room watching and listening, then he disappears into the kitchen to come back a minute later with a hot drink in his hand, passing it to Mia and then disappearing back in the kitchen without a word.

Axel grins at Mia as she sips the coffee Meat handed to her, and he guides her to the bar where she sits with her coffee and we both grab a beer. After filling Axel in on the building, what we think and the offer, he advises we hang on a couple of days to see what develops.

“Tomorrow we have interviews at the garage for mechanics to work with Joe. Are you going for them, Mia, or do you want me to go myself or send someone?” Axel asks her.

“No, I don’t want to do the interviews. Maybe one of the brothers could if that’s okay?”

“That’s fine babe, I’ll send someone else.”

Feeling like a third wheel, I tell them I’ll catch them later. I’m going to freshen up and head out to the club, where I can give a hand if needed.

****

Pulling into the parking lot behind the club, I make sure my bike is near the back door. I don’t want anyone messing with it and I know here the cameras will catch it, if anyone tampers with it.

Entering, I’m surprised they unlocked the door until I see Twig mopping the hall. When she hears me enter she shouts over to me, “Wedge the door open for me Fox, please. I need a bit of draft to help dry this floor out quickly.”

Once I’ve done that I walk into the office and see Silver leaning over the desk reading an invoice. Sitting in the easy chair, I wait for him to acknowledge I’m here.

“What do you want Fox?” he asks, and to my surprise, he’s not snapping or being pissed any more.

“I came in to give you a hand wherever you need it. I’m sorry I let you down. I got so bogged down with things I just didn’t know how to get out of it, but I knew I was leaving you with all the work and for that, I’m sorry.” I state, and I’m being as honest as I can, I really am sorry I did that to him.

“You should have told me instead of leaving me in the lurch, I could have gotten one of the others to step in rather than being left to do it all myself.”

“Yeah, again I’m sorry.”

A woman walks past the office door and Silver shouts to her, “Eden, here, please!”

She’s a stunner, that’s for sure, takes your breath away and she looks sexy as shit in the black skirt and blouse, even has ankle boots on that have her legs looking pretty amazing.

“Eden, this is Fox. He may help you behind the bar tonight if it gets really busy. He was co-manager, so knows exactly what is happening and how to run the bar.” Silver states, giving this woman a close look. Oh, I see, he has some interest in this woman.

“Hello Fox, it’s very nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you too, babe. I’m sure we’ll get to know each other behind the bar.”

Nodding, she gives us both a smile and leaves the office. When I turn to Silver, he gives me a hard look. “Keep your fucking hands to yourself.” He says and looks like he’ll go to war if I don’t. Giving him my hands up to show, I submit. I chuckle and walk out of the office, into the kitchen to see what I can find to eat.