Page 19 of Creed (Satan’s Fury MC- Little Rock #6)

“No shit?” Our usually stoic and intense enforcer gave me a smirk. “Damn. Never thought I’d see the day that such a hard-ass would go limp for a chick.”

“We said the same about you, and now, a little girl is painting your toenails and braiding your hair.”

“That’s a cheap shot, brother.”

“Doesn’t make it any less true.” I cocked my brow. “We done talking about this shit?”

“For now.” Preacher’s grin faded as he told Grim, “Creed and I were just talking about things at the Vault. We’ve decided to keep playing it quiet. No product. No noise. Make sure this thing with the cops blows over.”

“Sounds good.” Grim leaned forward and placed his elbows on his knees. “What’s the plan for the two in the holding room?”

We’d kept the assholes longer than we planned, but I wasn’t losing sleep over it.

Shep had dug into their lives and what he found was the kind of shit that made your blood run cold.

Rap sheets a mile long with everything from DV to aggravated assault, to kidnapping.

One of them had taken his own goddamn sister, and she was never found.

We suspected they weren’t working alone. No one like them ever did. And that meant we couldn’t afford to let them go until we knew who they were working for or who they were planning to take next.

“There’s no way we can just let them go now,” Preach answered. “We can’t let ‘em walk without blowback to the club.”

“We can’t keep ‘em forever.”

“So, I get what I can out of ‘em,” Grim answered. “I’ll give them one last push, and when I’m done, we’ll make sure they don’t cause problems for us or anyone else again.”

His words were calm, measured, but the weight behind them wasn’t lost on any of us. Preacher gave him a nod. “Give them hell, brother.”

“You know I will.” Grim paused at the door with a grimace. “You think a chainsaw would be too much?”

“After the shit these two have done, nothing’s too much.”

Grim gave a final nod, then continued out of the office. Once the door closed behind him, Preacher glanced back over to me, and an unspoken understanding passed between us. We didn’t do this shit because we liked it. We did it because someone fucking had to.

And if it kept the people we cared about safe, then it was worth every dark piece of our souls it cost us.

I wasn’t quite ready to start my day, so I leaned back in my chair and asked, “How are things working out with Misty and the sister?”

“Not too bad,” he said after a beat, voice low, scratching like gravel. “I think they got more than they bargained for.”

“You think they’ll stick with it?”

“Hope so.” Preacher’s mouth twitched, but it didn’t quite make it to a smile.

“The sister’s tough. Smarter than she lets on, too.

Misty’s a spitfire. She’s been trying to keep up with it all, but dealing with thousand-pound horses and their shitty stalls is a lot different than frying up eggs for the brothers. ”

“I think I’d rather shovel shit.”

“Same, and that’s saying something.”

“She still carrying around that pink taser?”

Preacher’s eyebrow shot up, and a ghost of amusement flickered in his tired eyes as he answered, “She’s got it clipped to her damn shorts, like she’s the last line of defense for the whole club.”

“She might be, at that.” I glanced over at the clock, and when I saw the time, I stood and told him, “I’m heading over to the Vault. Gonna check on things there before going by the casino.”

He gave me a nod, then said, “Tabitha and I will look forward to meetin’ her.”

“Take it easy on her.”

“Not a chance.”

“Yeah, I didn’t think so.”

I shook my head and started for the door.

I had no idea what the day had in store for me, and I didn’t care.

After my night, I felt good. Damn good. And nothing was going to change that.

Besides, I welcomed a busy day. It would help distract me from thinking about Devin every damn second, and a busy day was exactly what I got.

I pulled up to The Vault a little after one, and it was a hot one.

The sun was blazing, and sweat was beading across my brow.

The lot was half full, but it wouldn’t be that way for long.

The place was always buzzing on Saturday night, and even with the steamy weather, I had no doubt that tonight would be no different.

When I walked in, I found Seven behind the bar. He was sorting bottles and going over inventory. He looked up when I sat down on one of the stools and gave me a chin lift. “Hey, brother. How’s it going?”

“Can’t complain. You?”

“Hanging in.” He shook his head. “We’re low on Patron, and the girls have been running through Tito’s like water. And Keeley finally took leave. Otherwise, we’re good.”

“She had the baby?”

“Not yet, but her blood pressure was up. Doc told her to take it easy, so she’s done for now.” I could hear the frustration in his voice as he added, “She plans to be back in a couple of months, but you know how that goes.”

“She’ll be back.”

“I hope so. Either way, we’re down a bartender.”

“We’ll find someone to cover. Maybe more than one, depending on how things shake out.”

Seven nodded, then turned his attention back to his list. I could see the pressure of it all was weighing on him. We had a good thing here, but it only worked if everyone pulled their weight. Losing Keeley, even for a while, was gonna leave a gap.

I stayed for another couple of hours, making sure everything was looking good for the night before heading over to the Black Crown. I didn’t plan to stay long. I just wanted to make sure the boys didn’t need anything, so I slipped in through the back, avoiding the early afternoon crowd.

I spent an hour or so walking the floor and checked in with Goose and Memphis.

As soon as I felt like everything was under control, I headed home to get ready for my night with Devin.

As usual, it didn’t take me long to shower and get dressed.

I decided to keep it simple and went with a clean pair of jeans, a black T-shirt, and my cut.

It wasn’t anything fancy, but neither was I.

I paused at the door as I thought back to how Devin used to love to ride the Harley, but I didn’t think it was a good idea tonight. There was a strong possibility that we’d have at least a beer or two, and I wasn’t taking chances. So, I opted for the pickup.

Time had gotten away from me, but thankfully, it didn’t take long to get over to Devin’s place. When I pulled up, I sat there for a second, letting myself take a breath before I went up to the front porch and knocked. Seconds later, the door swung open, and a teenage boy appeared.

He was tall and lean with dark hair and eyes just like his mother. He gave me a look that told me he was sizing me up and already didn’t like what he saw. Hoping to ease the tension, I reached out my hand and said, “Hey, man. I’m Jameson. You must be Austin.”

“Hey.” He took my hand, gave it a quick shake, which was polite enough, but the tension in his jaw told me everything I needed to know. “You a biker?”

“Something like that.”

“And you know my mom?”

“Yeah, we go way back.”

He gave me one last once-over, then eased the door open wider and waited as I stepped into the house. Right about then, Devin stepped out, and hell if the air didn’t leave the room for a second.

She was in a blue jean mini skirt that hugged her hips in all the right ways, a white tank top that showed just a hint of cleavage, and sandals. Her hair was pulled up with a few loose strands falling around her face, and she looked absolutely stunning.

She hit me with a smile that I’d been waiting all damn day to see, and walked over to me, giving me a quick hug. “Hey.”

“Hey, yourself.”

“You look great.”

“Thanks. You look good, too.” She glanced over at the kid as she said, “So, you met Austin.”

“Yeah, we met,” Austin answered. “You didn’t tell me he was a biker.”

“No, I guess I forgot to mention that.”

“Yeah, sure you did.” He shook his head and started down the hall as he muttered, “Unbelievable. Dad’s dating Barbie, and my mom’s dating one of the Sons of Anarchy.”

I couldn’t help the chuckle that rumbled out as I told him, “That’d be Satan’s Fury.”

“Doesn’t matter,” he shot back before disappearing into what I figured was his room.

“Austin!” He didn’t answer, so she called out, “We’ll be back in a few hours!”

There was a muffled “Whatever” in response, followed by the slam of a door.

Devin let out a breath and shook her head. “That went well.”

“Sons of Anarchy?”

“Better than Barbie.” She gave me a wink. “But don’t worry. He’ll warm up to you.”

“Yeah, we’ll see about that.”

The words had barely left my mouth when a miniature Devin stepped into the room wearing a sweatshirt and shorts. Her hair was braided, making it easy to see the unease in her eyes as she stepped into the room. “You must be Chrissy.”

“Hm-hmm.”

She tilted her head, and a familiar expression crossed her face as she stood there staring at me.

Her mother used to get the same look whenever she was working up the courage to say something that she wasn’t sure she should say.

She glanced over at her mother, then back to me before finally saying, “Nana said you and Mom dated before.”

“Yeah, we did, but that was a long time ago.”

“But you broke up?”

“Yeah.”

“Why?”

“Man, you’re going for the jugular.”

She didn’t respond.

She just stood there eyeballing me as she waited for my answer. “Let’s just say it was complicated.”

“Nana said you broke Mom’s heart.”

“I bet your Nana said lots of things.”

“Yeah. She said she didn’t like you.”

“Maybe I can change her mind.”

Again, no response.

I glanced over at Devin, and it was clear from the fat grin on her face that she was amused by the conversation and had no intention of helping me out. So, I did the only thing a man in my position could do. I told her, “Your nana might not know it, but that heartbreak went both ways.”

“What do you mean?”

“Let’s just say that we complicated things that didn’t have to be complicated.”

I glanced back over at Devin, and her smile was all but gone. She reached over and placed her hand on Chrissy’s shoulder. “Okay. Let’s give Jameson a break here. We don’t want to run him off just yet.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. You can ask me anything you want.”

Devin leaned towards Chrissy as she told her, “We’re about to go. Austin will order the pizza in a little while. You guys stay inside and keep the doors locked. And call me if you need anything.”

“Okay.”

Chrissy looked up at me, and I could see the apprehension in her eyes as she turned and started back down the hall. Once her bedroom door closed, Devin turned her attention back to me. “Sorry about that.”

“Nothing to be sorry about. They’ll warm up to me.”

“You think?”

“Why wouldn’t they? I’m a cool dude.”

“Cool dude? Really?” She shook her head. “I don’t think so.”

“What?”

“Just trust me on this. Those kids will eat you alive if they hear you say you’re a cool dude.”

“Now, you’re scaring me.”

“Welcome to my world.” She gave me a wink. “Ready?”

“Absolutely.”

I let my hand slide down her arm before lacing my fingers with hers and leading her out to the truck. I helped her inside, and in a matter of minutes, we were on our way. I’d barely gotten out of her subdivision when Devin asked, “So, who’s going to be there tonight?”

“Hard to say. Some of the guys have a shift at either the Vault or the casino, but I know Preacher and Tabitha will be there. Grim and Jenna, and maybe Blade and Shep.”

“Okay. That doesn’t sound too bad.”

“Bad?” I shot her a look. “You expecting things to go south here?”

“I don’t know what to expect.” She shrugged. “I’ve heard stories about the clubhouse and your brothers, but I’ve never been there. I’ve never seen it for myself.”

I let out a low chuckle, shifting gears as we hit the highway. “It’s just a clubhouse, Dev. It’s a place where the guys can come together and hang out. We ride and have each other’s backs. So, just think of it as going to see my family.”

“Okay.”

She looked out the window and toyed with her bracelet like she used to do when she was nervous. I reached over and rested my hand on her thigh, giving it a reassuring squeeze. “You’ll be fine. They’re gonna love you.”

“I hope so.”

She glanced at me, her lips tugging into that shy smile that always hit me like a punch to the chest. A few minutes later, we were pulling through the front gate of the clubhouse and parking at the back entrance.

As usual, the place was lit up. Brothers were coming and going, and laughter spilled out every time the back door opened. Eager to get inside, I climbed out to open her door. As she got out, I could tell she was feeling uneasy, so I asked, “You good?”

She made this little noise in the back of her throat, then muttered, “Just a little nervous.”

“About being with me or meeting the guys?”

She tried to play it off with a smile, but it didn’t quite reach her eyes. “A little of both.”

Before she could second-guess herself, I slid my hands around her waist and pulled her against me. She let out a soft gasp as I lowered my mouth to hers and kissed her, soft and tender. And like always, she melted right into me, and it was like something clicked back into place.

I wasn’t some fairytale bullshit kind of man, and she knew that. She knew there would never be any white horse or castle on the hill. She also knew I wasn’t the kind of man who made promises I couldn’t keep, and tonight, I had a lot to live up to.

I didn’t want to let her go, but it had to be done. I forced myself to ease back and broke the kiss. She let out a small sigh, and I knew the kiss had done the trick. “Better?”

The look she gave me told me exactly what I needed to know, so I reached down and took her hand in mine, leading her up to the back door. “Let’s do this.”