Page 40 of Creed (Satan’s Fury MC- Little Rock #6)

PREACHER

" A nother busy night.”

“Just the way I like it.”

Saturday nights always brought in a crowd, but tonight, the place was damn near busting at the seams. The music was booming, the lights were flashing, and the drinks were flowing.

I looked around at all the beautiful girls working their magic on the various stages, and there was no doubt that business was good.

Hell, business was great.

I sat at the bar with Grim, the club’s enforcer.

It was rare that we had a chance to sit back and reap the rewards of all our hard work, but tonight was one of those nights.

Grim and I had a clear view of the stage, where Misty was working the pole.

She was moving in slow, practiced sways and dips that had every man in the place leaning in for more.

Grim took a sip of his beer and smirked.

“Look at ’em. They can’t get enough of her. ”

I gave him a nod as I watched one of our regulars, a stockbroker-looking asshole in a suit, shove a wad of cash between her tits. “Well, he certainly can’t, but she doesn’t seem to mind. She’s raking it in.”

“Which means, so are we.”

He wasn’t wrong. The Vault had become more than just a place for men to drink and watch pretty girls dance.

It was the club’s honey hole and made us a shit-ton of money.

The liquor, the private rooms, and the drugs all flowed through here and right into our pockets.

And with Seven running the books and keeping things clean on paper, we didn’t have to worry about anyone sniffing around.

But Seven had been working his ass off.

He was the club’s sergeant-at-arms. That in itself was enough to keep him busy, but he’d also taken on the role of managing the Vault. Between all the scheduling and working the books and everything in between, he barely had time to breathe.

The guy needed a break. Hell, he deserved one, especially with all the recent changes in his life. Which is why I turned to Grim and said, “We’re gonna need to find someone to give Seven a hand.”

“Oh?” He looked over at me with surprise. “He say something?”

“No, and he wouldn’t. The man’s got too much pride for that, but things have changed for him.

He’s gonna need more time with his ol’ lady and kid.

” I took a drag from my cigar, letting the smoke curl up toward the neon lights above the bar.

“We need someone who can handle the books, keep shit running smooth.”

Grim nodded, glancing over at the office door at the back of the club. “Not gonna be easy. Memphis only did it for a couple of weeks, and it about did him in.”

“Yeah, I heard all about it.”

I exhaled, watching as a couple of new faces walked in.

I could by looking at them that they were the kind to cause trouble.

I looked towards the front, where Goose and Rusty were keeping an eye on things, and they were already on them, making sure they knew the rules before they got too comfortable.

That’s why we had men like them at the door.

They kept things under control. It was one of the many reasons the club was thriving. I wanted to keep it that way.

“We need to talk to the brothers and see who’s willing to step up to the plate.”

“They’re gonna have big shoes to fill.”

“Won’t have to fill them completely. Just help with the load.”

“Understood.”

We sat back and watched as the night rolled on. The crowd just kept piling in, and I was loving every minute of it. The night couldn’t have been going better, and then, Grim had to fuck it up by asking, “You heard anything from Kay?”

The question hit me right in the gut. I’d done my best to push her out of my head, but I hadn’t had much luck, especially with everyone asking about her. “Couple days ago.”

“She doing okay?”

“As far as I know.” I shrugged. “She made it to her sister’s and is settling in. I’d say she’s doing alright.”

“Hmm.” Grim nodded, studying me like he knew there was more to it. And he wasn’t wrong. There was always more when it came to Kay. “House coming along?”

“Shouldn’t be much longer.” I took a long pull from my beer. “Maybe a couple more weeks. Maybe less.”

“And she’s good with that?”

“She doesn’t have a choice.”

The words came out sharper than I meant, but Grim didn’t question it.

Besides, he knew the truth. Kay being at the clubhouse was stirring up shit neither of us needed.

The past, the regrets, and all the what-ifs were still there, lurking beneath the surface, and if we weren’t careful, it would’ve dragged us both under.

I didn’t send her away because I wanted to see her go. I did it because I had to. It was the only way to keep us from making a mistake that neither of us could take back. But damn if it didn’t sit heavy on me. She was Memphis’ mother, and there was a time when I would’ve moved mountains for her.

But that time had come and gone.

“But she’s gonna be fine,” I said, more to convince myself than him. “It was the right move.”

I glanced around the bar and took it all in. It was what I needed to focus on. The club. The work. Not the woman who had a way of getting under my skin. Grim clinked his bottle against mine. “To making the right choices, huh?”

“And to living with ’em.”

Right choices weren’t always easy to live with. I knew that better than anyone. The weight of leading Satan’s Fury wasn’t just in the decisions I made. It was in the men who trusted me to make them. Every move, every choice, carried a consequence. Some were good, and others were bad.

And they weren’t just mine to bear.

They belonged to my brothers, to their families, and to the whole club.

I won’t deny it. There were days when it felt like I was carrying the whole damn world on my shoulders.

It was tough knowing that one wrong move could bring it all crashing down, especially when I’d worked so hard to make Fury what it is today.

But that was my burden to carry, and I carried it with pride.

Grim nudged my side, pulling me from my thoughts as he motioned over to Cinnamon on the backstage. “Damn shame about that one. She’s got tits for days but no rhythm.”

I chuckled but said nothing. I finished off my beer and was about to get another when the back door opened, and Seven walked in.

I wasn’t surprised to see him. He was there on the nightly, making sure everything went off without a hitch, but I wasn’t expecting Tallie to be with him.

She was an old flame who’d recently resurfaced, and she brought a few hard hits with her, including a kid he never knew they had.

But they were finding their way through it all, and Seven seemed the better for it.

I couldn’t help but wonder if he was rushing things by bringing her here so early in the game.

It was clear from her wide eyes and blood-drained face that this was the first time she’d been here, and possibly, her first time ever stepping foot in a strip club.

Hell, she looked like she’d just walked straight into Sodom and Gomorrah.

Her eyes were wide as saucers as they darted from the flashing lights to the half-dressed women weaving through the room.

Her lips parted like she wanted to say something, but whatever words she’d had were lost to the sight of a girl straddling some poor bastard in the corner.

“Looks like we got ourselves a first-timer.”

“Apparently so.”

Seven looked completely unfazed as he guided Tallie through the crowd.

He was wearing his cut and exuded an aura of confidence with every step.

Tallie, on the other hand, looked like a deer in headlights and ready to turn on her heels and bolt.

When they made it over to us, I gave her a smile and said, “Welcome to the Vault.”

“Thanks, I think.”

“Not what you expected?”

“Yes… No. Not really.” She tucked a loose strand of her long, red hair behind her ear and raked her teeth across her bottom lip. “Uh, it’s a lot.”

“That’s one way to put it.”

“There are so many women.”

“Well, it is a gentlemen’s club.”

“No, that’s not what I meant.” She glanced around at the floor. “I mean the customers or whatever.”

“Yeah, there are a few,” Grim smirked. “They like the attention.”

“Attention?”

“Oh, yeah.” Grim motioned his hand over to one of the tables behind us where Candy, one of our more voluptuous girls, was gyrating against an old woman’s thigh. “They can’t get enough of it.”

“Oh, I uh… I didn’t expect that.”

Seven shot us both a look, but I could see the amusement dancing in his eyes. “You two done?”

“For now.”

I gave Tallie a wink, and her cheeks blushed with embarrassment.

Seven shook his head as he reached over and took her hand in his. He was about to turn to leave but stopped when I said, “Hey, before you go, I thought you might be interested to know that we’re looking into getting one of the guys to give you a hand with things around here.”

“Oh, yeah?”

“Figured you wouldn’t mind.”

“Nah, I’d welcome any help I could get.”

“Give me a couple of days, and I’ll have someone lined up.”

“Appreciate it.”

Then, after a quick nod, he disappeared down the hall with Tallie trailing close behind. Once they were out of earshot, Grim chuckled, “Poor girl.”

“She’ll get used to it. They all do.”

I leaned back in my chair and thought about the days ahead. They were going to be tough, especially with the way things were progressing. There was no room for mistakes. I would have to keep my head in the game and calculate our every move.

Thankfully, I didn’t have any unnecessary distractions. It was one of the many advantages of not having an ol’ lady. I didn’t have anyone pulling my focus away from what needed to be done. It was just me, my brothers, and the club, exactly the way it should be.

I thought I had it all figured out.

But little did I know, I was about to get the distraction of a lifetime.