Page 9 of Saint (Soulless Outlaws Motorcycle Club #1)

Saint

Once every two weeks, I went through my weapons and cleaned them.

Right now, I was working on my Glock.

The door to the clubhouse opened, which caused my eyes to look in that direction.

Merlin walked in, closed the door, and then scanned the room.

When his eyes made it to me, he looked back at the door, then back at me, and started over to me.

I looked at the door, too, wondering what the fuck was going on.

The moment he made it to me, he said, “Saint, there happens to be a woman and a little girl outside askin’ for ya.”

My hands froze.

A woman.

A little girl.

I placed the Glock down on the table, then looked at the prospect we were thinkin’ about makin’ a member of our club, Gavel, and said, “Pick all this up, take it to my room. Now.”

He nodded and then moved to do as I told him to do.

A woman.

A little girl.

I only knew two.

And I hoped, like all that was holy, that it was the two beings I hated leaving yesterday.

As I moved to the door, Kettle stood up, followed by Nuke, Jury, Wolf, Grey, Xander, Agatha, and Tempie.

Nosy. Fucking nosy, the lot of them were.

But it wasn’t every day that a woman and a little girl came to the clubhouse.

And it was never that anyone asked for me.

Once I made it to the door, I opened it and didn’t even bother trying to keep it open for the men and women at my back.

Because what bothered me was the fact that Soraya was hiding behind Ophelia’s legs.

I looked at Ophelia and teased, “So, you stalkin’ me now?”

The brothers at my back all froze. I felt it. I knew it.

I didn’t tease.

Fuckin’ ever.

But seeing Ophelia’s shoulders loosen slightly and then seeing Soraya’s face peek out and smile a small smile at me, I would do it.

Every single second of every single day.

Ophelia shook her head, “Little Miss Pumpkin’ Head wanted to do something as a thank you for what you did yesterday.”

I looked at the tray I realized she was holding, and then I looked down at Soraya.

I moved slowly until I reached the two of them, and then I lowered myself to the ground and asked, “You made something for me?”

She leaned her head further around Ophelia’s legs, then she looked up at her, then at me, and nodded, “Yes. Monnie always says you should repay kindness with kindness.”

I liked that.

I really fucking liked that.

And that was when a cold wind blew over the lot.

I stood up and said, “It’s cold. Come on inside.”

Ophelia shook her head and looked behind me, “No. It’s okay. We just wanted to give you these.”

I stepped closer to her and said the words that had been on my mind since yesterday.

“Hadn’t stopped thinking about you. Either of you. Really like to spend time with the two of you. Get to know you both better. Nothing inside those walls will harm either of you. It does, I’ll take care of it.”

That was when she seemed to look even deeper into my eyes.

I wasn’t sure what she was lookin’ for, but I hoped like fuck she found it.

And I knew that she had when she nodded, then looked down at Soraya, “Do you want to go inside?”

Soraya nodded, “Monnie, it is cold. And we have Saint with us.”

Apparently, that was all my woman... yeah... I had already dubbed her that title in my head, needed to hear.

Ever since I saw her at the diner a few weeks ago, she has been on my mind.

I’ve never walked up to a woman I was interested in and started a conversation.

Hell, I had never seen one I was remotely interested in until I saw Ophelia and heard her laughing at something old man Woodrow had said.

Yesterday had been perfect, utterly perfect, for me to get my foot in the door and work myself into their lives.

There’s a saying along the bayou in Louisiana.

A Cajun thing, if you will.

And as I walked away from them yesterday, a cold wind blew over my frame, and I could have sworn I heard the words, “You found your 'autre moitié.'”

Which translated to, You found your missing piece.

I stepped to the side, but not before I took the tray of whatever it was out of Ophelia’s hands and gestured toward the door.

Thankfully, the brothers and the women had moved out of the way, and as we passed them, no, I didn’t miss the way either of them side-eyed Merlin as they moved at my side.

And neither did anyone else.

Because at our backs, I heard Wolf ask, “Explain that shit to me. Would you?”

It was Nuke who said, “Explain what shit to you?”

Wolf scoffed, “How the hell are they afraid of the most easygoing man in the club, but they're not afraid of Saint?”

I heard Nuke sigh, “Can’t tell you, brother.”

As we stepped inside, I tried to see the clubhouse for the first time as someone who had never been here before.

Then I looked at Ophelia and Soraya as they were taking it all in.

We had knocked out almost every wall on this floor to make it an open floor plan of sorts.

The bar ran along the back wall.

We had recliners, couches, and a big television mounted on the wall.

Three pool tables, a little stage, if you will, and we had a ping pong table, along with some arcade games.

It was essentially a man cave.

A man’s cave that looked like Christmas had thrown up all over it.

I sighed, then looked at Ophelia and asked, “What do you think?”

She smiled, “I like it.”

Soraya chimed in then, too, and said, “I do too.”

I jerked up my chin towards a table that had three chairs.

They headed in that direction, and once we all sat down, I placed the tray on the table and then looked at my brothers.

They were all standing there; a few had their arms crossed, and a few of them looked at the three of us in a rotation of sorts.

I shook my head, then looked at Ophelia and Soraya and said, “Girls, from left to right. Grey is our vice president. Kettle is our enforcer. Xander is our treasurer. Wolf is our secretary. Jury is our road captain. Merlin is our tech guru. Beside him is his wife Tempie, and beside Tempie is Merlin’s sister Agatha. ”

“Who is the man over there?” Soraya asked.

What I didn’t see was that Kettle moved to block her view of Gavel.

But not before I said, “That’s Gavel. He’s prospectin’ for the club.”

Then I looked at my brothers and said, “This is Ophelia and her daughter, Soraya.”

They all nodded, and it was Nuke who asked, “So, how’d the two of you meet?”

Before Ophelia or I could say anything, Soraya did.

And as she told the story about how yesterday went, I felt every pair of eyes land on me.

Shock.

Awe.

And a few of them didn’t believe a word she said.

Cause never had they seen me react in such a way with anyone like I was with the two of them.

After Soraya told everyone what happened, she looked at me and said, “We made you unicorn brownies. Monnie said you might not like them, but I told her since you like the Hulk, you must have a little boy still in you somewhere, so you would like them.”

I lifted a brow at her and said, “Did you say unicorn brownies?”

She nodded, “Hey, don’t knock it ‘til you try it.”

At that, I started chuckling.

And a few brothers started as well.

That was why I pulled the tray over to me, removed the tin foil, and saw four brownies lying there.

“We only brought you four. If you want more, we will give them to you.” Soraya said.

I looked at Ophelia and asked, “What’s in them?”

She winked, then said, “Don’t knock it ‘til you try it.”

I growled lowly, which had both of them giggling.

The perfect sound of a song.

If I lost my hearing right then and there, I would grin and bear it because I had just heard the most beautiful sound in the world. Yeah, the two of them giggling just beat out the sound of Ophelia’s laughter.

I picked one of the brownies that appeared to be white chocolate with pink and blue bits in them.

I sniffed it, which caused them both to giggle, and then I took a small bite.

A wonderful taste, unlike anything I have ever tasted before, exploded on my tongue, and then I popped the whole thing into my mouth.

I chewed, swallowed, and grabbed another one.

And in minutes, it wasn’t until I reached for another one that I realized I had eaten them all.

Did I just fucking pout?

And I realized I had when Soraya started laughing so hard she had tears streaming down her little cheeks.

Ophelia was in the same manner as her daughter.

The brothers looked at me, and it was Xander who asked, “You couldn’t fuckin’ share?”

I shook my head, “No.”

Then I bit out, “Watch your language.”

His eyes widened slightly, then he looked at the brothers, then looked at the little girl who was still laughing, looked at me, and jerked up his chin.

My eyes connected with every single person who was still standing there being fuckin’ nosy.

They got my message. Loud and fuckin’ clear.

Once they got themselves under control, that was when Soraya started with twenty questions.

That was how I spent the next half an hour going over what everyone does and explaining it to Soraya and Ophelia. And explaining to them why I love my club.

As I covered that we worked to put a stop to human trafficking, I felt a presence of warmth envelop me from the woman at my side.

After I explained everything, it was Ophelia who tilted her head and asked, “So what do you do?”

I winced inwardly.

I loved what I did for the club.

But I wasn’t sure if she would want the type of man I was for the club around her daughter.

However, as I looked into her eyes and saw one thing, open-mindedness, I said, “I’m the Icer.”

She tilted her head to the side, “And what does that mean?”

I made sure I kept eye contact with her and said, “I’m the one that handles anyone who wrongs the club.”

She lifted a brow, “Isn’t that the same as the Enforcer?”

“In a sense. Yes. But to protect my family, there’s no limit to what I will do when someone wrongs the club.”

At that, she nodded and seemed to be processing what I said.

It was Agatha who asked, “Where are your manners, Saint? Offer them a drink or something.”

At that, Ophelia winced, then looked at her watch, then she looked at Agatha, “Thank you. But we actually need to get going.”

Soraya looked up at Ophelia and said, “Monnie, do we have to?”

She looked down at her and nodded, “Afraid so. We have to do your homework, and we have to make Harold and Lilly’s Christmas gift. Make dinner. And get you in the bath.”

Soraya groaned, which I thought was cute as shit.

Knowing that Ophelia was putting her mama duties over anything else, yeah, that was a woman I respected.

She was nothing like my mother, who couldn’t have cared less if I did my homework or not.

No, all she fuckin’ cared about was if I had made any money that day.

I shook my head, which caught Ophelia’s attention, and softly, she asked, “Are you okay?”

I looked at her and nodded, “Yeah. Come on, I’ll walk y’all out.”

As I stood, they both followed.

But what shocked the absolute hell out of me was what happened next.