Page 69 of Priest

The taller, darker one of the two lifts his chin and smiles. “Hi, buttercup,” he says, his eyes warming as gets closer.

“Hi, grumpy,” she says to the other man.

He just looks at her and he might just be the scariest human I’ve ever seen.

“What’s up your ass, Tag?” Jas spits out, and I refrain from laughing.

“This Bella?” He motions in my direction.

Instead of just asking, he doesn’t even make eye contact.

“Good news travels fast around here,” I mutter.

“I’m Harlem,” Stella’s dad says. “I’m the club’s Enforcer, you know what that means?”

I nod. I only know because Priest told me.

“So, we need to pinpoint this Rueben guy. Priest had a couple of the prospects out lookin’ today. He’s not at any of the places he usually hangs out, but the little fucker will no doubt pop back up again. They always do.”

“I don’t know where he hangs out,” I say, my voice wavering at their confrontation. “I only met him a couple of times at the Soup Kitchen.”

The man named Tag grunts.

Then I see Priest coming up behind them as he seeks me out. I’m right where he left me, of course, but he has a frown on his face. “Fellas, you wanna back up?” They shift as he slides between them and comes to stand in front of me.

The testosterone around here is pumping, it’s palpable.

Priest touches my chin. “You good?”

I nod. “I’m fine.”

He’s so sweet and he doesn’t have to be. This is his club.

The men here are not like men anywhere else, even if they are a legitimate motorcycle club. But Priest doesn’t seem to care who sees him touch me like that.

It warms my belly and makes butterflies dance in my stomach.

He turns to look back at the two men, towering over us. “Rememberin’ what we discussed in church?”

I frown. Church? He can’t mean a real church.

Tag rolls his eyes, looking unimpressed. “Since when did we take orders from you? Cash wants us on the job, so here we are.”

“What Tag means to say is we were just askin’ Bella if she knew where Rueben might be hangin’ out.” He shoots his counterpart a side eye.

It’s cute how Priest thinks I’m made of glass, but he doesn’t have to worry.

Each day that I’ve been away from the prison I was living in, I get stronger.

It doesn’t matter that I’ve been living like this for over a month… Nothing can break me. I know that now.

I also know I have so much pent up inside that is dying to escape and I have no one to talk to.

Then I have an idea… But before I can say anything, Priest stands his ground.

“Gonna be takin’ a road trip to Texas,” he tells them. “Day after tomorrow. Call me if there’s any updates. I’m gonna spend some time tomorrow lookin’ around with Pipes and Rodeo. My old man’s comin’ around, I’ll rope him in too.”

“More the merrier,” Harlem agrees. “The sooner we get this fuck face off the street, the better.”

---