Page 93 of Priest

“Workin’ out a strategy with Rowan, we need to take them all down and do it fast.” Rowan is the head of the Irish mafia and somewhat of a comrade to the club. As I say, as long as the club look the other way and let them get on with their business, we can live in harmony.

“Bella says her uncle won’t stop, not until he takes back what’s rightfully his; control of this city.”

“Now that he’s lost his underboss, he’ll be gettin’ desperate. And desperate men become sloppy,” Cash goes on. “Sloppiness means mistakes. Once we find a way in, we’ll raid their compound and give Callaghan some more paperwork to do.”

I wasn’t entirely sure it would come to this. But Cash won’t ever let the club be sitting ducks. “What about Big Daddy?” He’s the new drug lord of the underworld and took over where the Devils left off. He’s the only one who knows about what really went down that night. And when he heard about Bella’s father and all the disgusting things he did to Jett and Rock as children, his fate as our ally was sealed. He doesn’t want the mob back in New Orleans any more than we do. It’s bad for business.

He and Cash go way back and our alliance is rock solid.

“He has his men ready. All I have to do is give the word. The sooner the rest of the Caruso family are out of Louisiana for good, the better. We’ll use any means necessary.”

Then Bella can be free. The club can be free without any lurking enemies ready to pounce when we least expect it.

“You need me for anythin’?”

“Not until we can reconvene in a couple of days, go over the plan.”

“Sounds good.”

“So you can get back to bonin’ Isabella Caruso.”

“I’m not—” I stop, palming the back of my head. Fuck. Isabella Caruso.

Cash chuckles. “Thought so.”

“She’s… different,” I say, knowing I sound like a goddamn schmuck. “The more time I spend with her, the more I realize why I’ve waited so long to even consider an ol’ lady.”

“Holy shit, ol’ lady status already? You’re as bad as Rock. Of course, the more I tell you motherfuckers to stay away from chicks that are trouble with a capital T, the more you gravitate toward them.”

“Says the man who married and knocked up his best friend’s daughter,” I chuckle.

“She’ll cut my nuts off for sayin’ this, but she pursued me.” The warmth in his voice toward his ol’ lady Deanna makes me smile.

“Your secret’s safe with me,” I tell him. “Scouts honor.”

“I’ve got Ryder, Bronco and Riot watchin’ the compound.”

“No prospects?”

“No prospects. The job’s too precarious, though now Pipes is patched in, he’s trustworthy enough to take the second shift along with Hawk and Chains. JJ can keep watch at the gate along with Bandit.”

That reminds me, I should send Riot a text, it’s been a couple of days and I haven’t set foot in the Soup Kitchen since looking after Bella.

“Sounds like a plan. Let me know when I can bring Bella to the club.” It’s no surprise that when we hit, the club will go into lockdown, and all the kids and ol’ ladies and members will hole up in the clubhouse. It has enough rooms and accommodation, along with a fully equipped kitchen where Manny can feed everyone.

“Will do. And let’s keep her identity under wraps for the moment.”

“Got it.”

“Later.”

We hang up and I run a hand over my face.

“Is everything okay?” I hear Bella from behind me.

I turn to look over my shoulder. “Everything’s fine.”

“Come back to bed.”

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