Page 42 of Priest

She frowns. “Okay. He was probably just trying not to scare you. It can be a little scary to hear that, but I promise you, there’s nothing to be afraid of.”

I start to panic.

NOLA Rebels MC? Does that mean that Priest is an outlaw?

Then I think about that night I ran away. Maybe I should’ve gone back to the bus station when I had the chance.

“So what does he do in the club?”

She starts to prod around my face with her soft hands. “He’s the spiritual advisor for the members. In a nutshell he makes sure the needs and welfare of all the bikers are met, that they’re on the right path, so to speak.”

I start to feel clammy and a little sick in the stomach. I don’t know any bikers, of course, but the things I have seen and heard… None of them are good.

“I just… I just never picked Priest for someone to do illegal stuff,” I whisper. Which — with a family history like mine — is like a pot calling the kettle black.

She smiles gently. “Nope. They’re not illegal. So there are one percent clubs; like the ones you see on TV who sell guns, drugs and even people, then there are legit clubs like the Rebels who have normal businesses and jobs and don’t do anything illegal.”

I frown. I’ve never heard of that before. Of course, I know they’re around, I just had no clue Priest was part of it.

I swallow hard. “So, he has nothing to do with that club that was on the news just recently?” I have to ask because it’s all that the news have been playing.

She assesses the cut and then starts to pull out cotton pads, antiseptic and ointment. “Thankfully, no. They were a rival MC and not good guys, in fact, they’re all better off in the ground. Trust me when I say they got what was coming to them, as well as the mob who I’m sure you heard about, too.”

“Yeah, I heard.” My voice is small. “There was a shootout.”

“Yup. And that one asshole, Carlo Caruso’s brother, he was a fucking piece of shit. Apparently he did some bad stuff including child trafficking. Can you believe some people? Who does that? If you ask me, they deserve all they got.”

Of course, all of that was all over the news for so long. Every TV station was playing it. I freaked out a lot. I mean, I’m not meant to be here, even if nobody is looking for me. Those men, all of those men are not good people.

“I agree with you, they did.” I stare down at my hands and Casey tilts my chin back up.

“Are you okay?”

I nod. “Yeah, I just hate that kinda stuff, and hearing Priest is part of an MC which he didn’t tell me is a little unnerving.”

“Trust me when I say, the NOLA Rebels are legit. Cash is the club Prez and he’s a great guy. Always doing the right thing and protecting this city as best he can. My sister Crystal is married to the VP, Ryder.”

“What’s a VP?”

“Vice-prez.”

“Are you part of the club?” I ask.

She laughs. “Not really. I mean, I don’t have an old man or anything. But I hang there a bit and help out when I’m needed as an EMT. Though, I have kinda always had a bit of a crush on one of the prospects.”

“What’s a prospect?”

She cleans my wound and I wince slightly. “It’s a shit kicker basically. Does that hurt?”

I shake my head.

“So he’s not a member of the club yet, but he will be if he completes a year or two doing shitty jobs to prove his worth.”

“Kinda sounds like being a member of my family,” I blurt out. I clear my throat. “What’s his name?”

“His biker name is Pipes, because he has a throttle like you wouldn’t believe. His real name is Joel.”

“Why do they have weird names like that?” I wonder what Priest’s real name is?

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