Page 20 of Saint's Sinner

“I can’t imagine that’s easy to break away from.”

“It ain’t, but I’m not hardwired for long stretches in prison. I did my bit and I ain’t goin’ back.”

“Don’t blame you. I did five years myself and my brother did almost seven. If it wasn’t for Teddy helping Kat every step of the way while she was trying to run this outfit solo, I don’t know how she and the boys would have made it. Even when I want to wring his neck, it’s the one thing I’ll always be grateful for.”

“Is he like that with other people or just Sinn?”

“There have been a few over the years who’ve received the same treatment, but nothing to this extent.”

“And all over a simple mistake? That’s pretty damned petty if you ask me.”

“Welcome to life with Teddy.”

“No thank you.”

“I’m sure moving Sinn into the house with me didn’t help things,” Saint admitted. “In all the years since Teddy has been with us, the one thing I’ve never done is move someone of my own into his domain.”

“It’s not like you and the Prez shared him, right?”

“Ech, in the beginning, you could say we had awhat’s mine is my brother’skinda policy about damn near everyone but Kat. She’s been his Queen from the moment they hooked up and she made it clear to everyone too. Not saying Teddy was thecompany whore or anything, but he was a bit of a rescue project. We found him stripping at that shitty dive across town and he wasn’t having an easy time of it. Kat persuaded him to quit and offered to teach him how to tend bar at the club. Somewhere in all of that, Teddy found his niche. Best manager the club has ever had beside Kat herself.”

“I’ve noticed how intense he can get when something threatens to upset the vibe there.”

“Yeah well, it’s always been important to him that it be a place where everyone is free to express themselves as long as they do it safely and with consent,” Saint said. “The few times something questionable has popped off, he’s been the one to get to the bottom of it and see that any wrongdoers were banished and blacklisted. He’s vicious when he gets on some of those chats.”

Nodding, Night was reminded of the dressing down Teddy had given a guest who’d stepped out of line and could only imagine what he was capable of on a computer.

“With those two coming up with theme nights and bringing in folks to demo and hold seminars, the club went from kinky biker freak to kinky biker chic. Voted best BDSM club in the state twice now, with a hand full of runner-up awards too. Now our guys are the ones who get invited to demo and at some of the larger events around the country too. Teddy secured his place with us and as part of Kat and Mark’s family a long time ago. There shouldn’t be any reason for him to feel threatened.”

“And yet he does.”

“All I know is that my brother had better get a handle on his bullshit ASAP before I’m forced to jump in and deal with him.”

“You don’t think he’s behind this, do you?”

“Oh, I’ve thought it constantly since Sinn went missing and it’s crossed my mind a time or two to sick Rabbit on him, but until I’m certain he knows something, I’ve been holding off.Bastards been making himself scarce though. With the club shut down, he’s either doing inventory and updating supplies and equipment, or he’s up at the house playing host to the rest of the lockdown folks.”

“How’s that work anyway?”

“It’s something we started doing about fifteen years back when we were at war with the Insane Slayers over territory, among other things. They hit some of our members’ homes, some seriously disrespectful shit right there, and afterward, we decided it was safer to bring family to the compound whenever things got out of hand between us and another MC. Between the cabins, the club and the main house, there’s more than enough room for everyone. Was getting a mite crowded before the Outer Banks crew broke off, but they have a similar practice up there, not that they’ve needed it as often as we have.”

“I guess even going legit has its complications.”

“No shit.”

Silence.

Saint lit up one of his clove cigarettes and Night inhaled the scent and sighed, the hard wood against his back forgotten for a little while.

“If your people are so anti-MC, how’d you come to the decision to prospect?” Saint asked after a chorus of bullfrog croaks.

“I fell in with a bunch of MC guys when I was in prison. They saw the nomad ink and started asking questions and I told them what I could without breaking code. There was this older guy up there who’d done time with my old man and a couple of my uncles and they told me some shit that really got me thinking about what we were doing.”

“How so?”

“Just, didn’t know my old man regretted following that path, regretted following a lot of my grandfather’s teachings. That’swhere it all started. The anti-establishment, the lawlessness, and the bitterness, too. He’s always blaming everyone else for what he doesn’t have instead of working harder to get it. An old ridge runner is what he is. He still runs a couple stills up in the woods. Don’t anyone ever go lookin’ either, not after one of his booby traps maimed a government agent. He beat that case though. They couldn’t prove he set it or had anything to do with the still they found nearby despite everyone knowing whose traps they were, but knowing and proving are two different things.”

“Sure are. That’s always been at the heart of the outlaw code. You don’t leave nuthin’ they can trace back to you and you keep your mouth shut about what you know and who else is involved if you do get pinched.”

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