Page 2 of Preacher

The guy needed a break. Hell, he deserved one, especially with all the recent changes in his life. Which is why I turned to Grim and said, “We’re gonna need to find someone to give Seven a hand.”

“Oh?” He looked over at me with surprise. “He say something?”

“No, and he wouldn’t. The man’s got too much pride for that, but things have changed for him. He’s gonna need more time with his ol’ lady and kid.” I took a drag from my cigar, letting the smoke curl up toward the neon lights above the bar. “We need someone who can handle the books, keep shit running smooth.”

Grim nodded, glancing over at the office door at the back of the club. “Not gonna be easy. Memphis only did it for a couple of weeks, and it about did him in.”

“Yeah, I heard all about it.”

I exhaled, watching as a couple of new faces walked in. I could by looking at them that they were the kind to cause trouble. I looked towards the front, where Goose and Rusty were keeping an eye on things, and they were already on them, making sure they knew the rules before they got too comfortable. That’s why we had men like them at the door. They kept things under control. It was one of the many reasons the club was thriving. I wanted to keep it that way.

“We need to talk to the brothers and see who’s willing to step up to the plate.”

“They’re gonna have big shoes to fill.”

“Won’t have to fill them completely. Just help with the load.”

“Understood.”

We sat back and watched as the night rolled on. The crowd just kept piling in, and I was loving every minute of it. The night couldn’t have been going better, and then, Grim had to fuck it up by asking, “You heard anything from Kay?”

The question hit me right in the gut. I’d done my best to push her out of my head, but I hadn’t had much luck, especially with everyone asking about her. “Couple days ago.”

“She doing okay?”

“As far as I know.” I shrugged. “She made it to her sister’s and is settling in. I’d say she’s doing alright.”

“Hmm.” Grim nodded, studying me like he knew there was more to it. And he wasn’t wrong. There was always more when it came to Kay. “House coming along?”

“Shouldn’t be much longer.” I took a long pull from my beer. “Maybe a couple more weeks. Maybe less.”

“And she’s good with that?”

“She doesn’t have a choice.”

The words came out sharper than I meant, but Grim didn’t question it. Besides, he knew the truth. Kay being at the clubhouse was stirring up shit neither of us needed. The past, the regrets, and all the what-ifs were still there, lurking beneath the surface, and if we weren’t careful, it would’ve dragged us both under.

I didn’t send her away because I wanted to see her go. I did it because I had to. It was the only way to keep us from making a mistake that neither of us could take back. But damn if it didn’t sit heavy on me. She was Memphis’ mother, and there was a time when I would’ve moved mountains for her.

But that time had come and gone.

“But she’s gonna be fine,” I said, more to convince myself than him. “It was the right move.”

I glanced around the bar and took it all in. It was what I needed to focus on. The club. The work. Not the woman who had a way of getting under my skin. Grim clinked his bottle against mine. “To making the right choices, huh?”

“And to living with ’em.”

Right choices weren’t always easy to live with. I knew that better than anyone. The weight of leading Satan’s Fury wasn’t just in the decisions I made. It was in the men who trusted me to make them. Every move, every choice, carried a consequence. Some were good, and others were bad.

And they weren’t just mine to bear.

They belonged to my brothers, to their families, and to the whole club.

I won’t deny it. There were days when it felt like I was carrying the whole damn world on my shoulders. It was tough knowing that one wrong move could bring it all crashing down, especially when I’d worked so hard to make Fury what it is today. But that was my burden to carry, and I carried it with pride.

Grim nudged my side, pulling me from my thoughts as he motioned over to Cinnamon on the backstage. “Damn shame about that one. She’s got tits for days but no rhythm.”

I chuckled but said nothing. I finished off my beer and was about to get another when the back door opened, and Seven walked in. I wasn’t surprised to see him. He was there on the nightly, making sure everything went off without a hitch, but I wasn’t expecting Tallie to be with him. She was an old flame who’d recently resurfaced, and she brought a few hard hits with her, including a kid he never knew they had.

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