Page 10 of Q: Satan's Fury MC

I wish I had some grand comeback, but unfortunately, I had nothing. I could only stand there and watch as she disappeared into the back room. It was impossible not to feel slightly wounded by our exchange, but I wasn’t alone. Wrath had come into the gift shop with me.

He was younger than me but had a good foot on me and about a hundred pounds of muscle. It was still hard to believe that he was the same kid that we used to call Catch—a name his kid sister had given him years before. We used the same name for years, but then, the club had a run-in with a local MC.

Things got pretty ugly, and they got ugly fast.

Lives were on the line, our brothers' lives, and he stepped up. He took out several of their main officers, and in doing so, he saved many of our own, including Cotton. Normally, we don’t go around changing road names, but he’d proved that he deserved something more worthy than Catch. After everything he’d done, it wasn’t surprising that the brothers decided to start calling him Wrath.

I was hoping that he hadn’t overheard my conversation with Smokey’s newest employee, but when I turned around, I found him staring back at me with a mischievous smirk on his face. I wasn’t in the mood to listen to his bullshit, so I gave him a stern look and ordered, “Don’t say a fucking word.”

“Who? Me?” he asked innocently. “I wasn’t going to say anything. I certainly wasn’t gonna mention anything about that girl who just blew you off.”

“We both know better than that.” Before he could respond, I walked past him and said, “Let’s go. We have work to do.”

“Whoa. Wait, you’re really leaving?” he asked, sounding surprised.

“What did you expect me to do?”

“I don’t know. Something.” He glanced over at the back room, searching for some sign of the chick who’d just blown me off. “Just didn’t figure you’d give up so easily.”

“Well, you figured wrong.”

Without saying anything more, I walked through the front door and over to Maverick and the rest of the brothers. They were all standing around talking to Smokey and MJ about everything they had going on at the orchard. It was a lot, and they both seemed relieved that we’d all come to give them a hand. Smokey looked over at the barn and the orchard behind it and groaned as he said, “We’re close, but we still have a lot that needs to be done.”

“Just let us know what you need us to do,” Clutch replied. “We’ll make sure it gets done.”

“We need to finish getting the lights up in the barn, and we’ve got baskets to finish sorting. The kid’s train needs a good once over, and the ATVs need gas. And it all needs to be done in the next two hours. That’s when the crowds will start rolling in.”

“Shouldn’t be a problem.”

After Smokey gave us a few more instructions, we each dispersed and got busy helping Smokey and MJ get everything ready for their big day. We’d been at it for just over an hour when I heard one of the brothers say, “I think that’s Dallas.”

“Dallas?” I turned and watched as a red car parked in the drive. I knew they had a lot of folks coming in from out of town, but I had no idea Dallas was coming in. “Is her new guy with her?”

“Don’t think so,” Clutch answered. “I think it’s just Dusty.”

Dallas was Skidrow’s ol’ lady. He was before my time, but I’d heard the stories. He was murdered well before his time, and his death had just about broken his family, especially Dallas. They’d been together for years, and from the way the brothers talked, they all knew they had something special. Skid was crazy about his ol’ lady and spent his life showing her what she meant to him.

They had two kids—one of them being Dusty. He was born with Down Syndrome, but that never slowed him down. He was a happy-go-lucky kid who had a big heart and an even bigger smile. The kid didn’t have a bad thing to say about anything, which made it impossible not to love him. He’s a great kid, and he held a special place in all our hearts.

None of us had seen him or Dallas since she got remarried and moved to Oregon, and until today, I wasn’t sure when we would see them again. “I didn’t know they were coming.”

“Yeah, well...” Clutch motioned his head over to Maverick as he said, “I think she wanted to keep it a surprise.”

The doors opened, and I almost didn’t recognize Dusty as they each got out of the car. Dallas seemed a little unnerved as they started toward us. I couldn’t really blame her. It had been a while since she’d been around the crew, so it was only natural that she’d be a little hesitant.

Dusty, on the other hand, wasn’t hesitant at all.

He looked like he was about to bust with excitement, especially when he spotted Maverick. He opened his arms wide and started rushing in his direction as he shouted, “Mav-wrick!”

Dusty was in his mid-thirties and was over five-eight and thick around the middle, so Maverick did his best to brace himself when he spotted Dusty racing toward him. Unfortunately, it did little good. Hell, Maverick almost fell backward when Dusty slammed into his chest and wrapped his arms around him, hugging him tightly. “Hey, Mav-wrick.”

“Hey there, little brother.” Once he’d regained his footing, Maverick gave Dusty a bear hug and said, “Long time no see.”

“We’ve been in Oregon.”

“I know.” Maverick gave him another squeeze, then patted him on the back. “We’ve missed having you around.”

“Missed you, too.” Dusty looked up at him, and his brows furrowed as he studied Maverick’s salt and pepper hair. He seemed both surprised and bothered to find that his old friend had aged. “You’ve gotten so old.”

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