Page 17 of Saint

“Nope, just cooking” she replied seriously

“Just cooking? Dublin can’t understand how you’re not passed out under the bench here. Gotta stop now though. I need you awake tonight, not falling asleep in a heap from exhaustion as soon as you’ve done cooking.”

The thought of giving me sass briefly crossed her face then she looked at the six empty bottles on the bench and changed her mind. “Dunno what you’re on about mate. But I’d love a water right about now. Cooking is thirsty work” she cooed as she grinned back at me

“Yeah, looks like it miss” I laughed as I handed her a water and drank the Jack that was supposed to be hers. “Smells great in here though. Come on out front and get some fresh air for a while.” We sat at one of the tables on the deck and I pulled her in close. “Got some news on that Ranger asshole babe.” She stiffens beside me. “He can’t get into the States but he’s been trying to make contact with some enemies of ours to get someone else to do his dirty work.”

She slumps to the table “Fuck! I should have known he wouldn’t give up.”

“Well he won’t be making too much progress either babe. The Club he’s been trying to contact are gone. Ain’t none of ‘em left. And there’s no other Clubs between here and the city and there hasn’t been anyone else around town since we got rid of those Vipers. Just gotta keep your eyes open, be aware of who’s around you. I’ll have someone with you 24/7 so you’ll be safe. I just wanted to keep you in the loop. You see any other colours around here besides ours, you call me or Smoke. Okay?”

Jade nods at me but then sits up looking thoughtful. “There were a couple of guys, weeks ago, before we were together. Only two but they were wearing colours – not Hell’s Keepers though. They were down by the lake. But like I said, that was weeks ago. Before any of this mess. They must have been just passing through.”

This bothered me. Another Club was in our sand box and we didn’t know about it. I need to talk to the guys about this. “You don’t just pass through another club’s territory without letting them know Beautiful. Not the way it’s done. Hopefully though, it was just as you said and they simply weren’t smart enough to know whose territory they were in. Remember what their patches looked like?”

“Mmmmm, they weren’t that close to me. But I do remember the colours on the cuts because it was so unusual. The stitching was purple.”

Not.Fucking. Possible. Every one of those bastards was dead. We’d made sure of it. “Purple? You one hundred percent sure of that babe?”

“Absolutely! What kind of biker uses purple?”

She had a point. “Fuck. Fucking Vipers use purple, that’s who. Bastards should be all gone. Brothers will be here soon. We’ll get this shit sorted. But you, you do not go anywhere unaccompanied until I know what’s going on! Okay? Do you hear me Beautiful?”

Jade’s face lost all colour as she looked up at me. She tried to speak but no words came out. I grabbed her face in my hands and looked straight at her. “I’ve got you. We’ve got you. I’ll get this shit sorted out. But just stay close, okay, stay close. I’m going to tell everyone our news tonight and we’re gonna relax a little.”

I needed to keep her close as much as she needed to be there so I picked her up, throwing her over my shoulder and smacking her ass to lighten the mood and stalked back inside to find Dublin. She squealed and laughed which brought Dublin out of his office. “You’ve got video surveillance on this place right? Need to go through footage from the last eight weeks. Get it over to Taps tonight. We’ll talk about it later.” With that, the rumble of straight pipes interrupted the quiet of early evening as my brothers pulled up out the back. Boots stomped up the ramp to the entry and everyone filed in, heading straight for the bar. I headed straight for Smoke to tell him what little I knew then he took over, calling the room to order so he could speak.

“All right you bunch of good for nothing bikers” he said with a smile on his face “listen up. Still got some recon to do but you all need to keep your eyes open. Looks like someone is trying to make a Vipers comeback” shouts of ‘what the fuck’ rose up as Smoke continued on “we haven’t confirmed this yet but you need to be vigilant and keep a lookout for anything that wears the fucking colour purple” he said shaking his head. “Don’t ask me any questions. I won’t have answers till tomorrow. Just do as I fucking say. Now, we have some fucking good news” he said as a huge ear to ear grin crossed his face “Clubhouse is finally ready! Those of you who had or need rooms, we’re moving back in on Saturday so get your shit together. We’ll be partying Saturday night and riding on Sunday. Weather’s getting colder so this might be the last run for a while. Make sure you’re there. No excuses. Spit roast after the run. Even better, Reign is home tomorrow at last.” At this, there were cheers from everyone. Most of them had been to visit him a few times but it would be better to have him home. “Got one more thing” he said looking sideways at me with a sly look on his face “we lost a brother today.” Everyone started frantically looking around the bar trying to work out who was missing. Eventually, after he’d had his fun, Smoke began again “Your Prez here has found himself a ball an’ chain. So, while he’s lost his balls and you’ve lost your Prez, you’ve gained a Queen. Looks like Jade stole his heart and even though we all knew it weeks ago, he’s just figured it out and today they made it official.”

There was laughter, stomping of boots and catcalls as my brothers cheered and came forward to congratulate Jade and I. Drinks were poured, the music turned up and the usual mayhem followed. Jade proudly showed off the new tat on her hand and I could just tell that this was the beginning of things looking up for all of us. New Queen, new Clubhouse, everyone back together – no matter what came our way – we were ready for it. There was a feeling of confidence in the air as we partied into the evening and I felt like the luckiest man on the planet.

Saint

Working from the security room at the new clubhouse, the next two days were spent scrolling through hours of footage from the cameras at the bar. Hours, days, weeks of nothing. Until last week. It wasn’t much to go on but it was something, and it was proof that someone was trying to raise the Vipers from the dead. Fucking Ranger. Lucky for him he can’t get into the country. He’d be a dead man. There they were – two bikers on Harleys wearing Vipers cuts. Doing drive-bys of the bar and up the road that ran along the lake edge. Right past Jade’s place. Usually mid-afternoon or three am.

“Who the fuck are these idiots? Tap, what can you get on them?”

“Gonna need some time to run their faces and plates through a couple of programmes Prez. They’re not real smart. Faces are uncovered. I know you need to know yesterday, but I need a couple of hours. Working as fast as I can.”

“Work faster. Call me when you’ve got something. Smoke – get the word out. Fucking Vipers are trying to make a comeback. Stay close to home, stay in pairs or more. I also want surveillance on the bar. Get it done!”

“On it Saint. We still riding Sunday?”

“Fuck yes, we’re still riding on Sunday. No way two wanna be Vipers are holding us down. Sunday will be a show of strength to anyone thinking they can take us on again! Let’s find these fuckers an’ teach ‘em a lesson. I’m going to get Jade and lock down for the night, telling Dublin to close up early. Tap, call me when you’ve got something – don’t care what time it is.”

“You want someone watching the cabin?” Smoke asked seriously.

I considered his concern “No. Got plenty of cameras and options out there. Keep the brothers safe. Moving in as planned tomorrow. See you in the morning.”

Before I rode out, I called ahead to the bar and told Dublin what we knew and that he needed to close early tonight. Just not until after Jade had left though. I didn’t want her freaking out. I was at the bar within ten minutes. Before I barged inside, I had to get a grip on my anger and school my face so that I wasn’t the cause of her freaking out. So I slowed to my usual pace, plastered a smile on my face and walked in. The place was almost empty and Dublin was behind the bar quietly packing up. He nodded as I walked in and then glanced back at the kitchen to indicate that’s where I would find Jade. “Ready to go Beautiful?”

“Hey” she said smiling as she spun around. Fuck, this woman took my breath away every time. “You’re early. I don’t think I’m done yet. Not that I’m not glad to see you” she said with a smile and a twinkle in her eyes.

“It’s quiet out there. I’m sure Dublin won’t mind.” I made a show of yelling out to him to check “Hey Dublin! Can I take my woman home early?”

He sauntered into the kitchen and glared at me “Lucky for you Prez, they all just packed up and left. Must be a party on tonight somewhere. So I suppose you can take her early…but she has to make up the time next week” he said laughing. “We’ve all got a big weekend ahead anyway and the bar will be closed for the weekend so, what the hell, grab your woman and go home. Hey, how is Reign getting home?”

“Picking him up in the morning. See you at the clubhouse.” I winked at Dublin as we bumped shoulders then I threw Jade over one shoulder and walked out with her laughing at my back as she grabbed at my ass. Yep, life is good. Just gotta deal with those Viper fuckers and everything will be perfect. “Take it easy babe” I said over my shoulder “wait till we get home at least. Then you can grab at my body all you want.” I couldn’t wait to get her home and lock us in and I smiled to myself at the thought.

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