I didn’t blame him. I’d heard the VP over at the Reckless Kings ended up claiming a cop’s daughter, but since they lived in a different state, it wasn’t a huge issue. Although, the dad had shown up to cause some trouble. Venom’s kid shacking up with a cop in the same town? Yeah, that wouldn’t fly. Even if the Dixie Reapers ran a much cleaner ship these days, I knew their hands were still a bit dirty. None of ours were clean.
“Casper and Specter will need a place to crash. I don’t imagine they’ll stay longer than one night,” Wire said.
“We’ll have something for them,” Badger said. “And tell them thanks.”
He ended the call and leaned back in his chair, looking like he’d just aged ten years. I didn’t envy him his position right now. Being the President of a club facing something like an entire group of murderers and rapists? Yeah, not something I’d want to deal with.
“Think that’s all we can do for now,” Badger said. “Someone get two of the small apartments cleaned up and stocked for our guests. Everyone else, go be with your families, or blow off some steam in some other way. No club whores inside the compound until this is finished, and I don’t want anyone outside the gates unless it’s a life-or-death reason. If you’re single and need to fuck, I suggest you get reacquainted with your hand. Now get the fuck out!”
I stood and made my way to the main area, looking for Glory. I hoped someone informed Alora we didn’t need her services after all. With some luck, this would all be over soon, and she’d be safely back in her home. If nothing else, maybe this would give her something new to write about.
Or it could just give her nightmares.
I knew I’d have them for a while, to add to the ones already plaguing me some nights. I had to admit, since Glory had moved in, I hadn’t had any episodes. No PTSD flare-ups, no nightmares about what happened over there. I’d slept peacefully, except for the times I’d woken in a cold sweat the past two nights -- since I’d discovered Saul had put a target on her.
“Already done?” Glory asked.
“Yeah. Wire came up with a solution, but we can’t implement it just yet. Badger ordered everyone back to their homes. You and Sienna ready?” I looked for our daughter and found her in Doolittle’s arms. Considering he had a monkey on his shoulder, I could see why she seemed so happy. Our little girl stared at the monkey with wide eyes while she sucked on her fist. Not once did she reach for the creature, but it was clear she adored the little furry thing. It kept leaning down to inspect her, making noises that had Sienna squealing in delight.
“No,” I said, eyeing Glory. “We aren’t getting a monkey.”
She snorted. “I wasn’t going to ask for one. They throw poop.”
I stifled a laugh as I watched the monkey and our daughter for another minute. If she liked animals, maybe Doolittle had something more domestic we could adopt. Like a cat or dog. I didn’t think we were up for anything exotic.
Glory retrieved Sienna, who put up a fuss over leaving her new furry friend, and we headed out to my truck. I didn’t know if I’d be called to back up Casper and Specter later, so I wanted to enjoy what time I had with my girls this afternoon. No one had said whether Casper and Specter would want to strike tonight or wait until morning. Either way, I was thankful we had backup coming our way.
It also made me realize something… our club wasn’t quite as fierce as we’d once been. I knew back in the day when Blades had been young, and Grizzly had been newly patched in, the Devil’s Fury had been far different than we were now. Good changes, from what I’d heard, but we were weaker. Settling down with families had made us softer. Or perhaps it was the fact we were all getting old enough to want to slow down a bit. I knew our fingers weren’t in quite so many pies, as far as the illegal shit went. We had some legit businesses around town, and we’d been discussing opening yet another one.
I couldn’t complain. I enjoyed life with the club, and now I had a family. There wasn’t much else I could ever want or need. Except to guarantee their safety. We needed to bulk up our security, or possibly patch in more ex-military guys. There was a reason I’d been medically discharged. I wasn’t as quick on my feet as I’d once been. I knew men who ran marathons on two prosthetic legs, and I only had one. But kneeling down for long periods, and being stealthy, wasn’t as easy as it had been before.
I slowed as I neared the house, noticing Outlaw’s truck was pulled up out front. He got out and leaned against the front fender while he waited. I parked in the driveway and leaned over to kiss Glory on the cheek.
“Head inside with Sienna? I need to see what Outlaw wants,” I said. In case it was something bad, I didn’t want Glory to hear it. Not until I’d decided the best way to tell her. And that was assuming it was anything to do with her.
After she’d gone inside with our daughter, I walked down to meet Outlaw at the street. “Should I be worried you’re here when I just saw you in Church? And how the fuck did you beat me to my own damn house?”
“You were too busy watching your daughter try to enchant a monkey.” He smiled. Then I noticed the folder
