Priest: A Motorcycle Club Romance (The Viking’s Rampage MC: Tucson Chapter Book 2)

It’d taken a week to move all my daughters’ things into my four-bedroom apartment in the clubhouse. I’d double Cassie and Taylor up, giving Gabby and Caitlyn their own rooms, with one left for me. That would get us by for quite a while before the girls would be cramped for space.

Most of our time was eaten up by them visiting with their mother, first in the hospital, and then spending time with her in her home. I’d paid top dollar to have nurses provide her around the clock care. It was what she deserved at the end of her life. What I was paid by the MC and from my retirement was more than enough. I wasn’t hurting for money.

Wendy was wasting away in front of us and my fucking heart was breaking for my girls. Even Caitlyn seemed distraught, but I had a feeling it had to do more with the other girls being so upset, than the loss of Wendy herself. I was proud of my girls; they were making their mother’s last days as good as could be. They were all smiles and cuddles while spending time with her. They kept up a strong face, but at night I was the one rocking them to sleep while they sobbed. I was the one chasing away the nightmares.

No one questioned me as to why we weren’t living in the Oro Valley house. I needed to be here at the clubhouse and the girls needed to be with me.

“Priest.”

I paused in the act of carrying the last box full of Gabby’s things up the stairs. Lockout watched with solemn eyes for a minute before he jerked his head, indicating I needed to follow him.

Cursing, I handed the box over to Riptide. He, Hush, Hellfire, and Toxic were helping me move. “Can you keep an eye on the kids, Rip?”

“Sure thing, Bro.”

I grinned, but quickly headed down the stairs and caught up with Lockout. He brought me into the meeting room and shut the door. I watched him with wary eyes.

“Quit looking at me like that. I just wanted to fucking check in on you. It’s been a rough year for you, Brother.” Lockout scowled at me.

I returned the expression. “So? I’m fine.”

We’d known each other for so long, I didn’t mind speaking to him like this, but I didn’t want his pity.

“Ah quit being a fucking asshole.” Lockout sat down in a chair and I followed suit. “We’re friends,” he confirmed. “I’m allowed to be worried about you.”

“You’re sounding like a woman, Prez,” I told him, a shit-eating grin splitting my face.

He flipped me off, grinning back. Then it slipped off his face. “In all seriousness. Everything alright? You need a bigger place?”

“The apartment’s fine. Plenty of space for us all.”

“I was surprised you didn’t opt to stay at the house. At least for now.”

I shook my head. “The girls need the break from seeing her wither away. I’d keep them away from it all if it wouldn’t be so unfair to both the girls and Wendy. It’s hurting all of them, but the second option would be worse.” He nodded in understanding. “Besides. I need to be here. This place grounds me.”

“Yeah, I get that. But we’re doing fine right now. Honestly, with everyone still digging into what the fuck is going on out in the desert and trying to track down Caitlyn’s father we’re at a standstill anyway.”

“Is that why you haven’t given me any work over the last week?” I asked, a scowl settling on my face again. “I’m still your Road Captain, Lock. You can’t cut me out-”

“I’m not cutting you out of shit, Priest.” He sat forward, pinning me with a glare. The silence was thick in the room as we locked eyes. Finally, he sat back again, relaxing. “There’s not much to do right now. And what there is, the others can handle. You have enough going on with the girls, Wendy, and moving.” He gave me a sly look. “If you have any free time I’m going to expect you to be making up with your old lady.”

My lips twitched. Lockout was a pushy bastard and after seeing how happy our Texas Chapter was with their wives and kids I had a feeling he was getting ideas. Either that or he just wanted to see us happy.

“I’m working on that,” I told him.

He arched a brow. “How long has it been?”

“A week,” I muttered. Shit had kind of imploded on me again. I wasn’t ignoring Jenny, or cutting her out, this time. I’d texted and called each night this week. She’d responded to a couple of the texts, telling me what progress there’d been with Caitlyn’s paperwork. I wanted to hear that news, but she refused to let me draw her into any conversations involving only the two of us. I would have driven to her, forced the conversation, but at the moment I was too overwhelmed. Again.

Each time we’d texted she’d asked how my girls were. If I hadn’t wanted her before, I sure as fuck did now. This woman was perfect. A goddamn saint in tornado form. That she was so genuinely worried about my daughters just made the feelings I had for her deeper.

“Better work faster, Brother,” Lockout told me with a grin. “What else do you need from me?”

“A fucking assignment would be nice.”

He shook his head. “You’re a stubborn dick, you know that? I’ll give you an assignment when I have something for you to do.”

“I could help track down Caitlyn’s piece of shit father.”

“Why? Your time is better spent with your kids right now.”

He wasn’t wrong. It was fucking killing me to sit and watch them have to live through the misery of their mother dying, but I couldn’t abandon them. I wouldn’t leave them to face that by themselves. I was their rock to lean on, the wall that protected them, and no matter how difficult, I’d always be by their sides. “Yeah, alright. But once things get going with The Silverbells, I want in. You’re not leaving me home.”

“I won’t. You’ll be there. I fucking need your skills and you know it.”

Grinning, I nodded in agreement. I was, by far, his best shooter, and that was saying something with this crowd. I was the only trained sniper in our club and Lockout never went into a fight without me.

“Get out,” Lockout told me, his lips tipping upward.

“See you later, Prez.”

I hadn’t made it more than two steps out of the room when Hush found me. “Hey, my old lady wants to know if we can babysit tonight.”

My brows shot up. “You want to babysit my kids?”

“That’s right. It’ll give us some practice.”

It wasn’t possible for my eyebrows to inch up any higher. “Shit. Is Seek-”

“No, not yet, but not for lack of tryin’,” he said with a wicked grin. “Won’t be long now.”

I laughed and slapped him on the shoulder. “Good for you, you surly bastard.”

“You’re one to talk.”

“You sure you can handle all four?” I asked, hesitating. A night off meant I could go find Jenny, but I didn’t want my girls to need me and not be there. Wendy had treatments scheduled for today and tomorrow, so we’d been finishing up the move and the girls had a few days off from seeing her. It was perfect timing.

“We’ll all pitch in,” Lockout said from behind me. “We’ll set up a game night.”

I chuckled, picturing all the guys playing cards with my daughters. “Alright. They’ll have fun. Keep an eye on Taylor. She cheats,” I warned them. Not that they didn’t know already, the girls had been having game nights with my brothers for years, though the poker was relatively new.

“So does Butcher. She fits right in,” Lockout told me.

“Yes, but in terms of maturity and general deviousness she’s older than Butcher, so make sure he doesn’t throw a tantrum,” I told him with a grin.

“We’ll go pick the girls up from your apartment right now,” Hush said. “You’re officially free until after ten a.m. tomorrow mornin’.”

“Why ten?”

“I don’t want to be gettin’ up at the ass crack of dawn,” Hush grumped, giving me his back and heading upstairs.

I followed him up and explained to my girls about the game night and sleep over with Uncle Hush and Aunt Seek. Excitement shone on their faces and it helped ease some of the guilt about the last week. My kids loved their ‘uncles’ and being here at the clubhouse. It would soon feel like home to them again.

Grabbing my keys, I hugged each girl and told them I’d be back later on. I caught Hush’s eye. “They’ve been having some nightmares. If you need me-”

“It’ll be fine, but if we do, I’ll call. Promise.”

“Thanks, Brother.”

We shook hands and then I went downstairs. I made a beeline for the door, almost plowing over Pixie as she came into the building. My mind was already on the back of my bike. I couldn’t wait to ride. I also couldn’t wait to see the look on Jenny’s face. It was time to finish our conversation from the other night.

I’d had Dash find Jenny’s address. He may be a great hulking beast of a man, but he was a whizz with the computer shit. Not nearly to the level as Rat—one of the Austin Chapter’s members—but still damn good. He and Riptide were busy looking into The Silverbells and Caitlyn’s father. If they weren’t successful Lockout would probably call up the Texas guys and ask for help. He was hesitant to bring them in on anything. They’d gotten out of the one-percenter lifestyle and didn’t need to be caught doing anything illegal. Both Dash and Riptide had been commo guys—the communications techies for their special force squads. Tech was their forte. I was sure they’d find a lead.

It didn’t take long to get to Jenny’s place, or rather, her mom’s. I cut the engine on my bike and stared at the house. It looked nice, well kept. Swinging a leg over, I got off and headed up the walkway.

A dog barked from the next door neighbor’s yard as I knocked on the door. It was after five and still the sun blazed. It was September, so most of the monsoons were over, but it wouldn’t start cooling down until November. I was used to it, a desert rat through and through. I’d been born in Tucson and planned to stay here until I died.

The door opened and I watched as the smile slipped off Jenny’s face as she realized who was standing there. That was a punch to the nuts. I wanted to be the cause of her smile, not the wary look in her eyes.

“Hey there, Taz.”

“Priest. What are you doing here?”

I deserved it, I guess. And she was going to make me work for this, but in the end I’d win. I always did. And she was my reward.