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

Iwrapped my arm around Caitlyn’s shoulders, offering her silent comfort. We’d given her a day to unwind after Chet’s attack, but the guys had questions and now that she was speaking it was time for answers. I stayed close to make sure the guys didn’t revert to their military selves and inadvertently interrogate the poor girl.

“Just take it slowly, sweet girl,” I whispered.

“I’m okay,” she insisted. She took a deep breath and met Lockout’s eyes. “He killed Mama.”

Priest picked up her hand and held it. She was sitting between us on the couch and Lockout was seated on a coffee table in front of her. None of us wanted to push her too far, but there was a determined glint in her eyes. Sadness was there too, of course, but she wanted to help us.

“Ethan caught Mama trying to escape with me-”

“Ethan is the guy in charge?” Priest asked. He’d told me they’d heard his name the night they’d broken into Chet’s apartment and on Riptide’s surveillance recordings.

“Yeah.” Caitlyn and Sherry had only been there a short time, a couple of days at most. Kids lost track of time easily so we weren’t sure exactly, but we knew that by the time Sharon called the cops and they finally allowed her to file a missing persons report they’d been there for at least twenty-four hours.

“Da-” She bit her lip and gave Priest an apologetic look. As if almost calling the man who’d sired her Daddy was offensive to her new father. Priest swiped a soothing hand over her back. “Chet was there for a long time, he brought us there. Mama tried to fight him, but he made us stay. Once we were there he told us all the rules. Mama wouldn’t listen. Ethan said that she was tainted and beyond being saved. Both of us were. So he told Chet to get rid of us.” She whispered the last sentence.

Even without using the word ‘kill’ the little girl had picked up on Ethan’s meaning. I wanted to march out to that compound and strangle the man. I’d already killed one guy—and even though that weighed heavily on my heart—I’d do so again to get rid of the prick who had set Chet loose on his ex-wife and daughter. I thought about that for a second.

What kind of power does he have over these people that he says, “Kill your wife and daughter” and they just do it? No hesitation.

“Why did you and your mom go out to the village?” Lockout asked. He was being as gentle as he could with her. We all were. This had been a traumatic experience for her and we didn’t want to make it worse.

“He took us from home,” Caitlyn told us. “Made us go with him. He said if we didn’t he’d hurt me.” Her bottom lip wobbled and I leaned over and squeezed her against my side in a hug.

“You’re doing so good, Cait,” Priest said encouragingly. “We’re almost done. Do you remember anything from the village? Anyone other than Ethan who stood out?”

“There was a nice lady who helped us. She undid our ropes and showed us how to leave.”

My stomach sank and I looked back over at Priest. It had to be the woman who’d tried to help Abigail, the other little girl. Riptide had said they’d called her Sloane. At least we knew she hadn’t been killed for her part in helping Sherry and Caitlyn disappear. I just hoped she was okay. I knew the guys were coming up with a plan to rescue any of the people who weren’t out there willingly.

“Thank you, Caitlyn,” Lockout told her, giving her a smile.

She answered it with her own and Priest took her upstairs to hang out with her sisters.

“She’s a brave girl,” Lockout said, shaking his head. “I’ve seen full-grown men who haven’t dealt with situations like that with half as much grace.”

I nodded. “She deserves happiness.”

“She hit the jackpot with you and Priest.” He patted my knee then stood up and left.

“Have a good day at school!” I gave each of the girls a hug. We were dropping them off on their first day of school. Already the lady watching over the drop off line was scowling at us because we’d gotten out of the vehicle and had caused the line to come to a screeching halt.

It was their first day back. She could wait on us. Gabby wrapped her arms around me and gave me a fierce hug. Her attitude toward me had already been changing, but since the other night, she’d done a complete one-eighty. She knew now what lengths I was willing to go to for her dad, her sisters, and herself.

Her hug made my heart flip-flop in my chest and I had to swallow back happy tears. This was going to be the beginning for us as a family. It was everything I wanted.

“Bye!” she called happily as she and the others ran up the walk.

I turned and met the scowl of the school employee. “Get in your vehicle. No stopping,” she snarled at us.

“Who shit in your cereal?” I snapped back.

Priest was laughing as we got back into the SUV he’d borrowed from the club. “I think the expression is ‘who pissed in your Cheerios’,” he told me.

I shrugged. “She got the point.” I frowned as he pulled out onto the road, but in the opposite direction from the clubhouse. “Where are we going?”

“You’ll see.” We fell into a comfortable silence as we drove. He pulled into a parking lot and I gasped in pleasure when I saw we were at the Wildlife Museum.

I’d told him a long time ago—when I was still living in Texas—that this was one of my favorite spots in the city. “We’re going in?” It wasn’t actually a museum. It was a huge outdoor space that was like a zoo for the local wildlife that could be found in Arizona. I loved walking through and looking at all the animals who lived here.

He chuckled. “Yup. That’s why I brought you.”

“Don’t you have church?” I knew they were making the decision today whether to send Riptide in undercover. Most of the guys were uneasy with the idea of him being in there alone, but Priest had explained that there wasn’t much else they could do.

“That’s not until tonight. You’ve got me all day.” He wrapped his arm over my shoulders and I snuggled into his side.

We walked along and I enjoyed the calm early morning hours. The animals were active and playful and it was nice not having anything menacing hanging over our heads. I let go and enjoyed the time with him. Since I’d gotten back to Tucson things had been crazy and filled with grief and fear, but everything seemed to be clicking into place.

Soon the cult would be taken care of and we wouldn’t have to worry about them anymore. Even more importantly Caitlyn was safe. Chet wouldn’t ever bother her again. Our family would protect her.

Priest tugged me to a stop and I turned and my eyes widened as I found him down on one knee behind me. My lungs refused to cooperate and my breath stalled out inside of me.

“Jenny.” He hadn’t used my name in so long it felt weird to hear him say it. “There was a time that I thought I’d never get married again. That it wasn’t worth the pain that came along once it ended.” He smiled as he saw the hope on my face. “You’re worth it all. Not that I plan on letting you go anywhere,” he told me with a stern look. He dug into the back pocket of his jeans and pulled out a box.

Flicking it open, he looked up at me. “Will you marry me?”

My mouth was still hanging open and I couldn’t breathe. I slowly nodded up and down, trying to make my lungs work.

Priest smiled, his head nodding up and down in rhythm with mine. “Is that a yes?”

My eyes misted over and I managed to choke out, “Yes!” He got up and put the beautiful sapphire ring on my finger. I wasn’t a diamond kind of woman, never had been. The beautiful hues of sapphires had always called to me and the fact that he’d remembered that—remembered so much of what I’d told him in those early days—made my heart sing.

He wrapped me up in his arms and gave me a kiss that made my head spin. This gorgeous man and his amazing daughters were going to be mine—forever.

A laugh belted out of me when he tossed me over his shoulder and smacked me on the ass. “Let’s go see those otters of yours.”

I knew in that moment he was going to spend the rest of our lives making me the happiest woman in the world.