15. Preacher
15
PREACHER
“W ow.” Tabitha’s eyes slowly skirted over the living room and kitchen, and she sounded anything but impressed as she muttered, “It’s really nice.”
My place wasn’t extravagant like her apartment or mansion of a home she owned with her boys, but it was my home, and I was proud of it. The boys and I tore it down to the studs and built it back up again. It was on the roster for historic homes, so I kept the old bones—exposed brick, wide plank floors, and tall ceilings with the original beams.
The house had a story to tell, and I wasn’t going to take that away from it. I liked that it had history, but that didn’t mean Tabitha had to love it or even like it. It was just a house, after all.
I motioned my hand toward the two wine bottles on the counter and asked, “Red or white?”
She didn’t answer right away.
She just stood there with a lost look in her eyes. I was about to ask again when she finally answered, “Either is fine.”
Something seemed off, but I had no idea what was going on. She looked good—damn good. She was wearing a short, green dress that hugged her curves like it was made for her, and her hair was down around her shoulders. But it felt like she was a hundred miles away.
“You alright?” I asked, stepping a little closer. “You’re awfully quiet.”
“Yes, I’m okay.” She blinked and gave a small smile. “I’m sorry if I seem quiet. I just had one of those days, but your home is beautiful. You kept so much of the original character, and the kitchen looks like it should be in a magazine.”
“I don’t know about that, but I appreciate you saying so.”
I poured her a glass of wine, and she came over and sat down at the counter. I’d gone simple tonight—pasta with my special sauce and garlic bread. Not exactly fancy, but it smelled good, and I was hoping it’d ease whatever nerves she had. I gave the pasta another stir as I told her, “Hope you’re hungry. There’s enough here for an army.”
She nodded and gave me another half-smile, but it didn’t make it to her eyes. She crossed her arms loosely over her stomach and stared down at the floor. That was it. I set the spoon down and took a breath.
“Tabitha,” I said gently. “Something’s going on with you. Are you gonna tell me what it is, or do I have to start guessing?”
She hesitated, eyes falling to the floor, then back up to mine.
And just like that, the armor cracked.
“It’s Faith,” she said softly. “Doc came by to do his weekly checks, and he’s concerned about her. She’s not due for a few weeks, but something’s not right. Said there might be an issue in utero, and I just… I can’t shake this feeling.”
There it was.
The weight she’d been carrying since I’d first picked her up.
I didn’t say anything. I just turned off the stove and reached into the cabinet for some plastic food containers. When I started filling them with the food I’d made, Tabitha asked, “What are you doing?”
“Taking you home,” I said simply, sliding the bread into a paper bag. “You need to be with her.”
“But what about dinner?”
“We can eat it just as easy in your kitchen as mine.”
“Hudson. You don’t have to do that.”
“But I do,” I said, giving her a look. “You love that horse. You got every right to be with her if something feels off.”
She didn’t respond. She just sat there, looking at me with doe eyes, and if I didn’t know better, I’d say she was doing her damnedest not to cry. I didn’t say anything. I simply boxed everything up and put it into a cooler, and once I had everything together, I turned to her and said, “I’m ready when you are.”
“You’re something else, you know that?”
“So, I’ve been told.”
I hated that Tabitha wouldn’t get the chance to spend any real time at my place, but I could tell by the smile on her face that I’d made the right move in moving things to her place. I loaded everything into the SUV, and then we were on our way.
We didn’t say much on the drive over.
Didn’t need to. I knew what was on her mind. That horse had gotten under her skin, and she was riddled with worry—almost overly so. She had one hand curled tightly in her lap while the other rested on the door handle like she was bracing for something. She always seemed so strong and put together, but I was witnessing a crack in her facade.
I couldn’t help but wonder if this was the norm for her.
It would make sense, especially after what she’d been through.
She needed a sense of control, and without it, she struggled to keep it together. I might’ve been wrong. She might’ve just been worried about her horse, and that was all there was to it. Only time would tell.
By the time we pulled up to the stables, the sun had set, and it was starting to get dark. As soon as I killed the engine, Tabitha hopped out and made a beeline for the stables. I followed behind, and when we reached Faith’s stall, I was surprised to see that Harlan was in her stall, brushing her with slow, even strokes.
He was talking to her with a soft, easy drawl, and she was still on her feet. I figured it was a good sign, but her eyes looked tired. Tabitha grimaced as she asked, “How’s she doing?”
“Seems like her usual self.” Harlan kept brushing her as he said, “She ate like a champ and seems to be settling in for the night.”
“So, no pacing or head low or fever or sweating. Anything like that?”
“No, ma’am. She’s been good.”
“That’s great.” Tabitha exhaled with a mix of relief and ache. She stepped forward, resting her arms on the top rail as she smiled and said, “Thank you for staying with her.”
“Told ya I would.” Harlan gave her a sheepish little grin. “Truth is, I like hanging out with her. She’s a sweet one. Pearl could learn a thing or two from her.”
“Yes, she could.” Tabitha slipped her hand through the bars to stroke her neck. “Would you mind hanging out with her for a little longer? We haven’t had a chance to eat dinner yet.”
“Sure thing. You guys go ahead.” Harlan tipped his chin. “I got nowhere to be.”
“Thank you, Harlan. I owe ya.” Tabitha glanced up at me with a relieved smile. “You ready to eat a bite?”
“Absolutely.”
I went back out to the SUV and grabbed the cooler, then Tabitha and I headed up to her apartment. She set the table while I unpacked the food, reheating what I could in her oven and pouring two glasses of wine.
When we finally sat down, her shoulders looked a little lower.
The worry hadn’t left, but it had loosened its grip.
I watched her for a moment, then asked, “So, what’s the draw to the horses?”
Her brows furrowed like she was surprised by the question. She thought for a moment, then she smiled. Not the forced kind, but the real kind—the one that reached her eyes and made my chest feel tight.
“I wanted them since I was a little girl, and now, I have them.”
“Oh, come on. I know there’s more to it than that.”
“Yes, but…”
“I want to hear it. I want to know your story.”
“Okay, but only if you’ll share yours.”
“You have yourself a deal.”
“And no holding back?”
“No holding back.”
“Okay, fair enough.” She stared at me for a moment, then smiled and said, “So, I guess it all started with my father. He worked as a hand on a big ranch outside of the city, and he’d take me to work with him from time to time.”
A solemn look marked her face as she continued, “The man he worked for had a daughter. She was sixteen or seventeen, and she had this beautiful chestnut mare with long legs and a white blaze down her face. I’d sit on the fence and watch her ride for hours. She was really something. They both were.”
She paused, and her eyes drifted toward the window like she could still see that old ranch in her mind. “I spent years dreaming of having a horse just like hers. I even went so far as to ask Dimitri if he would buy a couple for the boys, but of course, he refused.”
“But when he died…”
“But when he died, I was able to buy the stables and several thoroughbreds, and I loved them. They were everything I’d always wanted, but there was something missing. It just didn’t feel right, and then, one day, I found myself sitting at the kill auction. I don’t know how I found out about the place, but when I saw those horses and the state they were in, I knew… They were the missing piece.”
We sat in silence for a beat, and then, I reached across the table and wrapped my hand around hers. “You’re not that little girl on the fence anymore. You’re the woman she hoped she’d become.”
Tabitha didn’t say anything. She just gave my hand a squeeze and said, “Thank you.”
I watched her more than I ate. The way her fingers traced idle patterns along the rim of her glass. The way her eyes drifted every so often toward the stables below. The way she toyed with her pasta and barely ate.
She was still worried.
Even with me here and knowing Faith wasn’t alone, she hadn’t let herself fully settle. I didn’t press her. I just made sure to listen when she talked and stay close when she didn’t.
When our plates were empty, I reached over and placed my hand on hers. “You ready to head back down?”
“If you don’t mind,” she answered in barely a whisper. “I’d really like to check on her before it gets too late.”
We made our way down together, and sure enough, Harlan was still in the stall, cross-legged in the straw, talking to the mare like she was a baby girl instead of a thousand-pound animal. She was calm—ears twitching, tail flicking, but she didn’t look distressed. That was a good sign.
“Hey, Harlan,” Tabitha said softly. “Thank you for staying.”
“Of course.” He stood up with a grunt, brushing hay from his jeans. “I’ll be in early, but if you need me….”
“We’ll be fine.” Tabitha gave him a grateful smile. “Go on home, get some rest. I’ll stay with her tonight.”
“You sure?”
“Positive. I’ll see you in the morning.”
“Sure thing.”
He gave me a nod on his way out, and I returned it. Once he was gone, I turned and started back up the steps. I hadn’t gotten far when Tabitha called out, “Where are you going?”
“To grab a couple of blankets.”
I could tell by her expression that she wasn’t following, so I added, “I know you want to stay with her, and if you’re staying, I’m staying. Simple as that.”
“You really don’t have to.”
“I want to.”
I continued up the steps and up to her apartment. It didn’t take long to grab a couple of blankets and an extra pillow. When I came back down, Tabitha was still in the stall, brushing Faith’s side with slow, even strokes, and for the first time tonight, she seemed calm and relaxed.
And she couldn’t have looked more beautiful.
Damn. There was no doubt about it. She was getting under my skin.
I laid the blankets out just outside the stall so we could keep an eye on Faith without disturbing her. It wasn’t the most comfortable setup, but it would do. After a few minutes, Tabitha came over and sat down next to me.
I don’t know how long we just sat there, listening to the rhythm of the barn and the slow breaths of the mare.
Then, quietly, her voice broke the silence.
“Will you tell me about Beckett?”
The question hit me like a damn freight train. I hadn’t talked about him in so long, not really. But something in her voice and the way she was looking at me made it feel like maybe I could.
“What do you want to know?”
“Everything. No holding back, remember?”
“Yeah, I remember.”
I didn’t want to, but I kept my word.
I told her about Jersey.
Told her how we met, how we burned bright and fast, and how she left the world just moments after she’d given me Beckett. And then, my story shifted to him.
I told her about how smart he was and how he was fierce like his mama and stubborn like me. And how he was always pushing the edges of things and never backed down. I told her he loved hard and that he got that from his momma, too.
It was tough talking about him like he was a memory.
He was more than that to me. He was still a part of me. I could still feel him with every breath, and it took all I had to keep myself from getting lost in the pain of losing him.
Telling her about what those assholes had done to Amy was tough.
My words were laced with guilt and hard to choke out.
I had a feeling it was just as hard to hear, especially after everything she’d been through.
“I wanted to fix it.” The memories started rushing in. The disappointed look in his eyes. The crack of his voice when he spoke. The drop of his shoulders when he realized my decision had been made. I swallowed hard, trying to force down the knot in my throat. “Wanted him to have his revenge. But he wasn’t patched in, and she wasn’t an ol’ lady. I had to think of the club. Think of all my men, not just my boy.”
Tabitha didn’t speak.
She just reached over and laid her hand over mine.
I told her about sending him to Washington and how I’d hoped it would help get his head straight. “I thought the time away would fix things. I thought he’d finally be able to let it go. But he couldn’t. He went after them on his own and got himself killed.”
“Oh, Hudson. I’m so sorry.”
“I should’ve done more.”
“You did what you thought was right. There’s no way you could’ve known that he’d take matters into his own hands.”
“That’s just it. I was his father. It was my job to know.”
“Did you make them pay?”
“The men who killed him?” When she nodded, I immediately answered, “Without question.”
“Then, your son’s soul is no longer restless.”
“Well, mine certainly is.”
“It just needs some time. You’ll see.”
We sat there in silence, and I could feel the weight of it pressing down on my shoulders. But her fingers never left mine. For a while, we just sat there in the stillness of the barn, letting the quiet settle between us, and I was good with that. I needed the moment to clear my head. I looked over at Faith, watching as she moved around in her stall. Her tail swished as she adjusted her weight, and the rhythm of her breathing was slow, steady.
It was a good sign.
Tabitha must’ve thought the same because she didn’t move. She just sat there, holding my hand, and after a while, she looked up at me with a soft smile. “Tell me something about the club… something good.”
“That narrows it down,” I scoffed.
“Come on.” She nudged me with her shoulder. “I know there has to be something, otherwise you wouldn’t love it the way you do.”
I leaned my head back against the wooden beam behind us. “You ever tried running a crew of grown-ass men who think they know everything?”
“I raised three boys. Does that count?”
She cocked that sexy eyebrow, and it was all I could do to keep myself from pulling her into my lap and kissing her, long and hard, but that wasn’t going to happen. I knew how incredible her body and her lips felt against mine—how she tasted—so if I got too close and physically touched or kissed her, I wouldn’t be able to stop.
I couldn’t let that happen. Not tonight.
Tonight was about her and making sure she was good, so I gave her a nod and answered, “Absolutely.”
“Surely they aren’t that bad.”
“Oh, but they are,” I scoffed. “I swear, being president of Satan’s Fury is less about keeping us in the black and out of harm’s way and more about keeping a pack of bullheaded troublemakers from burning the whole damn world down.”
Tabitha lifted a brow. “That bad?”
“Worse than a bunch of toddlers,” I said, shaking my head. “They’re all good men and sharp as hell, but they tend to be magnets for bad decisions. Hell, they could start a fight in an empty room, and God forbid they go a day without some kind of fuck up.”
Tabitha laughed, and damn if it wasn’t the sweetest sound.
“But they’re loyal,” I went on. “To the club. To me. To each other. And when shit goes sideways, they’re the first ones in the fire. I give ‘em hell for being reckless, but there isn’t a man among them I wouldn’t bleed for.”
“Sounds like you have yourself quite a family.”
I nodded. “I certainly do.”
We kept talking about the club and old stories, and she got tickled when I told her about the time Rusty got locked in a gas station bathroom for two hours because he was too damn drunk to figure out the push door. For the first time that night, she relaxed—really relaxed. She let herself laugh and let go of her worries.
And then my burner buzzed.
I pulled it from my pocket, and even before I looked down at the screen, my stomach had twisted into a knot. I knew it wouldn’t be good. It was late, and the boys never reached out unless something was up.
The message on the screen was short and to the point.
Goose:
Need you at the Vault . Now .
“Dammit,” I cursed under my breath as I pulled myself to my feet. “I’ve gotta go.”
Tabitha stood as she asked, “Is everything okay?”
“The boys need me at the Vault.”
Her lips pressed into a tight line. She didn’t ask why or demand I stay. She simply asked, “Do you want me to ride along?”
“Probably best that you don’t.” I glanced over at Faith as I said, “I don’t wanna leave you here alone.”
“I’m not alone,” she answered with a smile. “I’ve got her, and she’s got me. Go. Handle your business.”
I hesitated, torn between her and whatever bullshit was waiting for me back in town. But she wasn’t shoving me away. She trustedme to go.
I reached over and cupped her face. Just for a second. Just long enough to feel the warmth of her skin against my palm. “I’ll call you tomorrow.”
She nodded.
Without warning, I dropped my hands to her waist and pulled her close, then bent down and captured her mouth in a kiss.
She didn’t resist.
She didn’t pull back or ask me to stop.
Instead, her soft, full lips opened with a moan, giving me deeper access. Her hand roamed across my chest, then slowly continued up to the nape of my neck as her fingers tangled in my hair. Having Tabitha so close was fucking with my head, and I was finding it difficult to keep my cock in check.
I slipped my fingers through her long, dark hair and gave it a firm tug, forcing her head back. She gasped as I delved deeper into her mouth, kissing her with all the need pulsing through my veins. She inched even closer, shifting her hips against me, and I knew I had to stop before we got carried away.
I had to get to the Vault.
I eased back, breaking free from our embrace, and as she looked up at me with her lust-filled eyes and flushed cheeks, I said, “Damn. You don’t make it easy to go.”
“Isn’t that the point?”
“If it is, you certainly made it.” I gave her a wink, then turned and started for the truck. “You’re one of a kind, Tabitha Volkov. One of a kind.”
I left there without any idea what was going on at the Vault, but I didn’t care. For the first time in a very long time, the pit in my stomach didn’t feel quite so deep, and I could face just about anything.