Chapter 9
Chapter Nine
The Ex Factor
A ngelica felt like a wart that would get burned off and then grow back at the worst possible time. Then again, Priest figured he deserved her and all her insane antics.
Leaving him solo for a little bit during a pandemic when life felt a little weird and the club had too much goddamn uncertainty about itself, it only seemed somewhat natural for a guy like Priest to take a solo ride out to Vegas to break some rules, say fuck you to society, and then end up marrying someone like Angelica.
She stood in the clubhouse wearing three inch heels, a long slit at the left leg of her skirt, and a top that had to have been two sizes too small, done completely on purpose to force her already nice looking tits to perk up and spill over. Her hair was twisted up on the top of her head, complete with some deep auburn streaks that were maybe natural, or maybe they were paid for.
Priest didn’t give two fucks.
As far as the sexy nurse needing to leave, that would have happened with or without Angelica’s presence. Eden’s time had come and gone. Priest kept to his word in the sense of being as gentleman-like as an outlaw like him could possibly be. Now he knew what Eden wanted. She was dealing with a crazy ex.
Try dealing with a crazy wife who refuses to become your ex.
“I’m still alive,” Priest said. “Not going anywhere. Sorry you didn’t get your insurance payout. Always about money.”
“Where did we meet, Priest?”
Angelica had an evil smile. Priest curled his lip.
“Let me take a wild guess,” Angelica said, “you somehow convinced that nurse to show up so you could properly thank her for helping you when you were in the hospital. She didn’t look like she had been fucked. The poor thing looked like she hadn’t had a dick in months.”
Priest caught himself making fists. He didn’t give a damn what his wife said, but who she said it about…
Thinking about Eden. Her body. Her curves. The taste of her body. The succulent sweetness of her cunt. All of which was nothing more than fantasy. Priest wondered if the last man she fucked was her ex who now stalked her and attacked her. Was her cunt that tasty that it drove a man insane?
Very quickly Eden felt like a drug Priest wasn’t allowed to have. And if you told Priest he wasn’t allowed to have something, it only made him want it a billion times more.
“You really didn’t fuck her,” Angelica said. “What were you doing with her? Is there something wrong with you, Priest? You know, as your wife, I have rights. I’m allowed to know about—”
“What the fuck do you want from me?” Priest asked. “You’re never going to win this battle, Angelica. I’ll never love you. I’ll never be with you.”
Angelica laughed. “I said what I wanted a long time ago. I want to be protected. I want outlaws all around me. If I feel someone looks at me the wrong way, I want your guys to beat that person into a coma.” Angelica giggled. “No pun intended there.”
“You’re not even wearing my ink,” Priest said. “Get the fuck out of here.”
The clubhouse began to wake up to the sound of Priest’s angry voice that was now booming louder by the second.
“You think the police give a fuck about us? About this place? You think you can threaten us?”
Priest lunged forward and wrapped a massive right hand around Angelica’s little throat. He drove her back against a wall with force. Her face turned bright red and then shifted into an ugly purple color.
“P…Pr…” Angelica gagged.
She forced a smile. She clawed at Priest’s wrist.
“You’re lucky I don’t fucking kill you right now,” Priest growled into his wife’s face, purposely letting spit jump from his mouth to her face.
Behind him the clubhouse door opened and Cyrus stormed in, Linc right behind him.
“Get that cunt the fuck out of here,” Cyrus yelled, referring to Angelica. “All fucking deecees wake the fuck up, get dressed and get to work!”
Linc paused at Priest. “We have visitors on the way. Two minutes.”
“Who?” Priest asked.
Angelica continued to scratch and claw at Priest’s hand, wrist, and forearm as the supply of air to her body had officially been cut off due to Priest’s strength and anger.
“ Dick ,” Linc said.
“Fuck,” Priest growled.
He released his hold on his wife’s throat. She fell forward, coughing and gagging, landing against Priest’s body. He quickly shoved her back against the wall and then made a quick move for the clubhouse door, opening it.
“Get the fuck out right now,” Priest said. “I’ll be in touch with you at some point. You don’t belong here. If Cyrus gives the order, we will kill you.”
“You’re just a pet,” Angelica said, touching her throat. “I should divorce you and let your President fuck me. And marry me. I’d let him take my ass even. He has power. You don’t.”
Priest took a step toward his wife and she quickly hurried out of the clubhouse.
Priest stood outside, arms folded, blinking faster than he’d like to. Pain appeared at the back of his head once more, radiating out and around his skull. Like a glove. Tightening with each passing second. A few white spots appeared at his right peripheral vision. It seemed a little ironic that none of this happened when Eden was around. Priest told himself it must have been her advanced nursing skill.
But how?
Priest growled under his breath. He felt a little relief when his wife sped out of the compound lot in her probably rented luxury convertible car.
Not even five seconds went by before a large police SUV appeared.
“Fuck,” Priest said out loud.
Chief Dick Rundle was here.
Priest had a funny idea that the law enforcement figure wasn’t here to shake his hand and congratulate him on beating death.
“This piece of shit is not coming into the clubhouse,” Cyrus growled as he pushed by Linc and Priest.
Priest reached out and grabbed Cyrus’s shoulder. “I’m here now, Prez . This is my job. Remember?”
Cyrus nodded. “I can guess why he’s here. You haven’t been caught up to speed all that much yet, Priest. Fitz went on the attack and killed a detective. And some Russian guy was in the mix of it all too. Did you notice we’re missing a prospect?”
“Who?” Priest asked.
“Linc, tell him,” Cyrus said.
Cyrus walked to meet Chief Dick while Priest turned his attention to Linc.
“Bram is gone,” Linc said. “Got his head cut off. Tried to be a hero and got caught by the Russian mafia. It’s been messy around here, Priest.”
“Fuck,” Priest growled.
He thought about Eden again. All that time wasted messing around with her. When all this serious stuff was going on. Not to mention the fucking rat curled up in one of the garages, awaiting his time with Dr. Smile. Now Priest felt that raw anger in him once again.
He walked up to Cyrus and stood next to his President and folded his arms, staring daggers at Chief Dick. Inching closer to him. Ready to purposely walk right into the Chief of Police of Cielo. Daring that fucker to throw a set of cuffs onto his wrists.
“I see you’re back on your feet again,” Chief Dick said to Priest. “That’s a good thing. Was worried about you.”
“Fuck your worries,” Priest growled. “What are you doing here? Unannounced?”
“I made a call first. Step the fuck back, big boy. I’m not in the mood.”
“Neither am I,” Priest said.
“Tensions are high, Dick ,” Cyrus said.
“Tell me about it. I’ve got an investigation right up my ass and it’s not enjoyable.”
“Not like when your doctor checks your prostate, huh?” Priest asked. “I bet you shoot loads all over the floor when that happens.”
“What do you want from us?” Cyrus asked. “You think we’re not in this too?”
“I’m doing you guys a favor right now by keeping the investigation away from here,” Chief Dick said. “A member of your club killed a detective.”
“A rat is not a member,” Priest said.
“You think they give a shit about that? They don’t. I’m pushing back as much as I can. As hard as I can. I’m not stupid. I know he’s here.”
“Who?” Cyrus asked. “Fitz? You think we’d let that asshole back here?”
Chief Dick gritted his teeth and shook his head. “I know how it goes, Cyrus. You don’t have to play that game with me. I’m not here to break your balls. Or step on your ways. I respect your process for what needs to be done.”
“Then why are you here?” Priest asked.
“To tell you that they’re going to show up here soon,” Chief Dick said. “I’ve explained to them as much as I can that Fitz turned on the club. That the detective flipped him, worked him over, and then Fitz attacked a member, putting him into a coma. Then he went and killed the detective.”
“Thanks for being on our side, Chief ,” Priest said.
“It’s not a fucking joke. It’s not a fucking game. I need a body. I need proof. Soon.”
“We’ve got plenty of bodies,” Cyrus said.
“You know a body won’t do the trick,” Priest said.
“That’s why I said proof. I need proof. They need proof. They need to be satisfied and climb out of my fucking ass and get out of this town.”
Priest had plenty of horrible comments to make about objects shoved up the chief’s ass, but he kept those to himself as an idea came to him.
“You’ll hear from us soon,” Priest said. “It’ll all be taken care of.”
Chief Dick lifted an eyebrow at Priest and then looked at Cyrus.
“Need me to translate that for you?” Cyrus asked.
“You know, I’m really trying to be on your side here,” Chief Dick said.
Priest stepped even closer to the chief, forcing him to take a step back.
“Not the time to preach your feelings for us,” Priest said. “Get back in your cruiser and leave. You’ll hear from Cyrus soon.”
Chief Dick stepped back a few more steps and then turned. Together, Priest and Cyrus stood as a united front, shoulder to shoulder, looking as pissed off as possible. Which wasn’t hard to do. Both outlaws were pissed off.
As soon as Chief Dick was out of sight, Cyrus turned and grabbed for Priest.
“What the fuck was that about, Priest?”
“I have a plan, Prez . I can make this work. For everyone.”
“Your plans sometimes scare me.”
“All I need are some pliers,” Priest said. “And a body we can burn up a little. Some human remains. Ashes. Nothing with DNA on it.”
“What is your twisted mind working on now?” Linc asked as he joined the conversation.
“Simple,” Priest said. “I’ll pull his fucking rat teeth out. Then we set something up far from here. Make it look like he was attacked and burned. Or attacked and eaten by a fucking bear or something. I don’t know. Let Chief Dick get an anonymous tip or something. Someone hiking finds the teeth. There’s your proof. They can compare records and that’s that. They have what’s left of the fucking rat. While we keep the body, still alive.”
“Pull his teeth out,” Linc whispered.
“What a sick fucking thing to do,” Cyrus said. He grabbed Priest’s left shoulder and squeezed really hard. “It’s good to have you back, Priest.”
Priest gave a nod.
Linc grinned. “I’ll go find the dirtiest, most rust covered pliers I possibly can.”