Chapter Twenty-One

Priest

Taking a deep breath, I prayed for patience, because if I had to listen to this kid drone on and on one second longer, I would not be responsible for what I did next.

How I got saddled with the kid for the day was still a mystery. One second everyone was laughing at Banks, and the next, I was loading Carnage into my truck. It didn't matter that I wanted to ride my bike today. Even though I swore to Skylar the little shit would be perfectly safe on the back of my bike, she insisted on her brother using his booster seat.

For a hot minute, I actually felt for the kid.

No seven-year-old wanted to be relegated to a car seat.

So, my truck it was.

And the motormouth talked the entire way down the mountain.

I had just pulled into Gunner's driveway when Cameron asked, "What are we doing here?"

"Checking on Phoebe."

"Why?"

"Because I said so."

"That ain't an answer."

Grumbling, I muttered, "It is today." I slammed on the brakes as the front door opened and out walked a man, followed by my smiling wife.

"Who's the douche?"

"Don't know," I growled.

"I don't like him."

"Me either."

"How you wanna handle this?

"What do you mean?" I murmured; my eyes glued to the fucker standing too damn close to my wife.

"Phoebe is ours. We don't share."

"No, we don't."

"Then what are we gonna do?"

Putting the truck back in drive, I rode the rest of the way down the drive, parking my truck behind the douche canoe's vehicle, boxing him in.

"Let's go have some fun, Cam."

"Sweet!"

Walking right up to my wife, I didn't bother with any niceties when I grabbed her around the waist, planting a devil-may-care kiss on her luscious lips. While I wasn't sure if she would up and slap my face, I was pleasantly surprised when I released her and saw her blush.

Turning to the fucker staring at me, I smiled. "Shaw Dalton. The husband."

"I know." The fucker shook his head and grinned, and that's when I realized I knew the fucker.

"Well, I'll be damned to hell and back. Jack Preston Quincy."

"In the flesh." My former friend smiled happily. "How have you been, Shaw?"

"Been great. What brings you to this neck of the woods?"

"A job."

"Oh really? What's that?"

"Going to be remodeling Pheebs' new business."

"Is that right?" I asked, looking at my wife, who looked away, saying nothing.

"Not one any better around these parts than Montclair Construction," Cameron piped up, arms crossed over his chest as he glared at the man horning in on my territory.

Jake looked at the kid, then back at me. "Your back-up?"

"No, better. I'd watch out. The kid has a wicked tongue."

Jake snickered, turning to Cameron. "Hey, kid, you like licorice?"

"Don't like that crap."

"Have you ever tried it?"

"No."

"Then how do you know you won't like it?"

"Never stuck a chainsaw up my ass, either. There are some things I know I just won't like."

"CAMERON!" Phoebe gasped as I laughed loudly, high-fiving the kid. "Jake, I am so sorry. Maybe we can pick this up later. When we don't have an audience."

"Sure thing, Pheebs." The fucker smiled, moving to kiss my wife's cheek as I stepped in front of him.

"She's mine, Jake." I growled. "I don't share."

Jake Quincy smirked, shaking his head. "I'll see you later, Pheebs. Until next time, Shaw, and it was nice meeting you, Cameron."

Standing there, with my arms crossed over my chest, Cameron standing right beside me. We never took our eyes off the fucker until his vehicle disappeared from sight.

"I can't believe you did that!" Phoebe shouted, storming into the house. "What the hell are you doing here, Shaw?"

Smiling, I followed my wife into Gunner's house, as Cameron shot past me, heading straight for the PlayStation.

"Wanted to see your beautiful face."

"Liar," she clipped, placing a coffee cup in front of me as she reached for the coffeepot. Pouring me a full cup, she placed the decanter on a small warming pad. "My mother called."

Taking a drink of the best damn coffee I'd ever tasted, I moaned.

God, it really was a good cup of coffee.

"You can't just show up unannounced, Shaw. We are getting divorced."

"No, we are not. You are punishing me for the way I've treated you for the last ten years. I'm willing to wait you out."

Groaning, she said, "Shaw. I'm not coming back. I am moving on with my life, and you should, too."

Looking at her, I snarked, "Moving on with him ?"

Narrowing her eyes, she whispered, "Don't even go there. You know damn well Jake and I are just friends."

"You tell him that?"

"I don't have to, and it's no longer any of your business who I talk to or see. If I want to date again, I have every right to."

"Think again, babe," I said, placing the cup back on the counter. Looking my wife dead in the eyes, I stated, "I wasn't lying to Jake. I don't share. Ever. You want to date, then I'll take you anywhere you want to go, but if I see you out with anyone, especially him, I'm warning you now. You won't like what I do."

"Don't threaten me, Shaw."

"Wasn't a threat, babe. You are mine. Always will be."

Seeing her face pale, I gathered her close. "Come on, Phoebe. You know you're going to forgive me. You said it yourself, we're soulmates."

Caressing her face, she leaned into my touch and whispered, "You don't believe in soulmates."

"No. But I believe in you. Please forgive me."

"I can't."

"Why not?"

"Because I'm not ready to."

Smiling, I tilted her head back and placed a soft, warm kiss on her lips. When I released her, she looked like all the other times I'd kissed her. Utterly and irrevocably in love with me.

Just what I needed to see.

"I can wait, baby. Take all the time you need."

"Shaw, kissing me fixes nothing."

"That's where you're wrong, babe. Kissing you makes everything better," I declared, releasing her, downing the rest of my coffee before shouting, "Let's go, Cam!"

"Aw, man," the kid groaned, shutting off the PlayStation.

After leaving my woman to ponder my words, Cameron and I headed for Pyro's latest construction site, which just happened to be Enigma's new house. Thank goodness the brother didn't want anything fancy, because the house was coming along quickly. Barring any problems, Enigma looked to get Sugar and the boys moved in by the end of summer.

Pulling into the construction site, Cameron barely waited long enough for me to stop my truck before jumping from the front seat and heading for the trailer where his sister was.

"What are you two doing here?" Pyro asked, walking over with Scribe and Frank.

"Thought you were going to see my sister?"

"We did," I snarked, looking at Frank. "Phoebe had a guest."

"Who?" The lovable teddy bear of the club frowned.

"Quincy."

"Captain Jake Quincy?"

"The very same," I growled.

While Jake and I were both in the ROTC and scheduled to join under the buddy system, my career path was derailed when the FBI showed up and stayed my commitment to the military. While I looked for a copy-cat killer, Jake served his country. It was only after everything happened and the military assigned me to King's unit that I learned Quincy was also in the special forces, having run into him on a mission or two. However, Frank had worked with the fucker a lot more than I had before going into King's unit too. I thought it odd, considering the fucker wanted nothing to do with Special Forces until I mentioned it once while running PT in school.

"What the fuck does he want with Phoebe?"

"He wants what is mine."

"Well, he can't have her!" Frank shouted. "She's ours."

"I agree," I said, adding, "But it also looks like my loving, devoted wife is thinking about hiring the fucker to remodel her new business."

"No," Frank gasped.

"Who is this douche?" Scribe asked, and I chuckled.

"Cam called him the same thing. Jake Preston Qunicy was my old ROTC college buddy. We did everything together until my last semester of school when I met Phoebe. After that, everything changed. I went from a frat boy partying nightly to being a married man about to be a father. Jake liked Phoebe. Was always sweet on her. I thought nothing of it until I realized he liked her a little too much for my taste. When I confronted the fucker about it, he backed off. The next thing I know we're graduating, Jake leaves for the military and shit gets deep with the FBI. I only just learned that it was Jake who picked Phoebe up from the hospital after that fucker mutilated her."

"Bet that stung," Pyro quipped.

"You have no idea."

"So, you think this Casanova is going to be a problem?" Pyro asked.

"Where Phoebe is concerned, yes. He always enjoyed playing with my toys."

"My sister isn't a fucking toy, Priest."

"You're right. She's my wife and staying that way, even if I have to bury the fucker where no one will find him. I could do it too. The FBI trained me well."

"No one is killing anyone," Pyro groaned, shaking his head when the trailer door slammed open and Cameron yelled,

"PYRO! SISSY JUST PISSED HERSELF!"