“What’s this about, brother?”
“Kiersten.”
“Kiersten as in Billy’s daughter, Kiersten?”
“Yes, sir, that’s exactly who I’m talking about.”
“I’m not going to like this, am I?”
“Probably not, but it’s something you need to hear.”
I sat back and told him about the night at the bar. I made it clear that neither of us knew about our unlikely connection until we met again at Langford Manor. Viper’s brows furrowed as he asked, “You’re sure she had no idea who you were?”
“I’m positive. It was just a crazy coincidence.”
“You can say that again.” Viper ran his hand over his goatee. “Well, it is what it is. Don’t see why this should cause any issues with our partnership with Kiersten. You two are both grown adults, and things happen. It’s over now, so we—”
“That’s just it, Prez. I’m not so sure it’s over.”
“Come again.”
“I like her, Prez. I like her a lot.” It felt strange to say it out loud. I’d never really done the whole relationship thing. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to. It just wasn’t me. I never had the desire to truly pursue a woman—at least not after we’d hooked up. We’d both get what we were after and move on, but for reasons I couldn’t explain, I hadn’t been able to move on from Kiersten. I had no idea how to explain that to Viper, so I simply said, “I’m not sure I want it to be over with her.”
“Oh hell, Country,” Viper groaned. “You sure it’s not just your dick talking?”
“Don’t get me wrong, Prez, he’s got plenty to say when it comes to her, but it’s more than that. There’s something about her…”
“You know, it would be nice if just one of y’all... just one, would find a girl without some kind of fucked-up strings attached. I mean, damn, we’ve had it all—a father in the cartel, issues with dirty cops, a crazy ex-husband, a brother who caused the club problems, and even had one on the run. Now, we’ve got you and Kiersten.”
“Well, you did end up letting Danny prospect, and he’s a Sinner now, so I’m not so sure that one should even count.”
“This is not the time, Country.”
“I know. And I get that Kiersten isn’t exactly an easy choice, I really do, but that doesn’t change anything. It certainly doesn’t change how I feel, but at the same time, you gotta know I’d never do anything to cause problems for the club.”
“Yeah, I’ve heard that before.” Viper’s tone changed. “You know, it’s not just the club you gotta be worried about here. If this thing goes south with you and Kiersten, you might just find Billy on your ass, and God help you if that happens.”
I’d been so concerned about Viper and the club, I hadn’t even considered Billy. We all knew the kind of shit he could do, even more so after all he’d done to help us with Parker. When the mafia was after her, he’d managed to make it look like she’d committed suicide and got them off her back, and no one was ever the wiser. I couldn't deny that just thinking about it was a little unsettling. Clearly amused by my state, Viper chuckled as he said, “Guess you hadn’t thought about ol’ Billy, huh?”
“No, can’t say that I have.”
“This girl worth it?”
“Yes, sir. I believe she is, but I won’t know if I don’t see this thing through.”
“Well, do whatever it is you gotta do. Just make sure it’s not something stupid that’ll cause any issues with this upcoming partnership.”
“I’ll do my best.” I stood up and added, “Thanks, Prez. I’ll see ya at church.”
I left Viper’s office and went to the bar to join the others. I didn’t mention my conversation with Viper. I just sat back and listened to Locke and Lynch as they went on and on about some brawl that had broken out at Stilettos the night before. Locke motioned his hand towards our brother as he told Shotgun, “Before we had a chance to do anything, Lynch just plowed right through them. Sent ’em flying one by one. You should’ve seen it.”
“Just did what needed to be done.” Lynch took a pull from his beer. “Glad we got those assholes out of there before they made a mess of the place.”
“Yeah, no doubt about that.” Clearly ready to change the subject, Lynch turned to me and asked, “Anyone heard anything from Jagger lately?”
Jagger was one of our brothers who’d found himself in a tight spot with his sister. She’d run into some trouble with her piece-of-shit boyfriend and called Jagger to come help. When he showed up at her place, Jagger discovered that the boyfriend had done a real number on her. He started laying into the asshole, and after a hard blow, the guy fell back and hit his head on the coffee table, killing him instantly. Jagger was put away for involuntary manslaughter, and there wasn’t a damn thing we could do to stop it. It was hard on all of us to see our brother behind bars, but Menace took it especially hard.