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“Not much, really. He mainly talks about you guys and his brothers.”
“It’s ugly, Quinn.”
I already knew his past was haunting him, but the coldness in Steady’s voice tells me it’s much worse than I thought. As much as I want to know, it needs to be Priest who tells me.
“He’ll tell me when he’s ready,” I say.
Steady nods as he hands his son another block to add to his pile. “Just prepare yourself. When I found out how they mistreated Camille, I wanted to end their miserable lives.”
My eyes drift to brother and sister goofing around in the kitchen, both smiling and joking. “It’s good they have each other.”
“No thanks to those assholes who nearly tore them apart forever.” He sighs.
Camille interrupts our chat. “What are you two talking about?” She stands over her hubby, arms crossed, eyeing him suspiciously, but with humor.
“We’re admiring the architectural design of Kyrian’s tower,” I say. Camille smiles.
Priest calls us to the table. He holds out my chair and fills my plate to the brink. “I can’t eat all this.”
“Eat what you can, and I’ll finish the rest,” he says with a shrug.
I put a bigger dent in the food than I thought I would, but I’m nowhere near finished. True to his word, Priest switches plates, and nothing goes to waste. During the meal Camille and I have a great chat. She worked her way through school to become a nurse and has been working with Saint for the last few years.
I tell her all about my work and the interesting people I get to meet and the diverse companies and the special projects I take on.
“My latest is for a big corporation that’s starting an in-house day care for their staff. I get to design the layout, work with the contractors, and organize the launch of the place. This company is all about caring for their people and making it an organization they want to work for. Finding good people is hard, but keeping them is harder. Especially when the cost of day care has skyrocketed and families are having a tough go of it financially,” I explain.
“Right on, sister!” Camille adds, “I know plenty of women who are working and barely covering costs, and that’s without kids in the mix. Kudos to that organization for doing something about it.” She turns to Steady. “Maybe we should consider something like that for the club.”
Steady lifts his gaze to the ceiling and lets out a heavy sigh. “Babe, can the club have a few weeks off before we get into anything new? We just finished a fundraiser for the youth center, and before that, we did the carnival to raise money for the school.”
Let it be known that the Pride men are big on community.
“With you working, who takes care of Kyrian?” I ask.
“We try to sync our schedules so that either Steady or I are with Kyrian, but when we need a hand, Priest or one of the club’s old ladies will step in,” Camille tells me.
“Old ladies?” I’ve heard the term, but it’s crazy to imagine Ava as an “old lady,” or Camille either, for that matter.
“It’s a title of honor, and I wear it proudly.” Camille smiles, leaning into her husband. “Words are just words, but what they mean is so much more.” I rest my elbow on the table, cheek in hand to take it all in. “It means wife, but more. When an MC member takes an old lady, it’s about trust, building a life together, understanding the Pride and their needs, and devotion to the club. It’s a brotherhoodanda sisterhood. Any one of those men would jump in to protect my son at any cost. I go to sleep at night knowing that if Steady is out running down a criminal, to help out his brothers, he’s not alone. He’s got people with him, and he’ll come home safely to me and our boy. It’s a real family.”
“It sounds beautiful,” I reply.
Camille says, “That doesn’t mean we don’t have family outside the club. Steady’s mom and dad are fabulous, and his brothers are the bomb. The Pride life isn’t for them. They’ve found a different way, but they love us as we do them. It doesn’t have to be a choice. It can be everything.”
“What about your family?” Steady asks.
“Mom works in a local shop and sells artisan products from local vendors, and Dad does small renovations. My sister is an artist, primarily painting, but she also does wedding photography to earn a living. Ron, her husband, works in advertising. Pretty soon I’m going to be an aunt for the first time. Everyone’s excited about that.” I tilt my head to one side. “Nothing über dramatic. We’re a happy family. I needed to spread my wings, and here I am.”
“Bethany’s your best friend, I hear,” Camille says.
“Yeah. Well, we met shortly after I settled here, and she was contracted with one of my clients. We hit it off immediately, and that was that. I watched the Frankie and Bethany love story unfold. The good, the bad, and the ugly. I’m just relieved they made it through the rough times. Frankie’s a great guy. He got lost for a minute, but he makes Bethany happy,” I say.
“Talented guy,” Steady adds. “He’s lucky to have Demon represent them.”
“Your Demon, my Lucien.” I giggle. “My sister and I used to dance in our bedroom to his music. My sister had posters of him up on the wall.”
Priest asks, “Not you?”
