A Monster's Beauty (In the Arms of Monsters #3) - Sam Crescent Page 0,23

I should marry you, Preacher, have you as my bitch, and yes, I set the table.”

Preacher ignored the jibe and made his way into the kitchen, grabbing one of his cool beers from the fridge.

“You do realize how messed up this all is and sounds, right?”

“What?”

“Dinner with Dog because he helped you out,” Bear said.

“I have to pay my debts off somehow and seeing as the club is already pissed at me, I figured offering to sell off the girls wouldn’t exactly work.”

“No, it wouldn’t,” Bear said. “The boys are all a little tense with Reaper being in town and his club not too far behind him. They’re all waiting for a war and of course, they’re nervous about what you did to Grave.”

Preacher finished mashing his potatoes and then draining his sprouts. It was a little early for a Christmas dinner, but with the last-minute notice of cooking, he settled on ease. The door went again. He left Bear with the sprouts as he went to answer the door. He was surprised to see Dog in a suit.

He couldn’t recall ever seeing the man in anything other than a wifebeater shirt and jeans. This was all new. Oddly strange for him to put in any kind of effort.

“You do know I’m cooking, right? I’m not some fancy chef.”

“Yeah, well, I’m entering a war zone and I’ve come armed. I didn’t know if you’d need some backup. Besides, it’s respectful to show up at another’s house looking all nice. It was one of the few things my parents taught me.” Dog opened his jacket to display all the knives he had ready if the moment needed it. “All you’ve got to do is give me the all-clear, and I’ll take out your problems right now. Even in front of your girl if that’s necessary.”

“I appreciate it. No bloodshed today.”

Preacher wasn’t about to complain about Dog being ready to start an all-out war. There were a couple of people in attendance he wanted to kill and if he blamed Dog, it wasn’t his fault, but temptation aside, it wasn’t going to happen today.

Just as he was about to close the door, another car pulled into the lot. It wasn’t one he recognized, but the moment Robin climbed out, he didn’t need to. She wore a black dress that stopped at the knee and molded to her curves. Anne, the woman she was currently staying with, was next to her.

The moment he realized she was staying with Anne, he intended to make sure his tech man and Billy ran a quick background check on the woman. Her only crime was marrying a man who was a complete and total asshole, and he couldn’t hold that against her. There were a lot of assholes in the world, and many of them hid behind a suit.

“I hope it’s okay that I invited Anne to come and have dinner with us.”

“No problem at all. It seems I have a full house today. Where’s Bethany?” he asked. He’d hoped the child would help him stay on the straight and narrow and not take Dog’s opportunity to kill Reaper, and possibly Bishop.

“Anne knows a good babysitter who’s taking care of Bethany. I didn’t know if you’d want her here.”

“I wouldn’t have minded, but it’s nice to see you. You’re looking amazing, as always.”

“You know how much I love flattery,” she said, smiling.

Preacher took her hands and pulled her in close, kissing her cheek.

Reaper cleared his throat from behind him. Just another irritation to add to the mix.

“Preacher, I don’t think I’ve ever introduced you to Anne. Anne, this is Preacher. He’s the club president of Twisted Monsters MC.”

“I know of you,” Anne said. “Pleasure. It was about time we met.”

“And this is Reaper. He’s Bethany’s father.” Robin hadn’t let go of his hand and Preacher wasn’t about to do so unless she wanted it. Not having her in his bed was sheer torture, especially now, knowing there was a chance she may never be in his bed again. He was already working to find all of Reaper’s dark secrets. With him staying close, it made hunting for all the information he needed a little easier. There had to be a reason Robin was taken, and he felt Reaper was the cause in some way. He had to hope he could win this fight, no matter how many dirty secrets he had to give up in the process.

“I know you,” Anne said. “You came to the library. That’s