Page 20 of Priest

“That baby is the only reason you’re still useful,” he says. “Don’t mistake that for me caring. You and that brat have one job. You get me inside. His bed, his head, his club. I don’t give a damn which door you open, but you better open one.”

“Don’t call the baby that,” she whispers.

“What?”

The word cracks like a belt.

Her eyes burn. “Nothing.”

“That’s what I thought.” His voice drops, ugly and flat. “You stop being useful, both of you become dead weight. Same as every other woman in this world.”

Sadie swallows hard enough it hurts.

“I can still do it.”

“Then do it.”

“I need time.”

“You’ve had time.”

“That bitch made it harder,” she says, hating even the thought of Blue. “He’s obsessed with finding her. He’s ignoring what’s right in front of him.”

“Then make him see you.”

“I’m trying.”

“Try better.” Joker pauses. “And don’t forget who you belong to.”

Her hand clamps tighter over her stomach.

“Don’t forget who put that baby in you.”

The line goes dead.

Sadie stares at the phone long after the screen goes dark, her heart pounding hard enough she can feel it in her teeth. Her other hand presses to her stomach now, not gently—protectively, like she’s bracing for impact.

He means it.

That’s the worst part.

Joker doesn’t posture. He doesn’t bluff. He does what he says he’ll do because he likes watching people realize they never mattered.

She leans back against the headboard and closes her eyes.

The memory comes anyway.

Priest at seventeen, leaning against his truck outside a bonfire, the firelight catching in his hair. He didn’t smile fast even back then. He always watched first. Always measured. When he finally looked at her, it felt like being seen down to your soul.

She’d loved that.

Loved the way he made the world feel quieter. Cleaner. Like it could be built right if you just refused the wrong parts of it.

She’d thought love was power.

Then Ace got patched. Joker’s VP. His favorite.

Not just patched — promoted. Standing taller than his brother had the right to be, wearing the same eyes but none of the restraint. Where Priest had learned to hold back, Ace had learned to take. Where Priest questioned, Ace never did.