Camden (The Henchmen MC 18)

Peyton's eyes slid to mine, lips pursing a bit. "I am going to put my money on girl-next-door type. Sweet girls always go all gooey for guys like you."

"She's actually literally the girl-next-door," Renny supplied.

"And they call you the profiler," she said, rolling her eyes. "Well, where is she?" she asked, making me stiffen.

It wasn't that I had forgotten about her. It was impossible for that to happen. If anything, I kind of didn't go immediately get her because I was worried she would feel like she was on display, that the guys were all sizing her up, that it might be uncomfortable being the only woman around. But since the girls had all started showing up, I figured it was time to go get her.

I jerked my head to the hall, then moved off in that direction, tapping on the door before going in, finding her redressed, her hair brushed, her body language nervous as she sat off the edge of the bed.

"R-r-ready?" I asked, watching as she hopped up off the bed like it bit her in the ass. I couldn't help but wonder if she was genuinely anxious to get out there, or if she wanted to appear that way for me. Either way, I found her willingness to meet my people sweet.

"Yep. I was wondering if things were over. I was pretty sure I heard female voices finally."

"L-L-Lo a-and P-P-P-Peyton."

"I'm excited about meeting Peyton," she admitted.

I wasn't surprised. Aside from West's stories, Peyton's were the ones she seemed most invested in. Which wasn't unusual since Peyton was a fucking trip. Every other day, something mildly - or epically - incredible was going on in her life. She wasn't someone known for having quiet moments. Her life was over-the-top and colorful.

It was such a contrast to Annie's very quiet, lay-low life that I was actually a little intrigued to see the two together.

After so many years completely on her own, I wanted to see her finding people she could have fun with, could build friendships with, could connect deeply with.

There was no group better for that than the girls club. That was a group of incredibly diverse women from all walks of life with all vastly different personalities. Yet they all managed to form tight bonds. Both with the first ladies and then the two-point-oh group.

Before long, Annie was pulled away from me, disappearing into a crowd of women.

As for me, I stood back, leaned against the bar, kept an eye out. I wanted her to have her freedom to build her own relationships without me hovering, but I wanted to keep an eye her, too. Just in case she seemed uncomfortable, overwhelmed.

I remembered those first few get-togethers at the compound when I first joined up. I was used to Liv and Astrid, but that was as social as I got. Having all the voices, all the faces, all the people around, it was a bit overwhelming at times.

Annie had lived an even more secluded existence than I had. I just wanted to make sure she was comfortable.

"So, what do you think is going on?" Cyrus asked, moving in at my side, his gaze on Reese as she introduced herself to Annie. "I missed everything earlier. But Renny seems to think that Reign, Cash, Wolf, and Repo are considering... delegating the workload." To my drawn-together brows, he added, "You know... opening up a new chapter. No one here is getting any younger. There's more work than we can handle as-is. The kids will be aging up, but they got a while to go still. And longer still until they are ready to really take over. If you think about it, it makes sense."

"Yeah," Virgin agreed, joining us. "It's actually surprising they haven't branched out before. Most clubs do when they get to a certain size like this. I know he mentioned once his old man's dream was for this club to take over, to become as big as some of the older clubs. Reign probably considered it back before shit hit the fan. Then he was busy rebuilding. Now seems like a good time. If he is going to do it."

"So, he wouldn't just try to convince one of us to open something up somewhere else?" Cyrus asked since out of the three of us, Virgin was the one who knew most about clubs, having literally grown up in them.

"Nah. You usually go with locals. People with connections and stability there."

"He owns a junkyard, I heard."

"He owns a chop shop," Virgin corrected, smiling. "I mean, sure, he has the junkyard and shit, but he makes his money chopping up cars for parts. Lot of rich assholes down in those parts, driving around fancy-ass cars. Huck's got connections down there. I'm sure Reign saw this as fate or some shit. He just so happens to show up here, has the right connections, in a good area."