Billie blinked as if she couldn’t believe he’d agreed, but then she put down her sketch pad and smiled. She ran her hands through her hair and then smoothed them over her jeans. “Should I get changed?”

“Nope.” He shook his head. “You’re perfect the way you are.”

Billie crossed the room to the fridge, took out a bone for Baxter and then tossed it down to where he was sleeping on the floor. Even before his eyes opened the dog was sniffing at the treat, his muzzle moving before his body. Travis and Billie crept out of the house so as not to alert Baxter to their departure.

“He’s besotted with you, you know that?” Billie said as Travis pulled the door shut behind them.

“What can I say?” He shrugged. “Do you blame him?”

Billie shook her head. “You’re so damn arrogant.” But the way she said it sounded like a compliment. “He’ll miss you when you’re gone.”

It suddenly struck Travis what tonight’s discovery meant. Unless this Blade thing turned out to be a dead end, he’d soon be free. Free to leave town, to leave the Deacons and the French Quarter behind once and for all. That was what he wanted. Wasn’t it? He’d been harping on about leaving since the moment he returned. His life was no longer in dirty, crazy New Orleans. It was in Tallahassee, where he had a cool apartment, where he wore suits more than he did leather and where he was respected, not because people were scared of him but because of his expertise and knowledge.

“I’ll miss him, too,” he said. But not half as much as his drop-dead sexy, feisty little owner. Travis got a funny tightening, painful feeling in his chest and reached out to take Billie’s hand as they walked through the dimly lit courtyard, passing his bike, the piano and all the artwork he’d at first turned up his nose at but that now reminded him of Billie. As they closed the gate behind them, they hardly heard its creak over the din coming from The Priory right next door.

Travis nodded at the bouncers out front and pulled Billie close to his side as they gave her the once-over. Neither of them said a word, but he could read their minds—they wondered what the fuck someone as lovely as her was doing with the likes of him.

Don’t worry—she won’t be with me long. They were on borrowed time now, and he intended to make the most of every last second with her.

Inside, they walked toward the bar, Travis surveying the scene as they strode through the throng of people—most of them already well on the way to being wrecked. He recognized a few folks, but there were plenty he didn’t. Plenty of men obviously out on the prowl for a good time. He’d been planning to deposit Billie with Sophie at the bar and then go talk business with Ajax and Blue, but he found he couldn’t leave her on her own. She was too damn gorgeous and there were too many men here who would try to move in on her the moment he was out of sight. He didn’t like that thought one bit.

Tightening his hold on her hand, he approached Sophie. She looked at Billie and then raised her eyebrows at him, but he ignored her obvious curiosity. “Where’s Ajax?”

“Out back. Working on Blue’s bike.”

Without another word, Travis led Sophie around the bar and out through the door that had a PRIVATE sign hanging on it. In the shadows he saw two easily recognizable figures tinkering over Blue’s Harley. Both men looked up as the door clunked shut behind Travis and Billie.

“Evening,” Travis said with a nod of his head.

“Hi.” Billie smiled beside him.

For a moment Blue and Ajax just stared at them. “Is this a social call?” Ajax finally asked, raising his eyebrows at Billie in much the same manner as Sophie had earlier.

“Not exactly. I’ve found something.”

Ajax and Blue straightened and gave him their full attention. “About?” Ajax asked.

“Priest, of course.”

Ajax’s expression darkened and he gestured to Billie. “What’s she doing here? This is club business.”

Of course it was. Why the hell had he brought her here? He wasn’t thinking straight. Again. But Ajax wouldn’t take that excuse.

“Billie’s my…” He was about to say girlfriend, but Ajax and Blue wouldn’t be able to relate to that. “She’s my property.”

Billie made a choking sound beside him and he squeezed her hand hard, telling her to shut it. He wouldn’t let Ajax or Blue lay a finger on her and they wouldn’t if they believed she was his old lady.

“She knows the score with Priest, the Ministry, with everything. I trust her,” he told them, and surprised himself when he realized he meant it. After the way his mom had betrayed him and Priest had banished him, he didn’t think he had it in him ever to trust another person, but how else could he explain why he’d opened his soul to Billie? Why he’d told her things about himself he’d never shared with anyone outside the club and why he’d confessed his reason for being back in the Quarter?

“What the fuck does that mean?” Blue asked, clearly unable to fathom what he was hearing.

Travis inhaled a quick breath, thinking on his feet. “It means I’m back. You want to revive the Deacons? So long as you meant it about going legitimate, then I’m in. I’m moving back to the Quarter and I’m moving in with Billie. The gallery stays, so we’ll have to find another location for the clubhouse.” He hadn’t realized it himself until he’d said it aloud, but this was exactly what he wanted.

Ajax opened his mouth and Travis expected him to object. Expected him to tell him that the clubhouse had always been next door to The Priory and that’s where it would fucking well stay, but it was one surprise after another today. “You sure about all that?” he asked instead.

“Yes.” He nodded and yanked Billie against him, holding her close. He’d never been more certain about anything in his life. This felt right. She felt right. Being back in New Orleans, in The Priory with his brothers ready to reclaim Bourbon Street, felt right. He couldn’t get enough of Billie and the thought of losing her made him feel as if he were about to go into cardiac arrest. Never before had a woman made him ache with need like she did, made him want to spend time with her when they weren’t even fucking. He knew he’d protect her with his own life. He hadn’t meant to fall in love, didn’t think he had it in him, but what else did any of this mean?

“In that case…” Ajax stepped forward and pulled Travis and Billie into a hug. He slapped Travis on the back. “Congrat-u-fucking-lations. And welcome to the family, Billie.”

“Yeah, man, well done. Good to have you back, brother.” Blue’s tone was gruff, but the expression in his face told Travis he was stoked. “Guess we’d better get you a Property of Cash badge, then,” he said to Billie.

“Um…yeah…thanks,” she squeaked, sounding half terrified, half relieved. They had some talking to do, but first he needed to tell his brothers what he’d found.

“Now, business,” Travis said, glancing quickly around to check that they were truly on their own. “I’ve found some interesting information.”

Chapter 13

Billie didn’t hear a word of what Travis told his scary-ass biker friends. She was far too hung up on the whole “property” thing. Had he just said that to stop Ajax and Blue from throwing her out onto Bourbon Street? Or had he meant it? The way he’d held her hand as if he never wanted to let go, and the expression, almost aggression, in his eyes when he’d told them what she was to him had sounded damn believable to her.

And how did she feel about that?

It wasn’t a question of love—she’d been falling harder and harder for Travis from the day she met him, even before she liked him, and was now well and truly head over heels, in too deep. But property? That set off alarm bells inside her head. Loud ones. Although Saxon had appeared to the world like the perfect husband, he’d treated her exactly like something he owned. And not a prized possession, but rather something he could easily replace if she didn’t tick all his boxes on what he thought a wife should be. Last she’d heard, he’d hooked up with a law student who modeled swimwear in her spare time.