Fists at the ready, confident Giselle would keep the pimp down and warn her if anyone else approached, Taryn turned a slow circle.
The pimp’s crew were all sprawled on the floor in pain.
“Anyone else got a problem?”
The room fell silent.
Someone clapped.
What the hell?
Taryn surveyed the room again. It was Jed. His clap was uneven and obviously caused him pain, but he kept going.
Then more and more people joined in.
Dani, Giselle.
Other patrons.
Her bouncers.
What was going on?
“Stop it.” The applause got louder. “No, really, stop it.” Taryn pitched her voice above the applause and put her meanest tone into it.
This time it worked.
The clapping slowed. Got quieter.
Then sputtered until it was only a few of her employees.
“That was amazing,” Dani said.
Giselle wrapped Taryn in a hug.
Taryn didn’t know what to do with her hands, so she awkwardly patted the girl on the back. Hugging would definitely ruin her rep.
Taryn disentangled from Giselle.
Jed stood next to them. Taryn really hoped he didn’t want a hug too.
“That was pretty badass, Jack,” he said.
Taryn looked around the room. Most people were getting back to the business of drinking. A lot of them were on their phones.
Ugh. That couldn’t be good.
“Are you sure? I think the Jack’s reputation is going to take a hit.”
Jed barked out a laugh. “Oh no. Your rep will skyrocket if it hasn’t already. You kicked his ass, girl. Plowed right through the crowd, knocked out all comers, and kicked his ass. People are going to be talking about it for days, how you protected your own.” He pierced her with a shrewd look. “You’re going to get more business out of this, not less.”
“Probably lookie-loos who just want to walk on the wild side.”
“Lookie-loo credits spend just as well as everyone else’s.” He looked skeptical. “I think you’ll be surprised, though. They’ll come and they’ll want to be a part of this. They’ll want to be part of the Jack’s, too.”
Credits were a bright side. The rest...
“I don’t know, Jed. That sounds like I’m weak. None of the other Jacks worried about protecting anything but the bar and themselves.”
