My little brother pushes a hand through his long hair, which has loosened from the bun. "You ready?"
I sip from the cup. “Just drinking my coffee and we’re ready.”
He rolls his eyes and taps his foot on the floor. “Just hurry the fuck up.”
I down the rest of my coffee. “Come on.” I grab my keys from the bowl next to the door, lock up after us, and run down the stairs toward my bike.
The lights on the façade of Wicked aren’t on, and the parking lot’s deserted when we arrive. I park my black Indian and Pax puts his green one next to it. We walk to the entrance, and when he stands next to me, I push open the heavy oak doors. The doors slam shut, as we step inside. Our footsteps echo in the large club. Here the lights are on, though, and they illuminate the entire stage and seating area. Tina, the cleaning lady, goes between the tables with her mop and waves to us briefly. With big strides I walk to the bar and run my hand over the top. There’s no one in sight so I decide to walk through to the back.
We find MJ in her office, her nose buried in papers of the club. “Hey, guys.” She greets us with her gaze still on the papers. “Just a sec.”
Pax takes a seat in a chair in the office’s corner and pushes his long hair back to put it into a bun. Meanwhile, I sit across from MJ and let my gaze wander through her office. The space’s painted some kind of light green. Not bright, but more soft minty. Very feminine.
She looks up. “What can I do for you?” Her gaze goes to me, and she pushes her naturally red hair out of her face.
“Not much. Anything new? Need some help with stuff? I mainly came in to check if everything’s okay.” I lean backward,bored, and put my hands against each other, my thumbs against my lips.
“Not really. I might have a replacement for Esther.” She waves some papers she was just looking at in the air.
I cock my head and ask, “What happened to Esther?”
“Knocked up. Won’t be back. Snagged up by some high society guy. She’ll be a sta-at-home mom.”
I just nod. The company requires that all female employees choose to work here willingly. They all get a monthly salary for the hours they dance and they can keep half of the tips. They can leave if they no longer want to be here. All we require is their signature on an NDA. “Too bad. Hopefully, the new girl’s promising. If you have nothing else to discuss, we’re off. There’s nothing on our end that we need to discuss right now. You know how to reach us.”
“Yup. Will do. I’ll just follow this up. You’ll find the exit on your own, right?” She frowns, stands up, and walks to the file cabinet on her high heels.
Pax stands up as well. “Sure. Talk to you later, MJ.” With a wink he walks out and I follow him. Meanwhile, he squints at his cell. “Fuck. You need to watch it with Layne, bro.” He gazes up at me blankly.
“What the fuck are you going on about?” I pass him, getting seated on the saddle of my bike.
Pax wiggles his cell in front of my face. “Alex saw a suspicious person at Pete’s when Layne was visiting Teagan.”
“How the hell does Alex—” I sigh. “You asked him to keep an eye out?”
Alex is our cousin, and whenever we need a sniper, we call him. He isn’t an official member, but his connections run deep. I rub my hands across my face and take a deep breath.
“’Course I asked. All you care about is finding the quickest way to dip your dick in that pussy.”
A red haze comes over my eyes, and I ball my fists. “If you repeat that one more time, you’ll never ride that bike home again,” I snap at him and take a menacing step in his direction.
“For telling the truth?” My little brother snorts, grabs a smoke from the pack. He continues as he shakes his head. “It’s not my fault your dick butts in whenever Layne is less than a mile away.”
Before I know it, I slam my fist against his jaw.
“Hmpf,” my brother breathes. His smoke goes flying, landing in the grass a couple of feet away. “Motherfucker, that was a good cigarette.” Without further acknowledging me, he grabs a new one and lights it.
“What the fuck is wrong with you?” I snarl. My whole body coils with tension, and I consciously restrain myself.
He pulls up a brow, takes a drag from his smoke. When he exhales, he says: “Multiple things, but those got nothing to do with this.”
I put my helmet on my head and start the engine before I beat the crap out of that dumbass.
After a few hours, in which we checked Synn, Vixen, and Bliss, we arrive back at the compound. Without another word to my little brother, I stomp inside and gesture to our prospect West that I need a whiskey. A double. Without a word, he goes to work and before I even properly reach the bar; the glass is ready. I down it in one go, and with a fresh glass, go looking for Brooks. He should hang around here somewhere. My eyes search the room and I find him sitting on one of the Chesterfield couches lined up against the walls of the clubhouse. He’s talking to his little brother Ash. I walk toward them.
Standing in front of them, Ash looks up at me and I say, “I need to speak to Brooks…” I gesture from one to the other.
“All good, man,” Ash says, shaking his head, as he stands up. “Knock yourself out. See ya later.” He nods to me and his brother, and disappears.
