“You ask Mitzy about Rain?” Jinx asked.
I shook my head. “I didn’t, but I can after the meeting. I don’t really know how close she is to the girls.”
“I know she has a soft spot for Memphis,” Six-Gun pointed out.
“Pretty sure everyone has a soft spot for Memphis,” Jet laughed. “She’s nice, while Rain is,” he glanced at Rebel, “toxic.”
“Am I really the only guy at this table who made a bad decision of where to put his dick?” Rebel roared. “Fuck me, man.”
Jinx patted Rebel on the shoulder. “We’ve all been there, brother; it’s just that we all knew she was toxic, and you still messed with her.”
Rebel glared at Jinx. “If you’re trying to make me feel better, you fucking failed.”
Jinx shrugged and sat back in his chair. “All that matters is I tried.”
“You think we can talk about something else other than where my dick has been?” Rebel suggested. “As soon as we find Tank, I never want to hear the fucking name Rain again.”
“Here, here,” Six-Gun called. “Pretty sure we need to make that executive decision to fire her ass.”
“Sounds like a fucking plan to me.” I didn’t care if Rain was one of the most popular dancers. She was a raging bitch, and no one liked her. The only reason she had stuck around for as long as she had was because she brought in customers. We now had a full roster of dancers who were all equally good. “I’ll have a talk with Mitzy about it.”
“We moving on to her now?” Playboy asked.
I nodded. “What did you find out from talking to the girls?”
Playboy gave a thumbs down. “Not a damn thing. All of the girls fucking love her.” Playboy elbowed Six-Gun. “Which I have to say was fucking surprising since I thought all the girls would think she was a bitch.”
“She’s not a bitch,” I replied. “She just does her fucking job and doesn’t let feelings and emotions get in the way.”
“That’s what you think,” Playboy scoffed. “I can’t tell you how many girls said Mitzy has helped them out of bad situations and gave them money.”
I cocked my head to the side. “Come again?”
Playboy shrugged. “I guess that bitch attitude she has is just a front.”
“Or she just acts that way to guys because of what happened a few years back,” Jinx suggested.
“Do we even know what the fuck happened to her a few years back?” Playboy asked. “I mean, we know it had to be some bad shit for Barracuda to step in, but what was it?”
I shrugged. “If we were supposed to know, ‘cuda or Mitzy would have told us.” I acted like it didn’t bother me that I didn’t know, but I actually did want to know. Barracuda had told me that they weren’t hooking up or anything like that, but that was all he told me. And obviously, that was all the other guys knew, too.
Six-Gun cleared his throat. “Memphis told me that she and Mitzy had a lot in common that most people wouldn’t know.”
I turned slowly to face Six-Gun. “I hope like hell that doesn’t mean what happened to Memphis happened to Mitzy.”
Six-Gun cringed. “No idea, brother. That’s all Memphis said to me.”
I shook my head and tried not to think about why Mitzy needed Barracuda’s help years ago. “I should hear today about what Mitzy took and what was in all of the pill bottles you collected, Playboy. But—”
“Oh hell,” Jet interrupted. “I don’t not like the sound of what you are about to say.”
“Mitzy said she one hundred percent remembers putting the bottle of pills she used in her desk drawer.”
“I didn’t grab any pills from her desk,” Playboy replied.
“I know, but someone took the pills because when Mitzy went to grab the bottle yesterday, it was gone.” I looked around at the faces of the guys, and they knew the same thing I did.
Whoever tried to hurt Mitzy grabbed the bottle of pills from her desk before I found her or after she was taken to the hospital. Someone had been watching the whole time and knew to take the pills before someone else found them.
“You check the cameras?” Mace asked.
“That was the first thing I did. None in Mitzy’s office and the one in the hallway doesn’t show anyone obviously going into her office.” Repositioning the cameras and ordering a few more was on the top of my list to do today. That should have happened long ago.
“So. You’re sure it wasn’t any of the girls? Maybe pissed off about not getting a day off or Mitzy just being a bitch to them?” Jet asked Rebel.
Rebel shook his head. “If they are pissed off at her and want to hurt her, they didn’t tell me. There wasn’t one second of talking to the girls where I thought they were lying to me.”
Well, that was the first dead end.
“Did Mitzy say if she knew of someone who would want to hurt her?” Playboy asked me.
I shrugged. “I didn’t exactly ask her, but I will this afternoon.” I had figured if there was someone she thought would hurt her, she would have told me. Though, she hadn’t actually believed it was intentional at all at first. “Until we figure this shit out, I’ll be with her when she’s at home or out. I want one of you guys to always be at Skinz when she is there. Whoever tried to kill Mitzy is more than likely going to try again. This time, we are going to be ready for it and stop it before they can try. Good?”
A chorus of “ayes” went up, and a couple of fists pounded the table.
“And now to the thing that we’ve been talking about for too fucking long, and it seems like we’re getting nowhere.”
The “ayes” turned into groans.
“Anyone hear from Barracuda?” I asked. I looked around the table, and all the guys shook their heads. “Me neither.”
“You hear anything from Leo?” Jinx asked.
“Nope. I’m gonna give him another week and then call. I don’t want to hassle him when he’s really just doing a favor for us.”
“Yeah, but that favor is going to turn into us making a deal with the Banachis,” Jet pointed out. “He’s more than getting something out of this.”
“True, but I’d rather just stay on the good side of Leo Banachi.” That was one guy I did not want to piss off. “He’s got a week before I check on what’s going on with Menace.”
“Have we checked with the Kings of Vengeance lately to see if they’ve had any more Barracuda sightings?” Mace asked.
Playboy sliced his hand through the air. “Not a damn thing up by them. Last I heard, they were working their asses off getting the funeral home renovated for the strip club.”
“Tell them if there’s anything they need, they just need to let us know,” I told Playboy.
Playboy saluted. “I’ll make sure they know.”
“So, we figured nothing out and have a shit-ton of what-ifs, yeah?” Jinx laughed.
In a fucking nutshell.
“Just keep your fucking eyes open around Skinz, and honestly, just keep your eyes open everywhere. Fucking problems keeping popping up from every direction, and I’d like to know if there are any more coming our way.”
“Head them off,” Six-Gun agreed.
Everyone filed out of church until I was the only one left.
I leaned back in my chair and stared up at the ceiling.
Things were a fucking mess, and I wasn’t sure how to fix any of it.
Right now, it seemed like figuring out who wanted to hurt Mitzy was the easiest thing to deal with.
Figure out what drugs she took and follow the trail to who wanted to hurt her.
Barracuda—and now Tank—missing was some shit I never thought I would have to deal with. Fuck being prez. I wasn’t cut out for this shit, and Barracuda could have it back.
*
Chapter Nine
Jokes, huh?
Mitzy
“I told Monk if we weren’t gone in an hour, I was leaving without him.”
Memphis’ eyes bugged out. “You did?”
I shrugged a
nd finished my bottle of water. “I realize now that I didn’t really mean it.”
Raelyn held up her phone. “Yeah, seeing as it’s been almost an hour and your ass is still sitting on the couch.”
“The company is good.”
“Aww,” Memphis sighed. “I always knew you had a sweet side, Mitzy.”
I waved my hand at her. “Keep that shit to yourself. It’ll ruin my reputation if people know I have a heart.”
Raelyn leaned her head back on the couch, and her eyes connected with mine. “You terrified the shit out of me the first time Leona and I met you.”
That day, I had been surprised to see Playboy with a new woman, but I had been shocked as shit to see Barracuda showing interest in Leona. Not that it had anything to do with Leona. It more had to do with Barracuda letting down his guard to let someone in. Too bad their time together had been cut short. Too short. The same that happened to him with Charlene. “Eh,” I chuckled, “I’m mostly a soft teddy bear. You just need to get to know me.” I winked at Memphis, who blew a raspberry.
“I have yet to see you be a teddy bear,” she spat. “Maybe when you’re sleeping.”
And that was why I liked Memphis, and now, even Raelyn. Hell, I liked all of the girls at the club, too. I just couldn’t let them know I liked them or that I wanted to be their friends. There was a fine line in being a good boss. If I was too nice to the girls, they would run right over me. I chose to be fair, supporting, but aloof. Sometimes, my aloofness came off as more bitchy than not, but it was for the best.
Raelyn glanced down the hallway to where the guys had disappeared. “You know what we should do?” she asked. “I think when the guys come out, you should hide, and then we’ll tell them you took off.”
Memphis squealed and clapped her hands together. “Oh, my God, they will fucking flip.” She jumped up. “We should totally do it.”
“The closet!” Memphis shouted. “You could hide in there, and they wouldn’t know.”
“Wait, wait,” I laughed. “I’m not going to hide in a closet.”
“Why don’t we just put her in Monk’s room?” Raelyn suggested.
“Brilliant. You can hang out in there.” Memphis grabbed my hand and pulled me off the couch. “Come on. We need to walk past the church door to get to his room. We’ll need to be very quiet.”
Raelyn giggled and led the way down the hallway.
Somehow, it felt like we were teenagers trying to sneak past Mom and Dad. Except we were all in our twenties, and we were sneaking past a room full of bikers.
Memphis pressed her finger to her lips. “Shh.”
I rolled my eyes but followed along. I was half-serious when I had told Monk I was going to leave if we were there more than an hour, but after hanging out with Memphis and Raelyn, I would have stayed there the rest of the afternoon.
Raelyn opened a door and motioned for Memphis and me to go in. Memphis flipped on the light, and I stepped next to the bed.
“Well, this is pretty bleak,” Raelyn giggled.
“I think bleak is a good word for all of the guys’ rooms. Bed, TV, dresser, and a bathroom.” Memphis nodded to the picture Monk had hanging on the wall. “Though Monk’s taste in 80s pin-up models is impeccable.”
I tipped my head to the side and studied the picture. “I mean, she is pretty hot.”
Memphis and Raelyn both laughed.
“So, I’m just going to hang out in here until what? I hear you guys say ‘surprise’ or something?”
Memphis tapped her finger on her chin. “Uh, well, I hadn’t really thought that far.”
“How about we text you, and then you can come strutting into the common room?” Memphis pulled out her phone. “You’re just gonna have to give me your number.” She looked up and smiled. “We are friends now after all, right?”
I grabbed her phone out of her hand. “You can keep that whole friend thing on the DL, yeah?” I punched my number into her phone, hit send, and my phone rang in my pocket. “You have your boss’ number; I better not have girls from the club calling me all the time now.”
Memphis rolled her eyes and grabbed her phone from my hand. “As if. I talk to maybe two of the girls, and the rest of them now think it’s a competition to see which one of them can get Six-Gun’s attention.” She ended the call and shoved her phone in her pocket. “Swear to God, it’s like a game to them.”
A game that I was going to fucking squash. That was some bullshit if the girls were trying to do that. What in the hell happened to the girl code these days? “Rain start that game?”
Memphis rolled her eyes. “No idea, but I’m just waiting for her to try and sink her claws into Six-Gun.”
That wasn’t going to happen. Six-Gun was hook, line, and sinker in love with Memphis. Rain on her best day wouldn’t be able to compare to Memphis when she was at her worst.
“Rain still giving you grief?” I got along with all of the girls, but that was because I was their boss. Take away my job, and I’m sure none of them would treat me the same. It was a perk of the job to have the mean girls of the world be nice to you.
Memphis shrugged. “I haven’t really seen her the past couple of days. She was there the night of your overdose, but she’s been off since.”
“She works tonight. Do you?”
Memphis nodded. “Yeah. I think Six-Gun is coming to work tonight with me, too. It should be interesting to see what she tries.”
And I hadn’t planned on going to work tonight. Shit. If I wanted to nip Rain being a bitch to Memphis in the butt, I needed to be there. “I’ll keep an eye on Rain and the rest of the girls. That type of behavior isn’t going to fly. Especially since you’re an ol’ lady.”
Memphis waved her hand in the air. “It’s not a big deal, and I don’t want special treatment at work just because of who I’m dating.”
“Well, you’re dating a Royal Bastard and who owns the club you’re working at; you’re gonna get special treatment.” That was just a fact. If Memphis didn’t like it, she would have to find a different job that wasn’t connected to the MC. Dating Six-Gun put her in a league that the other girls at Skinz would love to be in.
Raelyn’s eyes darted to the door. “I think I just heard the guys. We should probably get back in the common room if we want this to work.”
“Why are we doing this?” I asked. I mean, it was going to be funny, but I wished I would be able to see Monk’s face when they tell him I left.
Raelyn shrugged. “We’ll call it payback for how rude Monk was to us when Memphis and I just wanted to go for a ride.”
I looked between the two of them. “Something tells me you guys were doing to do more than go for a ride.”
Memphis shrugged. “Just getting coffee and donuts before we took a tour of the town.”
I tipped my head to the side. “You do know we’re in Sacramento, right? No one just tours the town on a whim.” Especially if you lived here.
Raelyn grabbed Memphis’s hand. “We’ll save that story for another day.”
“Remember,” Memphis called. “I’ll text you when it’s time to come out, yeah?”
I nodded and pasted a smile on my face. “Got it.”
Raelyn dragged Memphis from the room and shut the door behind them.
I turned in a slow circle and wondered how I had gotten here—standing in Monk’s room, waiting to scare him.
Well, I wasn’t sure scare was the right word, but whatever.
I sat on the edge of the bed and reached for the remote. I wasn’t sure how long I was going to be in here, so I figured I might as well get comfortable. At least as comfortable as I could in this bleak room. Was it really so much to have a little bit of color and better art than a pinup from the 80s?
I turned on the TV and landed on a rerun of Law and Order. Nothing better than passing the time while watching a little Stabler action on the TV. I scooched up the bed and laid my head on Monk’s pillow. It smelled strongly of mint, balsam, and a hint of smoke. The sam
e scent that invaded my breath every time I pressed myself against his back on his motorcycle. I wouldn’t be able to smell it without thinking of Monk.
Instead of watching the TV, I stared up at the ceiling.
Three days ago, I lived my life not a care in the world other than figuring out the work schedule and making sure the liquor order was delivered on time. I had my house on the outskirts of town that was my sanctuary to hide away from the world.
Now I had lived through an overdose, work was in the back of my mind, and Monk had taken residence up in my lonesome sanctuary. And I was lying in his bed in the Royal Bastards Clubhouse.
I was laying in Monk’s bed, and I liked it. I liked hanging out with Raelyn and Memphis.
Talk about a fucking one-eighty.
I hadn’t stepped foot in the clubhouse in years.
For a while, it held a weird memory of a life that felt like it was a million years past. I didn’t want to go back to that lifetime. When Barracuda had brought me here, I was not in a good place. I had stayed three weeks, holed up in Barracuda’s room, just trying to figure out what the hell I was going to do next.
I had done a lot of crying and thinking. And talking. Some nights, I would just talk with Barracuda not even saying a word. For two years, I hadn’t been able to say whatever I wanted, so I had taken the freedom to speak when I wanted and not have to worry about what I said.
Barracuda had probably found out some things about me that he didn’t want to know.
Allan had beat me for the last time, and I had finally run. Two years of first verbal abuse, then his fists pounding my face, and him taking my body whenever he wanted was too much one day. Something in me had finally snapped, and I ran. I ran straight to Barracuda and the Royal Bastards.
The only place I knew I would be safe from the horrible choices of my past.
Safe from Allan.
I closed my eyes and sighed.
It hadn’t had been as bad as I thought it would be walking back into the clubhouse. When I left the club the last time, I was a different person then when I had walked in battered and bruised. I was strong and knew what I was worth when I walked out. I knew, at the end of the day, I was the only one who mattered, and if I didn’t like what was going on, I just needed to raise my middle finger in the air and walk away.
Monk (Royal Bastards MC: Sacramento Book 3) Page 5