Payback (Dueling Devils 2)

“Thank God you’re here,” Gia said. She ran from Lefty to him and wrapped her arms around his waist.

The smell of vanilla and cinnamon surrounded him. He glanced at Lefty and caught a glimmer of pain. Fuck. Holding her arms, he carefully extracted himself. “You want to tell me exactly what happened?”

“Louis must’ve found about Michelle talking. I came into open the club today and everything seemed fine, until I took my garbage out an hour ago. Her voice shook and her gaze darted around the room. “I saw her hair first. But I chalked it off as a discarded wig mixed in with the trash.” I started to walk away, but something stopped me.” Gia shook her head. “It sounds crazy telling it now, but once the idea popped into my mind I had to know for sure, so I went back inside, grabbed a broom and started to dig.” She swallowed heavily. “I hit something solid, so I started to focus on that area—and I saw her.” Her voice cracked. Her chest heaved. “She was pale, like a vampire and her eyes were glazed over. They look so different when there’s no life behind them. I finally understand the term dead eyes. There were think streaks of red around her pupil.”

She’d been choked.

“But the worst part was her face. God, I could barley recognize it. She was so black and blue and the slash across her throat.” Gia pressed a hand to her belly.”

“Keep it steady, G,” Demon urged, giving her upper arms a quick squeeze.

She nodded her head. “That’s when I called you and Lefty.”

“You did the right thing.” Demon looked over at Lefty who shrugged. “Can you tell us anything else? Was there a note, or anything out of place?”

“No, that’s what scares me. Was this a warning or a logical place to dump her body? Stripper meets a John at the club after hours and loses her life. It makes since. No one would bother to look into it really. Especially, given her record of drug abuse.”

“You make a good point, but I’m not sending you out there, knowing it might be unsafe. He might be at your house now. He’s not the type of man to take a slight easily. He must’ve offed her for a reason. Wither she told, or he figured it out because he was trailing her. Either way, you need to be protected.”

“No, I’m not going to run and hide because of him,” Gia argued, crossing her arms over her chest.

“At this point, you don’t have a choice. He’s not stable and things are only going to get uglier.”

“Where would I go? This club and my house are my life, you know that.”

“Everyone knows that. That’s the problem,” Demon said thinking on the fly. By now, Louis probably had her home and her business staked out. It’d be impossible to regulate who comes in and out of a strip club. “I’m working on that one.”

“Can I stay with you? I feel safe with you.”

Jesus shit, could this situation get any worse? “I’m not at my old place anymore, G. Its’ snot safe right now.”

The hopeful expression faded from her eyes. Her lower lip trembled. “W—wait, then where are you living?”

“A place out by the woods on some land I own.” He worked through his options. “You can stay with Lefty, he’ll keep you safe.”

“He’s always with you. What will happen to me then? You expect me to just be cooped up in some apartment for hours on end?”

“You wouldn’t be alone. We’d leave you with a prospect.”

“Bullshit.” Gia stomped her foot. “We got into this partnership together, because I wanted freedom to live my life the way I saw fit and have complete control over my business. You expect me to revert to the very thing I rebelled against?”

“Look, I’m trying to keep you safe now, so stop giving me shit.”

“Pick a better location then.”

Demon released her, pushed her away and clenched his fists. “Keep pushing me and I’ll shut your ass down. You brought a lot of money our way. I like doing business with you G, but that fucking mouth of yours is killing me right now.”

“Am I really being that unreasonable?” She placed her hands on her hips. “I’m fucking terrified and I’m clinging to what I know. I don’t want to be scared and alone, Demon. It’s not a good combination for anyone.”

“Fine, come stay with us at the cabin then.”

Lefty looked troubled and shook his head from side to side.

Demon shrugged. He didn’t have time to fuck around with this. Any other bitch, he would’ve put in her place, but he liked Gia and he wanted her safe. “I don’t like the turn this is all taking. We need to get our shit together, so we can move on this fucker.”

“We’re looking everything up as quickly as possible. You know bikers don’t make a habit of leaving a traceable trail,” Lefty explained.

“I don’t give a fuck. I don’t want the geek squad sleeping until they give me what I want.”