“It’s kind of crazy how that happens, huh?”
“Was it the same with you and Rafe?”
“Pretty much, but it took us a little longer to figure it out.” She went on to tell me how she worked at a bar Country’s grandmother owned and how she’d had a bit of a crush on Rafe for quite some time before she realized he felt the same about her. When Country’s grandmother sold the bar, Rafe got Marlowe a job at the club, and then her story took a wild turn. Apparently, her sister’s boyfriend was up to no good and was out to take down the club—something her biological father had tried to do several months before. “It got a little crazy, but everything ended up working out.”
“I can’t believe all that happened to you.”
“Well, I’m not the only one who has a crazy story. Delilah and Hawk had an interesting start too.”
“Oh, really? Do tell.”
“I don’t know all the details. It was long before I started working at the club, but they actually met because of her brother, Danny.”
“The one who got patched in a few weeks ago?”
“Yeah, that’s him.” She took a drink of her soda, then continued, “I don’t really know what happened between Danny and the brothers, but I’m pretty sure it wasn’t good, and Delilah was caught up in the crossfire.”
“So, the brothers are used to a little bit of drama where their women are concerned.”
“Oh, yeah. They certainly are.” She reached into the paper bag and started pulling out more food. “We should plan a get-together with the other ol’ ladies so you can hear some of those stories firsthand.”
“I would love that.”
“Well, there’s no time like the present. I’m off tonight. I could see if the other girls could meet us over at the club in a couple of hours.”
“I don’t know.” Just because Marlowe hadn’t recognized me, it didn’t mean the same would hold true for the others. She’d always referred to Rafe by his road name, so I figured I should do the same. “Menace is supposed to be coming over after work.”
“That shouldn’t be a problem.” She grabbed her phone from her purse and started texting the others. “You’ll be home long before he gets here. Besides, he’ll see you at the club.”
“Oh... Okay, that sounds great.”
“You are in for a real treat, girlfriend.” Marlowe giggled as she went on, “Hanging with the girls is a blast.”
“I can’t wait.”
Menace
“Good to have you back.”
“Thanks, Prez. It’s good to be back.”
Viper motioned me to sit as he asked, “You feeling better about the situation with Parker or Aubrey? Or whatever we’re calling her now?”
“Aubrey, and yeah, I feel much better about it.” It was going to take me some time to adjust to the fact that Parker’s name would now and forever be Aubrey, but if she could do it, so could I. I sat down in front of Viper’s desk. “So, what’s been going on with the club while I’ve been gone.”
“Seems some of the new girls have been running into a little trouble after hours.”
“What kind of trouble?”
“They seem to think someone’s been following them home from work... watching them at odd times of the day,” Viper answered. “No one has actually come face to face with whoever’s harassing them.”
“So, we have no idea who’s behind this?”
“No, but I’ve been wondering if it has anything to do with Gary from the Pink Pony.”
“I don’t know, Prez. From what the girls have told me, the guy’s a real tool, but they didn’t give me any reason to think he’d have the balls to cause trouble for us.”
“Well, word is the Pink Pony has been struggling to keep their doors open after most of his girls walked out on him.” Then, Viper gave me one of his looks. “You know what they say, desperate men do desperate things.”
“That they do.” I let out a frustrated breath before turning back to Viper. “I’ll do a little digging and see what I can find out, until then, we need to keep an eye on the girls.”
“Already been taken care of.” Viper leaned back in his chair as he announced, “I’ve put a couple of prospects on them, and they’ve been told not to go anywhere alone. That should make things a little harder on whoever’s fucking with them.”
“No doubt.” I stood, and as I started out of his office, I told him, “I’ll let you know what I find out.”
I left the clubhouse and headed straight over to Stilettos. I hated that I’d left the brothers to deal with a problem I’d created and was determined to put an end to it. In order to do that, I needed to have a talk with Jessie and the other girls so I could hear firsthand what was going on with them. When I finally made it over to the club, it was after seven, but it was still early enough to catch Jessie before she got up on stage. I went to the back and knocked on the dressing room door. Moments later, Mazie peeked her head out and said, “Oh, hey, Menace. What can I do for ya?”