New blood and she’s exactly your type. Tryna be the first one in her then?”
I blow out a breath and face the facts. There’s no fucking way I’m going to get through this pile of bullshit without having someone on my side. I’ve watched Rue chase his little flower child around for fucking years and I’ve dug him out of shit more times than either of us would ever admit to.
I don’t even have to tell him. The second I turn to face him he sees it on my face. “Oh fuck no. No. Really? A stripper? That’s bad fucking news, man.”
I scoff and drain the rest of my glass. “No shit. Looks like you’re the only one getting a decent woman assigned by the fucking curse. Congratulations. Who’d a thought it’d be Grimm fucking Graves’ kid?”
His eyebrows drop down low and I shrug. “I’m fucking bitter tonight, ignore me. Riddle me this, do you feel like you’ve been shot in the fucking chest all the damn time? Does the curse make you wanna fucking die or is that just me and my cuntstruck self?”
He gestures at Diamond to leave us the goddamn bottle, wise move, and gets to pouring the shit out. I drink it faster than he can pour, my eyes drifting over to rest on Angel no matter how I try to avoid looking at her.
She’s the hottest fucking thing I’ve ever seen.
“It always feels like that shit. Fuck, Posey disappears for six fucking weeks every year, you don’t think that kills me? I don’t even know where the hell she goes, let alone who she’s with. Thorn tells me fucking nothing.”
We’re not allowed to ask either.
Part of his agreement with King is that Poe is off-limits. No one touches her, no one asks about her, and we all protect her with our lives.
For the life of me, I don’t fucking get why.
A group of new guys arrive and the whole damn lot of them walk over to the main stage where Angel is, even the regulars who have favorite girls. It’s pretty fucking clear that the other girls are pissed the hell off about it but the booze is flowing and men are ordering private dances left and right thanks to the tease happening on stage.
She’s too fucking flexible, gets a man fucking excited.
“So… gimme her story then. What do you know, how are we getting her the fuck out of this club before she starts a fucking riot? Jesus, Mel is looking at her like she wants to stab her eyes out.”
I whip my head around to check her out and, yep, the loathing there is clear.
Hm.
That might work to get her outta here.
“I know nothing. Nothing except she won’t do lap dances, won’t work on the side like the other girls, and she wants as many shifts as she can get her hands on.”
Rue shrugs and fills his glass again. “That’s a mark in her favor. At least up there they’re only looking. Fuck, is she the one that smacked Maverick out last week?”
My jaw clenches violently. “He tried to touch her. She told him she didn’t do that and he didn’t fucking listen to her. That’s how I met her, I’ve been too fucking busy with Trink’s bullshit to be down here all that much.”
Rue grimaces. “Guess you’ve got Speck watching her now? Fuck, this is a mess. You hear about the shipment?”
We’re in public so there’s not much more that I can say but, “Yeah. We need pest control right the fuck now.”
Rats.
Everywhere. At first we were thinking it was prospects but we stopped taking new members and yet here we are, losing shipments left and fucking right. Absolute fucking bullshit, the only thing we should all be able to trust in is brotherhood and yet we’re being betrayed left and fucking right.
“It’s getting worse now King’s home.”
If that isn’t a fucking mess as well.
Rue lost his dad to lockup at twelve-years-old, now to have him back at twenty-four as not only his dad but his Prez… lotta shit to deal with there. A fucking lot of shit.
He left behind a boy and came out to a man, one raised by his brother and enough fucking demons running riot in his head that it’s going to take a little more than a homecoming to mend what’s broken.
I get my eyes away from the girl and back onto my cousin. “It’s beyond that. They’re just starting up after lying in wait. Gotta keep