Chapter 4
FOUR
Oro
My head is pounding, and it’s not even eight at night yet.
Exactly what I thought was going to happen, happened last night after the altercation between Coca and Lisette.
There was a mass exodus of girls. Not just the four that were in Lisette’s little clique, but a few others as well.
As it stands right now, there are only a few club bunnies left, and only a few of them who want to work at Seda.
The ones who stayed are the ones who are either desperate for the protection we offer or have been here long enough to know not to cross the Royal Bastards.
It wasn’t really a choice. Lisette tried to get rid of Coca, but that’s not how our loyalty works. Coca has been with us through the bad times and the good. There was no way some new blood was going to get me or any other brother to turn on her.
The issue I’m facing now is that since I’m responsible for Seda, it’s my duty to get new girls in here.
It was different when the girls came to us looking for protection or asylum.
We offered them the option of working at Seda as a way to build up some funds and have things taken care of for them.
Unfortunately, since we’ve only just finished some major renovations, we haven’t really been able to take in anyone new.
Now we have to rely on recommendations and an actual hiring process. Seda is legit on the front, but the actual services the girls offer are illegal. Which means we have to be extra careful about who we allow to work here.
That’s what I’m dealing with now.
Coca and Prissy put their feelers out and found a few women they thought would make good additions to the Seda family. It was my job to vet and give first approval on the women.
It’s harder than I thought it would be. I’ve been at this for hours. I’ve seen at least ten different women, and out of the lot, I’m only pushing for two of them to join up.
It’s not enough.
Honestly, I’m sure a few more of them would’ve made it through the first round of interviews if the rest of the club wasn’t sitting around intimidating and heckling the girls.
It’s annoying, but it’s necessary. If the girls can’t deal with us when we’re sober and playful, they won’t be able to hang when shit gets real.
“?Hablas inglés?” I look up at the girl standing in front of me.
She’s pretty enough, and I don’t see any track marks on her arms. She’s got short blonde hair and a ring on each side of her nose.
There’s a tattoo on her collarbone that looks like it was done by an amateur artist. I can’t tell if it’s a rose or an anatomically correct heart.
“Yes, I can speak English. Is that a requirement?” she says, her voice trembling a little.
“Yes, it is. Many of our clients aren’t locals, and they may not know how to speak Spanish.” I’m doing my very best to keep this as professional as possible.
She may be interviewing to be one of our club girls, but she still deserves respect.
I guess no one told Digger that.
“Can you do a split?” he shouts out, and the rest of the guys laugh.
I watch as the girl, Shani, bites her bottom lip and quickly shakes her head no. Her face turns a bright shade of pink.
“No? Well, fuck, what do you do? I need some extra talent with my girls,” Digger continues. I sigh and settle further in the chair. He’s going to have his fun with her whether I like it or not.
“Talent? I didn’t know I had to,” Shani starts, but now it’s Azriel who cuts her off.
“Honestly, did you think you’d just walk in here and we’d hand you the job? You’ve got to work for it.”
“I’m trying to,”
“You can’t even do a split. Do you dance? Cook? Card tricks?” Digger pokes fun.
I watch as Shani’s face gets redder and redder. Before long, there are tears falling from her eyes, and she’s running out of the clubhouse, muttering something about never working for a bunch of assholes like us.
“You know, this shit would be a lot easier if you would let me get through the damn questions I have for them,” I bark at no one in particular.
“You’re not asking the right questions. You’re too soft with them, Oro. This ain’t no daycare. They’re here to serve the kind of men who don’t play nice. If they can’t handle this, they don’t need to be here.” Lobo shrugs and takes a swig of the Corona he’s been nursing since we started this.
“We wouldn’t be having to do this if you had a better handle on the girls we already had here,” Vado pipes in.
I don’t bother to look at him. It won’t make any difference if I explain once again that I didn’t have a choice in the matter, that there was nothing I could do.
Seda is my responsibility, and losing some of our top earners is my problem to fix.
“Coca, ven aquí,” I call out. It’s no use arguing with him, so I just resign myself to moving on.
“You ran another one out, huh?” Coca says out loud, instantly shutting up all the men in the room. She may only be a club girl, but everyone here respects her. She can give just one look, and it’ll force everyone to pay attention.
It’s a damn shame, she only needs to walk into the room, and I’m over here about to jump out of my skin to keep from cursing every last one of my brothers out because they won’t take this shit seriously. I rub the bridge of my nose, the low hum of laughter drilling straight into my skull.
“She wouldn’t have lasted very long here. She was a little too sensitive,” I offer as an excuse.
“Sure, if you say so.” Coca shrugs before walking over to the little mini fridge we have set up for the interview guests and checks to see if it’s still stocked. Lobo and Pooh have been running through the drinks like they can’t get up and walk over to the main kitchen to get more from there.
Coca doesn’t complain; she just refills the small fridge.
“So, what of it, princesa? Did we go through them all, or are you saving the best for last?” AZ asks.
I’m pretty sure he’s not interested in who’s going to be working here.
Not with a woman like Carina warming his bed.
I’d put money on the fact that he just wants to know how many more of these interviews he’s going to have to sit through before he can get back to her.
“I’ve got three more I think will be a good fit. All of them seem quick enough to deal with you bastards.” Coca jokes with us, and I let out a deep sigh. If we’re able to sign up all three, tonight might not be a complete failure.
“Thank fuck. I’m ready for the next one. You might want to warn her about these douchebags before she walks in.” I thumb my fingers at my patch brothers and can’t help but chuckle when Digger has the audacity to fake being offended.
He’s the worst out of everyone, but I already knew that.
I knew he was going to do his absolute best to make the girls uncomfortable.
I knew he was going to test them. It’s the fact that I feel like I’m being tested now that has me so on edge.
I wanted to be a fully patched member more than anything, but sometimes I miss the days when I was a prospect and didn’t have to deal with any of this shit.
Once Coca finishes restocking everything, she walks back out of the main room to where she has the other women waiting in the courtyard.
I take a deep breath, trying to settle myself and figure out the best questions to ask in order to keep the crowd of bikers behind me on their best behavior.
The door to the clubhouse opens, and I hear Coca and another woman whispering to each other. I can’t hear what’s being said, but just that little bit of sound leads me to believe whoever our head bunny has brought in here is having second thoughts.
Finally, the click of heels comes in our direction.
I’m looking down at the papers in front of me, notes on what we’re specifically looking for.
“Así… now that’s what I’m talking about.” Digger growls from his seat and hums in appreciation.
“Shit, she’s fucking gorgeous,” Pooh mutters, which catches me off guard. He’s usually stingy with compliments.
I turn in my seat to see what the big deal is, and the second my eyes land on the woman walking my way, it feels like someone shoved a hook into my gut, twisted, and is trying to rip my insides out.
I can’t be seeing who I think I’m seeing.
She can’t be here.
Her eyes scan the room, and the second they land on me, they widen. There’s no doubt, the fucking bitch who ruined my life is in my club, about to interview for a job as a glorified whore.
The tension in the room thickens, and all at once, the side conversations come to an end.
Vado must realize something is off. His eyes are locked on me. “Oro, everything good?”
No. Everything is most definitely not good.
I stand before she has a chance to make it all the way to the middle of the room.
“What the fuck are you doing here?”