Chapter Three.
Sapphire
I travelled towards the restaurant where I’d been informed there was a problem.
Candle had called, saying a guy had been in demanding protection money.
Currently, he was tied up and gagged in her office.
Nice! My temper was barely constrained. Who the hell did this asshole think he was messing with?
To my rear rode Vengeance, my ever-present shadow when I left the clubhouse.
If it wasn’t her, then it was Dagger or Blade.
I hit Market Street, where our restaurant, The Ambrosia, was situated, and parked behind it. Swinging off my Lowrider, I headed straight for the rear door, which Candle already had open. Her expression was dark, and the glower on it would have frightened anyone.
“Is he still here?” I ordered.
“You aren’t gonna believe who it is,” Candle snarled as she let us in. We entered the kitchen, and I was relieved not to see any staff. It would make handling this asshole much easier.
“Oh?” I asked as Candle led me to her office and opened the door.
“Fuck me, are you serious?” I demanded, staring at a Gerrit.
“Meet Jed Gerrit. He’s seventeen and thinks he’s a big man because he’s got a cock,” Candle snarled, and Jed shot her a dark glance.
“Well, now. This is a predicament. See, I don’t like your family, boy, not at all, and I owe them nothing. You came into a Royal Harlot-owned business and thought you’d extort us? Jesus, you really did shit your brains out,” I cackled.
Jed sent me a shadowed look and mouthed off, not that I could understand him with his gag. He wriggled on the chair that Candle had tied him to.
“Which elder does he belong to?” Vengeance asked from behind.
“Not sure, although I think he is Luther’s grandson. But who the fuck knows? They all swap wives out there. He could be anyone’s,” I stated, and Jed glowered at me. I yanked my phone out and punched in the number I had for one Gerrit.
“Whaddaya want, Sapphire?” Earl snarled down the phone at me.
“Got an offspring of yours here, seems to assume he can extort money from the Royal Harlots. Is this a declaration of war?” I demanded.
“Ain’t sent none of mine to interfere with you bitches,” Earl spat.
“He’s definitely a Gerrit, got that vacant look you lot have. I think it’s Jed.”
“Fuckin’ kid. Send him home, bitch, I’ll deal with the little prick,” Eral promised, his voice full of anger.
Somehow, I couldn’t feel sorry for Jed. “You haven’t answered me, Earl. The Gerrits declared war on us?”
“No, we fuckin’ ain’t. That shit-stain got in with the wrong people in town. You townies are all fucked up, but these think they’re gangsters. Send him home, Sapphire,” Earl commanded.
“You’ll get him back when we’ve dealt with him, Earl. He came into our restaurant and insisted on money for protection. The Harlots are not letting that stand,” I replied.
Earl cursed, and I heard him spit a wad out, wrinkling my nose. Disgusting.
“As long as he’s breathing.”
“He will be, but he might not be whole,” I said, with Earl making a disgruntled noise.
“He’s my kin.”
“Jed’s an arrogant prick who thinks that because he’s got a dick, he’s superior to me. Asshole thinks I’m gonna bow to you, Earl, and send him home with a pat on the head. He’s gonna learn a lesson,” I growled out, and Earl cussed again. Maybe Jed was his grandson; who the hell knew?
“He comes back alive, hear me, Sapphire!”
“Don’t even think of threatening me, Earl. I’m in the right here, and you know it. If you want me to start looking at the shit you Gerrits run, let me know. I can make time,” I said and cut the call.
I turned and grinned at Jed. “You’re about to be a guest of the Royal Harlots; let’s see how big your dick is after, shall we?”
Jed shouted at me from behind his gag, and I smiled and hit him hard. His eyes rolled back, and he sagged in his chair. “Like all Gerrits, all mouth and no action.”
“I’ll call Sparrow to teleport him,” Candle said with a glower at the piece of shit in our kitchen.
“Get Cyber to scrub the footage of him being here, and I’ll meet you in the cave,” I said to Candle.
I hung around until Jed disappeared from the kitchen; Sparrow had teleported him to the cave where we did our wet work. Once he was gone, Vengeance and I took our leave.
Candle would wait until some staff arrived before she left, and Jed would be out for a few hours. She deserved a round with him; it was what Jed had threatened. He’d learn a painful lesson before being sent home.
It would have been easier to kill the little punk, but I hadn’t been sure if the Gerrits had sent him.
While not afraid of them, I was worried about starting a war because we had bigger fish to fry.
The Bloody Femmes MC, a rival female club that was based in Manchester, a forty-five-minute drive away, was our main concern.
Our two MCs had been at war for a while, and neither of us was prepared to give way.
“Let’s check on the psychic shop before we leave. I want to make sure nobody has been in there,” I said to Vengeance as we made our way out of the restaurant.
“No probs,” she replied as we walked up the alley and out onto the street. No sooner had we emerged onto the street, the shop next door to us opened.
“Sapphire, is everything okay?” a woman questioned, and I turned.
“Perfectly fine, Mrs Henderson. And yourself?” I asked the older woman. She ran a bookstore that was known to be struggling. It was a business I had been eyeing.
“A man came in here demanding money,” she stated, and I straightened.
Mrs Henderson wasn’t on our protection detail; she’d been offered security and had refused it. She wasn’t a concern of mine.
“Sorry to hear that,” I said, my tone making it clear it wasn’t my business.
“I’m sure you are,” Mrs Henderson replied dryly.
“Have a good day,” I responded with an airy wave. I wasn’t about to offer our services for free.
“Would you be interested in buying the bookstore?” Mrs Henderson asked, stopping me in my tracks. I turned back to face her, my eyes narrowed.
“What happened to ‘you wouldn’t sell to those…’ what did you call us? Oh yes, ‘dirty whores,’ I believe it was,” I taunted.
I wanted her shop, but wasn’t about to let past insults slide. Mrs Henderson’s mouth tightened. “Are you interested or not?”
“With that attitude, no. Gossip is that you are about to go bankrupt. I can wait for the repossession and buy your shop then,” I replied.
“You’re a goddamn bitch, Sapphire,” Mrs Henderson burst out before chuckling. “It takes one to know one. Come on, let’s talk business.”
I laughed. “Yeah, why not?”
◆◆◆
Two hours later, I left Mrs Henderson with our lawyer’s card.
We’d gone over the books, stock, and building value.
Given what she was pulling in, Mrs Henderson was lucky to be still open.
The bookshop was dark and dusty and smelt funny.
I knew from research that public opinion was split.
Fifty per cent of people liked cosy bookshops, and the other half preferred a bright atmosphere.
Mrs Henderson was missing out on some real opportunities.
She could install a coffee machine for one, get the windows cleaned for a second, and give the whole place a repaint.
But she’d not done anything, and the place needed work.
I’d made her a generous offer, which she had strongly disagreed with, thinking I was undercutting her until I pointed out the cost of rewiring, plumbing, redecorating, and modernising the shop.
Mrs Henderson looked like she’d swallowed a lemon, but by the time I finished, I’d left the ball in her court. She’d sell to me or go bankrupt and I’d pick it up at auction.
Vengeance smirked as we left her store and headed for the psychic shop. As we rounded the corner to Congress St, I felt eyes on me, and Vengeance clearly felt the same. Both our heads swivelled, and I spotted a tall figure leaning against a wall, drinking a coffee.
I held Wylde’s gaze as he stared back.
“Think we’re being watched?” Vengeance muttered. “Could he be any more obvious?”
“Sure, he could sit outside the clubhouse in his car,” I replied with a grin.
Vengeance looked at Wylde before laughing. His eyes narrowed at our amusement, and he straightened.
“I believe we might have insulted him a little,” Vengeance quipped.
“And I care why?” I asked as we entered the Mystic Aura.
The moment we went in, I felt the tension leave my shoulders. Somehow, this place always relaxed me.
“Hey,” Fume greeted us from behind the counter.
“Twilight free?” I asked.
“In about five minutes, she’s just finishing a reading,” Fume replied.
“Great. Did you have any unwelcome visitors today?” Vengeance inquired, and Fume frowned.
“None. We had a pissed off customer when Twilight wouldn’t confirm she was going to be rich and famous, but nothing else.”
“Nobody demanding money for protection?” I pressed.
Fume snorted. “Yeah, like that’s going to happen in a Royal Harlot business.”
I kept my face impassive, and Fume’s eyes went wide. “No way! What brainless idiot did that?”
“A Gerrit,” Vengeance stated.
Fume chuckled. “Well, I did say a brainless idiot.”
“Thank you so much, Twilight. I’ll see you again in three months,” a woman said as she and Twilight came into view.
“Good to see you, Abigail, and I’m glad the cards were kind to you,” Twilight replied. “Fume, can you ring Abigail up, please?” Then she looked at me. “Hey, Prez, come on back.”
We followed Twilight to the room at the back, where she did her readings.
“Happy customer?” I asked, referring to Abigail.
“She’s been battling cancer. In the next three months, she’s going to get some good news,” Twilight said.
“Good for her,” I replied as I sat. Twilight frowned as she looked over at me. “Don’t even try reading me.”