Chapter Three. #2
“Sorry, Prez, but you’re screaming at me. Some big changes coming,” Twilight drawled before shutting up. It was agreed that unless we came to her for a reading, she wouldn’t tell us what she saw coming, not even if it was dire news.
“Candle had a visitor, a Gerrit who tried to blackmail her into paying protection money,” I said.
Twilight’s eyes widened. “Idiot. He still got all his fingers?”
“For now. Earl claims he didn’t send the little prick. Says the kid joined a gang in town,” I replied.
“There have been a few around lately and wearing different gang colours. They’ve checked us out but not come in.”
“You didn’t think to tell us?” I demanded, slightly annoyed.
“What? Hey, a gang member looked us over but chickened out on coming in when he saw the Royal Harlot patch on our business.” Twilight added extra sarcasm.
“Candle might not have been caught unaware if we’d known gang members were casing the joints down here,” I retorted.
Twilight opened her mouth and then closed it. “Huh,” she said a few seconds later. “Candle okay?”
“Yeah, she’d taken care of him before we arrived,” Vengeance stated.
“Sorry, Prez, I just simply didn’t consider him important,” Twilight admitted.
“Anyone else approaches or watches, I want to know. If you can’t get me, call Sparrow,” I ordered.
Twilight nodded. “Okay. Are you going to check on Lantern?”
“Yup, anything else we need to know?” I asked, and Twilight shook her head.
“Sorry, Prez, I just didn’t think!”
“Lesson learned, Twilight, just bear it in mind,” I said more calmly.
Twilight nodded and looked a little ashamed. I didn’t keep on at her; she knew she’d screwed up. With a nod, I got up and headed outside.
“Twilight messed up,” Vengeance murmured.
“She won’t do it again,” I replied.
“Hope not. Look, our stalker is still there.” Vengeance tilted her head towards Wylde, who still watched us.
My temper flared a little, and I marched over to him. Amusement shone in Wylde’s eyes as I approached.
“Problem, officer?” I snapped.
“Detective,” Wylde chastised.
“Asshole is better for me.”
Wylde threw his head back and laughed. “I’m sure it is. There’s a lot I could call you, but I’ll refrain, there’s that pesky thing about respecting citizens.”
“Like fuck you care about that,” I retorted, and Wylde grinned again. Damn, he transformed from good-looking to downright stunning when he smiled. My pussy stood up and applauded.
“Me? Of course I do; public relations are so important,” Wylde shot back, and my eyes narrowed.
“Why are you watching me? I’m a law-abiding citizen.”
Wylde threw back his head this time and laughed uproariously. Damn him! I wanted to lick his throat.
“You’re anything but that, Sapphire. But sadly, I’m not here to put you in cuffs today,” he said.
“You’d like that, wouldn’t you, detective,” I teased, leaning forward. Heat surged into his eyes, and he leaned into me.
“Somehow, Saph, I know you’d enjoy being in my cuffs,” Wylde murmured, and my pussy fluttered. Shit.
“You’ll never know,” I muttered, and Wylde chuckled again.
He placed a finger on my mouth and tapped. “Never say never, Saph.”
Without realising what I was going to do, my lips parted. I briefly sucked his finger into my mouth, twirling my tongue around it before nipping and releasing him. “Never,” I whispered.
His eyes flared, and I saw him shift uncomfortably. Holding my gaze, Wylde quickly adjusted himself, drawing my eyes to the bulge in his jeans. Holy crap, that was a package! It disappeared from view as Wylde buttoned his sports jacket to cover it.
“I’ll take that bet because I can smell your arousal,” Wylde muttered in my ear before moving past me. “Have a good day, ladies. Stay out of trouble now.”
I stared at him as he walked away toward the police station.
“What the fuck just happened?” Vengeance demanded, staring at me like I’d grown two heads.
“Shut up,” I snapped and, gathering my composure, stormed off toward the Royal Ink.
Vengeance caught up with me and whistled, and I bit my lip to stop myself responding to her taunt. Damn that bloody man!
◆◆◆
I stared at the beaten and bloody lump of meat in front of me.
Candle, Blade, Dagger, Vengeance, and I had all taken turns at Jed Gerrit.
Stitch had healed a few dangerous injuries that might have stopped him from breathing.
I wanted to make certain he learned his lesson, and a beating wouldn’t suffice.
I was sure he had just as bad from his asshole family.
The elder Gerrits weren’t known for softness.
“Take his left fingers,” I said to Candle, who was flipping a knife through her fingers.
“Don’t!” Jed screamed through a broken jaw.
“Jed, you need to learn a lesson. See, a beating you can dismiss and recover from. Losing your fingers means you won’t ever forget the penalty of messing with us,” I countered.
“I need my hand!” Jed slurred and spat a tooth out.
“You’ll learn to masturbate with your other,” Vengeance teased.
“Fuck you, bitch,” Jed spat, blood spraying from his cracked lips.
“And now you’ve done it,” I replied, amused.
Vengeance freed his grip and tied his arm to a table. Without a second thought, she brought a hammer down onto his hand, and Jed screamed. She did it twice more before holding it in place.
“Go for it,” she ordered Candle. Candle brought the meat cleaver down on his hand, and Jed lost his fingers.
Stitch stepped forward and cauterised the wounds as Jed fainted from the pain.
“Carve his crime into him and let’s get rid. This place stinks of Gerrit. Can you fetch Belladonna to wipe his memories of our faces but leave the torture intact?” I asked Stitch.
Her eyes had been white as she surveyed his body. “He’ll live, Prez,” she said, her eyes returning to normal.
“Good. Once Belladonna’s wiped us from his mind and instilled the fear of God into him where we’re concerned, send him home,” I said.
“Earl will be pissed,” Sparrow stated, appearing with Lantern.
“Who cares?” I shrugged as Lantern began carving Jed’s crimes into his forehead. ‘Gang member’ and ‘extortion.’ That would fuck Earl off.
◆◆◆
“Earl.”
“Really, bitch, you did that to him?”
“Problem, Earl?” I asked.
“Yeah, a massive one. The boy lost his fingers,” Earl hissed.
“You said send him back alive, Earl. I did precisely that. You failed to state he had to be returned whole!” I replied.
“Jesus, Sapphire, that’s my great-nephew.”
“If you’re thinking retaliation, think again, Earl. Anyone coming after us for Jed’s punishment will receive far worse than he did. Including Luther,” I alerted Earl, knowing Luther would be listening.
“One day you’ll go too far, bitch,” Earl warned.
“So will you, Gerrit, just remember who runs Portsmouth and who tolerates your family. You do not want to go to war with us!” I threatened.
Earl cut the line without another word.
I yawned and headed upstairs to my apartment. I needed to wash the stink of Gerrit off me.
The warehouse was huge, and we’d been lucky to find it.
We’d bought it the moment it had appeared.
It had been ideal for our needs—huge, rambling, and a total eyesore.
It had gone cheap. Based at Creek Farm, it had somehow miraculously come with ten acres of land.
But damn, it had cost a whack to convert it.
In fact, with everything taken into consideration, we’d literally rebuilt it.
New walls, a new ceiling and roof, new windows, insulation, and so on—it was a brand-new building.
Downstairs on the ground level were the rec room, guest toilets, kitchen, cinema room, and offices.
We also had twenty guest bunks on this level, as we did not want people wandering through our apartments.
The first and second floors were where we lived.
Unlike most clubhouses, we didn’t have what were fondly called bunks, a bedroom with an adjoining bathroom.
No, luckily for us, the facility was big enough that we’d been able to create apartments, and there were forty in total.
Each one boasted a living room, a small kitchenette, a bathroom, three bedrooms, and a spare room for whatever we wanted.
They were fairly spacious and not cramped.
The warehouse had a large, multi-story atrium with a walkway around the edge, and the apartments came off that.
We’d replaced the ceiling above the atrium, which had been metal sheeting, with one-way glass.
We could look out, but nobody can look in.
We also had electronic blinds that could cover it should we require them to.
It had been worth the price because we were women, had PMS, and were total assholes once a month. The apartments ensured we didn’t kill a sister, which several of us had come close to.
I opened my door and headed straight for the bathroom. After today, I needed a hot bath.
As I ran the water and poured in bubble bath, my mind flashed to Hayden Wylde.
That man had me hot and bothered, and for more than one reason.
Damn him. I didn’t need the complications of a man right now.
That was for sure. Hayden Wylde and his sexiness could take a running jump and stay the hell away.