Chapter 17 #2
He nods but doesn’t look at me.
I let my hand linger for a second longer before sliding out of the shower and leaving him in his own shame glow. He doesn’t even realize that this was his first humiliation ritual…
“It’s good to see us back to business as usual,” Scarrow quips.
I nod as I look down into the warehouse from my office window. “We can’t let another Kane type of situation happen ever again. On all fronts. You feel me?”
He crosses his arms over his chest. Next to me, Scarrow towers.
He’s a beast and a teddy bear all in one.
“Yup. I installed more cameras, better fucking ones, and I picked up some more guys from Morgan County. Real rough motherfuckers who shoot first and ask questions never. Cherry has bouncers and a security detail now.”
My jaw ticks. “And they know that she’s ours? That I’ll break every bone in their bodies if one of them so much as leers at her a little too long?”
Scarrow claps me on the back. He digs in, squeezing my shoulder. “I already gutted one from our old school crew. Made them all watch too. He cried like a chump.”
“Fucker. How dare he fucking violate our girl.”
“He didn’t. I just made an example of him. He’d been pissing me off for a while. Might have been skimming off the top. Maybe. Anyhow, I needed to remind everyone and inform the new ones who the fuck we are,” Scarrow huffs.
I feel my cheeks beaming with pride. That’s my fucking boy. “You did good, Scar. Now we can get back to making fucking money.”
“Hey. Everything’s good downstairs.” Omen saunters in, a vision in an all-black custom suit fitted with platinum cuff links and matching tie clip.
“You need anything before I head out? I told Cherry I’d meet the delivery guys at Level Up.
She’s at our place getting ready for Father Eli’s Sunday dinner. ”
I shake my head. “Nah. We’ll be right behind you. Preacher will flay me if we’re late.”
These past few weeks have been trying. Tracking down vintage pinball machines that fit Cherry’s exact tastes haven’t been easy. But I never give up on making her completely happy. I found every fucking machine she wanted and even a couple more that I thought would add value to her business.
And now that she knows I’m her landlord, that she doesn’t have to pay rent unless she wants to keep adding to the trust I set up for her, her stress level has dropped hard.
She’s even starting to glow again. No more looking over her shoulder for Kane or anyone for that matter.
I protect my Cherry like I do my money. And I’ll kill anyone who fucks with either.
“Where are we at with Canyon Reyes?” Scarrow asks.
A pain shoots up the back of my neck. This fucking topic makes my stomach twist too. “He wants Push.”
Omen arches an eyebrow. “Our club in Lavender Heights? I hope you turned his ass down. We clean a lot of money through there.”
I shake my head. “I can’t. It gives us a temporary truce. And we don’t have the muscle yet to go to war with him. It’s a good price and it will give us some extra capital to expand.”
Scarrow opens his laptop and within seconds, his fingertips are flying across the keyboard. “It’s fine. We can funnel more through the laundromat in Morgan County. I’ll snap up another small property in Lavender Heights, closer to the border and more discreet.”
“Good. Try to find something that Canyon won’t want like a car wash or something.” The tension between my shoulders escalates.
“Why does he want Push so bad?” Omen barks. “It’s a small club with a shit ton of overhead and risk with that private room downstairs.”
We had a hard enough time as it was securing the liquor license with my felony background. Scarrow had to scrub out a dummy corporation to bypass the injunction on me.
With the laws and requirements for strip clubs, we said fuck it and just built a private room downstairs with another bar and only a few poles. VIP only. Discreet and illegal as fuck. That’s where the real money filters in, and then we clean it upstairs.
“Pussy. He’s obsessed with some woman who works for us. But she won’t give him the time of day.” I snicker.
Scarrow peers up from his laptop, his eyes wide. “So he bought the whole club? Jesus, he’s Canyon fucking Reyes. He could just… take her.”
I chuckle. “It’s Juniper Lyons.”
Omen snorts. “Yeah. No one’s taking that spoiled brat anywhere.”
Scarrow’s mouth gapes open. “Roxy’s friend? That girl runs her mouth too damn much. He’s likely to put her in a fucking body bag just to shut her ass up.”
I shrug. “Well, until then, he gets the club and we get a truce. He also agreed to back off of the bordering towns of Crimson Valley. Said he’d go north instead.”
Omen nods. “That’s good for now. But we need to keep a close eye on it.”
As Scarrow and I finish up at the warehouse, I start to feel more hopeful about the future.
Our finances are healthy, the crew is behaving, and Kane is in the ground where he belongs.
And Cherry… Fuck. My baby. She’s so perfect.
So fucking eager to get on her knees for me still.
Even after all these years. But now I get to touch her back.
And not God nor Preacher can do a damn thing about it.