Page 91 of Twisted Lies

“Why get bent until we find out what’s going on?” I reply, “It doesn’t matter where it is. It’s still our money.”

“Oh, so you guys are the ones who pick the girls?” With wide eyes, Kendra stares at me and looks like she’s about to launch herself into my lap.

“Not us,” I tell her and point my finger at Ted, who smiles like the horny rat he is. “He does.”

The girl shifts her body toward Ted, whose tongue is practically hanging out of his mouth. He wastes no time placing his hands on her willing body.

I want to tell the driver to push the pedal to the floor. I don’t want to watch up close while Ted mauls some clueless chick while we’re forced to watch. The man has no shame or respect. I glance over at Justin, hoping he’ll say something, but he’s staring at his phone. I lean back just enough to see the screen, and he’s recording his dad feeling up this chick’s tits. The girl doesn’t care that she’s spilling out of her low-cut top into his hands. Fuck this; I’m not Ted Leister’s pimp.

I shove Pierce’s leg with my knee. “You find out anything yet?”

“One response from a bouncer who says we owe him whether there’s a fight or not,” Pierce scoffs, “I owe these people nothing.” He looks up out the window. “Is this the place?”

I look out the window at a storefront lit up from the inside with strobe lights hitting the glass. The music is loud enough that you can hear the muffled beat through the closed windows. The parking lot is filled with cars, and I recognize Teeny standing by the back door. I look at the front of the building, and the windows are covered with hand-lettered signs announcing “coming soon,” but what’s coming soon?

“What is this place?” asks Justin, losing interest in his father’s sex life.

Pierce is out of the car first, striding toward Teeny, who immediately speaks into his headset. I hurry out of the limo, and Justin follows, leaving his father and his toy behind.

We surround Teeny as he steps in front of the back door. He watches us with a calm expression, and he owes us nothing. Not after all the shit Pierce dumped on him before he was fired.

“What’s going on, Teeny? Where’s Grinder?”

“Do you gentleman have an invite?” replies Teeny, holding his hands in front of him. His lips are tight, and refuse to crack a smile. He’s keeping his cool as Pierce loses more of his.

Pierce’s eyes bulge out in anger as he sputters. “An invite? I was just at the Pit, and the place is empty. Are you stealing our business?”

“No, sir, I’m not,” Teeny replies but doesn’t budge. “Management requires an invite. If you don’t have one, you will have to leave.”

My attention is distracted by loud shouting and thumping from behind the door. The fighters we kept stringing along must have found another place to perform. I’m not happy about any of this, but we had no loyalty toward the Monarchs, and now, they’re showing none to us.

I grab Pierce’s shoulder, pulling him back. “It’s not necessary to start something here, not when we can leave and figure out our strategy.”

“Are you out of your mind?” hisses Pierce as he grabs the lapel on my coat. “I’m not leaving until I know what’s going on. I want to know who’s stealing from us.”

“We’ll find out.” I roughly shake him off, knocking his hand away. “But not here. I don’t want to get jumped in Weymouth because you wanted to impress Justin’s father.”

Pierce glares at me but steps out of my personal space. He hesitates and thinks over what I’ve said as he stares at Teeny, who’s not backing down.

Pierce starts to walk off but stops when the door behind him slowly opens from within. We watch as Teeny steps aside for the person coming out, and my jaw drops when I see who it is.

Astrid.

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