Page 117 of Fangs and Fudge

I grabbed her arm and flashed him my signature sugary smile.

“Sorry, Jaws. Vena’s late this month and raging hard. Best to avoid her.”

I pulled her into the locker room and closed the door. She got my mean face until she looked suitably apologetic. I pantomimed that she’d better behave or else. The or else wasn’t the typical thumb across the throat move. I pantomimed a blow job then a chopping motion. Her eyes went wide, and she stuck her bottom lip out, understanding the Vena-V ban and her future sex life depended on her good behavior.

“We're here to make money, not friends,” she mumbled.

“Or enemies. Play nice. Final warning.”

She made a face but nodded. On our way out, I saw the door to the main bar swing closed behind Jaws.

Vena and I clocked in and left the kitchen to head upstairs. The main bar had extra guys in it, too. Buzz and Boulder were behind the bar with Hollywood and Ink. I gave Buzz a curious glance, and he shook his head slightly just like Gunther had.

Weird.

At the bottom of the stairs, Gunner stood next to Riff. Shoulder to shoulder, the pair of them completely blocked the way up, but they moved for us.

“Are we caught up in a hurricane of what-the-fuck, or is it just me?” Vena asked under her breath.

Neither of us was surprised to see Detroit and LA behind the bar in VIP.

“Are we sure a challenge means what we think it means?” Vena asked. “Cuz it’s starting to look like they might be dating.”

I almost laughed at her snark. However, the sight of MC waiting in the meeting room with Shepard killed our humor.

“Ladies,” MC said with a smile. “It’s good to see you again. I apologize on Shepard’s behalf that you were inconvenienced last night and had to leave your home because the vampire situation hasn’t been properly dealt with yet. It will be soon.”

“Yeah, looks like I’m going to be cock-blocked for the next month cuz your grandma didn’t teach me to play this nice,” Vena said to me.

I elbowed her and looked at Shepard.

He didn’t look nearly as upset as I would have been.

“Did you get everything settled?” I asked.

“I did.”

Pam walked into the room behind us, cutting off any wolf or vampire talk.

“Full house tonight,” she commented. “Are we expecting more trouble?”

“MC’s group is thinking of taking over a nightclub and wanted to shadow us to see what success looks like,” Shepard said.

Vena covered her mouth and coughed.

MC looked like he wanted to murder Shepard for half a second then smiled at Pam.

“Knowledge is power,” he said. “The more I know, the better situated I am to lead with success.”

Pam nodded and stepped off to the side as the others slowly joined us. Shepard went through and assigned our sections, placing Vena and me on the lower floor.

We hurried out of the room and to our stations. I could tell she wanted to say something, so once I was set up, I sent her a text even though it was against the rules to have phones on the floor.

Me: What?

Vena: One nut punch.

Vena: No, wait. Two.

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