Page 12 of Vengeance

“Seven days is not enough time to make arrangements. If the heads agree, I need at least two weeks to get everyone together and then make arrangements.”

“You’ve had weeks, Ivan,” Psycho says. “You failed to reach out to us about your decision, which tells me all I need to know about how you view your largest client. That’s on you.”

“Be reasonable, boys.”

“You think you can get everything squared away in two weeks?” Jennings asks.

“Yes.”

Psycho shakes his head, but Jennings says, “Okay.”

The line goes dead, and Psycho stands. “You know what he’s doing, right?”

“He’s either going to help us, or...”

“He’s getting his ducks in a row to take us out.”

“We need to come up with a Plan B and C. I’m not killing our clubs.”

Chapter Four

Griffin’s Beach

Heidi

Heidi Shepherd pulls into the Puffy Taco parking lot for the first time in what feels like a year. In reality, it’s been a couple of months, but between getting married and then kidnapped, there has been a lot going on to deal with. Not to mention the fact she needed to heal after what happened in the basement, both mentally and physically.

The belt they used cut into her skin along with leaving terrible bruises that never seemed to want to disappear. She never has been, nor will she ever be, a turtleneck woman. Her girls need to be out and free, not constricted by some fashion torture device, no doubt invented by a man. No, ma’am.

Stepping out of the car, she feels a weird sense of both freedom and fear take hold. Her husband, Taylor “Shep” Shepherd, left for the first run he’s gone on since she was taken from their new home, and it feels strange being anywhere without her security shadow. And wearing clothes.

She worried that Taylor would find her repulsive or handle her with care because of her injuries after what happened in that basement, but he surprised her. Pleasantly surprised her. He took care of her, but he also made sure she knew, without any doubt, how much he loved her, and what happened to her didn’t change anything. So much so, she found it pointless to put on clothes for almost two weeks because they always seemed to end up on the floor of various rooms in the house.

As she walks up to the building, all ten of her strippers walk out of the building, and Heidi looks at them, surprised. She assumed she’d have at least a few hours to lock herself up in the building to catch up on paperwork before anyone else showed up. Her team was more than capable of handling things while she was gone, but the control freak in her mixed with the need to prove to the Drifters they didn’t make a mistake taking a chance on her takes over, and she needs to make sure everything is in order and inventory has been ordered accordingly.

A few of the women walking out came with her from the Clam Bake, the club she used to work at when she was known as Starbright. The club that allowed her to meet the man she married – something she never thought was in the cards for her. The women all walked out on the tyrant of a boss who took advantage of and abused them. It was really a godsend to have them because Heidi knew they could keep things running without her. But the looks on their faces tell her they aren’t too happy. And it appears they’re not too happy with her.

Heidi’s dark hair whips around her face in the breeze, and she looks at the diamond watch Taylor gave her as a wedding present. The man definitely spoils her. “What are you doing here so early? Or, I guess, late? Did you have a party or something?”

“What are you doing here?” Beatrice, otherwise known as Starry, asks.

Her eyes narrow at the fake blonde with extensions down to her ass with big green eyes and pale skin tattooed with various constellations. Heidi and Starry have known each other for almost five years, and Heidi was the one to take her to and from the hospital when Starry increased her implants from a D to an H cup.

The question catches her off-guard, and everyone in front of her gives her similar annoyed looks. Heidi stares back at the scantily clad women no one would be surprised to learn take their clothes off and dance on poles for a living, and she loves it. There’s a freedom about being up on stage with men and women gawking and slipping money into the smallest panties they can find. But right now, these women don’t look happy. No, they look ready to attack and tear off Heidi’s head.

“Let’s go inside and talk,” Heidi finally says when she can’t take the silence any longer and pushes past them to the front door. Walking in, she sees the keys sitting on the hostess stand, and her stomach drops. “What’s going on?”

“You tell us,” Rhonda says, her white tube top becoming sheer as she crosses her arms and pulls the fabric tight to showcase her pink nipples with ring piercings in each.

Heidi looks at everyone and tries to calm the panic rising inside her. “I have no idea what’s going on, but I see keys to the building are sitting right here, so the only thing I can come up with is that you’re leaving me. Which is crazy... right?”

“Leaving you?” Starry exclaims. “You’d have to actually be here for us to leave you.”

Jaw dropping, she steps back and stares in awe. “Excuse me?”

“You gave up on us,” Crimson says, her fire-red hair reminding Heidi of Lacey.

“Gave up? On you? You’re the ones walking away from me!”

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