Page 14 of Three Little Words

I sat down with him. Somebody put a beer in front of me. “Hey. Thanks for the invite.”

“Of course! You know that’s what we do here. You do good work, you get to drink with us.”

I wasn’t going to protest. It was a pretty good arrangement.

“So how’s it going?” I took a sip of my beer.

Dak nodded. “Going good. We’re doing great. Membership’s strong and the bastards across the river haven’t pulled any dumb shit recently.” He grinned, his smile a little lopsided.

“Good to hear it.”

We chatted a little, keeping it surface-level. Dak bought me a new beer every time I emptied the one I had.

I knew conversation was going to get serious when he switched us over to whiskey.

“I’m having some issues,” he murmured after a while.

He was slurring his words. I felt my gut twist.

This was about to turn into a conversation I really didn’t want to be a part of.

But you don’t tell a guy like Dak no.

“We’re having some money problems.”

“Like, the club’s doing bad?”

“No, no. Like… money that should be there isn’t.”

I frowned. “That’s not good.”

“Right?” He shook his head. “I’m worried. If somebody in the club is screwing us…”

He didn’t have to finish his statement.

I knew what happened to people who crossed Dak, and it wasn’t pretty.

The conversation was thankfully interrupted then.

A gorgeous woman walked up to our table. She wore tight jeans with a crop top that just barely covered her tits under an open motorcycle vest. Her long red hair was pulled up in a ponytail.

She put a fresh whiskey in front of me and a second in front of Dak.

“Hey.” She smiled at me. “I’m Jazz. Haven’t seen you around before.”

Dak grinned and slapped my shoulder again. “Jazz. This is Benny, owns No Regrets with his cousin. He does all my ink now.”

Jazz smiled. “Yeah? Maybe I’ll stop in sometime. You do cover-ups?”

“I can, yeah. Got something you want to go away?”

“Yeah. Got my ex’s name on my tits.” She patted one breast, indicating where the ink was. “He got himself arrested. I want him out of my life.”

“I can do that.”

“Good.” She put one hand on the table, bending forward toward me. “I’ll make it worth your while, promise.”

She dipped one finger in my whiskey and swirled it around, then lifted it to her lips.

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