Page 39 of My Hunger, Your Soul

Dima leaves the gym and I walk back to my room for a steaming hot shower, and dress in my signature black t-shirt, pants and leather jacket, tie my hair up and head out to one of the cars and drive over to the strip club, Desire.

When I arrive at the club, Bonnie, the manager, and a few other staff are stocking the bar and getting the club ready for the afternoon shows. Lev and Jules are seated over at Lev’s usual table at the back of the room with two young men who I assume are the possible new recruits. Lev is seated and Jules is standing to his side, and I take up position on the other, while the two recruits sit opposite.

“About fucking time you got here,” Lev says.

“Blame D, he kept me talking. Who are these guys?”

“The blue haired one who looks like he belongs in a band is Lucas, the skinny blond is Kane,” Jules says.

“Have you boys done this kind of work before?” I ask. Blue haired boy answers first.

“Not collections or any heavy work, just dealing for my old man, until he died,” he says.

“I’ve only ever bought stuff, not dealing or anything,” Kane the blond says, and there is something off about him. Gut instinct is telling me this guy is all wrong. He won’t look us in the eye and the way he keeps picking at his nails tells me he may be nervous, as I’ve noticed Kai does that when he’s unsure.

“You two go stand at the bar so I can talk to the guys,” Lev orders, and they go without a word.

“Well?” Lev asks us.

“They’re nothing special, but they’ll get better with experience. We need the extra men,” Jules says. Lev looks at me for a response.

“I don’t trust the blond. Something’s not right with him,” I say as I rub my jaw, annoyed at not being able to pinpoint what it is.

“I’m gonna need more than that, Ivan.”

“I don't know what to tell you, Lev. He just came across as shifty to me. Untrustworthy.”

“All dealers are shifty. Jules, split them between crews and make sure they are kept a close eye on until they can be trusted,” Lev says, and Jules nods before heading over to the boys. As they leave the club, the blond Kane looks over, and when he sees me staring he immediately looks away. I don't miss the smirk on his face as they walk out, and alarm bells are definitely ringing in my head.

“So, I hear you fucked the architect,” Lev says as I take a seat next to him.

“How the hell did you know about that?”

“Simon texted Jules when he saw Tyler leaving your room this morning.”

“Fucking gossips. And before you say anything, D already gave me the lecture.”

“I ain't lecturing you on anything. I trust you.”

“You do?”

“Don't fish for compliments, Ivan.”

“Okay. If you trust me, then I want Aaron on my next enforcer job.”

“No.”

“Why won’t you let him be a part of it? I’ll look after him, or you can be there too.”

Silence.

“Well, I’m taking him. He asked to come along next time. It's better him hurting the bad guys than attacking random people in the bar.”

“That only happened once.”

“It only happened once that he got his hands on them. I’m convinced if we do this, it will give us all some peace, because he’s a loose cannon at the moment, especially on his down days. You know the music isn't helping anymore.”

Aaron dealt with the abuse from his brother by listening to a certain song on repeat. From what Lev explained when I first witnessed Aaron shut down, the music would take his thoughts away from the voices in his head. They aren’t daily anxiety attacks, but when they hit he becomes confrontational, like he needs to take physical control of the situation through whoever is around him. The music just doesn’t work like it did, and after he nearly attacked a patron at the bar, I think we need to find new methods of redirection. Aaron needs a coping mechanism and I think enforcing on occasion will be the cure.

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