Page 55 of Savage Daddies

I maneuver through traffic and rev the Harley the second the traffic lights blink green, taking a right toward Cash Pot Palace.If she’s gonna be anywhere, it’ll be her father’s casino or Paul’s—considering she was there last night.Or, maybe she’s made a lucky escape back out into the desert, this time with Sammy.

But she knows better than to chance an escape with a three-year-old where coyotes lurk, and water is scarce.

I pull up a block away from the casino, lock up the Harley and walk over, taking side streets instead of the main strip to avoid any media consumers who’ve since viewed the online photo of Zoe, Bullwhip, Poet, and me.

I Google her name, and what do you know? It’s top of the search results.

God, these photographers are fucking good at their jobs.

Maybe I’ll pay them a visit and run them over. That’ll show them to never mess with the Venom Vultures. But it’s too risky. Their deaths would increase media conspiracy that we are in fact sleeping with Zoe.

It’s bullshit.

Although wedidstrip her naked in a public location last night.

My entrance into the casino wins me a glare from two random guests who clearly miss nothing the press post online. I stare back at them until their sorry little eyes flicker to the floor. To them, at the moment, we’re playing dress up, and bought our leathers from cheap costume stores. For their sakes, I hope they continue believing everything the media tells them. I’d hate to prove them wrong and introduce them to the Venom Vultures’ weaponry collection.

The sparse crowds tell me all I need to know—Zoe isn’t here.

I slip through the back exit in case she’s hiding, nerves bundling up inside of me even more when I don’t find her. What if Felix Fernando killed her? He’s rich enough to pay off an assassin, and could stage it well too. Make out she died in some freak accident.

Would he be able to fake the tears?

“Get your slimy hands off me!” shouts some guy.

I turn my head. There’s not much around the back except dumpsters, fallen bricks, and weirdly, a hanging noose blowing in the breeze.

I tiptoe toward the end of the building. The sounds of heavy breathing and gravel gritting underfoot grow in volume until I’m turning the corner to see two men trying to pin one another up against the wall.

I turn my back to keep myself concealed.

Finally, we might have something to report back to Grizzly.

More ragged breathing continues. “You took back the envelope.”

“I’d go nowhere near you. Don’t fancy catching a disease.” The British accent rings loud and clear in my ears. Paul.

Swiftly, I curl my head back around the wall.

It’s Warren pressing Paul up against the brick wall.

Two casino owners going at it. Fantastic.

“I have more money than I fucking need,” spits Paul. “That’s something you greedy bastards can’t understand, is it? You’re like alcoholics, never knowing when to draw the line.”

“I’ll draw one across your face with a knife in a minute,” says Warren. “That stupid accent might sweet-talk others into bed, but it’s not gonna work on me. I want that envelope back. Now. Felix requires it.”

Ah. The envelope Grizzly saw him hand over.

That must make Warren the employee who received the envelope on Felix’s behalf.

Paul and Warren stand at similar heights, so it makes their eye contact pretty intense. They stare at one another like it’s a competition neither one of them wishes to lose. Paul and I have met very briefly, but he doesn’t strike me as the kind of guy to raise his voice unnecessarily. When selecting club members, Grizzly is very picky, so he must be even more so when it comes to friendship.

Warren does not look like Zoe. All he looks like is a bully. One that needs putting in his fucking place.

Warren holds an arm under Paul’s chin, keeping him pressed into the wall.

All Paul does is laugh. “You two make a good team. Both as bad as each other.” He grits his teeth when the pain intensities. “If I open you up, what will I find inside? An empty space where your heart used to be? Evil bastard. Zoe and Fiona might be your daughters now, but they won’t be forever.”

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