Page 48 of Wildcard's Wager

“He said his name was Max, and that he was a member of the Demon Dawgs. That, since he was an owner, he could do whatever he wanted.”

I stare at the girl as my mind processes her words. Her description of Max doesn’t fit the man I know. Max isn’t a member. He’s a prospect, so he has no stake in the hotel. Yet. “He’s hardly ever here,” I protest. “He spends most of his time at the clubhouse with the kids and the Old Ladies.”

“He’s always here and watching us,” Bianca corrects me.

I glance at Trouble, who shrugs. “Can’t say I’ve seen him here. If he’s pulling stunts like this, then I imagine he’d stay out of sight of the brothers.”

“But this isn’t like him,” I protest. “There’s only one way to know for certain.” Pulling out my phone, I send a text to Chill and tell her to bring Max to 1%. She replies that they’re on their way.

“If he sees me, he’ll kill me,” Bianca says, shaking. Brigit puts her arm around the girl to calm her.

“No, he won’t. If he did these things, he won’t be bothering anyone,” I assure her. What I don’t say is that he won’t be bothering anyone ever again. He’ll be too scared, or more likely, too dead.

“You said he watches you. Has he done anything else?” I ask Bianca. The haunted look in her eyes tells me the story. “Son of a bitch!” I explode and punch the wall. “How could this have happened here? Where the fuck was security?”

“He knows the blind-spots,” Bianca says.

“Has he hurt you?” Brigit asks.

Bianca shrugs. “He’s bruised my breasts by grabbing them and he’s grabbed my pussy. I don’t think he’s raped anyone. At least not that I know of. But it’s only a matter of time. I know I’m not the only one he’s gone after. He tells us we belong to him. When I fought him off, he laughed and told me they’d have fun breaking me. He said that as bikers, they own us and he can do whatever he wants.”

“That’s fucking bullshit!” Trouble explodes. “I can’t believe Chill heard this and brushed it off. What the fuck is she thinking?”

“I didn’t tell Chill everything,” Bianca says. “All this started happening after Liz left. I went to the temp who was filling in and made my first complaint. That just made everything worse. He threatened to kill me if I complained again.”

“I thought you spoke to Chill?” Brigit asks.

“When I heard she fired the temp, I went to Chill. When Chill didn’t believe me, I expected Max to retaliate. However, he said nothing about it. But he’s still harassing us.”

“We need to talk to the others,” Trouble says. “I don’t understand how this happened. We also need to fix the holes in our security. This should never have happened. Our employees need to feel safe. Has any other club member bothered you?”

Bianca shakes her head. “Just Max.”

“And you say he’s targeted other girls?” Brigit asks. When Bianca nods, she glances at me. “There is more going on here than just a horny biker enthralled with a beautiful woman. He’s targeting multiple women. He’s a psychopath.”

This makes no sense. I’ve never seen Max hit on any of the women who hang out at the club. I’ve even considered the possibility that he’s gay and just not comfortable telling us yet. Not that anyone would care, but I could understand a prospect not wanting to give club members a reason to boot him.

When the door opens and Chill steps in with Max and Viper, I’m fuming mad. I swing on Max and grab him by the t-shirt, lifting him up and slamming him against the wall.

“What the fuck?” Chill and Viper explode. Each coming to stand on either side of me. Neither dares to interfere since I’m the VP. I outrank them.

“You attacked that girl?” I demand of Max, whose frightened eyes dart around the room.

“What girl? I didn’t attack anyone!” Max chokes out.

“Don’t fucking play dumb,” I snarl.

“Wait,” comes a small voice from behind him. “That’s not him.”

I keep hold of Max but turn my attention to Bianca, who is standing right behind me.

“What?”

“That’s not him. He looks like him. But that isn’t the same guy. The guy who attacked me was a few years older, and he has blue eyes, not green.”

“Wait, I know you,” Chill says. “You came to file a complaint against—” She turns slowly and looks at Max. “Max.”

“I didn’t attack her!” Max protests. “I swear it. You know me. I’d never hurt a woman.”

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