Page 46 of Start A War (Saint View Psychos)

“Depends on the month. Mostly only one night a month, but there’s been the odd occasion where we’ve done two or even three.”

“You’re telling me this place can make a hundred and fifty thousand dollars profit in a month? Only being open three nights?”

Nash nodded. “Between the cover charge, the drugs, and all the add-ons people can purchase, it’s a lot of money. We can fit a lot of people in here, and as word spreads about us, more and more people try to get on the list. The fact no one is allowed to say what happens in here makes it all the more appealing, I think. People want to find out for themselves. It’s all word-of-mouth marketing. Very underground and hush-hush. I thought Axel was crazy when he first started talking about it, but fucking hell, it works. There’s three hundred and something on the list tonight, and that’s not even capacity.” He eyed me carefully. “But it comes with risk, Bliss. Don’t get blinded by the dollar signs.”

It was too late. The thought of having money like that was mind-blowing. My own money. Not my father’s. Not Caleb’s. It was something I’d never thought possible for myself.

“Six months. The guy in my room the other night. He said his contract with Axel lasted another six months. If I sold Psychos now—”

“You probably wouldn’t get enough to pay him out. Psychos the bar is worth next to nothing. We don’t own the building. Just the business. We pay rent for the entire space, and that contract would need to be paid out too. As well as our alcohol tabs and utility bills. I can’t imagine anyone really wanting to come in and take over a place that smells faintly of piss and spilled beer.” He shrugged. “But I guess you wouldn’t really need to worry about that. You could just sell a diamond earring or something to cover the shortfall.”

I didn’t tell him that all my diamonds were actually cubic zirconia. I’d already pawned the only set of true diamonds I owned. I hadn’t gotten nearly as much as I’d hoped for them either.

Nash’s intense gaze flickered over my face. “So, what’s it gonna be, Blissy girl? You selling up shop to the highest bidder? Or you walking in your brother’s footsteps and becoming one of us?”

My father had raised me to do the right thing. That meant selling Psychos and going to the police about the illegal goings-on and the masked man in my bedroom.

But even as I considered that, the hood rat in me knew that going to the cops would only make things worse as well as leaving me with more debts to pay.

There was a third option. I could look at this as an opportunity for something more. It might not have been the business I’d dreamed of owning. But it was already mine. It could provide for me and help pay off some of my father’s debts so he could get back on his feet. He could hire a business manager to get his company back on track, and Everett and Verity wouldn’t have to leave their private schools. I could pay for them to continue getting the very best education.

I wanted that for them. I never wanted them to suffer hunger or neglect the way I had when we’d had no money. I didn’t want them to lose the safety and security they had now. I didn’t want them knowing there was any other way to live than the privileged lives they’d had so far.

I could take away that pain before they even felt it.

“I’m in,” I told Nash, knowing there was no other real option. “I’m one of you.”

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