Page 59 of The Echo of Violence

She bites her lip for now, but I have no doubt this will come up again later down the line.

“And I need to talk to Jinx.”

“Not before I do.”

“Mercy—”

“No, Scope. You’re my partner, not my dad. You don’t get to pick who can be my friend. That’s up to me. I know how to take care of myself.”

Now it’s his turn to bite his lip.

Mercy looks away, but when Scope’s eyes find mine, I know he’ll be talking to Jinx, whether Mercy likes it or not.

Mercy’s cell rings. She pulls it out and smiles when she sees who’s calling. “Hey, Dulce. Guys, I’m gonna go to the bunker. We can talk more about this later.”

She climbs off the table with her cell phone to her ear, talking away to her friend and another former Candy girl. The one that looks like butter wouldn’t melt in her mouth, yet she might just be the most unhinged of them all. Though I’m not sure any of them are sane.

“If we don’t figure something out soon, and she mentions this to the Candy girls, they’ll run with it. And then we’ll have to deal with their crazy asses all the time, as well as their men.”

Scope rubs his hands over his face. “First things first. We need to run a background check on Jinx. What’s her last name?”

He looks at me, but I don’t know.

“Knight? Splinter?”

They both shake their heads.

He sighs before turning back to me. “You’ve fucked her, but you don’t know her last name?”

“Give me one of the bunny’s last names.”

“We only fuck Mercy now. Want her last name?” Scope questions, but his lips twitch as he concedes my point. They might have Mercy now, but they remember what it used to be like. When you’re looking to get laid, the last thing you’re thinking about is their last name.

“Right, well, find out. I don’t want Mercy to get her hopes up about this only to have to pull the plug at the last minute.”

“It’s gonna be a bigger project than I think she realizes,” Knight warns him.

“At least it will give her something to focus on. She’s smart, she’ll figure it out. And she needs this or something like it. We all know she hasn’t been happy for a while now.”

“It’s not just having something to do. It’s the club bunnies. You might not have liked Jinx’s words, but she wasn’t wrong. You need to either move off-site and give Mercy a space away from the girls or move the girls out.”

“Most of those girls have nowhere else to go,” Knight reminds us.

“Then reinstate some of the old rules. Fridays and Saturdays can be party days, but the rest of the week should just be more laid-back. The girls will still be here if the guys want to fuck, but they can take it behind closed doors.”

Kaz looks at me and nods. “We need to bring it to the table, but I agree.”

“Not everyone will be happy,” I warn them, thinking of Boomer in particular and some of the younger members.

“I’m not asking them to become born-again fucking virgins. If they want to fuck, there are plenty of places they can go without giving my woman a show all the damn time. Even I’m getting sick of it, and not much fazes me,” Wizz grumbles.

Scope claps his hands. “No time like the present, then. Round everyone up. I’m calling church.”

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Jinx

I laugh at the scowl on Nico’s face when Rex licks his cheek.

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