Page 78 of Jester

Talon and Dire glare at each other, while Jelly Bean rubs her belly and whispers with Aqua. I know they’re quietly teasing Talon who is too busy eyeballing her other friend to notice.

Ominous smirks at me. “Enjoying freedom?”

“Got me a hot girlfriend riding bitch. How can I complain?”

“Iamhot,” Talon tells Dire who responds with, “Yes, you’re quite the beauty queen, ya bitch-riding bitch.”

Ominous chuckles and leans back. “Dire’s going to be the one chick member without a kid slobbering on her vest.”

Aqua strokes her woman’s belly and smiles proudly. I try to imagine Talon ever looking so round. I don’t even remember Ciara during her pregnancy. I always assumed she was lying about the kid being mine. Now, I’m wondering how much of a strain pregnancy would be on Talon’s body.

I look at Jelly Bean again and then glance at where that Eliza chick is sitting. She’s around Talon’s height and her man is larger than me. She doesn’t look like she’s splitting apart from carrying his kid.

Still, I worry what I want will destroy Talon. She’s not as tough as I thought. If she can’t be stronger, I’ll need to be smarter. Unfortunately, I’ve never been the brightest guy.

Before I can panic, I glance at Papa Bear’s table. He’s got three of his four kids nearby. His granddaughters use his lap as their chair. The family looks happy. His ten-year-old daughter is bouncing around while telling a story. Everything about them is normal and healthy.

If I can’t be smarter, at least I have good people willing to help me figure things out.

OVERLORD

Ikeep an eye on themedia for mentions of the Primrose attack. I find a vague story about a fire with fatalities. There’s nothing about shootings. The lack of coverage reminds me of those news reports we found about the deaths of Luca’s sister and niece. The media did their best to bury the story. The locals in Texas seem to be doing the same.

I doubt the estate raid will somehow splash back on the club. But we’re still dealing with heat for what happened in Cahuenga.

Right now, the biggest question looming over the Sanctuary and Metamora is what to do with the Black Gold Four’s staff. Helping them was the price to get info and assistance from Theo. We can’t just cut them loose.

So, I spend most of the afternoon learning what they’ll need to start over in life. Many of them want new identities and cash to move somewhere else. They’re afraid the final Black Gold Four member will hunt them down for revenge if they return to their old lives.

A few seem uncertain about the future. One woman starts crying and keeps sobbing for an hour. I assume living in that place would be traumatizing for the staff. They were hired to do a simple job, learned they were part of something vile, and were too afraid to bail, let alone rat out their powerful bosses.

However, they did keep those young women caged. Normally, when a castoff arrives, their story isn’t shared with everyone. If they did bad shit, we don’t shame them. The founders weren’t saints. None of us are.

With the estate staff, their culpability is widely known. They might never do well within the Sanctuary or even Metamora. But only time will tell. We’ll need weeks to process new identities and get people settled elsewhere. Until then, they’ll stay at the motel and have their needs met by the club.

Back at the Sanctuary, I manage to talk Jules into leaving the house and make rounds with me. Zoey and Evie come along while Scout and Anthony stay with Mabie back at our place. My girls dance-walk ahead of us as we stop by the Stockade to check on two of the Dolls.

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