Page 42 of Her Saviors

“I don’t know. The place wasn’t this bad last night when we left. I left a note for the cleaning crew to call me when they got here. I went back to the clubhouse and passed out, forgettin’ to check my phone this mornin’. I’m sorry, Soul,” Country apologizes as we continue looking around the room.

“Someone came in here after hours and had their own private party it seems if this wasn’t how you left it. Country, let’s go talk in the office for a few minutes. Fetch, you deal with the bar area and Blair you can deal with the floor. Get it cleaned up. Fetch, you arenotto help Blair get this place clean. She’s an employee here and needs to pull her weight,” I say after looking at the smug smirk on her face as she looks around the main floor.

“Should we call Darren and get him down here for a report?” Fetch asks.

“Not yet. Let me talk to Country for a minute and then we’ll figure it out. Fetch, if we want to bring Darren in, I’ll let you know. Keep your phone on ya,” I tell him as Country and I head for my office.

Unlocking the door, we go inside and I get the monitors turned on for the security footage.

“So, tell me what’s goin’ on with Blair. How has she been since I’ve been gone?” I ask Country as I pull up the footage from last night just before Country should’ve been leaving the club.

“It’s been a fuckin’ shitshow, Soul. She’s pulled at least one no-call, no-show a week since you left to get your brother and sister. When she is here, she’s causin’ problems with female customers because she takes the men they come in with. Instead of workin’ the floor and makin’ sure everyone has their drinks, she spends more time sittin’ on her ass and makin’ everyone go to the bar for themselves. And there’s been more than a few times I’ve found her in the bathroom with male customers havin’ sex. I’m all for havin’ random hookups, but not while you’re at fuckin’ work,” Country tells me, his voice hard and cold while having traces of guilt mixed in.

“This isn’t on you, Country. Blair is takin’ full advantage of me not bein’ here. Now, let’s see if my hunch is correct,” I say, turning toward the monitors as one screen shows what’s going on in the club right now while the others play footage from last night.

Running my fingers through my hair, which knocks my hat off, I grimace at what I’m hearing. We’re not hardasses with any of our employees. We give them a fair wage and allow them to keep their tips after they cashout the bar. Hearing that she hasn’t bothered stepping up to help while me and Brooklyn have been gone angers me more than I can express.

Country and I watch on as Blair leaves with everyone else. Instead of leaving when Country and Fetch do, she remains in the parking lot. Once everyone is gone, Blair gets back out of her car and heads for the back door. She removes a key from her pocket and lets herself back in the club. Switching to the indoor cameras, we watch as she keys in the code for the alarm to shut it off. Soon, four men and some women come out of the bathrooms where they’ve been hiding. Even more people walk through the back door and let themselves in the club to have a party.

“Fuck this shit!” I yell out, anger filling me as I stop the recording and turn my attention to the other monitor where Blair is sitting on her ass and not cleaning like she should be. “Get that bitch in my office now.”

Country nods his head and brings Blair into the office. She saunters in as if she doesn’t have a care in the world.

“What the fuck is your problem, Blair? You really think it’s cool to take advantage of Country while I wasn’t here?” I question her as indignation fills her face and she places her hands on her hips in defiance.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Soul. I wouldn’t ever do anything like that,” she says, trying to pull that fake ass pout the Shattered Angels pull at the clubhouse to get their way.

“Really. I’ve already heard all about what you’ve been doin’ over the last month, Blair. I told you when I first hired you that I wasn’t gonna put up with the bullshit. Country didn’t say anythin’ to you because he didn’t feel it was his place and didn’t want to bother me with your bullshit while I was busy takin’ care of personal things,” I tell her, turning the monitor for her to see the party she decided to throw last night. “What the fuck is this shit?”

“We had one hell of a rager here last night,” she says, laughing her ass off as if I’m not gonna press charges against her for this shit.

“Country, tell Fetch to call Darren and get him in here. I want full charges pressed against Blair for this shit,” I say, anger filling me because I know I’m gonna be here even later than anticipated tonight and it’s the last thing I want.

“You can’t do that, Soul. I didn’t do anything wrong!” Blair screeches, stomping her heel against the wooden floor of my office.

“Yeah, ya did. You broke into the club after it was closed, drank liquor none of you paid for, left the club trashed, more than likely scared off the cleanin’ crew, and I’m sure there’s a ton more things I’m not findin’. Though, I’ll get Hulk to go through all the footage from here so Darren has the full picture and knows exactly what to charge you with. This is bullshit and I never thought you’d sink this fuckin’ low,” I tell her as Country enters the room once again.

“It wouldn’t have happened if you didn’t marry that stupid fucking slut, Soul! You were supposed to be my man. Wheels too. Then, you marry her and leave to bring two brats back to Odin’s Gap who don’t fucking belong here. Put them in fucking foster care instead of taking them in. Country cut my fucking hours for no reason at all. This was my way of getting what I’m owed by you and this fucking club!” Blair yells out, her voice echoing in my office and grating on my last fucking nerve.

“We don’t owe you a fuckin’ thing, Blair. And if you talk shit about my wife one more time, I’ll let Cricket and Fee loose on your ass. I know you can’t handle either one of them in a fight. I’d let my wife at ya, but she’s pregnant and won’t fuckin’ deal with your ass because our baby is more important than you’ll ever be. Country, how long until Darren’s here?” I ask my friend as rage fills his face and I know he’s wishing Blair was a guy right now the same as I am. I’d lay her the fuck out if she had a dick.

“You owe me everything!” she yells just as Darren opens the door of my office and steps inside.

“Darren, I want this woman arrested,” I tell him, showing him the footage from last night. “I’m not sure how long she’s been pullin’ this shit. I’ll call Hulk and have him go through the footage to see what else he can find. Press as many charges against her as you possibly can and make sure it all sticks. I’ll give all the evidence we have on our end.”

“Okay,” Darren says, knowing what’s been going on with me because Anguish asked if he could tell him. “I’ll be in touch with Hulk.”

We watch on as Darren leads Blair from the club. She’s kicking and fighting against Darren, gathering more charges as he finally removes her from the club. Country and I make our way back out to the main floor where everyone on the schedule for tonight is here, looking around in disgust. I quickly fill them in on what happened with Blair as they all start to pitch in to clean and get ready for opening. Seeing Country look even worse, I send him home and tell him I’ll get Nanny here if he doesn’t leave on his own. The second I mention Nanny, Country leaves and goes back to the compound. I wish I were leaving with him.

After helping clean the floor of the club so we can open the doors, I make sure everyone has what they need. Fetch has the bar stocked and the new waitress we hired is ready to go. I’ll be out sooner or later to help them, but for now, I make my way to the office to start going through the applications we have in the filing cabinet. I hate this shit and know this is only going to prolong how long I’m here tonight. Plus, I call the cleaning crew and apologize to them for last night and make sure they’ll be here tonight as usual. I go through each application and toss more than three quarters of them in the trash can to be shredded so no one’s personal information gets out somehow. When I notice the club is getting busy, I push away from my desk and make my way out to the floor to help everyone there. Tonight is gonna be never-ending and I’m not ready for it. I guess this is the hard part of being a parent that no one really talks about. Fuck!

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Brooklyn

WAKING UP SURROUNDED by Gavin and Jayce, I feel completely safe, loved, and overwhelmingly hot. These men of mine are like furnaces when we sleep. I never have to worry about being cold and while that’s nice, it does make things really awkward right now because I feel as if I have a fever and can’t go back to sleep no matter how early in the day it is. Today is one of those days as I lay here and try to figure out why I woke up so early. Looking around our bedroom with sleepy eyes, there’s nothing different in here. Kyler isn’t standing by our bed after having a nightmare as we’ve found him a few times over the last two months since they’ve moved in with us. Lifting my head, I look over Jayce at the baby monitor to find Mia still sleeping peacefully in her crib. Thinking about it, she didn’t wake us up once during the night. My mouth opens in shock at the realization and I want to jump up and rush to her in case something is wrong.

I must shift in the bed or something because Jayce wraps his arm more firmly around me and I look over at him to find his eyes open and watching me.

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