Page 42 of Salvation

Nothing ever changed with Vienna!I thought with a roll of my eyes.

Tools was in a relationship with a woman named Jade, although she was not an official old lady as of yet. They were hoping for the official riding ceremony to take place in a month’s time. I smiled to myself when I thought back to mine and Dante’s riding ceremony—something we had taken far too literally, and then caught myself, forcing a stern expression to my face.

What the fuck was I thinking, smiling like a love-struck teenager? Six months, and I’m out of here!

Chris and Hacksaw were a couple now, having revealed their secret around a year ago. No one was surprised.

“And then there’s a lass called Steph. She’s Monster’s old lady.”

“Monster? He finally managed to get a woman?”

“Looks like it. She’s lovely. She’s always got a smile on her face, or her head in a book. But, believe me, she knows how to push Dante’s buttons.”

“Oh?” I asked, liking her already.

“Yeah. She’s a vegetarian—absolutely adores animals. She helps Monster with the dogs a lot. You’ll probably see her soon, she stops by on her lunch break every day to walk them.”

“All of them?!”

“Yep,” Jenna said with a wide-eyed nod. “I don’t know how she does it, but they all behave for her. Anyway, she keeps trying to bring in animals. First of all, she wanted some rabbits. Monster bought her some rabbits. Dante wasn’t happy about it, but they kept Bee entertained, and they’re in Monster’s garden, so there’s not really much he can do about it, you know? Then she wanted some guinea pigs. But their garden wasn’t big enough, so she asked Dante if they could have them at one of the pubs. She pestered him for weeks on end, until he finally agreed. He avoids those pubs like the plague anyway. He’d much rather be in the clubhouse. But then Steph pushed her luck and said she wanted some birds in the shops as well. Dante said, and I quote, ‘this isn’t a fucking petting zoo, and you’re not fucking snow white. Piss off before I cook up your rabbits, tie you to a chair and force you to eat the lot of them.’”

“Well…” I muttered, not quite knowing what to say.

“Oh, wait, it gets better. So in retaliation for not letting her have her animals, she snuck in one day when he was out on club business.”

“Snuck in where? His house?”

“Yep,” she said, popping the P. “She had ordered thousands of these little plastic animals. And when I say thousands, I meanthousands.She planted them everywhere. Shark told me that Dante has been finding them in the strangest places. At first, it was obvious. On top of the coffee table, resting on the armchair, that sort of thing. But you quickly run out of space, and when you’ve got thousands, you need to be creative. She’s made it a game. For every five he brings her, she’ll give him the location of one more. By her count, there’s over nine hundred left to find. And yes, she kept a written record of them all. It was actually one of the agendas at a club meeting. Dante ordered Monster to find the diary she has with all the locations in, but wherever she’s hidden it, it’s hidden as well as those plastic animals. He tipped the house upside down and Steph didn’t even utter a word of complaint. She just picked up the bag of already collected animals and stuck them to Dante’s motorbike with a note saying, ‘nice try’.”

“I like her more and more,” I grinned, picturing Dante as he grew angrier and angrier over these stupid plastic animals that were causing him such grief.

“I thought you might. If you happen to find one, just put it right back where you found it. Don’t make his life easier.”

“Please,” I scoffed. “Since when has that ever been my goal?”

“Fair point. So… You’ve heard the good stuff. Are you ready to hear about the last new addition?”

“Oh, God…” I flinched, imagining the worse.

“Indeed. You ready?”

I nodded.

“Greg has an old lady. Can you guess who it is?”

“Who?” I breathed, trying to rack my brain and picture someone I didn’t like—but let’s face it, the list was endless.

“None other than Beth.”

“No! Diner Beth? The woman that runs The Greasy Spoon?”

“One and the same. It’s made her sister—you remember Spunky, don’t you?” She paused as I raised my hand and shook it from side to side in a way that meant ‘vaguely.’ “Well, it’s made her insufferable. She was the one shouting abuse, calling you a lawyer when you arrived here that very first day.”

“Delightful. So I’ve got a nice little team of haters on my hands: Greg, Beth and Spunky. Fucking fantastic.”

“Reigning supreme, sweetheart. Reigning. Supreme. None of them can touch you,” she said with a satisfied smirk.

“It’s not touching me I’m worried about. It’s that damn contract.”

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