Page 114 of Scatter the Bones

“Yes, pleeease.” His voice rumbles through his chest, followed by a dramatic sigh that makes his whole body sink beneath me. “I’d rather talk about literally anything else.”

My brain won’t stop turning over the situation, though. If she’s the club’s “biggest earner,” whatever that means, he won’t be able to walk away from working with her as easily as he makes it sound.

Not when his loyalty to his club is stitched into every part of him—even the parts I wish were just mine.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

Jigsaw

Now that Margotknows about the club’s porn empire, I might as well take her to a party downstate. Not exactly a dream date, but it’s been a relief not having to hide that detail from her any longer.

“So what are they celebrating tonight?” she asks, settling herself into the passenger side of my truck. She carefully gathers the skirt of her dress—black with big, splashy blue flowers—and drapes it over her knees. Shiny blue heels. Matching cardigan. The whole look is pure class, way too refined for the kind of party we’re headed to. But the second I saw her, I lost the ability to say a damn word. The dress hugs her in all the right places, especially that low neckline teasing the soft swells of her tits. Made me want to bury my face in her cleavage and say fuck the party.

I should be taking her out somewhere nice. On an actual date. Not a party for…“Stella just passed five hundred thousand monthly subscribers to her site,” I explain.

She twists to face me as I pull out of her driveway, her red lips parted, forming an adorable, shocked O. “Five. Hundred.Thousand?”

“Yup. She’s been close for a while now, so it’s a big deal.”

And since Stella’s still salty that we turned her down for her one-hundred-and-one-men-in-one-day fuckfest project, Z said to host a party in her honor to celebrate this milestone and stroke her ego.

Of course, he had zero intention of attending the party. So, as an officer, now Ihaveto be there.

Rooster promised to bring Shelby and meet us at the party.

“Subscribers? Like, paid subscribers?” Margot asks.

Whatever fragrance she’s wearing fills the cabin. Sweet like expensive candy and flowers but warm like vanilla, and a little woodsy. The urge to pull over and lick her all over keeps me on edge. “Yup.”

“How much does she charge?” Out of the corner of my eye, I catch her press her hand to her lips. “Sorry, that’s rude, isn’t it?”

“Not like you can’t look up the information if you wanted to.” My tone’s flat as I flick the blinker on and take the turn for the ramp to the Thruway. “She has a couple of different tiers. From five-ninety-nine to twenty-five-ninety-nine.”

“Wow.” She fusses with her dress some more. “Boy did I go into the wrong line of work.”

Even though I think—hope—it’s just a throwaway comment, if I turn it over for too long, my head will explode. “Don’t even joke about that.”

“Who says I’m joking?” She laughs softly. “And your club takes a percentage of that for maintaining the website and stuff?”

A large percentage.Between the investment money and my cut of the porn cash, I’ve been the beneficiary of several large bonuses recently. Still haven’t figured out what I want to do with all that cash yet.

“Sorry,” she says again. “That’s club business, isn’t it?”

“Yes, the club takes a percentage.” I squeeze the steering wheel harder than necessary. “And even though it’s clubbusiness, I want you to understand, when you catch me on my laptop fiddling with porn sites, I’m not jerking off. It’swork.”

“I guess so,” she mutters, clearly not thrilled but still curious. “And that’s only one of the sites that the club manages? You take a percentage from all of them?”

If only she asked me this much about riding, the laundromat, the racetrack, or almost anything else.

“Yup. Hers is the most…elaborate. And profitable. She produces a lot of different content and engages with her fanbase a lot.”Engage is one way to put it.I can’t believe I’m going to say this to my girlfriend. “As much as I don’t like her personally, she’s a smart woman. Very driven.”

“Guess you’d have to be to have half a million people pay to see you do…” She wiggles her hands in the air jazz style. “Stuffevery month.”

She rests her hand on my thigh and gives me a playful squeeze. “Think there’s a niche market for porn starring a cute mortician?”

What she’s suggesting makes my eye twitch.

“I’m sure there’s a market for everything.” I cut a sidelong glance her way. “But that’s absolutely the fuck not happening. Unless you’re asking for a friend.”

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