Page 57 of Wildcard's Wager

The smile slips off his face as he turns cagey. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Puma gives me the side-eye but says nothing. Chill, however, speaks for all of us.

“You have a choice. Keep spilling what you know and I’ll give you a quick death. Fuck with us and I’ll gladly keep you alive so I can try out all my tools.” She opens the two cabinets that hold every torture advice imaginable. She has the standards, like whips, knives, and acid, but she has a few tricks that are hers and hers alone. Including a box of adult diapers. What the hell?

“What are the diapers for?” I have to ask.

She chuckles. “I’m glad you asked, Wildcard. This came to me when we were decorating for Halloween. Remember, we bought that dry ice to put into tubs of water to create fog? Turns out dry ice burns when it touches skin. I plan on filling the diaper with dry ice. How about it Walt? Want to know how it feels to have your junk burned off via dry ice?” She turns to face Walt, who stares at her in horror.

“The Brotherhood makes money selling women. They give me a shopping list and I find girls that meet the requirements. I test them out to see how submissive they are and to make them believe they’re at our mercy. They think you guys sold them to the Brotherhood. Dad either keeps them or sells them on.”

“You son of a bitch!” Viper screams as she impales the hot poker up Walt’s ass.

His cry of agony ricochets off the walls until he passes out from the pain.

“Well, fuck, Viper. We need him to give us the location of this fucking Brotherhood,” Chill admonishes her as she pokes at the unconscious Walt. “We’re in luck. He’s still alive. I’m sure he’ll tell us more in the morning. I need a drink.”

Puma and I lead the way back to the clubhouse, with Dice and Chill right behind us. Viper delays Max to give us a head start. We enter to see that the Old Ladies, the prospects, and the kids have done a great job of decorating the place for the upcoming celebration. The kids made a banner, or at least I’m assuming the kids made it. I think it’s supposed to be ‘Congratulations!’ But I can’t read it.

Puma hustles over to the bar to grab the box containing Max’s new kutte. I search the crowd for Brigit and move over to join her and Colt as we wait for Max to enter. We quiet down when we hear Viper and Max come through the back door.

Max looks around the room in surprise and confusion. We’re all cheering, but that seems to confuse him more.

EPILOGUE: BRIGIT

It’s fun to watch the kids decorating the clubhouse for Max. You can see how much they adore him. But what I find most interesting is how much they understand about what this means for Max. They’re coloring the sign that should say ‘Congratulations!’ but they obviously don’t think it conveys enough information. They’ve drawn pictures of activities they’ve shared with Max, using the letters as part of the tableau. There is very little left of the letters, but I think Max will find their creativity more heartfelt.

“They really love him, don’t they?” I ask Alisa.

“He’s their hero and their protector,” she says. “They adore all the club members, but Max is the one they’ll run to if they need help. When I first brought Elina here, Viper and Max shared babysitting duties. Took me some time before I trusted them. Not because they did anything wrong, but because I kept thinking they’d resent being babysitters. But neither of them saw it that way. They considered caring for Elina, then later Mal and Slade, as an honor. I’m a little disappointed that Max won’t be watching them any longer, but I’m happy for him. He earned this.”

Spotting my dad talking to Claudia, I make my way over to them. He’s sporting his kutte and I see the name Gramps.Maybe he wasn’t happy with the road name at first, but he seems pleased now. He and Claudia are frosting cupcakes. I smirk. With the balloons, streamers, and now cupcakes, this seems more like a kid’s birthday party than a patch in party for a motorcycle club.

“Cupcakes?” I ask.

My dad chuckles. “That’s what the kids ordered for the party. We’ll have the sugar rush first and after the kids go to bed, they’ll break out the adult party. Pretty sure Max won’t mind starting out the celebration with the kids. He cares about them.”

“I hear there was some excitement at the casino,” my dad says, watching me. I glance around for Colt, but see he’s still busy coloring the banner with the others.

“More than some. Who did you hear it from?”

“Trouble gave us the rundown.” He gestures across the room to where Trouble is standing with Corinne. I make a mental note to stop by and thank him again for protecting me.

“He said you uncovered some folks stealing from the club and stopped a guy from harassing the women. He also said the police have Misha in custody.”

“Wow, you weren’t gone that long,” Claudia says.

I chuckle. “It was a busy few hours. Wildcard was just going to give me a tour and talk me into taking over as the HR Manager. It quickly exploded into craziness.”

“Are you taking the job?”

I nod. “I am. The hotel and the casino are amazing. The perks they offer the employees will make hiring staff easy. Plus, I’ll be working with Wildcard and helping the club. They’ve done so much for me. I’m glad I can do something for them.”

“I’ve heard Chill complaining about her temporary role in HR. Having you take over will make her your friend for life. She’s a good person to have on your side,” Claudia says, then chuckles. “Definitely wouldn’t want to be on her bad side.”

I nod at that remark. Chill is not someone you want to cross.

“How are you doing?” comes a voice behind me. I turn to find Corinne and Trouble sidling up to us.

“I’m wonderful. Thanks to your man. Appreciate all you did for me today.”

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