Page 64 of Crush's Fall

“Watch me, Bitch,” Kisy growled and stood.

“Ooo… Cat fight,” Halo blurted.

“E-fucking-nough,” Crush bit out. “Kisy, ask Dragon if he has time to help install some poles. Pumps, worry about gathering supplies. And you two need to get over this fucking shit. Dragon is Kisy’s Ol’ Man, and I hate to tell you this Pumps, but shecantell you not to talk to him.” When Kisy shot Pumps a smirk, Crush huffed out a breath. “And you have to stop jumping down Pumps’s throat just because you don’t like her. You’re supposed to be fucking sisters.”

Kisy’s smirk faded, and she crossed her arms over her chest in frustration.

“Axle’s right. It’s like herding toddlers,” she mumbled as looked between the two.

Lucifer

After getting the rundown from Pumps, and a play-by-play of her annoyance with Kisy, Lucifer tracked down Butterfly in her room with Bullet in the apartment building.

He knocked on the door and waited. When the door swung open and Bullet was staring out at him with a glare on his face, Lucifer grinned. “Need to talk to Butterfly.”

“About?”

“Nothing you need to worry about.”

Bullet crossed his arms over his chest and tried to stare Lucifer down, but he wasn’t intimidated. They could stand there all day in a stare-off if that’s what Bullet wanted to do. It was entertainment to Lucifer.

It didn’t last long. Thirty seconds in, Bullet was shoved to the side by Butterfly who was shaking her head. Then she smiled at Lucifer. “Is it time to gossip about the Welles siblings and plot ways to make their lives hell?”

“How did you know?” Lucifer asked with exaggerated cheer.

She giggled and lifted on her toes to give Bullet a kiss. “Dial back Tony and get over it. We’re family.”

Bullet grumbled against her lips. “We won’t be if he’s dead.”

Butterfly dropped down to her heels and rolled her eyes. “You’re not going to kill your sister’s mate, and we all know it.” Then she stepped out of the apartment and shut the door in Bullet’s face. Looking over at Lucifer, she put her hands to her hips. “You two are acting like dogs fighting over the same steak, except there’s enough to share.”

Lucifer chuckled as they made their way to the stairs. “I just think it’s funny when he thinks he can intimidate me. I’m mated toCrush. If she doesn’t scare me, what makes him think any of the Howlers are going to?”

Butterfly and Lucifer spent a couple of hours compiling a list of jobs available and possible placements for employees before they called them and scheduled a meeting with the group for the next day.

The meeting was being held at the clubhouse, but Lucifer talked to Axle about closing the clubhouse to members for a couple of hours. That way, the employees could feel safe to speak freely. Since the main topic of the meeting was to find out what Heat could improve on, honesty and bluntness were going to be important.

The main complaint was that there wasn’t a place for women to go that catered to their enjoyment. Heat and Bobby’s Bar were the only drinking establishments in Warden’s Pass, and both of them were designed and run with the male gaze and enjoyment in mind.

Besides that, there was talk about a more conductive layout of tables, and better music and choreography for the dancers. One of the bouncers suggested they have a room designed specifically for keeping an eye on patrons without having to always be in the mix. That way, it would be easier to catch patrons doing things on the sly. The dancers nodded as he spoke, which made Lucifer irritated that the Howlers weren’t protecting their dancers as much as they thought they were. That shit couldn’t stand.

After discussing improvements and suggestions, Butterfly shifted the topic of discussion to temporary employment. Within an hour, they had all but three of the employees in new positions within the HTC businesses. The three who declined had already found temporary employment, but made it clear they wanted to return to Heat or whatever it became when it was finished.

Lucifer was happy to see that the loyalty of the clubs had leaked out to their employees. The family wasn’t made up of only the members and their families, it also included employees and friends of the club. It still boggled Lucifer’s mind the community the Howlers and the Claws were able to create, and it made him proud to be a part of it.

After the employees had the names and numbers of their temporary bosses and directions to call for shifts and hours, the clubhouse emptied out, leaving Butterfly and Lucifer sitting on the bar top.

Lucifer held his hand out, palm facing Butterfly, and waited. After a moment, Butterfly slapped his hand in a high-five.

“Nice work,” he told her.

“Same, bestie,” she replied with a giggle.

“Will you do me a solid and tell your mate that we cuddled?” Lucifer grinned at her.

Butterfly burst out with laughter. “Uh… no. I would hate to be the reason you took your last breath, because if Bullet doesn’t kill you, Crush will.”

“Touché,” he said through a chuckle.

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