She has no idea just how lucky she is to be insulated from the shittiness in this world.
“Maybe, but it’s all around me. Bad shit happened to Kelsey and now to Grace.” She sits with her own thoughts, quiet and pensive for several minutes before turning those watery eyes up at me. “You and your club really had nothing to do with her death?”
“We really didn’t,” I assure her. “Reckless Souls don’t hurt women unless they’re members of a rival faction, and that’s the truth.”
She scoffs. “But you have whore houses. That hurts women. When I was in college a long time ago, the guys talked about it all the time.”
“Contrary to what you may think, McKenna, some women choose to become sex workers. Our girls work with us because they want to, and they can leave at any time. They make better money than they otherwise could, given their backgrounds and skills. And they are protected. And not selling or using drugs if it makes you feel any better.”
She lets out a snort-laugh that’s halfway to bitter. “So you’re a benevolent pimp?”
I snort-laugh at her question. “I’m not a pimp at all. I’m an employer. A businessman. The truth is that girls who want to be there perform better, and they don’t run away and talk to cops. And that is good for business.”
She lets out another laugh. “Well, now you sound like my father.”
I shrug. “Business is business, McKenna, no matter who approves of the service the business provides.”
“I guess.”
“It’s true. So, you know nothing about Grace’s boyfriend? Not his name or where he lives? Is he from Angel Harbor?”
“I don’t know, Mark. She didn’t tell me anything other than she was seeing someone. I assumed he was some type of undesirable. Don’t know why she’d go for that type, but maybe she did.”
Okay, I can work with that. “What makes you say that?”
McKenna nibbles her bottom lip and focuses her gaze on her fidgeting fingers. “Because she was on Kelsey’s side when I warned her against getting involved with Coop and you guys. Not that Grace isn’t always nice and levelheaded, but I don’t know, she was just more on Kelsey’s side. Like she understood seeing past the criminality.”
I groan.
“I’m not saying it right. But after that fight, she hadn’t even called or texted me. Like she was out doing something I wouldn’t approve of.”
“Judge much?” I ask.
She nods. “I just get the feeling that maybe said boyfriend operated on the wrong side of the law.”
I bite back the comment on the tip of my tongue because now isn’t the time to get into the two-tiered criminal justice system. “Nothing else?”
“No. I told you, we haven’t even spoken to each other in days.”
I nod because I understand, but that’s not going to help either of us. “I know, McKenna, but that’s not good enough.”
“Not good enough?” She looks up at me again, her eyes blazing with fury. “You think I don’t know that? My best friend is dead, and I’m not good enough? Don’t you know how useless I feel right now? I don’t know anything about her stupid boyfriend, so just shut up!”
“Jesus,” I say with a sigh. “It’s not that. Take a deep breath and think. Think back to the last time you saw her. How was she? Do you know how they met? Did she introduce him to her family? Does she hang out with anyone other than you?”
Chapter Seven
McKenna
My eyes slam shut under the onslaught of Mark’s questions. They’re coming too fast for me to process anything other than his angry voice. I shake my head as if that act alone can make his questions bounce off my skull so they don’t penetrate into the depths of my mind.
“Stop it! You’re being a dick.”
“We need answers, McKenna. It’s the only way to find the animals who did this to your friend. Do you have any answers?”
I keep shaking my head, but Mark or Ace, or whoever he is, isn’t like other guys. A few annoying words don’t distract him. He’s a man who wants answers. Now.
“Sorry. I don’t have any answers to your barrage of questions. Really, I don’t.”
“You have more than you think, McKenna. Please, just calm yourself and think back.”
That low, gravelly plea goes a long way to soothe my ruffled feathers. He’s not being a dick on purpose; he just wants answers.
“Let’s start simple. Do you have a name? Did Grace ever say his name, even in passing? Maybe you overheard her answering his call?”
My eyes are still shut, and I feel his big hand land on my shoulder, gently but with a firm grip. My eyes open slowly, and all I see is Ace with his thick brown hair and bottomless brown eyes. He has a bit of scruff on his jaw. It’s both sexy and a little bit rough, yet it looks all soft thanks to the bright pink of his lips.